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Marlins Finalize Coaching Staff

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The Marlins have finalized their coaching staff under rookie manager Skip Schumaker, the team announced Tuesday. Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., bullpen coach Wellington Cepeda and bullpen coordinator Rob Flippo are all holdovers from the prior staff. The rest will be comprised of newcomers — most of whom have Major League playing experience.

Rod Barajas has been named the team’s field coordinator, while Jon Jay is the new first base and outfield coach. Brant Brown has been tabbed as Miami’s new hitting coach, and he’ll be assisted by John Mabry. Jody Reed will serve as the Marlins’ third base and infield coach, and Luis Urueta will take over as Schumaker’s bench coach. Griffin Benedict, meanwhile, has been hired as a quality assurance coach.

Since retiring as a player following the 2012 season, the 47-year-old Barajas has spent nine years with the Padres in various coaching roles and was also the Angels’ Major League catching coordinator in 2022. The former catcher briefly served as the Padres’ interim manager for their final eight games in 2019 and was also San Diego’s bench coach. Barajas hit .235/.284/.407 and won a World Series ring with the D-backs during a 14-year playing career.

Jay, 37, was an active player up through the 2021 season and will now take his first big league coaching role. A longtime teammate of Schumaker in St. Louis, he’s a Miami native who spent a dozen seasons playing at the MLB level from 2010-21. Along the way, Jay hit .283/.348/.373 while logging extensive time at all three outfield positions.

Brown, 51, played in parts of five big league seasons and saw a brief run with the then-Florida Marlins in 2000. He’s spent the past three seasons as a co-hitting coach with the Dodgers and has previously held coaching gigs with the both the Mariners and Rangers. He batted .247/.301/.445 in 424 big league games.

Mabry, who’ll take over as the new assistant hitting coach for the Fish, is no stranger to big league coaching. He spent seven seasons with the Cardinals, first as assistant coach and then as the lead hitting coach, and he’s been on the Royals’ staff for each of the past three seasons. The 52-year-old played parts of 14 seasons in the Majors, hitting .263/.322/.405 and, in his final season with the Cardinals in 2005, briefly overlapped with Schumaker, who made his big league debut with St. Louis that same season.

The 60-year-old Reed had an 11-year playing career himself, batting .279/.340/.350 while spending the majority of his time with the Red Sox. He’s since had minor league coaching and development positions with the Dodgers and Yankees, including a nine-year stint with the latter.

Urueta is one of two newcomers who doesn’t have big league playing experience, though despite being just 41 years of age, he joins Miami with a lengthy coaching history. After spending more than a decade coaching and managing in the D-backs’ minor league system, Urueta was added to the big league staff in 2018 and eventually elevated to the position of bench coach. He returned to a minor league role for the 2022 season, however.

Benedict was with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021-22, serving as the team’s hitting coach. Prior to that, he spent 10 seasons as a bullpen catcher and instructor with San Diego. Benedict played a pair of minor league seasons and also spent seven years working for the Padres’ scouting department.

ESPN’s Enrique Rojas first reported Urueta’s hiring back in November, while the hiring of Barajas and Reed were reported at the same time by Jon Heyman of the New York Post and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald.

Jon Jay To Join Marlins As First Base Coach

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Former big leaguer Jon Jay has signed on as first base and outfield coach with the Marlins, per Katie Woo of The Athletic. Jay joins his former Cardinals team mate Skip Schumaker in Miami, after the latter was recently appointed manager.

Jay retired in 2021 after a 12-year career in the big leagues. He appeared for seven different teams, but is known mostly for his time with the Cardinals. There, he hit .287/.354/.387 across six seasons and 757 games in the Cardinals outfield, winning the World Series in 2011. After St Louis traded him to San Diego ahead of the 2016 season, Jay would spend a lot of time shifting around the majors, never appearing for the same team across multiple seasons. Between 2015 and his retirement in 2021, Jay appeared for the Padres, Cubs, Royals, Diamondbacks, White Sox, Diamondbacks again, before wrapping up his career with a short stint at the Angels.

