JULY 21: Detroit has requested unconditional release waivers on Mazara. He’ll almost certainly clear after 48 hours, at which point he’ll be free to sign elsewhere.
JULY 16: The Tigers announced Friday that they’ve designated outfielder Nomar Mazara for assignment and optioned infielder Willi Castro to Triple-A Toledo. Outfielder Derek Hill and infielder Isaac Paredes are up from Toledo in a pair of corresponding roster moves. Detroit has also appointed lefty Miguel Del Pozo as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Twins.
Still just 26 yeas old, Mazara once ranked as one of baseball’s elite prospects, entering the 2016 season as one of the consensus 25 most promising minor leaguers in the sport. He looked the part when he made his MLB debut that season, too, hitting .266/.320/.419 with 20 home runs in 145 games. It wasn’t a dominant showing, of course, but Mazara was just 21 years old at the time and was making the jump with only 23 Triple-A games under his belt. It was an impressive showing, and it was reasonable to expect that he’d only improve with more reps against big league pitching.
That, however, never really proved true. Mazara spent the next four seasons as the primary right fielder in Texas but more or less just kept repeating his 2016 season. He posted a 93 OPS and 91 wRC+ as a rookie in ’16 and, from 2017-19, posted collective marks of 94 and 92 in those same respective categories. He hit exactly 20 home runs again in 2017 and 2018 before hitting 19 in 2019. Essentially, he’d settled in as a slightly below-average hitter with well below-average defensive grades. The Rangers trade him to the White Sox during the 2019 Winter Meetings.
At that point, Mazara was a highly interesting change-of-scenery candidate. He’d plateaued in Arlington, to be sure, but he was a former Top 25 prospect who was heading into his age-25 season with two years of club control remaining. For the White Sox, it was a sensible enough roll of the dice to see if they could help Mazara take the next step. Instead, he turned in a career-worst .228/.295/.294 batting line with just one home run and a career-high 29.5 percent strikeout rate through 149 plate appearances last summer. Chicago non-tendered him in the offseason.
Mazara took a chance with his second AL Central club, landing with the Tigers on a one-year, $1.75MM deal late in the offseason. Things have gone a bit better in Detroit than in Chicago, but only by a slight margin. Mazara’s strikeouts are down a bit and he’s shown a little more pop. However, his overall .212/.276/.321 batting line through 181 plate appearances so far simply wasn’t enough for the Tigers to keep giving him at-bats over more controllable players who are hoping to emerge as long-term fits in Detroit.
The Tigers will have a week to trade Mazara, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or place him on release waivers. Mazara has more than five years of service time, so even if he does go through outright waivers without a claim, he can reject an outright assignment to the minor leagues and retain the entirety of his remaining salary. It’s unlikely that another club would claim that salary, given his poor showing at the plate. The likeliest outcome is that Mazara becomes a free agent, whether via unconditional release from the team or via rejecting an outright assignment. At that point, he’d be free to sign elsewhere for only the prorated league minimum. That amount would be subtracted from the roughly $753K the Tigers still owe him through season’s end.
Hill, 25, is a former Tigers first-rounder who has had some sparse big league looks but hasn’t yet had a lengthy audition. He’s hitting .320./.373/.508 in 133 Triple-A plate appearances, however, and he’ll now return to Detroit for his second stint of the 2021 campaign.
The 22-year-old Paredes has been ranked among the Tigers’ better prospects since coming to the Tigers alongside Jeimer Candelario in the 2017 trade that sent Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to the Cubs. He hasn’t hit much in 145 prior MLB plate appearances, but his .261/.357/.412 slash in Triple-A will net him a look over the struggling Castro — another infield prospect who has stumbled to a .214/.278/.341 slash through 280 plate appearances with the big league club so far in 2021.
Expecting the Braves to pick up Mazara.
Scroll down like an inch. They just acquired a left handed corner outfielder.
Why? They seem like they want to try and win.
Expecting you to pay attention.
Badda Bing!
He shoots he scores!
Even if they hadn’t gotten Pederson, Mazara is below replacement-level. The Braves also have talented OF prospects. If they’re not punting on this year, they need to set their sites a whole lot higher than Mazara (Pederson, too, for that matter).
