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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Blue Jays give Jeff Mathis a two-year extension

Mike Scioscia playing favorites again by giving Mathis this extension!

Believe it or not, the Blue Jays signed backup catcher Jeff Mathis to a two-year, $3 million extension with a $1.5 million option for 2015, the team announced Tuesday.

It’s a pretty amazing statement, given that, of the 461 players with at least 1,000 plate appearances the last eight seasons, Mathis has the game’s worst batting average, on-base percentage, OPS and OPS+ since he debuted in 2005. He’s a career .196/.256/.312 hitter with 32 homers and 158 RBI in 1,336 at-bats.

Now, Mathis has been better this year; he’s all of the way up to .215/.252/.415 with six homers in 135 at-bats. However, most of that success came early. Since May 6, he’s at .209/.220/.374 in 115 at-bats. Playing an expanded role with J.P. Arencibia hurt, he’s hitting .118 in 34 at-bats this month.

Of course, it’s not much money. $1.5 million per year is a pretty standard rate for a backup catcher. Mathis, though, is turning 30 next spring, and it’s not like he projects to take a big step forward. He figures to remain a disaster offensively, without being all that great defensively. He is throwing out baserunners at the best rate of his career this year (an impressive 39 percent), but he’s never been so good previously.

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: August 16, 2012 at 09:40 AM | 32 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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1. Good cripple hitter Posted: August 16, 2012 at 11:31 AM (#4209651)

I hate this move but it probably doesn't matter enough for me to get really angry over it.

Mathis hasn't been dreadful this year, the money doesn't really matter at all, and it certainly won't sink the Jays to have him be their backup catcher. At the same time, it's a really bland move that has almost no upside and gives Mathis a guaranteed roster spot for two to three years, and I cannot imagine that the market for Mathis or a similar backup catcher would've been all that strong in the offseason.

2. formerly dp Posted: August 16, 2012 at 11:40 AM (#4209657)

At the same time, it's a really bland move that has almost no upside and gives Mathis a guaranteed roster spot for two to three years, and I cannot imagine that the market for Mathis or a similar backup catcher would've been all that strong in the offseason.

I had assumed that the plan was to have JP as the backup and D'arnaud as the starter in the next year or so. I guess having Mathis allows them to deal Arrencibia, but I don't see why they'd want to do that.

3. Swedish Chef Posted: August 16, 2012 at 12:13 PM (#4209684)

Is this the crappiest free agent to ever get a two-year contract?

4. eddieot Posted: August 16, 2012 at 12:24 PM (#4209691)

Is this the crappiest free agent to ever get a two-year contract?

Chris Schneider says hello

5. Edmundo got dem ol' Kozma blues again mama

Posted: August 16, 2012 at 12:31 PM (#4209694)

eddieot, I think you mean Brian, not the non-existent Chris. :)

BS did get a 2 year deal as a FA, and then got reupped for another year.

Mathis got 2 years prior to turning FA. Don't know which scenario is worse. :)

6. chisoxcollector Posted: August 16, 2012 at 12:51 PM (#4209709)

Geoff Blum has to rank among the worst recipients of multi-year free agent contracts.

7. Misirlou heard it on the X Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:00 PM (#4209720)

Geoff Blum has to rank among the worst recipients of multi-year free agent contracts.

Name someone with a higher World Series OPS.

8. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:01 PM (#4209722)

Is this the crappiest free agent to ever get a two-year contract?

The Royals have a number of candidates for this: Bruce Chen, Jeff Francoeur, Ross Gload, Scott Elarton, Willie Bloomquist...

9. DL from MN Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:11 PM (#4209733)

Mike Lamb was a disaster for the Twins.

10. Tripon Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:11 PM (#4209735)

Andruw Jones on a two year deal. Boy, that one was a stinker.

11. Danny Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:12 PM (#4209736)

Is this the crappiest free agent to ever get a two-year contract?

John McDonald? Tsuyoshi Wada? Yoslan Herrera? Aaron Miles?

12. Jim (jimmuscomp) Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:19 PM (#4209744)

Mathis is definitely worse than ANY of the folks mentioned above. He is terrible.

This seems like Karma for the Napoli/Wells assault/trade.

13. Rants Mulliniks Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:23 PM (#4209750)

Geez, maybe Mathis has some inside info on a sex ring involving managers and front office personnel.....what an odd deal.

14. formerly dp Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:36 PM (#4209760)

Geez, maybe Mathis has some inside info on a sex ring involving managers and front office personnel.....what an odd deal.

