The Diamondbacks have acquired right-hander Matt Andriese from the Rays, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). Robert Murray, also of The Athletic, was the first to report that Tampa and Arizona had a trade in place. The Rays will receive two minor leaguers in return — catcher Michael Perez (as per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) and righty Brian Shaffer (as Rosenthal was the first to report). In a corresponding move, the D’Backs announced that right-hander Randall Delgado has been designated for assignment to create a 40-man spot for Andriese.
Arizona was known to be checking in on the starting pitching market, though rather than splurge on a big name, the Snakes landed a versatile and somewhat underrated asset in Andriese. The 28-year-old has mostly been deployed as a swingman in his three-plus MLB seasons, with the Rays using Andriese as a starter and in both short and long relief roles. He has only started four of his 27 appearances this season, though that stat is somewhat misleading, as you might expect given Tampa Bay’s unconventional use of its pitching staff. Andriese has appeared multiple times as the second pitcher into the game after the likes of Ryne Stanek or Sergio Romo began things as the Rays’ “opener.”
Despite the ever-shifting roles, Andriese has been largely successful in Tampa, including a 4.07 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 50.6% grounder rate, and 3.28 K/BB rate this season over 59 2/3 innings, plus a career-best 11.4% swinging strike rate. It represents a nice rebound from an injury-filled 2017, as Andriese was limited to 86 innings (starting 17 of his 18 games) due to hip and groin problems.
The D’Backs have dealt with their own share of pitching injuries this season, though things have somewhat stabilized with a regular starting five of Zack Greinke, Patrick Corbin, Robbie Ray, Zack Godley, and successful bounce-back project Clay Buchholz. Still, with Ray and Godley both delivering inconsistent results, Andriese gives the Snakes some extra rotation depth, as well as a valuable durable arm for the bullpen.
Andriese will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, and thus the D’Backs had to surrender a not-overwhelming but decent prospect package for Andriese’s three years of control. The 2018 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked Perez as Arizona’s 30th-best minor leaguer prior to the season, with MLB.com ranking Shaffer 23rd in their current top-30 ranking of the Snakes’ system.
Perez, 25, has long been heralded as a strong defensive catcher, and he has begun to make some strides at the plate over the last two seasons at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. In 250 career PA at Triple-A, Perez has a solid .291/.348/.445 slash line, though that is both a rather small sample size and perhaps a product of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Even without a big bat, however, Perez still projects as a potential glove-first backup catcher type, which is useful for a Rays team that has long looked for consistency behind the plate. Topkin reports that Perez will join the Rays’ roster on Thursday for his first taste of Major League action.
Shaffer was a sixth-round pick for the Diamondbacks in the 2017 draft. MLB.com’s scouting report cites the 21-year-old’s slider as his best pitch, and he also possesses a fastball that has touched 94mph. Shaffer has delivered good results in his brief pro career thus far, including a 2.70 ERA, 9.2 K/9, and only a 1.8 BB/9 over 106 2/3 frames at the A-ball level this year.
Between this trade and sending Nathan Eovaldi to the Red Sox earlier today, the Rays have continued to churn their roster, even while falling short of an actual rebuild. Indeed, after today’s win over the Yankees, the Rays are now 52-50 for the season, though they are still realistically out of the pennant race (8.5 games back of the last wild card slot). In the short term, Tampa finds itself short two valuable arms for its pitching mix, as it remains to be seen how the Rays’ pitching strategy will continue to evolve without Andriese and Eovaldi around to cover innings.
This represents the third major trade between the Rays and D’Backs in under a year, after the offseason deals that saw Brad Boxberger come to Arizona and the three-team deal (also involving the Yankees) that most notably saw Steven Souza go to Arizona and Brandon Drury head to New York.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Solid pickup, I like it.
Replaces De La Rosa in the bullpen and offers the ability to start if needed. Good pickup for Arizona if they didn’t have to overpay for him
Looks like it replaces Delgado
I don’t understand that at all. But regardless, it’s a good pick up
“Good pickup.” “Solid move” says armchair scouts/GM. Lol
Good comment. Solid comment.
Hehehehe…..
He shutdown the best offense in baseball for 3+ innings 2 days ago.
Rays are tearing down. Come and get em.
I’m pretty happy with this pickup if they didn’t overpay. He’s a solid arm that offers some versatility.
