The Rays designated first baseman Mike Ford for assignment. The move opened up a 40-man roster spot for righty David Hess, whose contract was selected earlier today.
Tampa Bay acquired Ford in a trade with the Yankees back in June, and Ford could now potentially move on (via trade or waiver claim) without ever appearing in a big league game in a Rays uniform. Ford has done his part to attract attention, hitting .243/.346/.529 with 11 home runs over 162 PA with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate. He also played a few games at third base, adding some defensive versatility to his resume after spending the large majority of his career as a first base-only type.
Ford broke into the majors in impressive fashion in 2019, hitting .259/.350/.559 with 12 homers over his first 163 PA in the Show. Since the start of the 2020 season, however, Ford has only a .526 OPS over 156 PA at the MLB level, all with New York.
Between Ford’s strong minor league numbers, his left-handed power potential, and the fact that he is controlled through the 2025 season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another team take a flier on a waiver claim. The Blue Jays could be a speculative team to watch, as they reportedly had interest in Ford before the Yankees moved him to Tampa.
The Blue Jays need left-handed hitting 1B depth, especially after trading Tellez to Milwaukee. I can see them acquiring him as AAA insurance.
The problem with Mike Ford is that he sucks big time against right handed pitching. People including Aaron Boone don’t seem to understand that you can’t use him in a traditional platoon role because his splits are so ass backwards. In his career he slugs .367 vs righties and .667 vs lefties but the entire baseball world completely ignores that and tries to force him into the traditional platoon role.
I would like to see Ford catch on somewhere.
What the truck
Have you demoted a Ford, lately?
Wishing Mike Ford a continued MLB career. He was a really good guy with The Yankees and loved at Princeton
yeah, all things considered he’s overachieved for an Ivy guy who was a UDFA.
Red Sox might as well claim him…
Does he get past Baltimore? That’s a lot of control for them to work with.
Why would anyone bring up Hess and his 6.05 ERA and 6-22 record??
Maybe because there are better performance indicators than ERA & W-L. Ever seen how well the Rays polish turds into diamonds?? I’m guessing they base their decisions off of WAR, FIP, GB%, BABIP, and some other advance metrics…
Also, TB has 86 pitchers on the IL
Boston might as well pick him up so they can have 6 guys that can rotate in at 1st. I mean why the heck not at this point.
Ford needs to go somewhere with very little pressure and less demanding. Maybe KC, Texas, or Pittsburgh.
Pressure isn’t his problem, continuing to be thrown out there vs right handed pitching and sitting vs left handed pitching despite his career slugging percentage being 300 points higher against lefties is his problem.
Bloom prefers to limit his claims to guys below the mendoza line with negative WAR.
Ford being a .150 hitter is tough. I don’t anyone who has driven in Ford lately.