The New York Yankees have now lost two left-handed relief pitchers to the same National League Central team in the same offseason.
Tim Mayza, who became a free agent after going 0-1 with a 4.00 ERA in 15 appearances for the New York Yankees last season, is in agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates pending a physical, according to multiple reports Monday. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com was first to report the agreement:
Sources: The Pirates are in agreement with lefty reliever Tim Mayza on a MLB deal. Pending physical
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) January 28, 2025
Mayza, 33, was released by the Toronto Blue Jays in July 2024 and signed with the Yankees a week later. In his career, he’s 20-9 with a 3.88 ERA in 367 games — all but the last 14 with the Blue Jays.
The Pirates previously signed former Yankees reliever Caleb Ferguson to a one-year, $3 million contract on Jan. 9.
Mayza was 0-1 with an 8.03 ERA in 25 appearances when he was designated for assignment by Toronto — the team that selected him in the 12th round of the 2013 draft — on June 29. The Blue Jays released Mayza on July 5.
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On July 12, Mayza signed a minor league contract with the Yankees. His contract was selected from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 16. After his 14 regular season appearances for New York, Mayza made another three appearances in the postseason — one in the American League Division Series, one in the AL Championship Series, and one in the World Series against the Dodgers.
Across 2.1 October innings, Mayza did not allow a run.
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From 2021-23, Mayza was one of the most reliable left-handers in the American League. He pitched 155 innings across 193 appearances, walking 39 batters and striking out 154.
Mayza is a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Millersville (Pa.) University. When Mayza debuted with the Jays in 2017, he became the first player from the school to appear in a major league game since pitcher Jim Todd in 1979.
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Mayza is one year removed from the best season of his career. In 2023, he went 3-1 with a 1.52 ERA over 53.1 innings for the Blue Jays. He was worth 2.1 bWAR and induced ground balls at an outstanding 59.2 percent rate.
Quick notes on Tim Mayza:
➡️ He struggled last year, going 0-2 with a 6.33 ERA over 42.2 IP in 50 outings.
➡️ The Blue Jays DFA’d him on June 29 and released him on July 5.
➡️ He was better after joining the Yankees, posting a 4.00 ERA over 18 innings of work in 15…
— Noah Hiles (@_NoahHiles) January 28, 2025
Mayza’s ability to induce ground balls has generally been strong enough to overcome the lack of swing-and-miss stuff in his arsenal. A classic sinker/slider pitcher, Mayza faced more right-handed batters (101) than left-handers (94) last season but was far more successful against lefties (.244/.298/.314 opponents’ slash line).
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