Rays have a deal with veteran catcher Danny Jansen

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Dec 6, 2024

Published in Baseball

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays addressed their top offseason priority just before heading to the winter meetings, agreeing to a one-year, $8.5 million deal Friday with veteran catcher Danny Jansen.

The 29-year-old has played parts of seven seasons in the majors, mostly with the Blue Jays. He was traded to the Red Sox in July for three minor leaguers. He has a career .220 average and .727 OPS, having hit double-digit homers in four of his five full big league seasons and nine last year.

Jansen will get an $8 million salary for 2025 and has a $500,000 buyout on a 2026 mutual option for $12 million. The right-handed hitter is expected to pair with lefty swinger Ben Rortvedt to give the Rays more offense and solid defense. The deal is pending a physical and likely won’t be made official until next week.

“That’s a great sign by the Rays,” said Charlie Montoyo, who managed Jansen in Toronto from 2019-July 2022. “He’s a great clubhouse kid. I have nothing but great things to say about him. I’m hoping he stays healthy the whole year. He could be an All-Star if he stays healthy. He’s had some tough luck, getting hit on his hand in different places. He could help the Rays a lot.”

Montoyo, a former Rays coach and minor league manager, said Jansen contributes on both sides of the ball.

“What I like about him the most is that he cares more about calling pitches, calling the right pitches, making sure that the pitching goes well and defensively, and then he goes to the hitting part,” Montoyo said. “So that’s what you want from the catcher, and that’s who he is.”

Baseball operations president Erik Neander has said several times this offseason that the team’s top goal was to improve production from its catchers. Rortvedt, Alex Jackson, Rene Pinto, Logan Driscoll and Rob Brantley last season combined for a .194 average (second-worst in the majors), nine homers (second-worst) and a .563 OPS (third-worst).

Jansen, a pull hitter, had a solid three-year stretch from 2021-23, hitting .237 with an .805 OPS (.317 on-base percentage, .487 slugging), along with 43 homers and 125 RBIs in 228 games, posting a 5.6 WAR.

Injuries, such as broken fingers and muscle strains, have been an issue, as he has started more than 72 games only once (94 in 2019). Jansen opened last season on the injured list after sustaining a right wrist fracture in spring training. He missed the first three weeks of the season, then went on to hit .205 with a .658 OPS in 91 games for the Jays and Sox.

Jansen last season famously became the first big leaguer to play for both teams in the same game. He was with Toronto when he started a June 26 game against Boston that was suspended in the second inning due to rain. When the game resumed on Aug. 26, he was in the lineup for the Red Sox.

Also Friday, the Rays traded minor league right-hander Sean Harney, a 2022 eighth-round pick who last year reached Double A, to the Mets for an undisclosed amount of 2024 international signing pool money. What’s interesting is the money has to be spent by Dec. 15. The Mets, per an Oct. 21 update from the Associated Press, had $314,000 remaining in their pool; the Rays had zero.