Francisco Mejia DFA’d By Rays
This is what happens when you continue to hoard. The Rays have become the Kings of DFAing solid MLB-caliber players. I discussed one at length a decent amount of time ago. The Rays just DFA’d another name value player. Francisco Mejia is out.
Marc Topkin at the Tampa Bay Times was the first to report the news:
Mejia, 27, has been on the IL for a decent amount of time now but is ready to be activated. Tampa has no room on the roster for a depth catcher that doesn’t hit. Mejia is slashing .239/.284/.394 with an OPS+ of 80. The former Guardians and Padres catcher isn’t a good defender either posting -3 Defensive Runs Saved thus far. He’s far from an ace at framing too.
Mejia has been traded a bunch during his career. Mejia came up with Cleveland and was dealt to San Diego in the Brad Hand trade. Mejia was then sent to Tampa along with Luis Patino in the Blake Snell deal. That trade has not worked for Tampa. Patino isn’t on the roster anymore either.
Because Mejia has more than five years of service time, he can’t be sent down anymore. Mejia has another year of arbitration left next season. I would imagine someone claims Mejia while having a cost-controlled salary for 2024. Time will tell who takes a flier on the waiver wire.
Christian Bethancourt and René Pinto looks like the catching duo in Tampa moving forward. Pinto is hitting .276/.300/.379 through 30 plate appearances and is considered a much better defender. It shouldn’t really be considered a surprise that Mejia is out given how good Pinto looks.
