Jeff Mathis Hopes To Continue Playing In 2021
Veteran catcher Jeff Mathis hopes to play in what would be a 17th Major League season next year, tweets T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. The 37-year-old Mathis is wrapping up a two-year deal with the Rangers right now, and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram explored the reasons that Texas might look into bringing Mathis back despite his lack of production at the plate.
Mathis hasn’t hit a lick in Texas, nor was he really expected to. The Rangers signed him to a two-year, $6.25MM deal on the heels of a .207/.274/.297 showing at the plate in two seasons with the Diamondbacks. He’s gone on to put together an even less-palatable .160/.215/.244 output in 297 plate appearances as a Ranger. Mathis was signed entirely for his glove and the experience that he can bestow upon younger catchers and pitchers alike.
He hasn’t matched the defensive and framing numbers he put forth in his D-backs run this time around, but Mathis is still generally regarded as a defensive savant and, as Wilson writes, is the preferred receiver for right-handers Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson. Wilson adds that Jose Trevino — the likely starter in 2021 with Sam Huff expected to open in Double-A or Triple-A — “loves” Mathis and has learned quite a bit under his tutelage. Manager Chris Woodward called Mathis’ knowledge and mentorship “invaluable.”
The question for the Rangers, of course, is whether they’ll aim a bit higher in looking for catching help this winter. The free-agent market will have defensively sound alternatives who can offer more at the plate than Mathis. Granted, J.T. Realmuto probably isn’t heading to Arlington, but the Rangers could look at quality defenders like Jason Castro or Mike Zunino who offer more ability with the bat.
That said, the Rangers are already leaning toward a youth movement and taking a longer-term focus. That mentality comes with a payroll reduction and lowered expectations in the win column. It’s tougher to entice free agents to sign with a team when the president of baseball operations is on the record having recently called 2022 and beyond “probably the more likely window for us” while plainly acknowledging that the team’s payroll will decrease. Mathis, on the other hand, has already expressed a willingness to discuss a return in a similarly limited role for the 2021 season, Sullivan notes.
There’s no guarantee that Mathis will be back with the Rangers or any other club next season. He hasn’t hit better than .200 in a season since 2017, and his perennially high strikeout rate has spiked to a career-worst 35.8 percent with the Rangers. The lack of offensive value is glaring, even if clubs still love the glove and the intangibles he can bring to a young team. But Mathis sounds like a man who plans to be a baseball lifer one way or another, telling Wilson, “Baseball’s all I know” and expressing interest in one day becoming a coach.
If offers as a player don’t materialize this winter, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rangers or any number of other clubs express interest in bringing Mathis aboard in a coaching or player development capacity. He’s played with the Angels, Blue Jays, Marlins, D-backs and Rangers across nearly two decades in the big leagues, making countless connections along the way that are now scattered throughout an even wider slate of organizations.
Ubaldo Jimenez Retires
Former major league right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez is calling it a career at the age of 36, Bob Nightengale of USA Today relays.
Jimenez began his big league tenure with the Rockies in 2006 and, despite calling the hitter-friendly Coors Field his home, eventually became one of the league’s top hurlers. At his best, Jimenez pitched to a 2.88 ERA across 221 2/3 innings in 2010, a year in which he threw a no-hitter. That was the second straight 200-inning season and the lone All-Star campaign for Jimenez, whom the Rockies traded to the Indians in July 2011.
The Jimenez acquisition didn’t work out as planned for the Indians, with whom he tossed 424 2/3 innings of 4.45 ERA ball through 2013. Jimenez still scored a four-year, $50MM guarantee from the Orioles during the ensuing offseason, but that deal didn’t give the O’s the value they wanted when they signed him. While Jimenez did eat up 594 1/3 frames with Baltimore, he only managed a 5.22 ERA as a member of the team.
The Orioles will end up as the last major league team for Jimenez, who hasn’t pitched in the bigs since he took the hill for them on Sept. 22, 2017. Jimenez has since tried to keep his MLB career going, including via a non-guaranteed deal with the Rockies this past offseason, but he’ll now hang it up as the owner of a 4.34 ERA with 8.28 K/9, 4.08 BB/9 and a 47.1 percent groundball rate in 1,870 innings and 329 appearances (315 starts). MLBTR congratulates Jimenez on a very respectable career and wishes him well in retirement.
Rangers’ Luis Garcia Becomes Free Agent
The Rangers have granted right-hander Luis Garcia free agency, per a team announcement. The club previously designated Garcia for assignment on Tuesday, but the reliever subsequently cleared waivers.
