What's A Motter? A Baseball Lifer

Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images

April 25, 2023

Being in limbo is nothing new to Taylor Motter, who was designated for assignment Sunday by the St. Louis Cardinals. The club has seven days to trade, waive, or release him. All of those scenarios have happened many times to the 33-year-old.

As of May 9, he has 99 listings in various “transactions”.

No player in recent times has worn as many uniforms as Motter. How many? Well, take off your shoes and socks to count. Ask your best friend to help. He will have to take off his shoes and socks as well. And get your wife involved, taking off her shoes and socks. Then … enough already!

Embed from Getty Images
Since being drafted in the 17th round in 2011 by the Tampa Bay Rays, he has worn a remarkable 32 pro baseball uniforms. Motter was drafted once. He has been signed, traded, put on waivers, claimed on waivers, and released multiple times.

They need to make a sitcom about this guy with a theme song akin to The Big Bang Theory, rattling off the towns where he has played. Forget The Patty Duke Show theme of the 60s, which starts out: “Meet Cathy who’s lived most everywhere, from Zanzibar to Berkeley Square …” Motter has that beat. By miles.

La Pesadilla

Along the way, Motter gained the nickname “La Pesadilla”. It means nightmare and was hung on by Spanish teammates impressed with his incessant hustle and being a pest to opponents. This video from this spring displays his kamikaze style:

Motter finds all his career travels to be a tad less annoying.

“Believe it or not, none of it is baseball,” Motter told Tony Capobianco of the Southeast Missourian earlier this month. “It’s all family-oriented stuff like, how are you gonna get your family to where you are? What’s the travel gonna be like for them? How are they gonna get settled in hotel living? Things like that. Baseball is baseball no matter where you go. So really, it’s kind of like the logistics of moving your family to cities city has been tough. Trying to find places to live that do six-month leases and things like that is probably the toughest part.”

A Little Traveling Music …

Embed from Getty Images
In order, Motter played at Palm Beach (FL) High School, Harwich (MA) in the Cape Cod League and Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C., before beginning his pro travels. After signing with Tampa Bay as the 540th player picked, he played at Bowling Green (KY) and Princeton (WV) in 2011. The next year was unique. He played all season back at Bowling Green.

Then it was off to the Gulf Coast League Rays in Port Charlotte (FL) with a promotion to Charlotte in 2013. That was a different team at a higher level in the same town. He started to get noticed by hitting .274 with 16 homers at Double-A Montgomery (AL) in 2014, finishing the year with Margarita (Porlamar, Nueva Esparta) of the Venezuelan Winter League. He hit .292 with 14 homers and 26 steals at Triple-A Durham (NC) in 2015 and went to Escogido (Santo Domingo) in the Dominican Winter League as well as Obregon (Mexico).

It was back to Durham in 2016 before Motter made his big-league debut with the Rays on May 15. The next night, he hit his first MLB homer, off Drew Storen in Toronto. He was sent back to Durham, traded to Seattle and again went to Escogido that winter.

Getting His Best Chance

Motter batted a blistering .350 with seven homers in 25 games for the Mariners’ Triple-A team in Tacoma in 2017. That earned him his longest stint in the majors that year with Seattle. In 92 games with the Mariners, he hit seven homers and went 12-for-13 stealing bases. Despite batting only .198 overall, he made an impression.

“Motter is a good defensive player no matter where you put him,’’ Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto told Bon Condotta of the Seattle Times then. “And he’s naturally comfortable at all of them. I asked him, you look very natural there have you played a ton of first base? He said, ‘I just play infield. I’ll play wherever you want to put me. You put me in the outfield, I’ll play there, too.’ He’s a confident player.’’

Motter played all four infield positions, left field and right that year for the Mariners. Signed as a shortstop, he has played every position except catcher in a 13-year career.

More Towns, More Countries

Embed from Getty Images
In 2018, he was with five different teams. He split time between Tacoma and Seattle and was claimed on waivers by the Minnesota Twins, playing for them and their Triple-A team in Rochester ( NY). He then played winter ball for Toros (LaRomana, Dominican Republic). In 2019-20, he played in six cities and THREE countries! That would be the Independent League Jersey Wise Guys (Little Falls), Kiwoon (South Korea), Estrellas (San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic), New Britain (Connecticut), Erie (Pennsylvania), and Midland (Texas).

In 2021, he played for the Boston Red Sox, Worcester, the Colorado Rockies, and Albuquerque. Last year, he was with Louisville, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Gwinett Stripers of Lawrenceville, Ga. He signed with St. Louis as a free agent in November, made the team this spring and was recently sent to AAA Memphis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rvtIL3kPzk

Major Movers

Embed from Getty Images
While Motter has “only” played for seven big-league teams, some recent players have set records for moving from team to team. Current Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Rich Hill is tied with former big-leaguers Matt Stairs and Mike Morgan for third place all-time with 12 teams. Stairs is the only position player among the top seven journeymen.

In second place is Octavio Dotel. The right-hander pitched for 13 teams between 1999 and 2013. The New York Mets signed him as an amateur free agent in 1993 from the Dominican Republic and got to the majors with New York six years later. The hard thrower amassed 1,143 strikeouts in 951 innings over 758 games, mostly in relief. He also played for the Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Rockies, Pirates, Atlanta Braves, Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays. He played for 16 clubs in the minors, still short of Motter.

Embed from Getty Images
Dotel’s MLB mark was broken by Edwin Jackson. Over 17 years (2003-19), he was with the Dodgers, Devil Rays, Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, White Sox, Cardinals, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Braves, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, A’s, and Blue Jays. He matched Dotel with 29 teams overall in his career. The hard-throwing right-hander always showed great promise, but compiled only a 107-133 record. For one day, even though it took him 149 pitches, he put it together for a no-hitter.

Is There A Future?

Embed from Getty Images
There has to be a place for a 33-year-old with Motter’s desire, versatility, and minor-league credentials. He was a Postseason All-Star in 2011, 2014 and 2015; a Midseason All-Star in 2014 and 2015; a Baseball America Triple-A All-Star in 2015 and in 2014, he was the All-Star Game Top Star. He is the very essence of the sport. Shohei Ohtani, Max Scherzer, and Aaron Judge get the big bucks and bigger notice. Motter gets whatever he can and never complains.

“I love this game,” he said. “I love playing baseball. And I want to do it until someone rips the jersey off my back. I know I’m older, but I still feel like I can go out here and compete with these young kids and play the game. When somebody tells me the time is done, I’ll still fight it. I still think I’ve got the best years ahead of me just going off what I’ve accomplished this spring. I’ve got some fight left.”

Embed from Getty Images
Motter has never backed down. He has recovered from 15 broken bones, the last a fractured thumb when he was at Coastal Carolina. Included was a broken collarbone when he fell out of a tree at age nine. “After each one my mom would just say, ‘Be careful.’ Kinda funny when you think about it.”

Motter picked himself up each time. If he does so again, landing with yet another team it would be the latest episode of “Welcome Back Motter.”

The theme song:

“Hello Motter, goodbye Motter. He gets called up when he’s hotter. When he cools off he gets sent down. And he soon is on his way to yet a new town.

“With each new chance he gets new pants. And he just may have a big day. There is one thing he won’t alter. That’s his never fearing he is going to falter.”