With the Rule 5 Draft coming up on December 10, teams had to make decisions to protect players from being drafted away. In order to do this, a player has to be added to the 40-man roster. Not every team protects a player, but the Houston Astros protected three of their top 30 prospects.
Houston protected Jose Fleury, Alimber Santa, and most importantly, Miguel Ullola. Ullola is one of the top five prospects in the Astros system and is considered their best pitching prospect. It was essential that Houston hold on to him with the departure of Framber Valdez and loss of depth.
The corresponding move to protect Ullola was designating Ramon Urias for assignment. Even though he was acquired by the Astros at the deadline, it was clear given the state of the roster that he was not going to stick around for 2026.
Ramon Urias Didn’t Fit on the Current Astros’ Roster
Houston acquired Urias in order to fill the hole that Isaac Paredes left due to his injury. The need for the utility player was short lived, though, as they acquired franchise legend Carlos Correa in order to fill the void at third base.
With Correa in the mix, Urias was left positionless. The former Gold Glove player played 35 games at both second and third base, but those positions were occupied by not only Correa, but also Jose Altuve and Mauricio Dubon.
At the plate, he hit .223 with a .640 OPS, three home runs and 10 RBIs. His poor performance at the plate didn’t help his case for staying on the roster.
Aside from both Dubon and Urias being redundant, there was a financial reason that the Astros didn’t keep Urias. MLB Trade Rumors projected him $4.4 million during arbitration. That, coupled with Dubon’s projection being at $5.8 million, made little financial sense.
Having both players, who will play the same role, making around a combined $10.2 million wouldn’t have been the smart play. Houston needs multiple players to round out the roster and the money is better spent elsewhere.
Because of Urias’ service time, he can reject the assignment and will ultimately become a free agent with the Astros not tendering him a contract. Houston will not have to pay the 31-year-old.
He’s likely to get a free agent deal this offseason despite his poor finish to the season.
Ultimately, the Astros might end up without either utility player on the roster, but Urias’ performance in his short time in Houston put him on the chopping block first.
