The Royals and Tigers have “shown interest” in A’s utilityman Jorge Mateo, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Other clubs, too, have seemingly checked in, although one A’s source tells Rosenthal overall interest in the 24-year-old is “tepid.”
Mateo hit a decent .289/.330/.504 with 19 home runs and 24 stolen bases in Triple-A in 2019. That marked a significant step up from his abysmal showing there the year prior. He’s in the mix with Franklin Barreto, Vimael Machin and Tony Kemp for the seemingly wide open second base job in Oakland. There’s some upside in that group, but none of the players involved are yet established. More challenging, it’s not a group that comes with a ton of roster flexibility.
Mateo, Barreto and Kemp are out of minor-league options, meaning each has to make the active roster or be exposed to waivers. Machin, meanwhile, is a Rule V pick; he, too, must spend the entire season on the 26-man or be exposed to waivers (and if unclaimed, offered back to the Cubs’ organization).
It’s difficult to imagine a situation in which all of Mateo, Barreto, Machin and Kemp make the season-opening roster. There’s little reason not to explore the trade market for whomever the front office isn’t comfortable with making the roster.
Mateo and Barreto, also 24, would figure to draw some interest. Each was once a highly-touted prospect with youth still on his side. Neither has a strong MLB track record- Mateo has yet to reach the majors at all- but there are likely teams intrigued by their physical tools and generally solid minor-league performances.
The Royals and Tigers each seem like sensible matches if the A’s were to part with Mateo (or Barreto for that matter, although there’s no indication either team has expressed interest in him). Unlike Oakland, neither K.C. nor Detroit has much of a chance of contending for a playoff spot in 2020. There’d be limited harm in giving Mateo an extended MLB look in hopes he can make good on his past prospect status. He wouldn’t fetch nearly as much in trade as he would’ve a few years ago, but it’s not hard to imagine the A’s extracting something of value, whether from the Tigers, Royals, or another organization.
Notably, the Tigers have season-opening waiver priority leaguewide. (They’re followed by the Orioles, Marlins, then the Royals). If Oakland can’t come to an agreement on a trade but decides not to carry Mateo on the season-opening roster, Detroit would have first crack at him on waivers. That could inspire some urgency on Kansas City’s part to make a deal, depending on the extent of their interest in the speedster.
Get ‘em, Tigers!
Another JD Martinez type steal? Not saying Mateo will ascend to that level, but this could be another kid who finally figured things out in a big way. Go get em Al!
Anyone could put up those numbers in the PCL. Mateo’s marquee tool was supposed to be his speed. If he’s only stealing 20-25 bases in a full season, and getting caught 30-40% of attempts, while putting up a 29-145 BB-K, it’s hard to see how he’s a useful member of any big league roster.
Super utility defensive replacement. 26th man. If he’s got speed maybe he could handle all 3 OF spots plus 3B SS 2B from a defensive standpoint.
Doesn’t hurt to carry a guy who could be a swiss army knife backup
I agree, Mateo’s numbers at AAA are strange to say the least, that being said, MLB and MILB numbers bear almost zero correlation. Mateo could be a 30 homer guy in MLB with less than 10 SB a year. No one knows until we see him in regular action.
It looks like if talented youngster Franklin Barreto has the edge at second. We will see…
I’m not sure why the Royals would be interested in mateo when they need to be able to clear 40 man roster space to add pitchers like Trevor Rosenthal and Greg Holland.
Mateo for Rosenthal
He was horrible for the tigers last year
Key words: “last year”.
Even more key “…and years before that”.
At this point in the rebuild–for the Royals or Tigers–you just have to give anyone a chance, see who can stick. Maybe they turn into a serviceable player. Maybe they don’t. Maybe they turn into the next Josh Donaldson, Jake Arrieta, Max Muncy, JD Martinez, or Jose Bautista–who at one point were all on the scrap heap as disregarded former prospects.
I agree S.C. And put Zimmerman in the pen!
But, they can’t be afraid to cut players. The next man up attitude needs to be established to build a foundation for this team.
Send Zim packing, eat the $$ and call up another arm to get some reps. He’ll have zero trade value come July, so why wait.
Zimm might regain some value if he’s used as a RP though, can’t hurt and he doesn’t block anyone by doing that, unlike he is now (Just bring up Mize already there’s no point to him in the minors, Manning too.)
Good point, but they have to insert him in the pen ASAP and if he sucks there, we all know what to do. Regardless, that’s way to logical, which means he’ll be a SP through June before he’s cut.
No need to cut him willy nilly..hes gone at the end of the year,thank the baseball gods!
Mateo for Merrifield then!
I hate Merrifield on KC though, HATE it. He’s SO good and doesnt need to be playing on some loser team like KC. They’ll never let him go though, because he steals bases and thats the only thing their stupid FO truly cares about just because it worked in 2014.
Must be a Bluejays or Mets fan!
no hes an As fan. We beat them in 2014 wild card game. Sore loser
Mateo would look good back in pinstripes since the Sonny Gray trade was a complete bust.