Yeah that’s actually a better point. Wasting at-bats on someone like Mazara instead of getting your prospects some acclimation to the bigs would be a massive waste, especially if you expect to compete in 2022.
Braves are dead, they should give those young guys AB’s and let the cream rise. Joc Pederson is barely even a lateral movement.
SpendNuttinWinNuttin, the only thing dead sir is you from the neck up
I only need the waste down to handle ya girl though
Correct……No more Mazara
Braves are 3.5 games out of first, how does that make any team “dead”?
You have .200-hitter envy? Mazara has been a disaster and the only question is what took the Tigers so long? Hill can hit more than .200, although it remains to be seen how much more, but he plays highlight-reel defense while Mazara is barely passable in the outfield.
But…but…but Mazzara was left handed! Surely the opponents are going to pitch all righties against them now! Lol
Tigers stunk coming into 21, so giving Maria a long leash wasn’t a bad move. But the baby Tigers have gotten hungry and they need to feed them some innings in the show. Time to cut bait and move on.
But the baby Tigers have gotten hungry and they need to feed them some innings in the show.
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Yup. A lot of folks don’t realize how much and how quickly the Tigers have improved. They’re 36-27 over the past 63 games.
Sweeping Tx was a feat….huh?
Avila has a tendency to hang onto bad players too long and trading good players for not
Much and signing free agents nobody wants.
It was a joke, and a dig at the Braves for trading for Pederson.
Why dig at the Braves for acquiring a productive ML OF in exchange for a propect who would never see the Bigs in Atlanta?
Braves get mazara? Why? Deal makes little sense if they want to improve the team. He ends up on a minor league deal somewhere outside of contention.
I was trying to be sarcastic.
Been there; done that.
Don’t!!
*puts on that irritating “I hope you had the time of your life” song*
I know it’s not a spoof of the same song, but now I’ve gut,
“My, my, this here Annakin guy
Maybe Vader someday later
Now he’s just a small fry,”
stuck in my head. Thanks.
Not familiar. Which song does it rip off?
It’s ripped off American Pie by Don McLean
Oh ok that’s obvious to me now that you said it. When I read it I was hearing the Manti Te’o song lol.
It’s not a rip off, it’s a Weird Al Yankovic parody. Yankovic does comedy (very well), but he is arguably one of the accomplished and diverse musicians of the 20th century. Seriously, this guy can sound like a gangsta rapper, Michael Jackson, and a polka player all on the same album. He is also one of the best live shows you will ever see.
An upgrade in Pittsburgh or back to Texas, once they sell off parts? If, it is a big if, he can fix his swing a little, the big park in KC could lend to improvement?
He can’t hit breaking balls. He swings a foot over sliders and curveballs. It is a big “IF” that he will ever learn to recognize pitches and either lay off or swing where the ball will be when it crosses the plate rather than the trajectory when it leaves the pitcher’s hand. If he can’t do it after six partial seasons in the bigs, I doubt he ever will.
Pedro Serrano!
Someone get Nomar a bucket of KFC!
He made jobu mad
@FLOTG (great movie btw) thanks for the insight. I just saw him a little when he was in Texas. I remember a ton of Ks, and gap power. I guess Pedro Serrano is a great comp! LOL
If he swings a foot over breaking balls, he’ll barrel those in Denver.
The Rockies sign him but don’t take him on the road and don’t let him play in the vast outfield at home.
Coming from Pittsburgh, keep him. We have one of these taking up space in Polanco. Rather see them give Gamel the AB’s and use Oliva as a 4th OF.
Difference between him and Polanco is Nomar would be available for the league minimum
I keep hoping that Mazara is going to put it all together and be the star player we all thought he was going to be in Texas. Sadly it seems he’s only gotten worse since leaving Texas, Somebody will likely take a flyer on him for the rest of this year but I couldn’t say who that team would be.
I don’t think that will happen without the kick in the ass off a Minor league reality check.
A lot of people were thinking Willi was an up and coming star coming into the year. As a tribe fan, glad he’s not all he was cracked up to be.
As a tribe fan, you’re probably delighted how Leonys Martin worked out for you in the trade for Castro, aren’t you? Leonys who?
In other words, currently the trade appears to be a wash.
