Never mind that the Atlanta Braves have been overlooked all offseason, while the New York Mets have added to their own arsenal in a big way courtesy of the signing of Juan Soto and Pete Alonso, among others, these two teams always hate each other. Free agency and trades have little to do with that reasoning, as the players wearing the uniforms change, but the rivalry remains.
Said rivalry got a little extra fuel on Thursday morning, as the Mets signed former Miami Marlins hurler Jose Ureña to a contract. Ureña will report to the Mets spring training in Port St. Lucie, where he will compete for a job on New York's pitching staff, which is already down two important pitchers in Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas.
As MLB Trade Rumors mentions, Ureña's surface level numbers from last season (with the Texas Rangers) are rather impressive. He spent most of the year in the bullpen, but made nine starts with a 3.80 ERA. Ureña had a low strikeout rate of just 15.1 percent, and his FIP (4.62) and SIERA (4.66) metrics were lower than any long-term suitor would want. While the Mets are his team for now, it's tough to see Ureña breaking camp with New York and making the big league roster, barring another catastrophic injury.
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Mets signing Jose Ureña has beef with Ronald Acuña Jr. and the Braves
The real reason this is news is the notable beef Ureña has with Atlanta Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. Ureña was suspended six games for intentionally plunking Acuña in the 2018 season. When Acuña Jr. eventually got his revenge by homering off the then-Marlins starter, the battle between the two was so harsh that even Freddie Freeman was on the lookout for retaliation.
"Everybody knows retaliation is there and it's obviously in the back of our mind,” Freeman said at the time. “But the ultimate goal is to win that game. We can't lose our starter in the second inning. I thought we went about it in the right way. We'll see what happens down the road."
Ureña has hit Acuña twice in his career, one of which was blatantly intentional. Acuña Jr. has an .880 OPS against Ureña altogether, going 4-for-18.
The Mets motivation for signing Ureña has little to do with his history against a rival in Acuña Jr., but rather their need for starting pitching depth. There's nothing to see here, as fun of a storyline as it would be if Ureña made the Opening Day roster.