Brewers' former everyday third baseman lands minor league deal with Diamondbacks

Opening Day is just 10 days away for the Milwaukee Brewers, but notable free agents are still signing contracts for the 2026 season. Just last week, starting pitcher Zack Littell, whom many were hoping the Brewers would sign to a contract this offseason, inked a one-year, $7 million deal with the Washington Nationals. Once Littell is ready, whether that's Opening Day or soon after, he will no doubt be an important fixture in the rebuilding Nationals' starting rotation.

However, Littell isn't the only established big-leaguer still negotiating contracts as the spring exhibition season quickly comes to a close. Earlier today, former Brewers infielder Luis Urías signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, as initially reported by the organization's Triple-A affiliate, the Reno Aces, on the social media platform X.

Not only was Urías an everyday member of the Brewers' infield group from 2020-2022, but he actually rejoined the organization at the end of the 2025 campaign as well. After stops with the Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, and Athletics, Urías joined the Brewers on a minor league deal on September 1 of last year. He never cracked the major league roster during his second stint in the Brewers' organization, but he did post a decent .731 OPS with four extra-base hits and 11 RBI in 13 games played with the Nashville Sounds.

Diamondbacks sign former Brewer Luis Urías to a minor league contract in what could be a deceivingly good signing

Despite Urías' recent struggles -- dating back to the 2023 season, he holds an 84 OPS+ and has been worth just 0.7 bWAR in 189 games -- his track record and the fact that he's still just 28 years old could make this a deceptively strong signing for the D-backs. Additionally, the fact that Arizona landed Urías on a minor league deal means there's little risk involved for the NL West contender if the eight-year MLB veteran does struggle this year.

For the first two months of the 2025 season, Urías looked like he had regained the form that made him an exciting piece of the Brewers' young core back at the beginning of the decade. When the calendar flipped to June last year, Urías boasted a .740 OPS while essentially serving as the Athletics' everyday second baseman. With six homers through the first two months of the season, Urías resembled a productive big leaguer who was certainly worthy of consistent opportunities in the Athletics' lineup.

Then, however, his performance started to dip, he lost a great deal of playing time, and by the end of August, the Athletics released him, which is how he ended up back in the Brewers' organization. Though another reunion with Luis didn't make much sense for Milwaukee this offseason, the Brewers were reportedly interested in his brother Ramón Urías before they ultimately elected to sign Luis Rengifo to fill their vacant infield spot.

It will be an uphill battle for Urías to win playing time in Arizona, with the D-backs sporting an infield group that includes Nolan Arenado, Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo, and Jordan Lawlar, but Urías' defensive versatility could certainly land him the big-league utility infield role at some point during the 2026 season.