Yep, unfortunately for Al, most of his trades are a wash.
Leonys also had a life-threatening illness just about a week or two after being acquired…
Forgot about that dude. Ya hopefully he’s doing well. I never knew what happened to him but was a stud on Texas
Yeah time to write him off
Given the hit and miss nature of prospects, I’m wondering about the efficacy of trying something out. When they have their draft “combine” with these top prospects, what if they invite any unemployed major league pitchers like Hamels, Porcello, et al as well as any unemployed hitters? That way the prospects get a taste of what it’s like to face major league pitching and / or hitting. Just a thought. I remember a friend who was in the Dodgers system back with Piazza and he got to face Bert Blyleven on a rehab. That was informative for him.
A guy like Cole Hamels, or any other pitcher, probably doesn’t want to pitch to prospects. No win situation for him. If he gets hit hard he looks bad. If he does well, he should do well because he’s an MLB caliber pitcher. Teams want to see pitchers velocities.
Hitters would love it though.
Maybe it would work for a recently retired lesser known player. Someone trying trying to break into coaching or a front office position.
Jed Hoyer has already made a call…. Hey Nomar, I noticed you play outfield and cannot hit lefties… wanna play in Chicago?”
As a Rangers fan, I find Mazaras career to be so weird he came up so young and played well from day 1 then just slowly went down with no explanation no major injury, etc. so weird for a young guy to start consistently good and then consistently just go backwards
The league learns your weakness and then exploits it until you either improve or adjust. Happens all the time, those who can, make it and those that can’t ultimately fill the minor leagues or move on. It’s a pretty harsh reality.
Spot on. An example is Akil Baddoo. He started out hot. Fizzled. Then did a good job of adjusting and is hitting near .300 now.
Pitchers adjust to young hitters and hitters adjust to young pitchers. That’s the way of MLB. It’s why the step from AAA to the majors is the most difficult – in the minors the good young players are being promoted so adjustments aren’t that big a deal. But at the major league level youngsters are playing against veterans that have been paying at that level for years…and they know trick’s the youngsters seldom – if ever – saw in the minor leagues.
In short – although given opportunities, Mazara has never made the necessary adjustments.
Currently the Indians have 2 OF’s like him – Oscar Mercado and Bradley Zimmer – 26 and 28 years-old respectively. Due to excess injuries they’ve brought them up and are giving them yet another chance to show they belong in the major leagues. Both (like Mazara) had good stretches in their past, but the league kept adjusting back after they made adjustments. So we’ll see how that goes. This is what happens to all fringe players, and as with Mazara, at some point the team owning their rights has other youngsters they want to give playing time to.
His good season as a rookie really wasn’t outstanding. I’m not going to pull the stats…but I’d venture they are front loaded in that season. AAAA guy who will get spots because he’s flashed the skills before.
His OPS went up every year until last year’s semi-season.
I’d like the Mets to pick him up on a minor league deal and keep him as insurance in case Conforto walks as a FA in the offseason.
Mazara would also be a free agent this winter.
Not necessarily. Depending on how long he’d spend in the minors (or not on a majors roster), and whether the Mets have him on the 40-man by season’s end, they could still control him through arbitration if he doesn’t clear six years of service time, which looks likely at this point.
You don’t want to give Mazara an arbitration paycheck at this point in his career.
But he’s terrible anyway.
Mets and Phillies and Nats stay far away. Braves got their guy. More Marlins type of player.
No one would. He would likely be a non tender if he wasn’t a free agent. Of course at this point it doesn’t matter because no one is signing Mazara to big money either way. He’ll be a vet minimum guy or be on the next plane to Korea or Japan.
How is a below replacement level player insurance against Conforto? Don’t you want an actually good player for that? C’mon. ( Plus the free agent thing).
You’re right, I guess have still have that Wilpon mindset. Gotta remember Uncle Stevie runs the show now.
As a Rangers fan, I find Mazaras career to be so weird he came up so young and played well from day 1 then just slowly went down with no explanation no major injury, etc.
He should go to the KBO
Or the Mexican league
Long overdue, Mazara simply sucks. He has no business in MLB, he is almost always outmatched at the plate and he can’t field anything but the most routine.
