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<\/p>\nHOUSTON \u2014 The situation wasn\u2019t lost on Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas. By that point the Orioles had traded a few relievers on expiring contracts, and Ur\u00edas has been in baseball long enough to understand how a losing record at the end of July is bound to bring new faces into a clubhouse come August.<\/p>\n
Still, when general manager Mike Elias called Ur\u00edas to inform him that Baltimore was trading the infielder to the Houston Astros ahead of the deadline, Ur\u00edas was \u201cin shock,\u201d he said. Ur\u00edas is under team control next season. He didn\u2019t expect to be one of the outgoing players, to say goodbye suddenly to the only team he had known in Major League Baseball.<\/p>\n
But after two days of contemplation, Ur\u00edas said, he gained his concentration once more. He focused on the similarities \u2014 it\u2019s the same game, after all \u2014 and he looked at the positives around this unexpected move to Houston.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting to get traded,\u201d Ur\u00edas said. \u201cHonestly, I think it worked out well for me. Getting to play a little bit here \u2026 and I\u2019m happy for that. I think it was a good moment in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Orioles traded the versatile infielder for right-hander Twine Palmer, a 20-year-old who has started two games for Low-A Delmarva since joining the organization. Palmer is years from becoming a viable option in Baltimore; Ur\u00edas, meanwhile, proved himself to be a valuable utilityman, even if his offensive numbers left something to be desired.<\/p>\n
In 77 games Ur\u00edas posted a .688 on-base-plus-slugging percentage this season, which is a step back from his .745 OPS in 2024. He accounted for 1.4 wins above replacement for the Orioles, though, and his defense played a part in that. Ur\u00edas won a Gold Glove in 2022 for his work at third base, and he can play second base and first base well, too.<\/p>\n
And Friday at Daikin Park, where the Orioles and Astros play their series opener, Ur\u00edas is starting at second base. It will be his 10th game since arriving in Houston about two weeks ago. It\u2019s early, but thus far he\u2019s hitting .320 with an .890 OPS.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt probably took me two days to really concentrate and be able to be myself again, because it was something I never experienced before,\u201d Ur\u00edas said. \u201cBut it\u2019s part of the job, you know, and it\u2019s secure to be part of a franchise for a long time. \u2026 But I\u2019m really happy to be here. Like I said, I\u2019ve had the opportunity to play. That\u2019s the most important thing for my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ur\u00edas said his experience playing in the postseason for the Orioles, despite losing those series, prepares him for what\u2019s to come here.<\/p>\n
The Astros are in a tight race with the Seattle Mariners for the American League West crown. Entering Friday, Houston holds a 1.5-game lead in the division.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially being on a winning team, like we were the last two years, helped me control those emotions when the games are on the line,\u201d Ur\u00edas said. \u201cWe are playing every night here with that type of emotion, and I\u2019m just grateful that I have that opportunity to be on that kind of team the last couple years.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas distinguished himself with his fielding while posting a .728 OPS in 506 games with the Orioles. (Ulysses Mu\u00f1oz\/The Baltimore Banner)<\/p>\n
That\u2019s part of the benefit of joining the Astros rather than seeing out a losing year in Baltimore. But what Ur\u00edas can\u2019t replace are the positive memories.<\/p>\n
He joined the Orioles in 2020 as a waiver claim, and he became a key piece of the roster for several years. Ur\u00edas witnessed the bad, such as a 110-loss season in 2021, as well as the good. He played 116 games for manager Brandon Hyde when the Orioles won 101 games in 2023.<\/p>\n
Ur\u00edas remains under team control for the 2026 season, and because of that, it seemed as though he might have been part of the plans for Baltimore\u2019s return to competitiveness. Instead, interim manager Tony Mansolino said, he\u2019s a player who has \u201cmoved on to bigger and better things for 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of a utility player, Ram\u00f3n\u2019s kind of the prototype,\u201d Mansolino said. And that\u2019s a major reason why he finds himself on a contender.<\/p>\n
When he arrived at the ballpark in Houston on Friday, Ur\u00edas made his way over to say hello to his friends \u2014 his teammates as of two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Later Friday, he\u2019ll step into the box against them. But there\u2019s no changing their relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really love playing with those guys,\u201d Ur\u00edas said. \u201cSomething that I\u2019ll never forget in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article has been updated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 The situation wasn\u2019t lost on Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas. By that point the Orioles had traded a few…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[46805,49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-76739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baltimore-orioles-second-baseman-jackson-holliday-7","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}