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Rays, Cam Booser Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rays have agreed to a minor league contract with left-handed reliever Cam Booser, per the team transaction log at MLB.com. He’s a client of Northwest Sports Management. The log doesn’t specify as much, but MLBTR has confirmed that Booser will be in major league camp with the Rays as a non-roster invitee.

Booser, 33, spent the 2025 campaign with the White Sox organization, tossing 31 innings in the majors and another 14 2/3 frames in Triple-A. That was his second season with big league work, adding onto the 42 2/3 frames he logged with Boston in 2024. In 73 2/3 innings between the BoSox and ChiSox, Booser carries a 4.28 earned run average, a 23.9% strikeout rate and a 10.7% walk rate. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher, inducing grounders at just a 31% clip.

Booser sits 95.5 mph with his four-seamer and complements the pitch with a cutter averaging 88 mph and a slider that sits 81.7 mph. His solid strikeout rate is supported by a 13% swinging-strike rate in the majors, and his 89.5 mph average exit velocity, 10.4% barrel rate and 38.9% hard-hit rate are all at or close to the league average among relievers. Booser has never struggled to miss bats much in the minors, but command troubles have been present throughout his professional career.

After trading Mason Montgomery in the three-team swap that sent Brandon Lowe to Pittsburgh and brought Jacob Melton from Houston to Tampa Bay, the Rays’ only lefty in the bullpen is Garrett Cleavinger. They don’t have any left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster in the minors, though any of Joe Rock, Ian Seymour or DFA pickup Ken Waldichuk could conceivably work out in relief if the team prefers to explore a role change. All three are on the 40-man roster.

The Rays haven’t been especially active in bringing players aboard on non-roster deals with invitations to spring training, so at the moment Booser is one of the more experienced NRIs who’ll be in camp with Tampa Bay. That can always change in the weeks ahead, of course, but barring the addition of another lefty or two, the hard-throwing Booser probably has a chance to force his way into the Opening Day picture with a big spring showing.

Finding The Rays’ Closer Replacement

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There was a time in the not-so-distant past that Tampa Bay shuffled through closers every season. Manager Kevin Cash took over in 2015. Over the next eight seasons, the club had seven different saves leaders. Alex Colome was the only reliever to pace the team in back-to-back seasons (2016 and 2017). That changed in 2023, when Pete Fairbanks took over as the full-time closer.

Fairbanks racked up 75 saves over the past three seasons. He’s been Cash’s go-to stopper when healthy. The right-hander ranks third in franchise history with 90 saves. He would have almost certainly passed Colome (95) and Roberto Hernandez (101) had he remained with the organization for another year. Instead, Tampa Bay declined Fairbanks’ $11MM option and allowed him to hit free agency. He signed a one-year, $13MM deal with the Marlins on Christmas Eve.

The Rays will now need to fill the void left by Fairbanks. Considering the organization didn’t want to pay a reasonable price to keep him, the new closer will likely be an internal choice. Tampa Bay has a long history of manufacturing solid relievers, with Fairbanks himself being part of that lineage. These are the potential candidates…

Edwin Uceta

Uceta was the primary high-leverage righty behind Fairbanks last season. He led the bullpen with 76 innings and tied for the team lead with 21 holds. Uceta only had one save in 2025, but he previously served as the closer when Fairbanks missed time in 2024. The right-hander recorded the first five saves of his MLB career that season.

The closer-caliber stuff is there for Uceta. His fastball, changeup, and cutter all had whiff rates above 31% last season. He has a 15.5% swinging-strike rate for his career. The main issue is the long ball. Uceta gave up 11 home runs in 2025, which ranked in the top 10 among relievers. He had a healthy 34.4% fly ball rate and a massive 29.5% pulled air contact rate. A propensity to allow fly balls to the pull side is a scary trait for a reliever called on to protect small leads.

Griffin Jax

Acquired at the trade deadline for Taj Bradley, Jax was set to be the closer in waiting. He had been the setup man in Minnesota behind Jhoan Duran, though he had forced somewhat of a timeshare in 2024. Jax earned a career-high 10 saves that season. He opened the year as the closer with Duran dealing with an oblique injury, and was still called upon to finish games even when the incumbent returned. The 2025 campaign didn’t begin as smoothly, as Jax had a 4.50 ERA when he was dealt to Tampa Bay, but a 2.08 SIERA and a 1.79 xFIP suggested he had been unlucky.