It’s not a great surprise that a gig with the Marlins under Schumacher is his first. Jay is a native of Miami, and he and Schumaker spent a number of years together on the Cardinals, including on that World Series winning side of 2011. Jay joins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. and bullpen coach Wellington Cepeda as those on board for 2023, but Schumaker still has a bit of work to do to fill out his coaching staff.

Jon Jay Announces Retirement

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Veteran outfielder Jon Jay took to Twitter earlier today to announce his retirement after over a decade in the big leagues.

“As a kid I remember watching SportsCenter highlights and imitating my favorite MLB players,” Jay wrote. “It is still surreal to me that I played Major League Baseball. As I officially retire from the game that changed my life, I want to thank everyone who has played a role in getting me here.”

Jon JayJay, 37, was a second round pick of the Cardinals in 2006 and then made his MLB debut in 2010. He immediately hit the ground running with the contact-oriented approach that would be a trademark of his career. He hit .300/.359/.422, walking in 7.4% of his plate appearances and striking out just 15.5% of the time. That production amounted to a 116 wRC+, or 16% above league average. The next year, he put up a similar line of .297/.344/.424, 115 wRC+, helping the Cardinals qualify for the postseason and eventually win the 2011 World Series.

Jay stuck with the Cardinals for the next four seasons, with the team making the postseason in each of them. His production stayed largely consistent until wrist issues started hampering him in 2015. He underwent surgery prior to that season and then struggled at the plate, hitting .210/.306/.257. After that campaign, he was traded to the Padres for Jedd Gyorko.

He was able to bounce back somewhat in 2016, hitting .291/.339/.389 as a Padre, good enough for a wRC+ of 99. He signed with the Cubs for the 2017 season and had another solid season, hitting .296/.374/.375, 101 wRC+. He went into journeyman mode for the next few years, spending time with the Royals, Diamondbacks, White Sox, D-Backs again, and then the Angels last year, with none of those stints lasting more than 84 games.

In all, Jay played in 1201 games in 12 MLB seasons from 2010 to 2021. He will head into retirement with a lifetime .283/.348/.373 batting line, 37 home runs, 185 doubles, 25 triples, 1,087 total hits, 532 runs scored, 341 runs batted in and 55 stolen bases. He was a solid contributor to an excellent run of Cardinals baseball, earning a World Series ring in the process. MLBTR congratulates him on a fine career and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

USA Baseball Announces Olympic Qualifying Roster

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11:10AM: The full roster has been announced by USA Baseball (Twitter link).  Beyond the names already mentioned, the roster also includes Clayton Andrews, Jonathan Bowlan, Brandon Dickson, DJ Johnson, Trevor Lane, Matthew Liberatore, Drew Parrish, Marc Rzepczynski, James Sherfy, Simeon Woods Richardson, Tim Federowicz, Mark Kolozsvary, Nick Allen, Eddy Alvarez, Logan Forsythe, Luke Williams, Eric Filia, and Jon Jay.

9:54AM: The United States Olympic baseball team will have its full roster announced later today, though MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that several well-known big league names will be part of Team USA.

Right-handers Homer Bailey, Edwin Jackson, and David Robertson will be part of the pitching mix, as will left-hander Anthony Gose.  Matt Kemp, Matt Wieters, and Todd Frazier are some of the veteran position players.  Bailey, Kemp, and Wieters all played in the majors as recently as 2020 and didn’t sign with a new team this past offseason, while Frazier appeared in 13 games for the Pirates just this season.  It was only back on May 13 that Frazier chose to become a free agent, after Pittsburgh designated him for assignment.

Beyond these experienced names, some notable youngsters will also be on the team, as Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe noted yesterday that Red Sox prospects Triston Casas and Jarren Duran are participating.  Rays right-handed pitching prospect Joe Ryan is also expected to be part of the team, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.  Any player not on a current 40-man Major League roster was eligible for Team USA, though naturally a team would have to agree to allow its minor leaguers to play.