I was at a Pirates game and saw all but a handful of players that should have been in AAA. Some of these teams are outstandingly awful. The Orioles are in KC tonight. That’s barely an MLB game, and robbery to sell tickets for at MLB prices.
Except for the occasional 450+ ft dinger, he’s really bad at hitting
I guess as a White Sox fan, if I ever need to strike up a conversation with a Tigers fan we can commiserate about Nomar Mazara not being particularly good at baseball.
Can we just slam Al Avila instead?
Harold Castro > Willi Castro
Right now, yeah, he’s not looking great, although I think he HAS learned to be a more patient hitter. I see The Tigers giving Willi some more MLB ABs before they give up on him. If he improves in Toledo, he could still get another chance, particularly if Paredes also falters.
Signs with Dodgers and becomes an all star.
LOL
Why not go to the Cubs and replace Yung Joc
Umm Joc is in Atlanta Einstein! SMH
Beats the DFA for his replacement in Chicago.
Beats it in the amount of 6.25 million less that’s wasted on a failed player.
That’s not factoring prospect WS gave up for Mazara.
He’ll get a job for the major league minimum from some team either desperate for help, or going no-where and in sell mode looking to put a warm body out there.
I’m not even sure a Korean or Japanese team would be interested at this point. Maybe the Independent League? 26 is a little too young to be relegated to a barstool talking about what might have been to anyone who will listen.
He’s exactly the type of American cast off that the Korean league loves.
Career minor league player time to go to Japan or Mexico get outta here.
Look here, a major league general manager on baseball rumors website, what a treat, and he’s recommending Mazera leave the states- what team are you so good at judging players that you’re working for?? Maybe you should take your own advise and leave the states!
SMDH
Wut? So you have to be a GM to have an opinion on an opinion site? Pretty stupid take there. Mazara is a pretty bad player. And look! I’m not a GM! And yet I have a logical opinion. Imagine that…. I’ll never understand when people come here to stifle conversation.
Another guy who was released for a very good reason that fans suddenly think will somehow solve a problem for their team. smh.
He doesn’t have to be an every day player to benefit a team!
What a imbecile comment!! SMH
Not good enough to be a bench player. Shake your head all you want. Detroit, a losing team, didn’t think he was good enough, so….
One time OOTP stud. Thank you for service on my virtual teams.
I got a couple 30 hr years from Wladamir Balentien once.
Justin Williams was once the NL MVP for my Rockies team in OOTP.
Honestly want to see St. Louis pick him up, they are in need of a lefty outfielder.
Why? He couldn’t hit a breaking ball if his life depended on it
A good hitting coach can change that!
A good hitting coach and a player willing to change can fix it ..
Hmmm. Perhaps a religion change is in order. I recommend one Jobu doll and a bottle of rum to wake up bat…
Don’t forget the KFC
Aren’t they in need of a GOOD lefty outfielder? Or at least a decent one? How does adding a terrible player improve your team? Makes no sense.
Lazy player with a lot of raw talent, but lacking the attitude necessary to put it all together.
Evidence? Because that’s also a latin player stereotype.
Signed for a record $4.95 M out of the Dominican Republic.
Hits RHp 110 tOPS+ for career. Just 71 vs LHP.
He’s hit well in Seattle, for some odd reason. The only other ballpark he’s ever had above-average production in is no longer being used, though.
About time! Tigers brass must have spent the break trying to move him and found no takers. He recently started to hit the ball to left occasionally, but has shown no power. No glove, no bat, and no speed is not a good combination.
Nomar Mazara is just Spanish for Brennan Boesch
Mazara has fallen off hard since leaving Texas. I’m sure someone will give a chance on a minor league deal (Mets? Indians?) But what happened?
He was never that good in the first place. Never had an OPS+ reach 100. For a corner OFr that’s pretty bad. A poor fielding COF no less. He was never good. For a moment it looked like he might become decent but he never did. He basically is what he’s always been.
I have a theory that players with fun names are given more leash with fans.
He’d be a decent pick-up for any team needing a left handed right fielder (since he can’t play center or left field worth a da*n!
Or even a team that currently has a right handed right fielder to give the every day right fielder a day off here and there or even a power hitting pinch hitter off the bench..especially with little risk salary-wise!