The change of scenery didn’t help Jax. He allowed seven earned runs in his first 7 1/3 innings with Tampa Bay. Jax allowed three home runs in that stretch, including a game-losing three-run blast to Cal Raleigh in early August. He closed the season with 10 scoreless appearances, though they mostly came in low-leverage spots. Jax also served as an opener in two games down the stretch.

Garrett Cleavinger (honorable mention)

FanGraphs’ bullpen depth chart lists each of Uceta, Jax, and Cleavinger as closers. It’s fair to include Cleavinger, given his high-leverage work last season. He matched Uceta with 21 holds as the preferred lefty setup man. However, Cleavinger’s candidacy has a clear flaw. He’s the only left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster. There’s virtually no chance he’ll get the closer job without another lefty in the bullpen.

Bryan Baker

Baker had the makings of the unheralded reliever that Tampa Bay turns into a shutdown guy. He spiked a 32.5% strikeout rate through three months last season with the Orioles. The Rays traded for him in early July. Baker made a significant pitch mix tweak in 2025, doubling his changeup usage and prioritizing it ahead of his slider. The changeup was Baker’s best whiff pitch by far. It also held opponents to a measly .128 batting average.

While the jump in strikeouts was nice, Baker still got hit incredibly hard. He gave up barrels at a 12.6% clip, which ranked in the 1st percentile. His 48.3% hard-hit rate put him in the 3rd percentile. Unless Baker can find a way to miss bats and limit damage, he’s likely ticketed for the middle innings.

Hunter Bigge

While he might not break camp with the team, Bigge looms as the potential closer of the future. Tampa Bay acquired him at the 2024 trade deadline in the deal that sent Isaac Paredes to the Cubs. Bigge had dominated at Triple-A that season, earning his first big-league promotion. He pitched well in his brief time in Chicago, then continued to excel with the Rays.

Bigge’s 2025 season was wrecked by two injuries. He went down with a lat strain in early May. In June, he was hit in the face by a 105 mph foul ball. Bigge suffered multiple facial fractures due to the incident. He did not make it back on the mound.

Bigge has the premium velocity and putaway pitch (a wipeout slider) to succeed as a closer. His recovery timeline isn’t clear, but he should be available to contribute on the big-league club at some point. Considering the long layoff, Bigge might be more of a 2027 closer candidate.

Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

Latest On Rays Stadium Plans

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The Rays continue their efforts to find a workable plan for a new stadium in the Tampa Bay area. They took a step in that direction on Tuesday, as the board of trustees at Hillsborough College voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with the team (link via Nina Moske, Colleen Wright and Lucy Marques of The Tampa Bay Times). It’s a non-binding agreement between the Rays and the college as the team pursues a stadium/mixed-use development plan at its Dale Mabry campus.

The team’s lease at Tropicana Field runs through 2028. They’re hopeful of having a new stadium built for the start of the ’29 season. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time to work out funding agreements with the city and county before getting construction underway. The team’s deal on Tuesday was with the college to zero in on a potential stadium site. They have not worked out any kind of public funding deals.

The Rays had a 2024 agreement on a stadium that would have been in St. Petersburg, which is located in Pinellas County. The deal collapsed after hurricane damage held up county approval of certain bonds, which led the Rays to argue they needed more money to cover cost overruns associated with the delay. Talks between the team and city/county officials became acrimonious enough that the Rays pivoted to working with Hillsborough County officials and the City of Tampa.

An inability to work out a stadium deal was seemingly the driving force in Stu Sternberg’s decision to sell his majority share in the franchise last year. Patrick Zalupski is now leading ownership and taking another crack at working out a deal within Tampa itself. City and county officials have given mixed signals on whether they’ll approve public money.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, a proponent of a deal in Tampa, suggested this afternoon that he believes the team would pursue opportunities in Orlando if they don’t make sufficient progress on the Dale Mabry site (link via Nicolas Villamil of The Tampa Bay Times). There has been growing support in Orlando for a team, either via relocation or expansion, but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and Rays’ officials have maintained they’re focused on the Tampa area at the moment.

Rich Hill Not Planning To Play In 2026

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Left-hander Rich Hill doesn’t want to use the word but it seems to be leaning towards retirement. Appearing on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast, Hill was asked by host Rob Bradford if he was retiring and said “I don’t have any plans on playing next year.” The situation is somewhat analogous to that of Joe Kelly, who announced on the same podcast last month that he didn’t want to use the word “retire” but wasn’t planning on playing anymore.

