Nomar Mazara, former Texas Rangers outfielder, has returned to the big leagues. Mazara, who has been playing for AAA El Paso in the San Diego Padres system this year, has had his contracted purchased by the Padres. He is taking the place of Robinson Cano, who the Padres designated for assignment.
Mazara was signed to a record signing bonus on July 2, 2011, out of the Dominican Republic by then-Ranger executive A.J. Preller. Mazara made his major league debut in 2016, but did not progress over four seasons, and was ultimately dealt to the Chicago White Sox after the 2019 season in exchange for Steele Walker.
Mazara was bad for the ChiSox in 2020, was non-tendered, and ended up with the Detroit Tigers in 2021. Mazara fared no better for Detroit and was released in July, 2021. The Padres signed him in March, 2022, and he has been mashing for El Paso, slashing .367/.454/.641 in 35 games. Even though Mazara has seemingly been around forever, he just turned 27 years old — he’s younger than, among others, current Rangers Andy Ibanez, Adolis Garcia, Eli White and Zach Reks.
Cano, meanwhile, put up a 209 OPS in 34 plate appearances for the Padres. He had been previously released by the New York Mets, for whom he put up a 501 OPS in 43 plate appearances this year. Cano — who is, of course, a footnote (and an unfortunate one) in Rangers history — missed all of 2021 due to his second violation of the league’s PED rules.
Loading comments...