MIAMI — At the time, it seemed like such an unusual move.

Back on March 8, the Detroit Tigers signed José Urquidy to a one-year, $1 million contract. It was kind of a futures bet – a low-risk move with a potentially high reward.

Because back then, the right-hander was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Actually, it was his second Tommy John procedure and he still had several months – and several hurdles – left in his recovery. There was no guarantee that he would actually recover in time to pitch for the Tigers in 2025. No guarantee he wouldn’t have a setback. No guarantee what his stuff would look like when he finally started pitching in MLB games.

Even so, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris placed a $1 million bet and sent Urquidy to Lakeland, Florida, to rehab w

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