Guide Note

Ronald Matthew Mahay is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher currently playing for the Kansas City Royals.

Mahay signed a $4 million deal to play for the Royals in the 2009 season. However, there have been reports that as many as 10 teams have approached the Royals expressing their interest in a trade.¹

Fast Facts

1. Born: June 28, 1971
2. Birthplace: Crestwood, Illinois
3. 1991: Drafted with the Boston Red Sox
4. Is not eligible for membership in the Major League Baseball Players Association because he was used as a replacement player during the 1994 MLB strike
5. Appeared as an extra on All My Children²
6. Married Alison Palmieri in 1998²

Mahaly was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox on June 3, 1991. In 1992 he was placed with the Red Sox minor league affiliates for his first few years of conditioning. He was called up to the Red Sox after the 1994 Major League Baseball strike and played during spring training.²

Mahay made his official MLB debut with the Red Sox on May 21, 1995. He played five games that season, as a center fielder, before returning to the minors. Mahay would not be called back to the MLB until 1997, where he split his next two seasons pitching both for the Red Sox and their affiliates.²

Shortly before the 1999 season, Mahay was waived by the Red Sox, then selected by the Oakland Athletics on March 30, 1999. He played only 11 games with the Athletics, before the Florida Marlins purchased his contract on May 11, 2000. 18 games later he was granted free agency.²

Mahay signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres on November 20, 2000, but never played a single game in a Padres uniform. On May 19, 2001 he signed with the Chicago Cubs, who he stayed with for the next two seasons, again splitting his time between the Cubs and their minor league teams.²

On December 13, 2002, Mahay signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers. He stayed with the Rangers for just over four seasons, playing in a career high 62 games in 2006, and finishing the season with a 3.95 ERA.²

Mahay was traded on July 31, 2007 to the Atlanta Braves, where he finished out the 2007 regular season, improving to a 2.25 ERA. Following the 2007 season Mahay signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals, to a reported two year deal.²