The Rays have acquired right-hander Oliver Drake from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations, as per an announcement from the Jays. In order to open a spot for Drake on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay announced that fellow righty Jaime Schultz has been designated for assignment.
Toronto designated Drake for assignment last week to open a spot on the roster for newly acquired southpaw Clayton Richard. It’s the second time Drake has landed with the Rays this offseason; Tampa Bay claimed him from the Twins on Nov. 1, only to later lose him to the Jays via waivers.
Drake, 32 next week, is baseball’s most well-traveled player over the past calendar year. The right-hander pitched for a record-setting five teams in 2018, spending time with the Brewers, Indians, Blue Jays, Angels and Twins. Though he struggled with four of those clubs, Drake actually pitched quite well in Minnesota, giving the Twins 20 1/3 innings of 2.21 ERA ball with 22 strikeouts against seven walks over the life of 19 relief appearances.
Many were puzzled that Drake continually was claimed on waivers despite sub-par results for much of the 2018 campaign, but Drake’s blend of missed bats (13.2 percent swinging-strike rate, 9.6 K/9), solid control (3.2 BB/9) and ability to keep the ball on the ground at a roughly league-average rate (44.6 percent) continue to hold appeal around the league. He’s not a spin rate savant by any stretch of the means, but fielding-independent pitching metrics like FIP (3.24), xFIP (3.51) and SIERA (3.48) all paint a much better picture of Drake than his unsightly 5.29 ERA. His strong finish with Minnesota likely only further enhanced his appeal.
As for Schultz, the 27-year-old was once considered one of Tampa Bay’s more promising minor league arms. However, he struggled to a 5.64 ERA in 30 1/3 innings last year, and while he racked up 35 strikeouts in that time, he also issued 17 walks and hit three batters. He also underperformed in Triple-A last season and has never been able to consistently avoid issuing free passes in the upper minors. Schultz does have a nice track record of missing bats, though, and he averaged a solid 94.9 mph on his heater last year, so perhaps another club will be interest in taking a look.
Second time has to be the charm this time
Oliver Drake is very well traveled. 3rd AL East team, next NYY or BOS
Man. This guy doesnt seem to stick to one team. Good luck with Tampa again if he stays
Oliver Drake has to be getting close to setting the record for Most MLBTR Posts Ever
Future Oliver Drake quiz will not be what teams had his roster rights, but what teams did NOT have his roster rights.
Back and forth from the blue jays to rays.
Blue Jays Acquire Oliver Drake, Designate Joe Biagini
By Steve Adams | January 27, 2019 at 3:16pm CDT
Blue Jays DFA Oliver Drake – 3:17 PM
Pirates Claim Oliver Drake – 3:19 PM
Pirates DFA Oliver Drake – 3:20 PM
Indians Claim Oliver Drake – 3:23 PM
Indians DFA Oliver Drake – 3:24 PM
Braves Claim Oliver Drake – 3:27 PM
Braves DFA Oliver Drake – 3:27 PM
Dodgers putting a claim in on drake.
Hate the Drake!
The Drake is bad!
Pieces for the Dodgers to bide time after their tear down.
Finally the Rays DFA’d Jamie Shultz. He was never reliable and gave up the most critical runs last year! Some may recall the 10th inning walk off homer he gave Oakland’s Eric Davis that put us out of the wild card race in late September! The pitch was right down the middle of the plate. I welcome Drake as the 40th man on the team!
You noticed as well too. I knew the HR was coming as soon as Cash went to Schultz. I can’t blame Cash though. If Jaime was gonna stick it would be as a back of the BP kinda guy. Cash had to test him. Find out what’s going into 19 with him. Needless to say he failed. It was bitter sweet. Missing the playoffs sucked but knew I was not gonna see Schultz in any more high pressure situations in the future.
Oliver Drake the setup guy and future HOF closer as yet moves again. Sarcasm heavy.
From one team going nowhere to another team going nowhere.
Yawn.