Mathias traded to Pirates for PTBNL

The Texas Rangers have traded infielder Mark Mathias to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later, the team announced today. Mathias was designated for assignment over the weekend to make room for newly signed pitcher Will Smith on the 40 man roster.

Mathias, 28, was originally a 3rd round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015 out of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. He got some very brief major league action with the Brewers in both 2020 and 2022 before being traded to the Texas Rangers at the 2022 trade deadline, along with Antoine Kelly, in the deal that sent reliever Matt Bush to Milwaukee.

Mathias put up a .277/.365/.554 slash line in 74 plate appearances with the Rangers post-trade, and there was some talk that he had a solid grip on a bench spot for the 2023 season. Instead, he was a 40 man roster casualty, and is now a Pittsburgh Pirate.