Keep wishing go BUY your championship
Future Hall of Famer Jorge Mateo. Remember when he was better than Moncada? Pepperidge Farms remembers….
I remember the clowns on yanks go yard blog said hed be the next 40/40 player and would be a better version of Alfonso soriano lol
Mateo still could be a 40/40 player, anything can happen, Max Muncy went from scrub to superstar in 3 years.
Muncy isn’t a superstar, but I get what you’re saying.
Sonny Gray with Yankees: 1.7 WAR
Dustin Fowler, Jorge Mateo, James Kaprielian with A’s: -0.9 WAR
Sonny Gray with Reds: 5.6 WAR
Josh Stowers and T.J. Sikkema: 0 WAR
Reds: This is how I win.
James Kaprielian is going to be a quality pitcher. Not quite the haul it looked like it might be at the time though.
Choke artists will never win
To be fair, Sikkema was drafted this year, and Stowers was coming off his first year of short season. But let’s not let facts get in the way and all.
I imagine the Orioles and Marlins would have interest too. Barreto seems he’s been the front runner so Mateo could be trade bait.
Mateo can be carried as 26th guy utility type and next year takes over at shortstop for semien. My guess is machin gets returned to cubs or A’s work out a minor trade to keep him in their minors. They seem to like Kemp so he gets a spot. I think they can keep Kemp, mateo and baretto at least until piscotty is healthy
Tony “I told them to get lost when they asked me if I wanted to use the trash can system, and got traded for it” Kemp – a rare hero out of that terrible franchise.
Do you believe Kemp?
It wasn’t that long ago he was the ‘next’ yankee star in the making. Along with Blake Rutherford and Chance Adams.
Also along with Torres, Severino, Sanchez, and Judge. Oh wait….
Aren’t you “oh wait”-ing for those guys to stop getting injured every 5 minutes?
Never trust the hype on a Yankees, Mets or Red Sox prospect. They all have too much homer-level media over-reporting on them, therefore they all get overrated by proxy. That’s not to say those teams don’t produce great players, but all their prospects are overrated no matter who they are due to media saturation. MLB needs to put a cap on how much media a team can have, its why the Yankees act like they’re the only team in the game, because ESPN and YES constantly tells us this. There are 30 teams and every team deserves equal time.
That’s why teams have they’re own analytics departments right?
It’s fascinating to see how Royals and Tigers fans, with both teams having lost 100+ games last year, are concerned about 40-man roster space.
When Theo took over the Red Sox, he ruefully admitted to a reporter that he wasn’t concerned about the Rule 5 draft, since he didn’t think he had 40 players worth protecting. And they hadn’t lost 100 games.
Nothing new every team has fans that way over rate their players. Prospects are way over rated by fans.
Not to mention that it was “roster constraints” that led the A’s, a team looking for a LH hitting second baseman, to cut ties with Max Muncy and Joey Wendle, and get nothing for them.
Trade for Shaw or Fisher from Toronto. Won’t have to give up anything except your sanity from being subjected to watching them on a nightly basis.
Muncy and Wnedle werent really lighting it up when they got their chances with the A’s. Sometimes players need to move on to develop.
Sometimes teams employ bad coaches who tell the players not to focus on their strengths and instead do things that make them worse players, see: Cole, Gerrit.
A’s actually let muncy go twice, DFA’d when they signed Rajai Davis and then later around the season starting . At least they got a pretty decent catching prospect in jonah heim in wendle trade. On the flipside, they couldve given up on semien long ago and their patience paid off
If it wasn’t for the launch angle trend Muncy would still be toiling away in AAA somewhere. Wendle a nice rookie but took major steps back last year due to injuries.
2B has been a black hole for the A’s since they traded Mark Ellis.
Abysmal
Jed Lowrie just put up 5.0 fWAR for the A’s in 2018. So…not a black hole.
One season in the last 9 does a black hole still make.
It’s fascinating to see how individuals such as yourself fabricate scenarios like the one you’re outlining in your comment, unless you have other examples beyond the one anecdotal (and I suspect tongue-in-cheek) response from a Royals fan below about needing 40 man roster space for 2 washed up RP’ers?
Nothing “fascinating” about team personnel management unless you don’t understand the process, including wasting your time on securing replacement players, (even if it’s organizational depth) when your time can be better spent on long term development.
Lol,and what have those current chowder heads won?! Nothing! Some teams cant buy a championship and build by anyway they can! What? No faith in DOMBROWSKI?? lmao,hell have your whole franchise broke and the minors empty before you know it. enjoy!
Start the conversation with Mateo for Matt Boyd. Then line up more names to make an even trade.
Sarcasm? I hope so.
Why would it be sarcasm? Oakland needs a pitcher and Detroit wants a package for Boyd. If that package begins with Mateo then what’s the problem? Better yet, instead of asking a question how about you lay out an argument against a Tigers/A’s trade involving those two players. Floor is yours.
