March 11: The Rangers announced they’re getting right-hander Ricky DeVito from the Pirates as the player to be named later. DeVito, 24, was acquired from Atlanta in the Richard Rodriguez deal, and worked to a 5.40 ERA across 70 innings at High-A last season (six starts, 29 relief appearances).
March 8: The Rangers announced Wednesday that they’ve traded infielder/outfielder Mark Mathias to the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named later. Texas designated Mathias for assignment over the weekend in order to open a 40-man roster spot for newly signed reliever Will Smith. The Pirates announced that righty Max Kranick, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery, has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Mathias, 28, comes to the Pirates with a minor league option and five years of team control remaining. He’s seen action in part of two big league seasons — 2020 with the Brewers and 2022 with Milwaukee and Texas. He’s logged just 127 plate appearances in that time but carries a solid .256/.307/.462 batting line (114 wRC+) with six homers, six doubles, a 7.1% walk rate and a more troubling 29.1% strikeout rate.
Mathias lost the entire 2021 season to a torn labrum that required shoulder surgery. It was the second shoulder surgery for Mathias, who also had a procedure performed back in his college days. He returned to post a huge .318/.421/.518 batting line in 50 Triple-A games with the Brewers in 2022. Milwaukee also carried him on the big league roster for six games, but Mathias was traded to Texas prior to the deadline in the deal that sent righty Matt Bush to the Brewers.
The versatile Mathias could crack the Pirates’ Opening Day roster in a bench role, though his remaining minor league option means he’s not a lock to do so. Still, he’s played all four infield positions and all three outfield spots in his professional career, albeit with just one lone inning in center field with the Brewers in 2020. He’s moved around the diamond consistently in the Majors, with no more than 51 innings played at any single position (despite a total of 292 defensive innings under his belt).
While he’s never been regarded as a plus defender at any position, Mathias can play pretty much anywhere. He doesn’t have huge power, but he’s a career .286/.377/.466 hitter in 715 Triple-A plate appearances and has stacked up 21 homers, 41 doubles, three triples and 26 steals (in 31 attempts) in 173 total games at that level.
Second base has been Mathias’ most frequent position in the minors, and that happens to be the Pirates’ least-settled spot in the lineup, so he’s a particularly sensible add for Pittsburgh at a low cost of acquisition. He’ll compete with Rodolfo Castro, Ji Hwan Bae and Nick Gonzales for playing time there throughout the remainder of camp.
Santana, Choi, Andujar, Joe, McCutchen, and now Mathias? Pirates need to stop getting DH’s.
Phillies made it to the world series with a lineup of DH’s.
For a rebuilding club it’s not an ideal strategy.
No field no win
I mean they could just be trying to see if one of those guys can hit decent enough to get them something at the deadline… so it’s not a bad strategy
David Ortiz says “hello”.
Without guaranteeing any one outcome, do I really need to tell you that back injuries get worse with age.? Or that WAR is a highly subjective measure of player’s value, since there are two separate measures? Or that top prospects have a high rate of failure?
Like it or not Hayes is coming off two consecutive years and Bae and Gonzales have a grand total of 33 major league ABs. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Pittsburgh needed an insurance policy. Talent and potential aren’t not a hedge against injuries.
WAR isn’t “highly subjective” just because two competing publications use different metrics to calculate it.
For WAR to be subjective it would have to be based on feelings or whims than raw data and a clearly defined equation.
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce this year’s version of John Van Meter, the super utility failure
You mean Josh van meter? John is his intellectually disabled cousin.
None of those guys are DH. They can all play somewhere decent enough. Santana and Choi are actually solid 1b defensively and neither one of them is likely to be back next year. Might not be there after July.
This could be a great opportunity for Mathias to thrive with regular at bats, but it’s true that pirates currently have several similar players. I liked him when he was in Milwaukee and hope he does well.
A bunch of 700 ops guys at best. Many with limited team control who will be traded if the are hitting. If you hit well enough any team will find abs for you.