“I’m looking for open possibilities to stay in the game of baseball and be a contributory factor,” Hill continued. “I enjoy the work aspect of whatever it might be that’s next. I think that’s one thing that… why athletes get hired in other positions and other… outside of sports is because they are highly-driven people that want to succeed. And that’s something that I’m looking forward to.”

It’s not shocking that Hill is slowly wafting into the next stage of his career. Though he did pitch in the 2025 season, he was easily the oldest player in the league. He was 45 years old when he suited up for the Royals and will turn 46 in March. Though he has continued pitching to an age when most other players have called it quits long ago, he did so with some unconventional approaches. He waited until midseason to sign in 2024 in a deliberate attempt to be more fresh for a stretch run.

If this is indeed the end, it will wrap up one of the more unique arcs of a player in recent history. Hill was drafted by the Cubs way back in 2002 and made his major league debut in 2005. He didn’t find immediate success but had a really good season in 2007, posting a 3.92 earned run average over 32 starts.

But from there, he went into a really challenging period of his career. He struggled with results and health for many years, leading him to be bounced between the majors and minors and between various different organizations. From 2008 to 2014, he tossed a total of 153 innings split between the Cubs, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, the Angels and Yankees. He posted a 5.41 ERA over that stretch.

2015 would turn out to be an incredible comeback season. He started the year on a minor league deal with the Nationals. He opted out of that contract in June and signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. He made just two starts for that club but struck out 21 opponents in 11 innings. That was enough to get him back into affiliated baseball via a minor league deal with the Red Sox.

Boston called him up in September and he made four starts as the season was winding down. In those, he logged 29 innings with a 1.55 ERA. He had a mammoth 34% strikeout rate, a tiny 4.7% walk rate and a strong 48.4% ground ball rate. That was a tiny sample size but the Athletics made a bet on it, signing Hill to a one-year, $6MM deal for 2016. That wager paid off handsomely, with Hill giving the A’s 14 starts with a 2.25 ERA.

At that year’s deadline, he was traded to the Dodgers alongside Josh Reddick, with the A’s getting Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes, and Jharel Cotton in return. Hill gave the Dodgers six starts with an ERA of 1.83 and then three postseason starts with a 3.46 ERA.

The Dodgers were happy enough with that showing to bring Hill back via a three-year, $48MM contract. That was a pretty staggering deal for a 37-year-old who was not too far removed from being in indy ball but it worked out well. He logged 327 innings over those three seasons with a 3.30 ERA, plus 37 postseason innings with a 2.43 ERA.

After that deal ran its course, Hill went into his 40s and mercenary mode. He signed a series of one-year deal with the Twins, Rays, Red Sox and Pirates. In 2023, he seemed to wear down as the season went along, not surprising for a 43-year-old. His 4.76 ERA with Pittsburgh was still respectable but he collapsed after a deadline deal to the Padres, posting an 8.23 ERA after the swap.

As mentioned, he then tried to think outside the box to continue as an effective big league pitcher. He planned to intentionally sign at midseason in 2024 in order to spend more time with his family and also save his bullets for the second half and postseason. He stayed unsigned until inking a minor league deal with the Red Sox in August. He did get called up but only for four relief appearances before being released. In 2025, he signed a minor league deal with the Royals in May. He got called up in July but was designated for assignment after just two starts.

Given the unusual shape of his career and his willingness to buck conventions, it’s possible he’ll change his mind and find his way back to the mound. But if Hill doesn’t make it back to the majors, he will finish with 1,418 innings tossed over 388 games for 14 different clubs. In that time, he posted a 4.02 ERA but will likely be best remembered for the 2015-2021 run which saw him post a 3.15 ERA in his late 30s and early 40s. Baseball Reference pegs his career earnings over $75MM, most of that coming to Hill in his late-career surge. We at MLB Trade Rumors salute him on a fine career, which may or may not be done, and wish him the best on whatever is next.

Photo courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images

Rays Looking To Trade For Catchers, Had Interest In J.T. Realmuto

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The catching position has long been a weak link in Tampa Bay, and the Rays at least considered making a big move to solidify the position this winter.  The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that Tampa showed some interest in signing J.T. Realmuto before Realmuto re-signed with the Phillies yesterday for three years and $45MM.

