The Blue Jays announced that they have claimed catcher Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Red Sox. Boston had designated him for assignment a few days ago. Catcher Brian Serven has been designated for assignment by the Jays in a corresponding move.
Heineman, 33, clearly has some fans in the Toronto front office as this is his third stint with the club. He signed a minor league deal with the Jays going into 2022 and added to the club’s roster early that year, though he went to the Pirates on waivers in May of that season. In April of 2023, the Bucs designated Heineman for assignment and flipped him to the Jays for utility player Vinny Capra. That stint lasted until December of last year, when the Jays put him on waivers and lost him to the Mets.
The Mets later designated Heineman for assignment in January and flipped him to the Red Sox for cash. Heineman has served as an up-and-down depth catcher for the Sox this year, but perhaps became expendable by Boston acquiring Danny Jansen to bolster their catching depth, the same deal that opened some playing time behind the plate in Toronto.
Heineman has bounced around quite a bit in his career, never securing more than part-time work. He has appeared in five big league seasons but has just 286 plate appearances in 106 games over those. He has a combined batting line of .216/.297/.280 for a wRC+ of 66.
That’s not amazing production but his defense tends to be strong. Each of Statcast and Baseball Prospectus have given him positive grades for his framing, blocking and throwing. FanGraphs also grades him as a plus framer and lists a tally of six Defensive Runs Saved in his career.
It’s also possible that there’s a bit more in his bat, based on his numbers on the farm. From 2019 to the present, he’s hit .279/.372/.432 in the minors for a 107 wRC+, walking 11.3% of the time and striking out in just 17% of his plate appearances. That includes 51 games for Triple-A Worcester this year with Heineman posting a 14.1% walk rate, 16.1% strikeout rate, .252/.379/.403 batting line and 111 wRC+.
Perhaps the Jays see a path to Heineman providing plus defense and at least some adequate offense in the majors. He will finish this season with less than three years of service time, meaning the Jays can theoretically control him for four more years if he carves out a role as backup to Alejandro Kirk. However, Heineman will be out of options next year and will therefore be harder to keep on the roster.
To make room for Heineman, the Jays are risking losing Serven. He has appeared in 28 games for the Jays this year, mostly after the aforementioned Jansen trade opened up playing time alongside Kirk. Serven’s defensive metrics are roughly league average for the most part, but he has struck out in 31% of his plate appearances, leading to a line of .159/.243/.222 and a 38 wRC+. When combined with his earlier time with the Rockies, he has now slashed .187/.247/.293 in 299 big league plate appearances for a 43 wRC+.
The Jays will put him on waivers in the coming days. It’s possible he could attract interest based on his minor league numbers. He has hit .243/.325/.435 for an 87 wRC+ dating back to 2021. That includes a .265/.390/.379 line and 111 wRC+ in 40 Triple-A games this year. He still has one option season remaining after this one and less than two years of service time.
Yeah curious about this one, has to do something with fit because I thought he had a part in Bowden Francis’ success.
Ya that was my first thought as well seems odd they must know no one wants him
something about this doesn’t seem right. you’re right, a lot of the credit for Francis’ recent success seems to stem from having him as his catcher.
Yeah…my thoughts exactly. It must have something to do with Atkins backasswards anal-itics…that has no gut check for chemistry between players. Let’s see how Francis’ next outing is.
Nothing wrong with either catcher…but there’s only a hand full of games left…so why spend extra money? Argh!
No doubt. Francis went from Longman to pitching 2 no hitters into the 9th and 2 past the 5th inning (the 6th and 7th I believe) in his last 6 games while only giving up 2 or 3 hits. Anyone can have a great string of games or finally find what works but not this crazy and IMO it’s directly caused by serven. Plus with the Jays not making the playoffs and in the bottom 10 league wide, wouldn’t a smart GM think let’s get the highest draft pick we can now? Not let’s get an extra hit here or there, especially at the expense of what Bowden’s been doing. I mean I want Atkins gone anyway but man this baffles me beyond belief. At least Atkins made good trades and signings overall as none of those moves ever caused real problems but his drafting/ drafting staff are beyond putrid.
Swapping out one backup Catcher that can’t hit with another, older backup Catcher that can’t hit…
Didn’t understand why Jansen over mcQuire either. neither really worth anything. McQuire can frame pitches, half way hit on occasion. Jansen half way defense, useless bat. 1 of those made -0- sense moves the Sox FO has been at all year.
McGuire can also get excited in the parking lot.
johnsilver
Didn’t understand why Jansen over mcQuire either
==============================
Two things:
1-Jansen is easily twice the catcher that McGuire is. In the three years prior to 2024, Jansen has a 5.0 bWAR/650, while McGuire has a 0.8 bWAR/650. And I like Mcguire, but it is not close.
2-Jansen is a righty, and we lacked righty bats.
Joe- Wong is RH also, any kind of C would think wanted a lefty, not another guy sitting on the bench who can’t hit.
I understand neither Wong, nor mcQuire were good at like blocking balls in the dirt, but neither are/were Saltalamachia poor at it and Wong can hit from the RH side. it was just a poor decision bringing in jansen, who at this point of his career is a backup on some team that has a lefty for their regular.
Why? Just why?
I really don’t see this being an improvement over Serven in any way.
Remember when the Jays were stacked at catcher with Jansen, Moreno and Kirk? Now they got nothing. Ok, so Kirk is still with the team….but that’s about the best you can say. Wouldn’t Moreno look good behind the plate? Great job Atkins.
In the long list of misery and failures of Atkins, the Moreno trade really isn’t near the top.
Both Jansen and Kirk have taken massive steps back at the plate, and outside of the playoff run, Moreno hasn’t proven himself to be anything more than an average hitter. Don’t get me wrong, there is value when coupled with his D, but jays didn’t trade buster Posey
Moreno has a 6.4 bWAR with AZ while Varsho has an 8.8. I didn’t like the trade for TO since it feels like Varsho gets his value diminished by moving a GG to LF. But the trade made 100% given the other catchers on the team.
This was pretty much a no-brainer.
this is a nothing burger transaction. but what a message to francis.
And the beat goes on… La di da di da
If Francis cant handle a different catcher then he isn’t for real
I think it’s less about Francis needing Serven and more about Serven having showed a knack for game management and reading swings in game. Not a bad skill to have for a third catcher.
The source of Bowden’s success isn’t his catcher, it is his mentality. Any good catcher will know how to manage that. It also helps that I’ve been screaming my lungs off at Jays games (specifically his) I plan on bringing a petition to fire Atkins next game. See you on the Porch.