I can never tell which of your conspiracy theories to take seriously. This one seems to have legs, though.

15. SouthSideRyan Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:45 PM (#4209769)

A 33 year old Neifi Perez?

16. ellsbury my heart at wounded knee Posted: August 16, 2012 at 01:56 PM (#4209775)

Giving a two year deal to Nick Punto was pretty bad, but he did at least have a decent 2011.

17. Erix Posted: August 16, 2012 at 02:19 PM (#4209796)

I really though Mathis was having one of those "worst in MLB" type years. When I saw his cromulant line I was like this.

18. My name is Votto, and I love to get blotto Posted: August 16, 2012 at 02:20 PM (#4209798)

Andruw Jones on a two year deal. Boy, that one was a stinker.

He played poorly under that contract, but he was one year removed from a 50 HR season, and will be a borderline HOFer. That's different from everyone else listed here, most of whom never even had a prime.

19. Crispix reaches boiling point with lackluster play Posted: August 16, 2012 at 02:23 PM (#4209802)

Yoslan Herrera got a 2-year contract? Did he even pitch 50 MLB innings? He would be far anda way the worst player listed in this thread.

... Oh, he was a Cuban defector. That doesn't really count. And he actually got a three-year contract.

20. SouthSideRyan Posted: August 16, 2012 at 02:30 PM (#4209811)

I don't know how easy it would be to figure out, but worst guy for each length of contract? 5 years for Pat Meares???

21. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: August 16, 2012 at 02:47 PM (#4209839)

Is this the crappiest free agent to ever get a two-year contract?

Back in the bad old days, the Pirates signed Mike Benjamin to a two-year deal not once but twice.

Over the first two years, he gave them 601 AB with a 69 OPS+, and they were so pleased with that, they gave him a $225k raise to re-up for two more years.

22. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: August 16, 2012 at 02:55 PM (#4209854)

... Oh, he was a Cuban defector. That doesn't really count. And he actually got a three-year contract.

Yea, if he counts, Noel Arguelles is far worse. It doesn't look like he'll ever even reach the big leagues, and he's on a five year contract. I'm sure there are worse Cuban FA contracts than that.

23. Swedish Chef Posted: August 16, 2012 at 02:59 PM (#4209860)

I don't know how easy it would be to figure out, but worst guy for each length of contract? 5 years for Pat Meares???

I was going to say Gary Matthews, but he had an excellent year and a couple of average ones in his career. Meares topped out at average if you squint. Darren Dreifort is a contender, but he had a good year* in 1998.

*) As a reliever so it's not much, and it really wasn't very good for a reliever.

24. Crispix reaches boiling point with lackluster play Posted: August 16, 2012 at 03:04 PM (#4209869)

Back in the bad old days, the Pirates signed Mike Benjamin to a two-year deal not once but twice.

Then there was the three-year contract to Wil Cordero, whom they traded in July of the first year.

25. SoSH U at work Posted: August 16, 2012 at 03:05 PM (#4209870)

I don't know how easy it would be to figure out, but worst guy for each length of contract? 5 years for Pat Meares???

For 10-year deals, I'm going with Wayne Garland.

26. Swedish Chef Posted: August 16, 2012 at 03:07 PM (#4209874)

For 10-year deals, I'm going with Wayne Garland.

For infinitely long deals, Tim Wakefield is both the best and the worst.

27. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: August 16, 2012 at 04:32 PM (#4209934)

Alfonso Soriano is available.

28. Robert in Manhattan Beach Posted: August 16, 2012 at 06:31 PM (#4210009)

I enjoyed the two year deal the Mets inked a 46(or so) year old Julio Franco to 2006.

29. Posada Posse Posted: August 16, 2012 at 07:32 PM (#4210047)

Kei Igawa on a five-year deal has to be up there.

30. AROM Posted: August 16, 2012 at 09:09 PM (#4210118)

"For infinitely long deals, Tim Wakefield is both the best and the worst."

Nah, I'd go with Babe Ruth as best and Bill Bergen for worst under the reserve clause, which Wakefield effectively brought back.

31. Walt Davis Posted: August 16, 2012 at 11:54 PM (#4210186)

I need to hire his agent.

32. RollingWave Posted: August 17, 2012 at 04:52 AM (#4210235)

to be fair, Kei Igawa has sucked badly since going back to the NPB too, so it may not have been as much as the NPB to MLB transition as the simple fact that his skill fell off a cliff at that point anyway.

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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Blue Jays give Jeff Mathis a two-year extension

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