The Rays rarely make major forays into the free agent market, and it was widely assumed that Realmuto would eventually return to Philadelphia.  Beyond these two points, however, it makes plenty of sense why the Rays would’ve checked in Realmuto, given both their needs behind the plate and the fact that Realmuto lingered on the open market until mid-January.  Had the Phillies successfully signed Bo Bichette, for instance, Realmuto’s chances of a reunion might’ve gotten a lot slimmer, leaving the door open for the Rays (or another catcher-needy team) to swoop in with an offer.

Zach Eflin’s three-year, $40MM deal from the 2022-23 offseason represents the biggest contract the Rays have ever given to a free agent.  This isn’t far under what Realmuto got from the Phillies, and if Philadelphia had dropped out of the Realmuto market altogether, there might’ve been opportunity for the Rays to make a similar offer, or perhaps even a matching average annual value on a two-year deal.  In fact, MLB Trade Rumors projected a two-year, $30MM deal for Realmuto, but the Phils ended up adding a third year with the same $15MM average annual value.

Besides the Phillies, the Red Sox were the only other team known to have interest in Realmuto this winter.  The Rangers were a speculative suitor, but reports indicated that the team’s limited budget wouldn’t allow for such a pursuit.  Among other contenders or would-be contenders, the Giants, Reds, Pirates, or Marlins might’ve made sense, but there wasn’t any indication that any of these clubs (several of whom are also operating within reduced payrolls) made any push for Realmuto.

As per usual in Tampa Bay, there has been a lot of offseason roster shuffling, with some relatively pricier players moved out and other players brought in to fill holes in a somewhat less expensive manner.  Steven Matz, Cedric Mullins, and Jake Fraley were all signed for a combined $25MM, so the Rays added three players for slightly more than the $22.5MM they would’ve owed Brandon Lowe and Pete Fairbanks had the two been retained.  The end result is a payroll that will probably look pretty similar to last year — RosterResource estimates the Rays’ 2026 payroll at around $80.1MM, in comparison to their $78.9MM payroll from 2025.

Signing Realmuto might well have resulted in the Rays having to unload another prominent salary to make the numbers fit.  Losing someone like Yandy Diaz to add Realmuto might not have been a welcome tradeoff for Tampa’s lineup, but since Diaz is entering the last guaranteed year of his contract, perhaps that’s a move the Rays would’ve been open to making making in order to finally shore up the catching position.

President of baseball operations Erik Neander said in November that the Rays were keeping an open mind about catchers, saying that “if we can find a way to be better at that position, we will, but those are two guys [Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia] we appreciate.  If we roll into next year and that’s where we are — a lot of players, we’re counting on development from where they were, and that certainly applies to those two and [we] think that they can give us more than they did this year.”

Fortes and Feduccia are currently lined up as the Rays’ top two catchers, with Logan Driscoll and non-roster invite Blake Sabol as the only other backstops in the organization with any MLB experience.  In a sign of how the position has been a revolving door for the Rays, Fortes and Feduccia have each been with the team just since July, as the duo were respectively acquired from the Marlins and Dodgers in deadline trades.

Fortes is a glove-first catcher who has hit only .224/.280/.345 over 1174 plate appearances in the majors.  Feduccia also hasn’t hit in the Show but only in the limited sample of 119 PA, with 102 of those trips to the plate coming after the trade from Los Angeles.  Formerly a well-regarded prospect in the L.A. farm system, Feduccia has strong Triple-A numbers and might be something of an untapped resource as a hitter, though he is already 28 years old.

With Realmuto back in Philadelphia and Victor Caratini now signed by the Twins, the top two options on the free agent catching market quickly left the board in 24 hours’ time.  Rather than sort through other free agents who might not represent clear upgrades, the Rays seem to prefer looking for trade help, as Rosenthal writes.  The pickings are pretty slim on this front as well, but teams like the Royals, Cardinals, or Pirates could conceivably have enough available catching depth to match up with Tampa Bay as trade partners.

Rays View Gavin Lux As Full-Time Second Baseman

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The Rays swapped Josh Lowe for Gavin Lux as part of last night’s three-team trade. President of baseball operations Erik Neander discussed the move with Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times after it was finalized this morning.

Neander indicated the Rays were likely to narrow Lux’s defensive focus to his traditional second base position. The former top prospect worked in a utility role with Cincinnati last year, only starting 16 games at the keystone. He spent the majority of his defensive work in left field and started more games at designated hitter than any individual position.

