Joe Mays was drafted in the 6th round (161st overall) by the Seattle Mariners in 1994. He pitched well in the low minors, and in 1997 was traded to the Twins.
Mays was a well thought of prospect by the time he reached the majors in 1999, ranking the teams #12 prospect. He struggled his first two seasons in the majors, but in 2001 he broke out to have one of the best seasons in Twins history: 17-13, 3.16 ERA/1.151 WHIP/143 ERA+. He pitched a whopping 233 innings, allowing 205 hits while striking out 123 and only walking 64. It was his only All-Star selection.
He was never anything close to that good again. From 2002 until he was out of the game in 2005 he averaged 127 IP and went 18-26 with a 5.81 ERA/1.521 WHIP.
Its a bummer seeing a guys career fall apart. Mays never pitched more than 160 innings as a pro prior to the 2001 season. The Twins were not a bad team in 2001 (85 wins), but I am not sure they thought they had a legitimate chance to catch the Indians. Riding a starter like Mays into the ground–even if he could net them a game or two on the Tribe–was probably not worth it.
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | W | L | ERA | G | GS | IP | H | BB | SO | ERA+ | FIP | WHIP | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 23 | MIN | AL | 6 | 11 | 4.37 | 49 | 20 | 171.0 | 179 | 67 | 115 | 116 | 4.82 | 1.439 | |
| 2000 | 24 | MIN | AL | 7 | 15 | 5.56 | 31 | 28 | 160.1 | 193 | 67 | 102 | 93 | 4.77 | 1.622 | |
| 2001 | 25 | MIN | AL | 17 | 13 | 3.16 | 34 | 34 | 233.2 | 205 | 64 | 123 | 143 | 4.27 | 1.151 | AS |
| 2002 | 26 | MIN | AL | 4 | 8 | 5.38 | 17 | 17 | 95.1 | 113 | 25 | 38 | 83 | 4.92 | 1.448 | |
| 2003 | 27 | MIN | AL | 8 | 8 | 6.30 | 31 | 21 | 130.0 | 159 | 39 | 50 | 72 | 5.35 | 1.523 | |
| 2005 | 29 | MIN | AL | 6 | 10 | 5.65 | 31 | 26 | 156.0 | 203 | 41 | 59 | 79 | 5.03 | 1.564 | |
| 2006 | 30 | TOT | MLB | 0 | 5 | 8.70 | 13 | 10 | 50.2 | 78 | 26 | 25 | 55 | 6.52 | 2.053 | |
| 2006 | 30 | KCR | AL | 0 | 4 | 10.27 | 6 | 6 | 23.2 | 38 | 14 | 9 | 46 | 8.01 | 2.197 | |
| 2006 | 30 | CIN | NL | 0 | 1 | 7.33 | 7 | 4 | 27.0 | 40 | 12 | 16 | 65 | 5.22 | 1.926 | |
| 7 Yr | 7 Yr | 7 Yr | 7 Yr | 48 | 70 | 5.05 | 206 | 156 | 997.0 | 1130 | 329 | 512 | 94 | 4.88 | 1.463 | |
| 162 | 162 | 162 | 162 | 9 | 13 | 5.05 | 39 | 29 | 187 | 212 | 62 | 96 | 94 | 4.88 | 1.463 |