DETROIT — After a long winter of waiting, former Detroit Tigers pitcher Spencer Turnbull is heading back to the big leagues.
Turnbull agreed to a major-league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays this week, according to Sportsnet and other reports.
Terms of the deal weren’t immediately reported, nor is it clear how much time Turnbull would need in the minor leagues before being ready to join the big-league club.
Turnbull signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies before the 2024 season and pitched well before suffering what turned out to be a season-ending injury in a June 26 start against his former team in Detroit.
The 32-year-old went 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 54 1/3 innings last season, striking out 58 and walking 20. Most expected he would land another one-year deal this winter, but he remained unsigned for months.
The Tigers selected Turnbull in the second round out of the University of Alabama in 2014. It was the second-to-last draft under president and general manager Dave Dombrowski, who now leads baseball operations for the Phillies.
Turnbull debuted in 2018 and became a regular in the rotation in 2019. On May 18, 2021, he threw the Tigers’ first no-hitter in a decade.
The Tigers declined to offer Turnbull a contract for 2024 after a strange 2023 season. The Tigers twice attempted to option Turnbull to Toledo. Both times, the option was later rescinded due to an injury, allowing Turnbull to accrue a full year of service time.
“Last year was really hard. Not a lot of fun. And it wasn’t how I would have liked things to end here in Detroit,” Turnbull said before his start last year in Detroit. “It wasn’t my choice for things to go down that way. It just kind of happened.”
In addition to Turnbull, the Blue Jays also signed former Tigers pitcher José Ureña to a major-league contract this week.
Ureña, 32, is coming off a brief stint with the New York Mets. He was selected, then designated for assignment after one appearance, and later elected free agency.
He signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal with the Tigers prior to the 2021 season after spending parts of six seasons with the Miami Marlins. Ureña pitched 100 innings for Detroit that year, primarily as a starter, and finished with a 5.81 ERA before losing his rotation spot.
But Ureña’s career wasn’t done. The Blue Jays will be his sixth team since his release by the Tigers.
