The Yankees signed Tim Mayza to a minor-league contract, according to reports from Brendan Kuty and Katie Woo of The Athletic. Given that Mayza is leaving a division opponent and has played his whole professional career with the Blue Jays, this trade is very intriguing. Before being sent for assignment on June 29th, he made his Toronto bullpen debut back in 2017 and was largely a regular member of the bullpen.
You would be hard-pressed to find someone with such a sharp decline in performance between 2023 and 2024, even in the environment of recognized volatility with relievers. Mayza was eventually released by the Jays after giving up 22 runs in 24.2 innings this season. He has almost more than quadrupled his incredible 1.52 ERA in over 50 innings from 2023. Mayza is most likely most remembered by Yankees supporters as the target of Aaron Judge’s AL record-tying 61st home run of 2022.
Even though 2023 was undoubtedly an anomaly, Mayza had proven to be a reliable reliever in previous campaigns, thus it seemed to sense that he may find himself in need of a change of scenery. His 2021–22 numbers—1.043 WHIP, 2.1 BB/9, and 8.9 K/9 in 124 games—were not too dissimilar from his 1.219 WHIP, 2.6 BB/9, and 8.9 K/9. Taking into consideration the terrible early years and the appalling figures we’ve seen in 2024, Mayza exits the Jays organization with roughly 300 innings pitched at a 3.87 ERA and 3.63 FIP.
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