Blue Jays sign two INFs, OF to Minors deals

TORONTO -- The Blue Jays have signed infielder Richard Ureña, infielder Tyler White and outfielder Forrest Wall to Minor League contracts that include invitations to Spring Training, the club announced Friday.

Both Ure?a and Wall will be familiar names to many, as they have both spent time with the Blue Jays previously.

Ure?a, who came up as a prospect with the Blue Jays, played parts of three MLB seasons with Toronto from 2017-19, hitting .253 with a .636 OPS. The 24-year-old was with the Orioles organization in '20 but did not appear in game action.

The appeal of Ure?a comes from his positional versatility, which the Blue Jays covet as much as any team in baseball. Along with being a switch-hitter, Ure?a played shortstop, second base and third base for Toronto, earning a supporter in manager Charlie Montoyo along the way. He also got a brief taste of the outfield at one point, so while the club is expected to add further depth and already has the versatile Santiago Espinal in-house, there should be a role available for Ure?a to fill from the Triple-A level.

Wall, on the other hand, is staying with the Blue Jays after spending parts of the past three seasons with the club. Now 25, Wall came to the Blue Jays in a 2018 deal with the Rockies for reliever Seunghwan Oh.

In his most recent Minor League season in 2019, Wall hit .268 with 11 home runs and a .773 OPS between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo. He is also expected to provide Toronto with depth in the outfield but is currently looking up at a crowded group of reserves in Derek Fisher, Joshua Palacios and Jonathan Davis, all of whom are on the 40-man roster.

White is the newcomer of the group, and while he has primarily played first base at the Major League level, he has also played second, third and shortstop in the Minors. Now 30, White had his best season with the Astros in 2018, when he hit 12 home runs with an .888 OPS over 66 games.

Toronto’s first base and designated hitter picture has an unknown variable currently as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. works to prove to the club that he can handle more reps at third base, but the likely outcome remains that Guerrero will be at first, with Rowdy Tellez spelling him and taking the majority of the DH reps. First base isn’t a particularly deep position for the Blue Jays' organization, though, making Cavan Biggio the likeliest option behind Guerrero and Tellez.

White played for SK Wyverns in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2020 but appeared in just nine games, hitting .136 with one home run.