Mike Scioscia will manage Team USA, and the team will take to the field on May 31-June 5 during a qualifying tournament in Florida.  The Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Canada, Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela are the other seven teams involved, and the winner of the tournament will automatically qualify for the Olympics.  The second- and third-place finishers will advance to a final qualifying tournament against Australia, Chinese Taipei, and the Netherlands on June 16-20 in Mexico, and the winner of that event will claim the sixth and final Olympic berth.

Japan, Mexico, Israel, and South Korea have already qualified for the baseball event at Olympic Games, which are scheduled to be held July 23-August 6 in Tokyo.  Originally set to take place in 2020, the Olympics were naturally postponed for a year due to the pandemic, and the Games are still slated to get underway in July despite a worsening COVID-19 situation in Japan.

Angels Moves: Ramirez, Jay

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The Angels announced that right-handed reliever Noe Ramirez has cleared waivers and elected free agency. The Halos also outrighted outfielder Jon Jay, who will go to Triple-A Salt Lake, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group tweets.

The Angels designated Ramirez for assignment on Sunday, less than a week after selecting his contract on May 11. The 31-year-old, also a former Red Sox, has appeared in the majors with the Angels in each season since 2017. The Angels traded him to the Reds last winter in a deal revolving around fellow reliever Raisel Iglesias, but Cincinnati quickly cut ties with Ramirez, who then re-signed with the Halos. He has recorded a 4.20 ERA/3.74 SIERA with a 25.4 percent strikeout rate against an 8.8 percent walk rate in 214 1/3 major league innings, including 3 1/3 frames this season.

The Angels have designated Jay for assignment twice since April. The 36-year-old has only totaled 14 plate appearances with the club this season, though he may be more likely to receive an extended chance with center fielder Mike Trout battling a calf strain that will keep him out until at least July.

Angels Activate Anthony Rendon, Designate Jon Jay

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The Angels have activated third baseman Anthony Rendon from the 10-day injured list and designated outfielder Jon Jay for assignment, the team announced.

The Angels are welcoming back Rendon from his second IL stint of the young season. He went on the shelf on April 12 with a left groin strain and landed back on it May 5 with a left knee contusion. When Rendon has been well to play, he has continued to offer high-end production, having slashed .276/.348/.466 (131 wRC+) with three home runs in 66 plate appearances. The Angels used Phil Gosselin and Jose Rojas at the hot corner during Rendon’s most recent trip to the IL.

Jay has yo-yoed on and off the Angels’ 40-man roster this year, as this is already the second time the club has designated him since the middle of April. The 36-year-old has gone 5-for-14 with all singles this season.

Angels Make Several Roster Moves

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The Angels announced several roster moves Thursday: They selected the contracts of outfielder Jon Jay and catcher Jack Kruger, placed backstop Max Stassi (concussion) and right-hander Chris Rodriguez (shoulder inflammation) on the 10-day injured list, and reinstated righty Felix Pena from the IL.

Jay spent time in the majors with the Angels earlier this season, but they designated him for assignment on April 16 after he went 1-for-8 at the plate. He’ll rejoin an Angels outfield going through some upheaval at the moment, as Justin Upton is battling knee problems and Jared Walsh is heading to first base in the wake of the team’s decision on Thursday to designate Albert Pujols.

Kruger, 26, could make his major league debut with Stassi out for at least the next week. The Los Angeles native was a 20th-rounder in 2016 who hasn’t played above Double-A ball yet. He owns a .265/.326/.357 line with 15 home runs in 1,392 minor league plate appearances.

Rodriguez has held his own out of the Angels’ bullpen this year, having thrown 15 2/3 innings of 2.30 ERA ball with 17 strikeouts against eight walks, but manager Joe Maddon said his injury isn’t serious (via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). They’ll replace him with Pena, a regular in their pitching staff from 2018-20. Pena amassed 215 2/3 frames of 4.34 ERA ball during that span, though he hasn’t contributed this year after straining a hamstring during the spring.

Angels Select Scott Schebler, Designate Jon Jay

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The Angels announced that they have selected outfielder Scott Schebler and designated fellow outfielder Jon Jay for assignment. The team also recalled infielder Luis Rengifo.

