Dodgers should respect Julio Urías and provides him a brand new contract

Don’t mistake his humility for weak point. Don’t confuse his silence for contentment.

Julio Urías has delight.

Take heed to him rigorously. It’s there.

“I always try to give respect to whomever deserves it,” Urías mentioned in Spanish. “I try to do my thing and hopefully they also carry their part, no?”

He was speaking in regards to the Dodgers and the way this could possibly be his remaining season with them. He will probably be a free agent subsequent winter.

The Dodgers haven’t all the time handled the 26-year-old the way in which groups usually deal with pitchers of his stature, and now the one method they’ll present him the respect he craves may be to pay him greater than proprietor Mark Walter and the entrance workplace would love.

Urías was clearly the Dodgers’ prime pitcher final yr, however the crew waited till 5 days after its regular-season finale to call him the Sport 1 starter for its Nationwide League Division Collection in opposition to the San Diego Padres.

The yr earlier than that, when Urías gained 20 video games within the common season, the Dodgers deployed him as a reliever in two of his 4 playoff appearances.

Urías has by no means complained about how the Dodgers have used him and supervisor Dave Roberts mainly known as him the employees ace over the weekend, however sufficient minor slights have piled up over time to boost questions on how a lot the franchise values him.

What Urías means to the Dodgers needs to be apparent, and in the event that they don’t understand what they’ve in him, it’s simply one other instance of them being so good to the purpose of being silly.

Urías was the NL chief in earned-run common final yr. His 37 wins over the earlier two seasons are essentially the most in baseball.

As a Mexican pitcher in Los Angeles, he additionally supplies the Dodgers with a useful hyperlink to the neighborhood, an extension of Fernando Valenzuela’s legacy to which they paid tribute by saying the No. 34 jersey could be retired.

David Vassegh, who hosts the postgame speak present on the Dodgers’ flagship radio station, was the co-emcee of the crew’s FanFest on Saturday. Tasked with sustaining a festive environment at Dodger Stadium, Vassegh did what individuals typically do to brighten up crowds: He said an opinion that he knew was shared by nearly your entire viewers.

With Urías on the primary stage subsequent to him, Vassegh known as out, “We want Julio a Dodger for life, don’t we?”

The rhetorical query elicited the response Vassegh anticipated, the ballpark immediately sounding as if Urías had struck out a batter with two outs and the bases loaded.

The followers’ needs alone gained’t hold him right here, after all.

His difficult relationship with the Dodgers has probably diminished the opportunity of him accepting a hometown low cost.

He actually can have choices on the open market, his age making him notably engaging. His agent, Scott Boras, pointed to how Max Scherzer was 30 when he signed a seven-year, $210-million contract with the Washington Nationals in 2015. One other one among Boras’ purchasers, Stephen Strasburg, was 31 when he inked a seven-year, $245-million deal after the 2019 season, additionally with the Nationals.

A former teenage prodigy who broke into the key leagues at 19, Urías will probably be 27 subsequent winter.

“He offers a team the utter prime of his career,” Boras mentioned.

Six pitchers have signed offers price greater than $200 million. Every of them had already registered greater than 1,200 innings between the common season and the playoffs, and that features Clayton Kershaw, who landed a $215-million contract after simply five-plus years of main league service.

Urías has solely 658 innings to his title.

The Dodgers have one thing to do with that, as their cautious strategy with him early in his profession restricted the mileage on his arm. Why shouldn’t they be the crew that takes benefit of that?

Urías maintained his ordinary soft-spoken demeanor Saturday when answering questions on his future.

“Right now, I’m focused on playing,” he mentioned. “My representatives and [the team] will have their time to talk, but right now, I’m 100% focused on the field.”

He restated how a lot he enjoys enjoying in entrance of closely Mexican and Mexican American crowds at Dodger Stadium, however when requested if he has thought of how this could possibly be his final season in Los Angeles, he replied, “That’s not something you can hide. Obviously, I’ll try to maximize my focus on baseball, and later, what has to happen will happen.”

The Dodgers shouldn’t have to consider what that’s, no matter whether or not they plan to be part of the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes subsequent winter. They will afford each gamers. There isn’t one other participant in baseball who’s extra completely suited to play for a specific crew than Urías is for the Dodgers.

Urías sounds as if he is aware of what he’s price, however does the entrance workplace? The reply can have vital ramifications for the Dodgers, each on the sector and off.