Gio Urshela Announces Retirement After 10-Year MLB Career

Veteran major league infielder Gio Urshela announced his retirement on Monday, ending a 10-year career spent with eight different teams. The 34-year-old from Colombia made the announcement in a statement posted to his Instagram account.

Urshela is best known for his three-season tenure with the New York Yankees from 2019 to 2021, where he emerged as a fan favorite. His breakout 2019 campaign saw him hit .314 with 21 home runs and 74 runs batted in. He followed that with a .298 average during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

In his statement, Urshela expressed gratitude for his career. Today is the day to close this chapter as a professional player, and this is not a moment to be sad, it is a moment to be grateful to God for allowing me to play this beautiful sport that changed my life, he wrote.

Originally signed by Cleveland in 2008, Urshela made his major league debut with the club in 2015. After brief stints with Cleveland and the Toronto Blue Jays, he was acquired by the Yankees in late 2018. He seized an everyday role at third base in 2019 following an injury to Miguel Andújar and became a mainstay in the lineup.

Following the 2021 season, the Yankees traded Urshela and...