4:03pm: Payton has indeed been added to the Athletics’ player pool, the team announced.
3:02pm: The Reds have returned Rule 5 pick Mark Payton to the Athletics, per a club announcement. The 28-year-old outfielder was not claimed by another club on waivers. It’s not yet clear if he’ll be part of Oakland’s 60-man player pool.
Last season was Payton’s first in the Oakland organization, and he made an impression with a gaudy .334/.400/.653 batting line in 447 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Payton bashed a career-best 30 home runs last year, albeit in an extremely hitter-friendly setting amid a leaguewide home run surge. (The Triple-A ball was the same as the MLB ball last year.) That said, Payton also altered his swing and hit fly-balls at a career-high rate in 2019, so the uptick in power wasn’t solely attributable to the league context.
Unfortunately for Payton, the Reds added multiple high-profile outfielders to a group that already included Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker, Aristides Aquino and Phil Ervin. Cincinnati signed both Nick Castellanos and Shogo Akiyama this winter, leaving Payton as a long-shot to make the club — even with an expanded roster. That crammed outfield already led to a DFA for Scott Schebler and Payton’s return to the A’s, but outfielder Travis Jankowski has been told he’ll make the Reds’ Opening Day roster, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets.
surprised Jankowski survived over Payton and Schebler. that guy is terrible.
Schebler has been pretty terrible the last couple years. Feels like he and Brandon Finnegan have just completely fallen off the face of the earth.
Jankowski has speed and can play D. I’m sure he won’t last long after rosters get reduced.
Payton is meh and does nothing particularly well. Schebler is terrible. Jankowski at least gives you speed and CF defense. The extra inning rule this year puts a premium on speed. No brainer decision…
Probably a moot point anyway as it’s unlikely that Jank makes the cut when the trim goes from 30 to 26. Senzel, Akiyama, Winker, Aquino, and Castellanos is a pretty full OF group.
I’m thinking they saw very little PT for whomever they choose to go with in this spot. Jank gives them a pinch runner for a little bit.
I think Jankowski also still has an option. As a Rule 5 pickup, Payton would have needed to stay on the active roster all season.
Aquino will not be there. Phillip Ervin is the 5th outfielder.
Senzel probably plays a little Infield when Moose moves to first after Votto starts slow.
Totally agree. Payton efforted but didn’t make much happen the last week – Jankowski had +Speed, and got on base. Easy decision.
Happy for that
Impressive season last year in AAA, surprised Orioles or Royals don’t give him a shot. Could be the next Max Muncy or Luke Voit. Doubtful as he was nothing but mediocre from 2013-2018. He will probably end up heading to KBO soon, he could probably some damage there, then come back like Eric Thames.
They must really like Jankowski (and presumably his SB ability) because Payton really looked like a guy who made some legitimate adjustments going into 2019 and could be a true ‘late-bloomer’ along the lines of JD Martinez (obviously not as good as JD but similar adjustments to hitting more fly-balls and thus greatly increasing his power output) — will be interesting to see if he gets a shot in OAK this year and if so, if he can translate his 30-HR minor league season into legit power in the majors. He could be a cool story/guy to watch going forward.
I get the adjustments but Payton isn’t a very big guy as well. 5’8 190 lbs. Everyone was popping Hrs in the PCL last year. I’m skeptical. He doesn’t bring anything with the glove or on the base paths to make up for it if he doesn’t.
Payton is pretty good on MLB the Show. So there’s that …