Garcia will head back to the open market eight months after signing a minor league contract with the Rangers in January. The 33-year-old wound up throwing 8 1/3 innings with Texas this season and surrendering nine runs (seven earned) on 10 hits and nine walks, though he did strike out 11 hitters along the way.
This will count as the third straight subpar season for Garcia, who has also spent time with the Phillies and Angels, but he has mostly posted respectable numbers in the majors. Since he debuted with Philadelphia in 2013, Garcia has logged a 4.26 ERA/4.32 FIP with 8.31 K/9, 4.77 BB/9 and a 55.1 percent groundball rate. Garcia has also averaged 96.2 mph on his fastball during his time in the bigs.
Orioles Designate Asher Wojciechowski For Assignment
6:34pm: Zimmermann’s up, the Orioles announced.
11:44am: The Orioles have designated right-hander Asher Wojciechowski for assignment, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (via Twitter). The team announced the move shortly thereafter, adding that righties Branden Kline and Evan Phillips are up for Game 1 of today’s doubleheader. Phillips is listed as the 29th man for the day.
It seems Wojciechowski’s 40-man roster spot will go to lefty Bruce Zimmermann. Kubatko tweets that Zimmermann is with the team, and MLB.com’s Joe Trezza reported last night that Zimmermann was being considered for his MLB debut on Thursday. The Orioles have since announced Zimmerman as the “probable” starter for the second game of today’s twin bill, so a move to formally add him to he roster will be made between the two games.
Acquired from the Indians in exchange for cash last July, Wojciechowski first looked to be a depth option to make a spot start or two but instead wound up holding down a spot on the pitching staff for more than a year. The 31-year-old appeared in 27 games for the O’s — 23 of them starts — and posted a 5.51 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 30.2 percent grounder rate through 119 2/3 innings28. Wojciechowski’s K/BB numbers and swinging-strike rate were solid, but he proved far too susceptible to the long ball, surrendering 28 dingers in that time for an average of 2.11 per nine frames.
The 25-year-old Zimmermann was a fifth-round pick of the Braves back in 2017 but was traded to his hometown Orioles a year later in the deal that sent Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day to Atlanta. He ranks as Baltimore’s No. 19 prospect on Baseball America’s midseason update and currently sits 25th on FanGraphs’ latest rankings of a much-improved Baltimore farm system. Both BA and FanGraphs list him as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter. Zimmermann sits 90-93 mph with his heater and has three secondary offerings, with his slider considered the best of the bunch.
Zimmermann split the 2019 season between Double-A and Triple-A, pitching to a combined 3.21 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.77 HR/9 and a 41.9 percent ground-ball rate. He’s not the highest-upside arm in the Orioles’ system — far from it — but Zimmermann still has a chance to either pitch at the back of the rotation or out of the bullpen for a good while in Baltimore. The team will control him through at least the 2026 season, though future optional assignments could push back his potential to reach free agency.
Nationals Place Adam Eaton On 10-Day IL
The Nationals announced that they have placed outfielder Adam Eaton on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left index finger. They reinstated infielder Brock Holt from the paternity list in a corresponding move.
With the Nationals at 18-29 and in no position to defend their 2019 World Series championship, this injury will end the season for Eaton. The 31-year-old batted a career-worst .226/.285/.384 with four home runs and three stolen bases over 176 plate appearances in 2020.
It’s now possible Eaton has played his final game as a National, as they’ll have to decide whether to pick up a $10.5MM club option or buy him out for $1.5MM in the offseason. In the wake of his output this season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Nats move on from Eaton (at least at his current cost) and save $9MM. They originally acquired Eaton from the White Sox in December 2016 for right-handers Lucas Giolito, Dane Dunning and Reynaldo Lopez. While Eaton has been fairly productive for Washington, Chicago’s surely thrilled with its part of the deal.
Phillies Outright Ronald Torreyes
SEPT. 17: Torreyes cleared waivers and was outrighted to Lehigh Valley, the Phillies announced.
SEPT. 15: The Phillies have designated infielder Ronald Torreyes for assignment, per a team announcement. His roster spot will go to left-hander Garrett Cleavinger, whom they recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Torreyes lasted just a few days on the roster of the Phillies, who selected his contract Sept. 11. The 28-year-old went on to hit 1-for-7 before the Phillies designated him. Formerly a Dodger, Yankee and Twin, Torreyes has batted .277/.306/.369 with four home runs and five steals across 638 plate appearances in the majors. His .273/.314/.365 line in 1,080 PA in Triple-A doesn’t look much different.
