Rays Designate Hideki Matsui For Assignment

The Tampa Bay Rays hoped that designated hitter Hideki Matsui would recover some of the hitting magic he had in several years with the New York Yankees.

Wednesday, though, he had a designation of another kind:

The Tampa Bay Rays have designated outfielder/designated hitter Hideki Matsui for assignment to make room for infielder Ryan Roberts

— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) July 25, 2012

Matsui, now 38 years old, hit just .147/.214/.221 in 103 plate appearances with two home runs for the Rays. That’s an OPS+ of 24. Matsui didn’t hit very well with the A’s in 2011, either, posting a .696 OPS. It seems likely that Matsui’s major-league career is over.

That still leaves the Rays without an effective hitter to DH; they could use Roberts, but his OPS+ of 74 isn’t that much better. The Rays have had a black hole at DH most of 2012; their DH’s have combined to hit .210/.270/.362 this season, so the Rays could still scour the trade market for a better hitter before the deadline.

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Rays Calling Up Hideki Matsui

The Tampa Bay Rays struck surprisingly early when filling their designated-hitter slot over the offseason. Incumbent Johnny Damon was booted out the back door, and Luke Scott was signed to a one year, $6 million deal that made him one of the highest-paid players on the Rays. Then the bottom fell out of the DH market, and there were all sorts of one-year options for cheap.

One of those options was Hideki Matsui, and he went the entire offseason without latching on to a team, signing with the Rays in the spring. With Luke Scott scuffling, the Rays are looking to give Matsui a shot:

Expect Matsui to join #Rays tomorrow

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 29, 2012

That "tomorrow" referred to Tuesday. Scott hit .213/.291/.348 in May after starting the season hot, but there are no indications that he's in danger of losing his job. Matsui is up to be a bat off the bench for now.

Matsui hit .170/.231/.213 without a home run in 47 at-bats for triple-A Durham, so it's not like he forced himself onto the roster, but presumably the Rays saw something they liked.

Hideki Matsui Signs With Tampa Bay Rays

The former Yankees and A's DH will report to extended spring training at Rays camp in Florida.

Report: Hideki Matsui To Sign Minor-League Deal With Rays