Danny Jansen turns 30 today.
Danny Jansen played seven seasons for the Blue Jays (well, 6.5). When he came up, we thought he would be a bat-first catcher, but his glove was surprisingly good.
His best season was 2022 when he hit .260/.2339/.516 with 15 home runs and a 2.9 bWAR, but his average was in the low .200s most seasons. As a Jay, he had a .222/.308/.414 line with 71 home runs in 513 games (number 50 all-time with the Jays). That’s the fifth most games by a Jays’ catcher, behind Ernie Whitt, Pat Borders, Darrin Fletcher, and Gregg Zaun. Kirk will be passing him before mid-season. He’s also #35 in home runs and #39 in bWAR among hitters (a couple of spots behind Kirk).
The Jays traded him to Boston for minor leaguers Gilberto Batista (#33 on our prospect list), Cutter Coffey (#30 on our prospect list) and Eddinson Paulino (#31).
Danny finished the season with the Red Sox and signed with the Rays in the off-season. He’s starting his season slowly, hitting .128/.244/.231.
I always imagined Danny could go into coaching or management after his playing days are over, though it seems that former catchers go into broadcasting these days.
Happy Birthday, Danny.
Adeiny Hechavarria turns 36 today.
Adeiny was a free agent signing after fleeing Cuba. He got a four-year, worth $10 million back in 2010 from the Jays. The team figured he would get to the majors quickly, but he didn’t hit as we had hoped. He did get called up on August 12, 2012. His batting line was .179/.214/.231 when they sent him back down on August 24. But a couple of days later, Jose Bautista hurt his wrist, and Hechavarria was back up for the rest of the season. He would hit .254/.280/.365 with 2 home runs in 41 games.
After the season, he was part of the Marlins’ massive trade, which brought us Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Emilio Bonifacio, and John Buck.
Adeiny’s career has been a whirlwind of unpredictability. He has left his mark on each team, from the Marlins to the Rays and then to the Pirates, Yankees, Mets, and Braves.
In 9 seasons, he played 922 games, hitting .253/.291/.351 with 37 home runs. Unfortunately, he never hit how we hoped, but he had an excellent glove at short.
He played in the Japan Pacific League in 2021-22 and was in the Royals minor league system last year. I don’t know if he is playing organized ball this year, but he played in the Puerto Rican winter league this winter.
Happy Birthday, Adeiny.