“In our opinion, second base is his best position, and he plays it at his best when the entirety of his time is focused there,” Neander told Topkin. “The way things played out in Cincinnati last year, there was more opportunity in left field, more DH, more pinch-hit, a little bit of second base, but his work was not focused at second base. I think Gavin is someone that we can give him some clarity that, ‘Hey, second base, put your work in there, build your routines there, prepare for that, and basically that only.’ And I think that’s how we’re going to get the best out of him.”

Lux has played more second base than any other position in his career. He graded as a slightly above-average gloveman by both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average between 2019-22. Lux missed the entire ’23 season with a torn ACL. The Dodgers initially planned to move him up the defensive spectrum to shortstop when he returned. They scrapped that when he struggled with his throwing accuracy during Spring Training. Lux’s arm is less of an issue on the right side of the infield, but his overall defensive grades have dipped in the last two years.

The Rays apparently feel that last year’s metrics are attributable to the multi-position role. Committing to Lux as an everyday second baseman would have trickle-down effects for the rest of the roster. That probably locks Taylor Walls in at shortstop to open the season, allowing them to send Carson Williams back to Triple-A to work through contact concerns.

Richie Palacios had been the in-house favorite for second base playing time after the Brandon Lowe trade. He’s most adversely impacted by the acquisition of Lux, who has a similar skillset. They’re each left-handed bats whose games are built around strong on-base ability despite limited power. Palacios hit well in a tiny sample last year but was limited to 17 games by a pair of injuries — a broken right ring finger and a more significant knee sprain that cost him the bulk of the season.

Palacios still has a minor league option and could head to Triple-A for another season. His best path to MLB playing time now is probably in the corner outfield. Palacios has played nearly 500 innings as a left fielder over parts of four MLB campaigns. The Rays have a wide open outfield around Cedric Mullins, who is likely to be the everyday center fielder. Jake Fraley, Jonny DeLuca, Chandler Simpson, Justyn-Henry Malloy, Ryan Vilade and trade pickup Jacob Melton will also compete for playing time. Fraley, Palacios, Simpson and Melton are all left-handed hitters.

Mets Claim Tsung-Che Cheng

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The Mets claimed infielder Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Rays, per announcements from both clubs. Tampa Bay designated Cheng for assignment last week. New York had open 40-man space and thus doesn’t need to make a corresponding roster move at this time.

Cheng, 24, made his big league debut with the Pirates in 2025 but went hitless in seven plate appearances. He didn’t fare all that well in Triple-A last year either, hitting just .207/.305/.267 with one homer, 12 doubles and three triples in 410 turns at the plate. However, Cheng is a plus runner who swiped 20 bags despite that paltry OBP, and he’s also a capable defender at shortstop, second base and third base. The 5’8″ lefty swinger also has an excellent eye at the plate, evidenced by a career 12.5% walk rate in the minors.

Pittsburgh designated Cheng for assignment last month. The Rays added him via waivers recently but designated him again upon acquiring lefty Ken Waldichuk. Cheng still has a minor league option year remaining, so he adds some fleet-footed depth that can play decent defense at multiple positions while providing quality plate discipline. There’s no guarantee he sticks with the Mets all the way through spring training, but for now he can provide some cover in the event of injuries or the trade of a young infielder such as Mark Vientos, Luisangel Acuña or Ronny Mauricio.

Marlins Claim Osvaldo Bido

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The Marlins have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Rays, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Tampa Bay designated Bido for assignment last week. Miami has an open spot on the 40-man roster after trading lefty Ryan Weathers to the Yankees, so a corresponding move won’t be necessary.

Bido turned 30 this past October. He spent seven seasons in the minors with the Pirates prior to making his debut as a 27-year-old rookie in 2023, and he’s spent the past two seasons pitching with the A’s, who signed him to a big league deal in the 2023-24 winter after Pittsburgh cut him loose. The wiry 6’3″, 175-pound righty has had an up-and-down run in the majors across the past three seasons, posting ugly numbers in 2023 and 2025 but logging 63 1/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball with solid rate stats in 2024.

Overall, Bido has pitched 193 2/3 innings as a big leaguer. In that time, he carries a collective 5.07 earned run average. Metrics like SIERA (4.60) and FIP (4.67) are a bit kinder, but he’s pitched like a serviceable swingman/sixth starter for much of his time in the league. Bido averages 94.7 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker. His strikeout rate (20.9%) and walk rate (9.6%) are both worse than league average, but not by much. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher but hadn’t been especially prone to home runs until the 2025 season — though that was surely due to the Athletics’ temporary home at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento playing like an absolute launching pad; Bido surrendered 13 home runs in 44 1/3 home innings but just six in 35 1/3 frames on the road.