No harm in adding another guy to the competition for a super utility man. He can play adequately just about anywhere. He’s a decent hitter. He’ll be battling with Castro, Bae, Marcano, Owings and maybe others for a bench role. Castro is probably in the lead for the 2B job, but super utility is still up for grabs, it would appear.
Bryan Reynolds???
lol
Reynolds could end up being a player to be later named if he ends up hitting .100/.125/.150 over half a season. Wishful thinking, but who knows?
I am quite certain he won’t bat .100 over 81 games
Another excellent post deGrom.
Degrom is truly the most insightful poster we have here on MLBTR.
Mathias could a that late bloomer…..
No need to worry about a logjam of similar players. They simply had a open 40 man spot and snagged the 1st dfa they liked who has the bonus of a option. Mathias will be dfa as well if a better player hits the waiver wire.
A nice find on the waiver wire. Guys who crush the ball and had some mlb success don’t end up there often.
I’ll be reminding you about this when he’s hitting at the Mendoza Line in July. Another of Cherington’s mystery signings that I’d hoped we were done with
Again, you have this much group of kids and one won’t be on the roster thanks to deadwood.
Remind me of what? I didn’t say he would be great, good or even average. They had a free roster spot and added someone. If he doesn’t amount to anything they will dfa him when hos roster spot is needed. It’s a can’t lose move.
That was the point. This is another case of the mystery “free roster spot”. I know you haven’t been watching spring games and understand the logic. But in this situation you have a number of players battling to be on the big team
I’m at a loss as to where the “free roster spot” is on the Pirates MLB team let alone their 40 man
It’s just funny to me
They bandied about with terms like “competitive” and “improved” and say that another poor season is “unacceptable”
And yet, they have castoffs like Joe and this guy in the mix.
Maybe it’s just more “veteran leadership” coming into the clubhouse.
I wanted to get him in the past but i don’t remember why. Probably had something to do with trade theory crafting. Seems like a good diamond in the rough candidate
Anybody know what nationality Mathias is? I know he’s half Asian, just not sure from where.
Can he play 3B to spell Hayes?
I think when they said he can play anywhere, just not above average, they meant anywhere on the Diamond except likely catcher. He can play all outfield, though CF would probably still be a last resort, and 2B is his most frequent position, but I believe he can play all IF positions, just isn’t likely to wow you in any capacity, but probably still capable enough to spell anyone where needed. For all the people hating on the pickup, it’s a very low cost yet versatile one.
Better ? Can he play 3b better than Castro Triolo Marcano? And or out hit them.
@ your dream GM You can never have too many options at each positions. Especially 3B in concerns of the Pirates fall back option to Hayes
If he isn’t better than the other options they can find someone on waivers to play 3b.
Exactly. It was another VanMeter-style signing by the brain trust. Let the kids play, make mistakes and mature. Why bring more deadwood aboard?
@YourDreamGM I am not saying he takes a spot for a young guy. Options are just options and you can never have too many options. Having 3-4 backup plans in case of injury to multiple players, is a great plan to have. Relying on 1 or 2 players to cover a position, didn’t workout well for the 2001 Pittsburgh Pirates. Depth options are a good thing and doesn’t stud the growth of younger players. If you don’t know the 2001 Pirates, look them up and that roster at the start of the season. On paper, playoff team. In the system, a disaster
Pretty shrewd move. Hayes and Castro, though talented, both come with red flags and Marcano alone isn’t sufficient infield depth.
Hayes’s only real flag is his health but worked out not the worst in 2022.
His bat is projected to come around with adding some pop. should be an average offensive threat. Hopefully that comes sooner than later. His defense will keep him on the field unless he gets stuck below the Mendoza line. Even with a 87 wRC+ he still was worth 3fWAR..
But if the offensive line up isn’t producing kinda hard to carry someone in the lineup who isn’t hitting at all.
TL;DR: i’m not worried about Hayes hitting well or not he should be in the positive value.
The have Bae Triolo Peguero Gonzales and a few aaaa guys. Also their favorite the waiver wire. 2020 2021 2022 they weren’t worried about sufficient depth so we will see if it is a concern this year. Seems 2023 is the year to see what prospects make the cut.
