Julio Urías’ pending free agency looms over Dodgers season

LOS ANGELES — Julio Urías is headed into his final season before free agency, and for the most part at FanFest on Saturday deflected talk of his future.

“My representatives and them will have time to talk, but I’m just 100-percent focused on the field,” he said.

The Dodgers avoided salary arbitration with Urías on the January 13 exchange deadline, agreeing to a $14.25-million deal for 2023.

Urías finished third in National League Cy Young Award voting last season after winning the league ERA title, one year after winning 20 games in setting a career high in innings. In last year’s NLDS, Urías made his first career Game 1 start.

“He’s a guy that’s going to be our workhorse,” manager Dave Roberts said Saturday. “If you look at the way our staff is constructed, I expect him to lead our staff in innings pitched, and perform the way he has the last few years.”

Urías will be just 27 heading into free agency next offseason, and is set to cash in. But will the Dodgers be the ones paying him?

Dylan Hernández wrote about Urías and talked to his agent Scott Boras in a story at the Los Angeles Times. Hernández wrote that keeping Urías should be an easy call for the Dodgers.

“There isn’t another player in baseball who is more perfectly suited to play for a particular team than Urías is for the Dodgers,” Hernández wrote.

Links

• A quintet of great outfielders talked with Manny Randhawa at MLB.com in a highlight-filled piece about how they were able to rob home runs. Among the group is Mookie Betts, who said, “Timing up your steps early enough is key. It’s very hard to do. I would say a majority of it is just pure instinct.”
• Mike Petriello at MLB.com watched an old broadcast from a classic peak-era Coors Field game from 1996, dubbing the Dodgers-Rockies game that featured seven lead changes, 10 home runs, a record six stolen bases by Eric Young alone, and a walk-off 16-15 win “the wildest game in MLB history.” Lots of good nuggets and tidbits in this nostalgic look back.
• Don Newcombe and Larry Doby played one season for Chunichi in the Japanese Central League in 1962, after both players’ major league careers ended, with Newcombe playing outfield and first base (hitting .262/.316/.473 with 23 doubles and 12 home runs in 81 games, with the highest slugging percentage among team regulars) save for one game on the mound. Anthony Castrovince at MLB.com wrote about how the pair are still revered in Japan. It’s a wonderful story which also shares that Larry Doby Jr. was a longtime member of Billy Joel’s touring crew.