Brad Mills traded for Jeff Mathis – Huh?
Associated Press - Los Angeles Angels catcher Jeff Mathis, left, reacts after Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz strikes out with the bases loaded to end the fourth inning at Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 14, 2009. The Red Sox lost 5-4 in 12 innings.
This is not good. Worlds are colliding! George is getting upset!
Let’s take a moment to pray for the safety and swift recovery of Alex Anthopoulos. The 34 year old was robbed by Jerry Dipoto (LAA General Manager), being forced to trade pitcher Brad Mills for Jeff Mathis. Clearly AA was acting under duress, as there’s no logical explanation as to why anybody, let alone an educated man, would look to acquire Jeff Mathis.
Brad Mills doesn’t have a high ceiling, as the 26 year old southpaw has failed at the major league level. In 48 innings, he has an 8.57 ERA. While he did show some promise in the minors, it’s likely the only way he succeeds is as a lefty specialist in the bullpen. Oddly enough, he’s managed to post a better strikeout to walk ratio (K:BB) vs right handed hitters (1.60) compared to left handed batters (1.18) in the majors. At the end of the day, Mills really is no huge loss to the Jays.
So if Mills isn’t that valuable, why is it such a problem that the Jays traded for Mathis?
Mathis is your typical backup catcher – he’s got a reputation as a defensive wizard, but couldn’t hit water if he fell into the ocean. He’s got a career triple slash line of 194/257/301. No, that was not a typo, as Mathis hasn’t hit 200 for his career, and is the owner of a 558 OPS. Here’s a fun fact – if you go back and look at all the hitters from 1970 until the present day, Mathis has the 8th worst wOBA for position players with 1000 or more PA. Try and let that sink in for a second. Mathis is among the worst hitters of all time to ever play the game, and the Jays gave up something for him.
Just for fun, here are some of the players who have hit better than Jeff Mathis over the past 40 years: John McDonald, Rey Ordonez, Alfredo Griffin, Josh Wilson, Cesar Izturis, Ozzie Guillen, Jose Molina, Humberto Quintero, Mike Matheny, and virtually every other major league baseball player who has over 1000 PA.
You may have noticed a pattern with the above hitters. Something to do with playing outstanding defence despite their offensive limitations. Now, I mentioned Mathis was known to have a defensive reputation, just like the players above. And it’s true, he does have a reputation. Unfortunately, it’s just not an accurate representation. Last season he threw out 27% of all runners, and for his career he’s at 23%. Now, if he could hit something close to league average, or at least league average for a catcher that would be fine. But he’s one of the worst hitters of all time, and he isn’t even a plus defender behind the plate.
What makes this worse is that the Jays refuse to spend in free agency on quality players. They seem to have an issue signing quality players, because they’d cost too much. But they have no problem spending more than $1.7 million on Jeff Mathis, arguably one of the worst players in the game. That was his salary last year, and if the Jays take him to arbitration it’s possible he might get a raise. He’s one of the worst professional major league baseball players of all time, and he might get a raise.
At the end of the day, Mathis isn’t likely to have a huge impact for the Jays. Unless Arencibia is out for a significant time, Mathis shouldn’t play more than 40 games. But as a player who is sub-replacement level, worse than a player you could call up from AAA, it’s embarrassing that the Jays would look to acquire this type of player, and even give up a potential asset for him.
Buy Toronto Blue Jays Tickets | Buy Toronto Blue Jays Apparel
2 Rants to “Brad Mills traded for Jeff Mathis – Huh?”
Leave a Rant
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
FEATURED PARTNERS
- It's The 20 Year Anniversary Of The L.A. Riots
- The 9 Best Images From The Falling Bear Meme
- Dog Must Hold Your Hand While Riding
- Khloe Kardashian & Lamar Odom Pulling Plug on Spin-Off Show
- Lamar Odom's Ex Teammate -- He's Welcome Back to the Lakers ANYTIME
- Michael Turner to Baby Mama -- Stop BASHING Me on Twitter
- Facebook Follies: How to Troll a Girl on Facebook Who’s Having Car Problems….
- This ‘Call Me Maybe’ Business Card Is Genius
- Nike Shoe Designer Uses Derrick Rose Injury to Troll Adidas
It is difficult to argue your stand on Mathis. You clearly picked one side of the fence to sit on.
In his defence, his strong point is the team’s winning percentage with him behind the plate.
Another point to consider might be one of a tutor, are the Jays looking to him as an instructor/backup?
Molina filled the role with Arencibia last season, perhaps that is management’s thought here. Just a thought.
It was tough to watch the Jays lose with so many holes in the lineup. Clutch hits required/opportunity lost with less than 2 out…just take a look at what happened in June and you will see the point I am trying to convey.
Thanks for the forum. Good blog!
Hi Joseph,
His teams winning percentage with him behind the plate, is unfortunately irrelevant. It doesn’t take into account who he was facing, or who was pitching to him. For example, he caught 25 of Haren’s starts and 28 of Weaver’s starts. So we’d expect him to have a greater winning % with him behind the plate, because he caught the Angels best pitchers. The Angels may have had a higher winning % with him behind the plate, but it was no thanks to him.
I don’t know if I’d want him to “instruct” Arencibia. Mathis is a terrible hitter, and his fielding is only marginally better than J.P.’s. Ramon Castro or Chris Snyder for instance would have been better options. That’s just off the top of my head.
I’m sure that’s what the front office believes, but they’re not infallible. For instance, sticking with Jo Jo Reyes last year despite claims that he had good stuff was clearly the wrong decision, as anybody could have seen (or used stats) to argue he wasn’t a major league pitcher. It’s the same deal with Mathis.
Thanks for the kind words and I hope to see you around more!