Mason Williams (baseball)

Mason Jordan Williams (born August 21, 1991) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets.

Mason Williams
Williams with the New York Yankees
Outfielder
Born: (1991-08-21) August 21, 1991
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 12, 2015, for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
June 19, 2021, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
Batting average.265
Home runs4
Runs batted in15
Teams

Early life

Williams was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.[1] He excelled for the local Little League team. After Mason completed the seventh grade at St. Teresa School, his family moved to Winter Garden, Florida, where he could compete against a higher level of competition with the hopes of receiving a college baseball scholarship.[2]

Career

New York Yankees

Williams attended West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Florida, and played for the school's baseball team. The New York Yankees selected Williams in the fourth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft.[3] He signed for a $1.5 million signing bonus to forgo his scholarship to the University of South Carolina.[4]

Williams started his career with the Gulf Coast Yankees of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2010. He appeared in five games, hitting .222/.263/.222 in 18 at bats. He spent the 2011 season playing for the Staten Island Yankees of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League, where he hit .349/.395/.468 with three home runs, 31 runs batted in and 28 stolen bases in 68 games. After the season, he was named the New York–Penn League's Most Valuable Player.[5]

Prior to the 2012 season, Baseball America considered him the Yankees fifth best prospect for the 2012 season.[6] They also ranked him first among prospects in the New York–Penn League.[7] Keith Law ranked Williams as the 34th-best overall prospect in baseball while MLB.com ranked him as the 73rd-best.[8][9] Williams began the year with the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League, where he hit .304/.359/.489 with eight home runs and 19 stolen bases in 69 games before earning a promotion to the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League. With Tampa, he hit .277/.302/.422 with three home runs in 22 games before dislocating his left shoulder on July 25.[10] On November 20, 2014, he was added to the Yankees' 40-man roster.[11]

After starting 2015 with the Trenton Thunder of the Double-A Eastern League, the Yankees promoted Williams to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple-A International League on May 20.[12] The Yankees promoted Williams to the major leagues on June 11.[13] In his major league debut on June 12, Williams hit a home run in his second at-bat, which was his first Major League hit.[14] Williams separated his right shoulder in a game on a June 19 and went on the disabled list.[15][16] He had season-ending shoulder surgery on August 7.[17]

Williams played for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2016, and was a September call-up for the Yankees. He batted .296 in 12 games with the Yankees in September 2016. Williams began the 2017 season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was promoted Williams to the major leagues on June 16.[18] He started in five games for the Yankees, before he was designated for assignment on June 29.[19] He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

Cincinnati Reds

On November 17, 2017, Williams signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds.[20] On July 26, 2018, he had his contract selected by the Reds[21] and made his Reds debut in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 9th.[22] The following day, Williams made his first start for the Reds, and in the 4th inning, he hit a 3-run home run to give Cincinnati a 5-2 lead.[23] He elected free agency on November 3, 2018. On December 19, 2018, Williams re-signed to a minor league deal with the Reds.[24] He was released on March 19, 2019.

Baltimore Orioles

On March 29, 2019, Williams signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles. He played for the Norfolk Tides of the International League. After Norfolk's season ended, the Orioles promoted Williams to the major leagues on September 3.[25] He appeared in 11 games, hitting .267 with 2 runs batted in. Williams was outrighted off the Orioles roster on October 31 and elected free agency. He re-signed with Baltimore on a minor league contract on November 26, 2019. On August 22, 2020, Williams was selected to the active roster.[26] Williams was designated for assignment by the Orioles on September 1, 2020.[27] He was selected back to the major league roster on September 5. Williams was again designated for assignment by the Orioles on September 11.[28] Williams was released by the Orioles on September 20.[29]

New York Mets

On April 15, 2021, Williams signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets organization.[30] On May 31, Williams was selected to the active roster.[31] In 17 games for the Mets, he hit .212/.297/.333 with 1 home run and 1 RBI before he was designated for assignment on June 20.[32] He was outrighted to the Triple-A Syracuse Mets on June 24,[30] and elected free agency the same day.[33] On June 25, Williams re-signed with the Mets on a new minor league contract.[30] In 2021, he had the slowest sprint speed of all major league center fielders, at 26.7 feet/second.[34]

Personal life

Williams's father, Derwin Williams, played in the National Football League for the New England Patriots. His grandfather's brother, Walt Williams, played Major League Baseball from 1964 through 1975 as an outfielder with the Houston Colt .45s, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees.[35][36] Williams has a younger brother, Kobe.[2]

