By Brian Argabright
Well, that didn’t take long.
Less than 24 hours after the Atlanta Braves designated Del Rioan Jack Mayfield for assignment, the infielder was acquired by the Los Angeles Angels for cash considerations. The move was reported by multiple news outlets.
To make room for Mayfield, the Angels designated Robel Garcia for assignment.
This is Mayfield’s third major league stop in less than a decade, and his second team in less than a day. Mayfield, a 2009 graduate of Del Rio High School, began his major league career with the Houston Astros, signing a free agent contract with the team in the summer of 2013.
He made his major league debut on Memorial Day in 2019 in front of dozens of friends and family at Houston’s Minute Maid Park. In his first major league at-bat, Mayfield doubled off the left field wall and helped the Astros defeat the Chicago Cubs.
Mayfield has played second base, shortstop and third base during his professional baseball career and has appeared in 47 games at the major league level.
Mayfield remained a part of the Astros organization until November 2020 when he was designated for assignment by the club. He was claimed by the Braves and departed Del Rio for spring training earlier this month.
Mayfield thanked the Astros, and his supporters, in a social media post Feb. 21. In it, Mayfield wrote, “With Spring Training 2021 starting, I’d like to take the time to thank the Houston Astros for allowing my family and I to be a part of this great organization for so long! Houston and its fans were so good to us! Thank you to all the coaches, staff, and players that I crossed paths with from 2013 until now! I owe it to all of you for helping me get here, now it’s time for new challenges and opportunities! With that being said, I’m excited to get going and putting in the work with my favorite childhood team, the Atlanta Braves!!”
Mayfield remained optimistic after the Braves designated him for assignment, explaining the process and that if he cleared waivers he would return to the Triple-A level, this time with the Atlanta organization.
Now he heads to Tempe, Ariz., Los Angeles’ spring training site, to join an Angels team that is loaded with talent including former MVPs Mike Trout and Albert Pujols as well as former all-star and two-time Silver Slugger award-winner Anthony Rendon.