I wish the Braves could of picked him up. AA doesn’t seem to be sharp enough for a move like that. He will do nothing or get ripped off last minute on a controllable washed up veteran.
Please overpay for Hamels, thank you!
Anthopolus isn’t smart enough to pick someone up without an $20,000,000 contract attached
thanks get him out the al east
we suck vs the Ray’s and OS
if they keep subtracting we might have a chance against them -_-
3.71 FIP this year, not bad under the radar get by AZ
Not a bad pickup for Zona, not a bad return for the Rays.
I wish Dombrowski threw in another prospect or two to get him with Eovaldi.
Lol, I’m sure LA is shaking in their boots.
Andriese is Arbitration eligible this offseason. No longer viewed as a starter & late inning guy by the Rays. Looking like the Rays are freeing up a 40 man spot for the offseaon’s Rule 5 draft?
You don’t free up 40 man spots this early for the rule 5. It’ll be filled nearly immediately. The Rays are rebuilding and won’t have a shot in the next several seasons and they could get something back for him. That’s why they traded him
I mean, you could free up spots for the Rule 5 anytime youd like. Its probably better to free up spots for the Rule 5 now than to wait until a month out where other teams know that you are trying to free up spots and that they have all the leverage. Its how SEA got Gamel for dirt cheap and how Min got Jake Cave for Gil
Are the guys the rays got any good?
I love the role Andriese had in Tampa. You could go to him for 1 inning or 6 out of the bullpen. Even if it doesn’t work out, the opener is such a creative way to maximize your chances of winning. Imagine a team like the Yankees or Cubs doing it with those bullpens.
I could see the Yankees in particular doing it this post season if they don’t make another move, I’d feel a lot more confident in 4 or 5 of the bullpen guys facing the top of the other team’s lineup than I would with any starting pitcher not named Servino (and even he comes with an asterisk for the one start last year). But, the problem is that they may not be able to experiment with it during the season if they remain close in the AL East, and do you really want to try it for the first time in the post season?
Trades are picking up: Britton, Eovaldi, and now Andriese.
(In a 2 day span)
J.A. Happ (TBA soon?)
Where does the Rays farm system rank now? I would have to imagine they have one of the better farms. The Longoria, Souza, and Odorizzi trades netted them some good prospects and now the Eovaldi and Andriese trades added even more.
Can someone give me the rundown of how good of a return the Rays got for Andriese and Eovaldi? I am unfamiliar with the names
Rays have a top 5 farm system in all of baseball. They are looking to compete in 2020 once all the young position players have some experience and their injured young pitchers, Honeywell, De Leon, Banda are fully back from Tommy John recovery.
Andriese is a solid pitcher, better in relief than as a starter. Nothing special about him but he can provide some length in long relief. Rays need a young catcher which is they wanted Perez.
Andriese doesn’t factor into the Rays 2020 plans. Expect to see Duffy go soon given his bounce back and need to make room for Arroyo. Archer will likely go this offseason as well if he doesn’t go before the deadline.
This is ridiculous for the Dbacks!!! I root for a team that does nothing but get fleeced on deals regardless of the front office. Shame on you!!!
The Braves could well end up fighting the Dbacks for the second NL wildcard. The Dbacks will actually go all out to acquire help to try to catch the Dodgers but still make sure the make the playoffs.
The Braves just seem to think they have enough to hang on or maybe win the NL East outright….. could be a huge gamble with the smoke and mirror pitching staff. Would be shocked if the pitching holds together into September.
So far AA looks pretty much a yes man and being told what he can do.
I have Shaffer as my number 21 Dbacks Prospect. 2nd best starter at Low A Kane County with a 2.70 ERA, a 7-5 record, 109 Ks in 107 innings., he’s 21 yrs old so young for that level, but bear in mind that the Dbacks farm system is Not highly ranked. He’s a wild card that is showing some early promise.
Perez is organizational depth at the catcher position. He is primarily a defensive catcher with just a little potential upside offensively. He is hitting for average this year, but remember that this is in the Extremely hitter friendly Pacific Coast League (PCL)..
I don’t know much about Andriese, but giving up Shaffer to get him, hurts just a little bit. So if Andriese can help the staff for the next few years, I think it’s a good trade for the Dbacks and the Rays got some value in return.