Bido is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to either break camp with the Fish — presumably in a long relief role — or else clear waivers before he can be sent to Triple-A. Miami has been on the lookout for some rotation depth after trading not only Weathers but also righty Edward Cabrera. Bido provides some for the time being, but an out-of-options journeyman coming off a 5.87 ERA is far from a lock to stick on the roster.

At the moment, Miami’s rotation will include Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez and (health-permitting) Braxton Garrett. There’s no shortage of other arms to compete for starting jobs. Former top prospect Max Meyer will be healthy after a long injury layoff. Janson Junk, like Bido, came to the Marlins as a journeyman long reliever last year but pitched well enough to carve out a spot on the big league roster in ’26 — whether as a starter or swingman. Righty Ryan Gusto, acquired last July for Jesus Sanchez, offers a similar skill set. Former top prospects Dax Fulton and Adam Mazur have missed time with injury but should be healthy and in the mix for innings. Most notably, top prospects Thomas White and Robby Snelling — two of MLB’s most highly regarded left-handers — are both on the cusp of the majors.

There’s plenty of talent in the mix for Miami’s rotation but also a lot of injury risk and uncertainty. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them bring in a veteran starter, even if only on a non-roster invitation to spring training, in order to add some stability to the current group.

Rays, Angels, Reds Agree To Three-Team Trade Involving Josh Lowe, Gavin Lux

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While Kyle Tucker dominated baseball’s headlines, the Rays, Angels and Reds worked out a three-team trade. Outfielder Josh Lowe heads from Tampa Bay to the Angels. The Rays acquire utilityman Gavin Lux from Cincinnati and minor league pitcher Chris Clark from the Halos. The Reds get left-handed reliever Brock Burke from Los Angeles. The deal was finalized on Friday morning.

It’s the second trade involving an everyday outfielder for the Angels this offseason. This time, the player is coming their way. Lowe will fill the outfield void left by Taylor Ward, who was shipped to Baltimore for Grayson Rodriguez. Tampa Bay entered the winter with a pair of Lowes, but the club will head into 2026 without either one. The versatile Lux can fill the void left by the Brandon Lowe deal. Cincinnati nets a veteran southpaw, while also getting off the $5.525MM contract Lux received in arbitration. Burke will make about half of that this season.

Lowe seemed like a fixture in Tampa Bay’s lineup after a massive 20/30 campaign in 2023. He posted a 135 wRC+ in his first season as a regular. Injuries would stifle his production the next two seasons. Oblique and hamstring issues delayed the start of his 2024 season. The oblique cost him time later that year, and then again at the beginning of this past season. He wasn’t productive when healthy this year, stumbling to a career-worst 79 wRC+ behind a .220/.283/.366 batting line. Lowe hit .139 with a 35.3% strikeout rate in his final month with the team.

With Ward gone and Mike Trout penciled in at DH, the Angels had limited options in the outfield prior to the move. Lowe will now slot in alongside Jo Adell and Jorge Soler. The Rays shielded him from lefties for much of his time there, and with good reason. Lowe has a .504 OPS and a 33% strikeout rate in his limited work against same-handed pitching (288 plate appearances). He could be ticketed for regular at-bats given the lack of a platoon partner. The right-handed bench outfielder is currently Bryce Teodosio, a glove-first option. Trout only made 22 starts in the outfield last season, but that could change considering the alternatives.

A former first-round pick, Lowe is a plus runner who has slightly above-average bat speed. The aforementioned 20-30 season hints at his physical upside, but the durability and strikeout concerns kept him from establishing himself as a cornerstone player. He has only once reached 500 plate appearances in a season.

Lowe played a little bit of center field early in his career. The vast majority of his experience has come in right, and he has only logged seven innings up the middle over the past two seasons. He’d be stretched in center defensively, yet that’s also true of Trout and Adell. The Halos will probably need to live with rough up-the-middle defense from Lowe or Adell to get a better bat than Teodosio’s in the lineup, at least until 20-year-old center field prospect Nelson Rada arrives.

Tampa Bay and Lowe settled on a $2.6MM deal to avoid arbitration this year. It was his first trip through the process. He’s controlled for three seasons and still has a minor league option remaining, so the Halos could send him down without putting him on waivers. The Angels’ estimated payroll on RosterResource still sits at about $30MM below last year’s mark.

