Los Angeles Angels Surprisingly Release Former Rays, Padres Catcher Francisco Mejía

Francisco Mejía, who recently carved out significant roles with the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres, has been cut by the Los Angeles Angels one week into Spring Training.

The Los Angeles Angels have released catcher Francisco Mejía, the club confirmed Sunday.

Mejía appeared in the Angels' Cactus League opener on Saturday, playing 2.0 innings behind the plate. He drew a walk in his lone plate appearance, while Los Angeles' pitchers allowed five walks and five runs upon his substitution into the game.

General manager Perry Minasian spoke to reporters about the decision to cut ties with the veteran backstop, who spent the past three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. Mejía signed a minor league contract with the Angels on Dec. 22, but intended to remain in the majors in 2024.

"He wants to be in the big leagues," Minasian said, per The Orange County Register's Jeff Fletcher. "He's been in the big leagues a long time. As currently constructed, it would have been very difficult to make this team, which was his goal."

Minasian and manager Ron Washington confirmed that Mejía's release was unrelated to his performance thus far in Spring Training.

The Angels have Logan O'Hoppe and Matt Thaiss in place as their big league catchers after they combined for 146 MLB appearances in 2023. Los Angeles also re-signed Chad Wallach right after adding Mejía, while Zach Humphreys has since returned from injury.

Mejía got his start with the Cleveland Guardians in 2012, eventually making his MLB debut in 2017. The San Diego Padres picked Mejía up via trade in 2018, before he got sent to the Rays as part of the Blake Snell trade in December 2020.

Over the next three seasons, Mejía appeared in 227 games for the Rays. He hit .245 with 17 home runs, 85 RBI, a .682 OPS and a 2.3 WAR.

According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, Mejía has discussed a possible return to the Rays and has likely had talks with other teams as well. The 28-year-old made 42 starts for Tampa Bay last season, all of them at catcher.

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