Regardless of how you feel about Hayes’ development he has an injury history and back problems tend to get worse with age. Players that start all 162 games are becoming increasingly rare. Those reasons alone are enough to acquire a backup like Mathias that can deliver anything above replacement level results.
I could go on and on about the high rate of failure of prospects and the totally subjective nature of wins above replacement. Point is, optimism about Hayes is no excuse not to acquire an insurance policy.
not toooo worried about injuries
2015 56 games after being drafted
2016 67 games
2017 108 games
2018 117 games
2019 113 games
2020 24 games
2021 96 games
2022 136 games
Most of his injury time at the MLB was due to wrist/hand issues. 10day DL for what seems like minor back issue. those back muscle issues can often be managed by change in routine.. worked pretty well for me but i’m not a pro athlete either
I’m not overly worried about it, but yeah having Mathias gives another option to go with the handful of pretty decent prospects. Only trick is if there is going to be room to put people after spring.
No worse than a depth move, optimistically a sleeper pickup. “Sensible add” as noted…
There’s flashes of power. If he can slug .500 or better who cares about his fielding.
His fielding does not matter.
I think they are looking at him because he bats right handed (and has an option left), When you are carrying a Back-Up 1B/DH, Choi, that only leaves 3 spots—excluding the back up Catcher. (1) probably goes to Matthias/Owings. (2) probably goes to Conner Joe (possibly platooning with Suwinski). (3) Bae/Marcano? It’s not about who’s best. They will want their best options playing every day at AAA instead of sitting on the bench in Pittsburgh, After the 1st month, it will be different. I’m hoping for Swaggerty-CF, and Bae-2B to step up and show that they deserve to be regulars (don’t want them up if they are not playing). Also, have to keep an eye on Triolo.
Having watched a number of games this spring, I agree with your thinking here although, I have no idea what they see in Joe and really, why they felt the need to sign this guy
Seems to be a Pirate tradition every spring—bring in a castoff or two
Why don’t they give Gonzales a chance. They drafted him as a number one pick for a reason. Or was this another wasted pick?
he will get some time this year if he is healthy. he hasn’t played “much” minor league ball yet.
It sounds like they got some no name guy Ricky Devito for him. Hardly anything
DeVito has a nasty splitter. If he can figure out how to command his mid-nineties heater then he’s gonna have a solid handful of years in the big leagues as a 7th inning type guy. As a Pirates fan I’d rather have DeVito’s potential over Mathias’ profile as a power bat with defensive versatility that has strikeout issues and is passable at many positions but not particularly good at any.
I just liked his numbers in the minors and majors last season, and Mathias is more valuable with Leody Taveras injured. I thought they should have DFA’d John King, Taylor Hearn, or some other MLB guy to make room for Will Smith. As much as I loved the bargain signing and the fact they managed to get a trade for him instead of having to waive him for free, it’s not what I had hoped for. I have heard his splitter is good, but who knows how those guys turn out?
DeVito has a nice arm. If they liked their odds of teaching him control they would have kept him. The Braves know pitching light years better than the Pirates and if they thought he was likely something they wouldn’t have traded him for Rodriguez. A reliever that needs to repeat a ball again. Of Texas develops him it will be impressive.
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They should have just asked for cash so they could sign Britton instead of getting to waste a roster spot on their single A team.
Swaggerty, Mitchell, Smith-Njigba and Gonzalez have all had good springs so far. I’ll beat the dead horse here and say it again, there was no need to bring this guy in, whether it’s for the MLB or 40 man roster.
Could have protected Blake Sabol in the Rule V, but now you are dumpster diving. Then again, every Pirates fan who follows their prospects knows that.
Who would you have dfa to make room for sabol? Odds are Sabol doesn’t pan out in SF but we will see.
Doubt Sabol stays the whole year on San Fran’s MLB roster but I also assume the teams work out a small trade instead of giving him back. On the position player side the biggest thing for the Bucs this year are for any OF to claim a starting gig (my preference is Swaggerty since it’s a lot easier to get a corner OF than a CF), Cruz to refine his approach at the plate to better utilize his tools and the Endy/Davis combo to stay healthy.