Schebler had a decent run as a member of the Reds from 2016-18, a 1,243-plate appearance span in which he offered roughly league-average production with a .248/.323/.457 line (102 wRC+) and 56 home runs. His best effort as a power hitter came during a 30-HR showing in 2017, though both his pop at the plate and his playing time have tailed off since then. As a Red and Brave from 2019-20, Schebler only amassed 95 plate appearances, 94 of which came in the first of those seasons. He batted a woeful .123/.253/.222 with two HRs that year.

Thanks to his recent struggles, Schebler had to settle for a minor league contract with the Angels over the winter. For now, he’ll replace Jay as a sub for the Angels’ starting alignment of Mike Trout, Jared Walsh and Justin Upton.

Jay was also a minor league pickup for the Angels, but the 36-year-old couldn’t take advantage of his MLB opportunity early this season. He went 1-for-8 with a single and two strikeouts before the Angels designated him.

Angels Re-Sign Jon Jay, Release Jesse Chavez

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MARCH 27: The Angels have re-signed Jay to another minor-league deal, per a club announcement.

MARCH 26: The Angels have released outfielder Jon Jay and right-hander Jesse Chavez from their minor league contracts, per a club announcement. Both are once again free agents. As Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic points out, Jay’s release makes it quite likely that Juan Lagares, another non-roster veteran in camp with the Halos, will make the club as a backup outfielder.

Jay and Chavez become the latest in a long line of veterans to either opt out or be cut loose from minor league deals around the game, as teams whittle down their camp rosters with Opening Day looming. Both Jay and Chavez were Article XX(B) free agents — that is, players with six years of service time who were in camp on a minor league deal after finishing the 2020 season on a big league roster — and could have been retained into the season had the Angels been willing to pay a $100K retention bonus. Instead, they’re now free to pursue opportunities with other clubs.

The 36-year-old Jay struggled quite a bit this spring, going just 2-for-29 with an uncharacteristic 10 punchouts in 33 plate appearances. Jay, who can play all three outfield spots, is typically a contact-oriented lefty bat with a good approach at the plate, but the past couple seasons haven’t been particularly pretty.

He’s coming off a rough showing in 18 games with the 2020 D-backs, when he posted just a .160/.211/.240 batting line through an admittedly tiny sample of 57 plate appearances. Jay hit for a solid but fairly empty average with the ChiSox in 2019 when he batted .267/.311/.315 in 182 trips to the dish.

Like Jay, Chavez struggled this spring on the heels of an ugly 2020 showing. He was tagged for seven runs in 4 1/3 innings with the Angels during Cactus League play, and he was knocked arounf for a 6.88 ERA in 17 innings with the Rangers last season. The veteran righty had an outstanding season as recently as 2018 but has labored through 95 innings since that time.

Angels Sign Jon Jay To Minor League Contract

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The Angels announced that they have signed veteran outfielder Jon Jay to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported earlier that Jay was close to a deal with a club.

Jay, 36 next month, has appeared with six different teams since he first entered the majors as a Cardinal over a decade ago. His finest years came from 2010-14, all in St. Louis, as Jay overcame low power to post above-average batting averages and on-base percentages en route to a .295/.359/.396 line (112 wRC+) in 2,424 plate appearances.

Jay struggled during his final year as a Cardinal, 2015, but rebounded to log league-average numbers in the ensuing two seasons with the Padres and Cubs (Angels manager Joe Maddon was the Cubs’ skipper then). Since 2018, though, Jay’s output has fallen off a cliff. In a combined 1,258 PA with the Royals, White Sox and Diamondbacks, he batted an underwhelming .272/.337/.347 (86 wRC+). Last season was especially tough for Jay, who hit by far a career-worst .160/.211/.240 as a D-back, though that came over just 57 trips to the plate.

Jay, despite his difficulties in 2020, did parlay a minors deal into a big league roster spot then. He’ll hope to do the same this year as outfield depth for the Angels. The fact that Jay has extensive experience at all three outfield positions surely appealed to the Halos.

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