Williams was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in April 2013.[37]

References
  1. McNamara, Kevin (May 25, 2015). "Former Darlington Little League star back in Pawtucket, as a Yankees prospect". Providence Journal. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  2. McGair, Brendan (June 16, 2012). "The son becomes the father: Derwin and Mason Williams". The Call. Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  3. "Yankees draft pick: West Orange's Mason Williams takes brother under wing". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  4. "Name to Watch: Super prospect Mason Williams". ESPN.com. December 6, 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  5. "Mason Williams Named Player of the Year — Staten Island Yankees News". Staten Island Yankees. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  6. "BaseballAmerica.com: Prospects: Rankings: Organization Top 10 Prospects: 2012 New York Yankees Top 10 Prospects". baseballamerica.com. January 4, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  7. "BaseballAmerica.com: Prospects: Rankings: League Top 20 Prospects: 2011 New York–Penn League Top 20 Prospects". baseballamerica.com. September 26, 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  8. "Law's Top 100: Manny B. is No. 23, Williams No. 34". ESPN.com. February 9, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  9. "2012 Prospect Watch". Major League Baseball. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  10. Mearns, Andrew (August 3, 2012). "Yankees Top 10 Prospect Mason Williams Out for Season with Shoulder Surgery". Pinstripe Alley.
  11. "Yankees add four players to major league roster, sell rights of INF Wheeler to Rakuten Golden Eagles". YES Network. November 20, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  12. "Yankees' prospect Mason Williams excited about first-ever promotion to Triple-A". NJ.com. May 22, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  13. "Mason Williams gets Yankees call-up after years of bust fears". New York Post. June 11, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  14. Kuty, Brendan (June 12, 2015). "WATCH: Yankees' Mason Williams homers for 1st career hit". NJ.com. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
  15. "Yankees send Mason Williams to DL, make more moves". NJ.com. June 21, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  16. "Yankees' Mason Williams transferred to 60-day disabled list". NJ.com. July 12, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  17. Mike Axisa (August 4, 2015). "Yankees place Dustin Ackley on 15-day DL; Mason Williams to have shoulder surgery". River Avenue Blues. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  18. "Yankees notebook: Mason Williams returns, Chapman on deck". Northjersey.com. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  19. "Andujar sent down, Fowler called up, and Carter rejoins Yankees". Northjersey.com. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  20. Adams, Steve (November 17, 2017). "Minor MLB Transactions: 11/17/17". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  21. "Reds' Mason Williams: Contract selected from minors". www.cbssports.com. CBS Interactive. July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  22. "Cincinnati Reds fall to Philadelphia Phillies in series opener, July 26". www.cincinnati.com. USA Today Network. July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  23. Bob Nightengale (July 27, 2018). "Eugenio Suarez, Mason Williams home runs lift Cincinnati Reds past Philadelphia Phillies". www.cincinnati.com. USA Today Network. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  24. Eddy, Matt (January 12, 2019). "Minor League Transactions: Dec 19 - Jan 10". Baseball America. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  25. staff, Baltimore Sun. "Orioles' latest wave of call-ups features Mason Williams, Austin Wynns, four returning pitchers; Jace Peterson DFA'd". baltimoresun.com.
  26. "Orioles Designate Dwight Smith Jr., Select Mason Williams". MLB Trade Rumors.
  27. "Orioles Select Dilson Herrera's Contract, Designate Mason Williams". MLB Trade Rumors.
  28. "Orioles Designate Mason Williams For Assignment". MLB Trade Rumors.
  29. "Orioles Outright Asher Wojciechowski, Release Mason Williams". MLB Trade Rumors.
  30. "Major League Baseball Transactions". Major League Baseball.
  31. "Mets Make Several Roster Moves". MLB Trade Rumors.
  32. "Mets Select Jerad Eickhoff, Designate Mason Williams". MLB Trade Rumors.
  33. "Minor MLB Transactions: 6/27/21". mlb traderumors.com.
  34. "Statcast Sprint Speed Leaderboard". baseballsavant.com.
  35. "Sweeny Murti: Mason Williams, New York Yankees' Top Prospect « CBS New York". cbslocal.com. January 24, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  36. McCarron, Anthony (February 25, 2012). "Mason Williams: Meet the man who just may be the next great Yankee: Plenty of spring buzz about Bombers' prospect". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  37. Red, Christian (April 25, 2013). "Yankees Insider: Top prospect arrested for DUI". NY Daily News. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
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