Have you ever considered using periods every once in a while? Just a thought!
Guy has accumulated 1 WAR in 629 career games. Just got released by a losing team. He’s not helping anyone win.
By being cut, he might have just helped the Tigers win one more game in the second half!
I can’t imagine any team will want Mazara. He may have to go over to Korea or something and try to revitalize that swing, get some more power. Dude just can’t hit right now. Almost impressive how bad he looked.
Looks like some Trash the cardinals will pick up and call a strong LH bat.
Wouldn’t mind the Yankees taking a chance on Mazara.
Mazara is only 26 , someone will take a chance.
Yanks?
No more Nomar.
I have grown to be disappointed with Al Avila. However, it seems his front office is improving quickly. I’m happy with no more JaCoby Jones and no more Nomar Mazara.
I was born that way.
long overdue move.
Not gonna lie. I’m kind of hoping I read a similar article about Kellenic 5 years from now just so I stop hearing about how much folks hate BVW.
It won’t change a thing. Was a bad trade for so many reasons.
If they have the roster space it would be worth a look for the rebuilding Cubs. You don’t have to care about his production
I got TB picking him up and we will see tons of highlights of him smashing.
Orioles- because why not?
The Braves sign him, send him to triple A to convert to a relief pitcher for 2023. Hey, AA is a genius remember.
Marlins!
Wouldnt count out the bronx, if he could ever get his butt in gear. He would be lethal with that short right field porch.
Oh I can see Cashman taking him. Basically no money and bats left handed. I don’t know if he will hit the ball but bats left handed.
Just as a reminder, Texas promoted Mazzara, Odor, and Profar, at incredibly young ages (19, 20, 20 IIRC). In a league where you don’t hit your prime until 27-28, promoting kids that young is insane. It stunts their growth, and the best you can do is to mold them into solid players, only to have them become a FA at age 26.
Wow -if only Vlad Jr’s growth was not stunted by being called up at 20.
MarkoRock68
Wow -if only Vlad Jr’s growth was not stunted by being called up at 20.
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Excellent example. Ask a TO fan if they want his age 20 & 21 seasons, with an OPS of .778, or two more seasons of his current year 1.095.
Sure and lose those 2 yrs totally when the union files a winnable grievance. Care to try again?
Yeah, that happens so oft…oh wait.
Winnable grievance? There is no rule saying when you have to promote a player. No way he’d have a case at 20 years old. Holding him back would’ve been totally reasonable and, again, breaks no rules whatsoever in any case.
Sure keep the #1 prospect in baseball down in triple A for all of 2019 and promote Biggio/Bichette /Gurriel/Hernandez would not have lead to a grievance.
Again, grievance? Upon what aspect of the contract? And if the grievance were won (there’s no legal basis for it to be) it would open the door for player promotion to be dictated by lawyers. Is that good for the game? I agree, good young players should be promoted quickly, but A. that would have to be in some sort of previous existing agreement to be enforced (no such literal agreement exists) and B. How would you enforce it without completely taking these decisions away from the team? And who do you demote in order to call said young player up? What if, in turn, THEY file a grievance? I’m not saying you’re wrong in principle, but a legal avenue must exist and would creating that avenue cause more harm than good? Is completely removing a teams discretion in who to promote when a good or bad thing?
MarkoRock68
would not have lead to a grievance.
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Just for fun, let me know how many grievances the players have won over not getting promoted young enough? They threaten it often enough, but know they cannot win.
Joe
Maybe because MLB has not and never will follow your edict that it is “Insane” to call up any 19-20-21 year old. Sure it is not smart to rush young players but to make a blanket statement like you did is false.
Your comment about Vladdy and what would fans rather have his age 20-21 seasons or his 27-28 is nonsensical.
1- Would ruin the relationship with the player and any chance of locking him up long term .
2- Would most definitely lead to issue with the union.
3-Fans would riot.
Keeping a star player down for a few weeks to gain a year of control is one thing, to keep him done 2 years to gain more of his prime is another.
Cosmos
Have teams suppressing service time for a couple years for no other legitimate reason then gain control of his “prime” years at a discounted rate will lead to labor strive /grievance in a major way. To think otherwise is naïve.