Cleavinger, 26, could now be in line for his first major league experience. The Phillies acquired him from the Orioles for righty Jeremy Hellickson back in 2017, and Cleavinger has since shown he’s capable of producing at the Double-A level. He threw 51 2/3 innings of 3.66 ERA/2.73 FIP ball with 14.46 K/9 and 5.92 BB/9 there last year.
Caleb Ferguson To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Dodgers left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson will undergo Tommy John surgery, manager Dave Roberts told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters Thursday. Roberts said the procedure’s “imminent” for Ferguson, who previously underwent TJS in high school.
The Dodgers sent Ferguson to the injured list on Wednesday with UCL damage, and it seemed they feared the worst then, so it’s no surprise they’ll lose him for the remainder of the season. It’s a costly blow for the World Series-contending Dodgers’ superb bullpen, which saw Ferguson amass 18 1/3 innings of 2.89 ERA/3.56 FIP pitching with 13.02 K/9 and 1.45 BB/9 this year.
Fortunately for Los Angeles, it seems to have enough quality arms in its relief corps to make do without Ferguson. But the team will also have to do the same next year, as Tommy John surgery typically requires a 12- to 18-month recovery. That means Ferguson, now 24 years old, probably won’t take a major league mound again until 2022.
Mariners Outright Jimmy Yacabonis
The Mariners have outrighted hurler Jimmy Yacabonis to their alternate training site, according to a team announcement. They previously designated the right-hander for assignment Tuesday.
Yacabonis, whom the Mariners acquired from the Padres for cash just under a month ago, threw 2 1/3 innings with the M’s before they ejected him from their roster. The 28-year-old yielded one earned run on two hits and three walks (one strikeout) during that span.
Seattle is the second major league team for which Yacabonis has pitched. He appeared in the bigs with the Orioles in each season from 2017-19 and combined for 81 innings with the O’s in the previous two years. In all, Yacabonis has logged a 5.71 ERA/6.05 FIP with 6.49 K/9 and 5.11 BB/9 in 104 innings.
Jed Lowrie Won’t Play This Season
The 2020 campaign will go in the books as a lost season for Mets infielder Jed Lowrie, who won’t play this year on account of left knee problems, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.
The Lowrie signing surely counts as one of the worst in team history for the Mets, who inked the ex-Athletics standout to a two-year, $20MM contract before last season. The switch-hitting Lowrie was coming off two healthy and productive seasons in Oakland at the time, but his knee troubles have since limited him to nine games and eight plate appearances – all of which came in 2019.
Soon to turn 37 years old, Lowrie has undergone platelet-rich plasma and stem cell injections in his knee of late, per Healey. It’s unclear whether Lowrie will play again, then. However, if he does try for another deal, it’s quite likely to be of the minor league variety.
The Mets, for their part, haven’t necessarily needed Lowrie over the past couple years, during which they’ve had a crowded infield. Lowrie’s primarily a second and third baseman, but the Mets have Robinson Cano, J.D. Davis and Jeff McNeil around to handle those spots. Those players are all slated to remain with the team in 2021.
Phillies Place Jake Arrieta On 10-Day IL
Sept. 17: Arrieta’s strain is a Grade 1 strain, manager Joe Girardi tells reporters (Twitter link via Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer). He won’t pitch again during the regular season but could still be a potential option in the playoffs, should the Phillies get there.
Sept. 16: The Phillies announced that they’ve placed right-hander Jake Arrieta (right hamstring strain) and outfielder Kyle Garlick (right oblique strain) on the 10-day injured list. Those moves helped clear space for the promotion of outfielder Mickey Moniak. The Phillies also recalled righty Connor Brogdon.
Arrieta’s injury makes it possible that we’ve seen the last of him in a Phillies uniform, as he’s due to reach free agency after the season. The Phillies signed the former NL Cy Young winner and ex-Cubs star to a three-year, $75MM shortly before the 2018 campaign began, but the returns haven’t been positive for the club. Arrieta has missed time with multiple injuries and performed like a back-end starter when healthy, having logged a 4.36 ERA/4.55 FIP over 352 2/3 innings in a Phillies uniform. He has thrown 44 1/3 frames of 5.08 ERA/4.67 FIP ball with 6.5 K/9, 3.25 BB/9 and a 51.8 percent groundball rate this season.
Arrieta’s disappointing production in 2020 is one of the reasons the Phillies are fighting for their playoff lives at 24-23. Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler have given the team top-level numbers out of its rotation, but Arrieta, Spencer Howard, Zach Eflin and Vince Velasquez have all failed to prevent runs at an acceptable level in a combined 28 starts.