The Tampa Bay Rays signing shortstop Jorge Mateo is interesting for a few reasons from a Yankees perspective. The most obvious, despite being division rivals, is Mateo being a former Yankees top prospect. Mateo was ranked as the Yankees' number one overall prospect back in 2016, when scouts raved about his speed and hitting potential. Mateo would leave the Yankees organization in 2017 as a part of the Sonny Gray trade with the then-Oakland, now-Sacramento Athletics.
Mateo never appeared in the majors for the Yankees or A's. Still, he did so for several other organizations, including the Padres in 2020, the Orioles from 2021-25, and, most recently, the Atlanta Braves in 2026. The Braves DFA'd Mateo a week ago and then officially released him a few days ago after he wasn't claimed on waivers. Mateo is 31 years old and had originally signed a one-year, one-million-dollar deal with Atlanta in January after Ha Seong Kim suffered a hand injury from slipping on ice in Korea.
Mateo has not worked out for the Braves, production-wise. In 65 games for Atlanta this year, he's hitting .240 with 4 home runs, 11 RBI, and a .665 OPS. He's posted a 0.7 WAR, which has actually been one of his better seasons. Mateo has not worked out as a solid everyday major leaguer. He's a career .223 hitter with a lifetime OPS+ of 78, placing him 22 percent below league average.
The Rays getting Mateo, though, makes things unique from a Yankees perspective. Not just Mateo being a former big-time Yankees prospect, but the fact the Rays need a stopgap shortstop right now with Ben Williamson landing on the 10-day injured list due to a hamstring injury that will reportedly have him out for "some time," according to Rays manager Kevin Cash.
It'll be Mateo's sixth organization now throughout seven seasons in Major League Baseball, and well over a decade in professional baseball, fourteen years to be exact, in which the Yankees signed Mateo at 16 years old out of the Dominican Republic for 250,000 in January of 2012.
Mateo's underlying metrics this year have him at about a league-average defender with a positive 2 OAA (outs above average), per Baseball Savant. Still, his sprint speed remains elite at 30.3 , ranking in the 100th percentile , according to Baseball Savant. Much of Mateo's calling card in the big leagues has been elite speed on the basepaths, as well as serviceable shortstop defense that likely isn't going to wow anybody, but is enough to get by temporarily as a stopgap shortstop, which is what he was for Atlanta, and now will be doing for the next several weeks at least, probably for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Yankees and Rays are scheduled to play each other again on Tuesday, September 22nd through Friday, September 24th in a four-game set at Yankee Stadium. Mateo could very well be at shortstop, which would be a familiar sight for the Yankees organization and the fans who once followed this player's progression through the Yankees farm system with lofty expectations, as is the case with any top Yankees prospect.
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