I don’t disagree entirely, but I have a serious problem with teams bringing up kids prematurely. Just look at the 3 Texas guys I mentioned that kicked off the discussion.
Mazara- He was 20.350. He had 93 ABs in AAA, with 2 HRs and an 11/6 K/W. What is the point of promoting him? All you are doing is using major league service time to teach him that stuff that he should’ve been learning in AAA. It’s different if you are 24, and your developmental phase is about finished. He should’ve been forced to conquer AAA before being promoted.
When Profar first got promoted, he had no AAA experience, though his promotion was probably meaningless. Then he hit 4 HRs in 144 AAA ABs. And that was in the PCL. That’s nothing special.
Same thing with Odor. When he got promoted, he had -0- AAA ABs. Further, he had a 22/7 K/W in AA. When you have a 22/7 K/W, and get promoted two levels, you wind up with a 71/17 K/W.
In some cases, I understand it. Bogaerts got promoted before he was ready, but the RS were in a pennant race, and had no reasonable alternative. But Texas had the worst record in the league. And promoted a kid that was not ready.
Why?
I agree that it makes little sense for some but it has to be a case by case basis. Kirk with the Jays last year. Jays needed production out of the catcher position. Kirk had last played in A-ball.
He came up and raked ,started this year with the MLB team in a slump, was just coming out of it when he got hurt. He’s back to raking at AAA now and likely to be called up with Jansen’s injury.
Mazara will either find his footing next year in a low pressure situation like the Marlins or more likely will start hitting 40-50hr a year in Korea. He will then make his return to MLB in 4-5 years as a 1B/DH type.
Yeah sure has hurt that Trout guys career as well. I bet Harper could have definitely have gotten a $300 million dollar contract had he stayed in the minors 2-3 years longer. Oh wait. Profar’s career was stunted because of all of the injuries. So he shouldn’t be included either.
You are missing the point, and actually got it entirely backwards. It doesn’t the player; it helps the player. It hurts the team. Would you rather have Trout’s elite production of .948 OPS (OPS+ 0f 166, at age 19-21, or the 1.081 OPS (188 OPS+) that he had from ages 25-27?
And while it is good to out the couple that do succeed, it is important to remember those that didn’t. Do you remember the articles from earlier this year, and the fuss make over Kelenic not being promoted. Since his early one-game hot streak, his OPS is .279. Since his most recent promotion, his OPS is .300, with a 9/0 K/W.
You can check out Adell as well, if you want, but you’ll see the same thing. And I am not saying these guys can’t play, but you are almost always better off retaining your guys thru their age 28 season.
Acuna and Tatis Jr. are within 48 months of being doomed to KBL hangers-on status. Didn’t realize that until just this minute. Thank you for setting us straight, JoeB, and freeing from being deluded by what our lying eyes see.
JoeBrady unless you are Juan Soto,Ronald Acuña Jr or Fernando Tatis Jr.
Occasionally, someone will come along fully formed at age 20. But it is rare.
And it is still worth noting that all three of the players you mentioned, are hitting better now than when they were 19/20/21. Age matters.
He actually had improved his ops each year until his horrid 2020. Probably an NPB or KBO target if the Kia Tigers are fed up with trying to get Preston Tucker to hit. That said, Tucker is better than Mazara In my opinion. Orix could do better than another former Tiger named Steven Moya. Chunichi could also replace Mike Gerber with Mazara.
Where is Wilken Ramirez these days? I thought he was 2x the player Moya was.
AJ Preller +Nomar Mazara -Jorge Mateo = done deal.
Kinda seems like they are both a waste of a roster spot for the padres current needs.
KBO candidate
NOMAR future with the Tigers !!
Mazara will either find his footing next year in a low pressure situation like the Marlins or more likely will start hitting 40-50hr a year in Korea. He will then make his return to MLB in 4-5 years as a 1B/DH type.
What’s less pressure than the Tigers right now?
7 in a row today, Tigers making a bid at playing 500 ball lol.
Cubbies
As ugly as the Yankees outfield production outside of Judge has been, this worthless chump whose power potential is incredibly overrated will not help, except for adding additional strikeouts on garbage pitches outside the zone.