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Former Yankees, Blue Jays infielder announces immediate retirement at 34
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- Former Yankees, Blue Jays infielder announces immediate retirement at 34
Infielder Gio Urshela , who played for eight teams over parts of 10 MLB seasons, announced his retirement May 18 on his Instagram account .
Urshela was released by the Minnesota Twins in spring training and was unable or unwilling to latch on elsewhere for the 2026 season.
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In 851 games with the Cleveland Guardians (2015-17), Toronto Blue Jays (2018), New York Yankees (2019-21), Minnesota Twins (2022), Los Angeles Angels (2023), Detroit Tigers (2024), Atlanta Braves (2024) and A's (2024-25), Urshela hit .270 with 73 home runs and 352 RBIs.
"Dear Baseball," Urshela wrote . "Today is the day. The day you never dream about, the day you never imagine, the day you never expect to come… but deep down you know that one day it will arrive.
"Today is the day to close this chapter as a professional player, and this is not a moment to be sad, it is a moment to be grateful to God for allowing me to play this beautiful sport that changed my life."
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A native of Cartagena, Colombia, Urshela rose up through the Guardians' organization as a light-hitting utility infielder. After brief stints in Cleveland and Toronto, Urshela established himself as a major league regular with a surprising 21-homer season for the Yankees in 2019.
After Urshela usurped the primary third baseman's job from D.J. LeMahieu, he effectively maintained that role when healthy for the next three seasons in New York.
In March 2022, the Yankees traded Urshela and Gary Sanchez to the Minnesota Twins for Josh Donaldson , Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt — a rare spring training trade in which five major leaguers all changed teams.
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Urshela had a strong season at the plate (.767 OPS, 119 OPS+) in his only season in Minneapolis, but was traded to Anaheim after the 2022 season. From 2023-25, he slashed .260/.298/.357 and was limited by injuries.
Urshela returned to the Twins on a minor league contract in February, but hit only .208 with one extra-base hit in 24 at-bats in spring training, prompting his release.