The Reds acquired Lux last offseason in a trade with the Dodgers. He delivered league-average results at the plate in his lone season in Cincinnati, hitting .269/.350/.374 with five homers over a career-high 503 plate appearances. Lux made most of his appearances in left field, while also spending time at second base and third base. He was also used frequently as a pinch hitter.

Lux was one of Cincinnati’s more reliable on-base hitters, but he has never developed into much of a power threat. The former top prospect hasn’t hit more than 10 homers in any of his five-plus MLB seasons. Last winter’s change of scenery trade and move to Great American Ball Park didn’t really move the needle. The left-handed hitter has a solid offensive floor but probably doesn’t have much untapped upside as he enters his age-28 season.

The bigger drawback is that Lux has never settled into a clear positional home. He has moved around less because he’s an incredibly versatile and more due to his defensive struggles at various positions. His throwing accuracy has been an intermittent issue on the infield, even at second base. Defensive metrics haven’t looked favorably upon his work in the corner outfield.

The Rays had a clear gap at second base after the (first) Lowe trade. The internal choices were uninspiring, though Richie Palacios has some similarities as a left-handed hitter whose game is built around his on-base skills. Lux should step into a near-everyday role, with Tampa Bay’s typical platoon shenanigans likely capping his reps against left-handed pitching. He could also get some rotational corner outfield work, replacing Josh Lowe as a lefty bat in an outfield that remains without much certainty. Lux is a one-year addition who’ll reach free agency for the first time next winter.

The Angels claimed Burke, coincidentally a former Rays’ draftee, off waivers from the Rangers in August 2024. His one-and-a-half years with the club represented one of the better stretches of his big league career. Burke put together a 3.40 ERA across 90 appearances as an Angel. He pitched in a career-high 69 games last year. The 29-year-old is in his final year of arbitration and will hit free agency next season.

Burke was able to tap into more velocity after joining the Angels. He sat 94-95 mph after transitioning from the rotation to the bullpen with the Rangers. In L.A., Burke bumped his heater to 96 mph. He also upped his slider usage with the club. Burke had a career-high 30.5% strikeout rate with the Angels in 2024. That number fell by more than 10 points in 2025, but he counteracted it with a career-best 53.3% ground-ball rate. Burke doesn’t have huge platoon splits and isn’t a situational specialist so much as a generally steady arm whom Terry Francona can use in the middle innings.

Cincinnati relied on Taylor Rogers as its primary lefty last season, until he was sent to the Cubs at the deadline. The Reds have added Burke and Caleb Ferguson to fill the role for 2026. They also tendered a contract to the out-of-options Sam Moll, so it seems they’ll begin the season with three veteran lefties in the relief corps.

Clark was a fifth-round pick by the Angels in 2023. He posted a 4.73 ERA across 28 minor league appearances this past season. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs praised Clark’s developing changeup and loose arm action heading into the 2025 campaign. The righty uses a sinker and sweeper as his two main pitches. A changeup would fit in nicely. The 24-year-old Clark topped out at Double-A last year. He made just one start at the level and will likely be back there to open the 2026 season.

Jeff Passan of ESPN was first on the trade. Respective images via Chris Tilley, Gary A. Vasquez of Imagn Images.

Rays Finalize Coaching Staff

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The Rays announced their full coaching staff on Tuesday, tabbing Will Bradley as an assistant hitting coach to round out the group. He had spent the 2025 season as a minor league hitting coordinator.

Bradley is a former college player and coach who moved into the professional ranks with the Angels in 2019. He began his Rays tenure as a Triple-A hitting coach before moving into the coordinator role. Bradley has also coached for the Australian national team. This is his first season on an MLB staff, and he’ll split the assistant hitting coach duties with Ozzie Timmons.

Tampa Bay announced last month that former All-Star Corey Dickerson would take over as first base coach. He replaces Michael Johns, who left the organization to become Blake Butera’s bench coach in Washington.

The majority of Kevin Cash’s staff is intact from the 2025 season. Bench coach Rodney Linares, pitching coach Kyle Snyder, hitting coach Chad Mottola, third base coach Brady Williams, assistant pitching coach Rick Knapp, bullpen coach Jorge Moncada, field coordinator Tomas Francisco, and process/development coach Kris Goodman are all back.

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