Luzardo, Puk, Montas, Manaea, Boyd would be an absurd rotation. Best in MLB by a long way by end of 2020 for sure.
Where does Fiers go though?
Nothing wrong with a trade but it’s a bit absurd to begin with an even up deal, especially in March. It’s worth the risk for Det to take a 10 start look at Boyd before they make any deal, unless it’s just too good to pass up, which isn’t going to happen unless the other team is managed by compulsive gamblers.
Either go with a 6-man now that there’s 26 on a roster, or wait and find out which pitcher goes down on the DL. One of them might. Manaea’s had some shoulder issues recently and might need a little more time to get ready.
It’s never absurd to come up with a deal in March when every player is back in camp in March monitored by teams. And, we know one team isn’t in win-now mode (Detroit).
Is it worth giving Boyd more time? Given his track record, no. If he gets off to another good start then they need to deal him quick and fast.
It’s a bit difficult to get off to a good start in March.
Not back to Houston?.
A’s would still need Fiers even with that group since Manaea, Puk, and Luzardo have all missed significant time with injuries and Montas is a mixed bag until we see if the first half of last season was a fluke or not.
Boyd is overrated and the Tigers should have cashed him in at the deadline last year.
No good pitching coach would think Boyd is overrated. He’s still an unknown that only deserves the rating of “potential” . Any SP with his BB/K ratio is a tweak away from being at least a #2 or 3 on any MLB team. Finding the right pitching coach who can analyze him correctly and recommend the tweak is the problem, not to mention that he has pitched for a defensively awful team that put runners on base, inflating the results of the HR’s off him. All great FB pitchers give up a lot of HR’s but if they have great D behind them, most of them will be solos.
Why would the tigers trade their best trade chip for a guy they could get on waivers?
The A’s should trade Jorge Mateo for the Royals reliever Tim Hill. They need lefty help in their bullpen and have shown interest in him in the past.
But this is only if the A’s plan to resign Semien. If they do not, than they should keep Mateo for future at shortstop.
Mateo-Hill should have been done already.
Its a shame KC is being so bullheaded in not wanting Merrifield to play for a winner anytime soon, because he slots perrrrfectly in at 2B for the A’s. KC is being really stupid with him, especially since they have plenty of 2B/RF options, and are shoehorning him in at CF right now. Just trade him for a bounty already, there’s no point to him on a non-contender when he’s very good and should be winning rings somewhere.
Theyd wa t alot for merrifield. A’s best pitching prospects have injury track record. Maybe start a package with mateo and neuse but still wont be enough. But those 2 have mentioned to be trade targets from last summer when those deikman and homer Bailey rumors came up
So many unnecessary words and commas.
Shouldn’t you be busy grading papers?
The Royals MUST have ALL 60-80 grade speed prospects!
Came in-handy when they swiped 7 bags in the 2014 AL Wild Card game to win in extras. Weren’t their opponent the Chokeland A’s?
God, calm down!
Stockpiling 800 prospects for 1 game lol great insight, genius.
You’re too easy to rattle.
That is true, so why do it?
WAJGH vs. Strike Four in what is set to be the whiniest blowhard fight we’ve ever seen on MLBTR! Somebody get me some popcorn for this blowhard off!
How low can you go? A’s lost their only catcher when he broke his thumb early in the game. Their back up was a catcher with a shoulder injury and was barely able to throw to the pitcher. If it wasn’t for the missed fly ball by the A’s LF the A’s would have still won. So KC can lift their head by knowing they only won by a billy beane mistake of not having a back up catcher on the roster.
In that park, as many as practical.
Jorge Mateo for Daniel Norris… What else do people think would need to be included to get that deal done (on both sides)?
How bout a major league player from the Oakland side, since Schoop is the starter at 2B, and Castro and Mercer would take the back up spots over Mateo. If he has no options, he has no value to the Tigers.
Well according to this article, the Tigers are at least somewhat interested, so Mateo has a degree of value to them.
Team can’t trade a free agent so soon after signing them.
I think teams cannot trade an offseason free agent signing until late May or June, anyone got that cutoff date handy?
June 15th is the date. At least I’m pretty sure it’s still the same…
It’s after the amateur draft for sure.
The Tigers have little need for utility players. Half their team played that spot last year. Even the thought of a trade of their opening day starter, Boyd, for a player who may not make the 26th man on another team might be seen as a tad ridiculous.
That’s way too logical, which means you’re the 41st man on this site.
He’s only labeled as a utility infielder because his out of options situation and being blocked by other middle infielders. He was an everyday shortstop in AAA
The main point is that he’s still a Rule 5( if he’s not traded) that might not even make the team, no matter his position.
A’s are hung up on Barreto and Kemp can play the OF so it’s a good chance Mateo is the odd man out in Oakland. He will not pass thru waivers unclaimed so maybe better to try to get something for him rather than lose him for nothing.
Anyone know how Mateo can be out of options when he hasn’t played in the show yet?
Because he has been on the 40 man roster for the past three seasons.