The Rays are a game above .500 and sit 2.5 back of the AL’s final Wild Card spot. A terrible 6-15 showing in July has dropped them from expected buyers to a bubble team that looks likely to walk the line between adding and trading away veterans. They began that process on Monday, shipping out impending free agent catcher Danny Jansen in one deal while acquiring a slightly worse but controllable backstop (Nick Fortes) in a second trade. They downgraded a bit in the short term to add a superior prospect than the one they surrendered without giving up on the season.
Trading Jansen is an easier call than it’d be to move either Brandon Lowe or Yandy Díaz. They’re longer-tenured members of the organization and more impactful players. The Rays had been reluctant to move Díaz or Lowe for most of this month. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported over the weekend that the team’s recent play has led the front office to be more open to hearing other teams out on the pair of veteran hitters.
Joel Sherman of The New York Post wrote on Monday that the Rays still prefer to add. That preceded a win over the Yankees in the first of a four-game set in the Bronx that’ll run up to the deadline. The Red Sox are known to be monitoring Díaz in case the Rays sell. Meanwhile, Sherman reports that the Mets and Astros are among the teams that have contacted the Rays about Lowe. He suggests that Houston, in particular, has strong interest in the left-handed hitting second baseman. Astros GM Dana Brown has made no secret about his goal of acquiring a lefty bat to provide a semblance of balance to the game’s most right-handed lineup.
Lowe is currently on the 10-day injured list with ankle tendinitis. The Rays seem to anticipate he’ll be back when first eligible on Wednesday. Lowe already had a minimal IL stay this month because of oblique tightness. The two-time All-Star has had an impressive year around the recent injuries. He’s batting .269/.320/.480 across 350 trips to the plate — including a massive .296/.352/.556 line following a dismal April. His 19 home runs rank second at the position behind Ketel Marte’s 20.
Houston could plug Lowe in at the keystone and use Jose Altuve as a primary designated hitter until Yordan Alvarez returns from a hand fracture. At that point, Altuve could return to left field and push Taylor Trammell, who is hitting well in 25 games but has a limited MLB track record, to a fourth outfield role.
The Mets don’t have a huge need on the dirt, but they’ve reportedly considered moving one of their controllable infielders (Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Luisangel Acuña) for help elsewhere on the roster. Lowe would be a significant offensive upgrade over Baty, who is playing regularly at second base. It makes sense that the Mets at least gauged the Rays’ asking price, but there’s no indication they’ve made a huge push. President of baseball operations David Stearns has cast the bullpen as his top priority, with secondary interests ranging from the rotation to center field.
Lowe is playing on a $10.5MM salary, around $3.35MM of which will be owed after the deadline. The Rays can keep him around for another season on an $11.5MM club option. That comes with a $500K buyout.
Rays could come away with a lot from the Mets by dealing Lowe, and still have a competitive roster.
Mets could send Baty and Acuna. That sounds like a Rays type deal.
Not competitive this year. Too much to fix and not enough resources. I think most Rays fans have moved on and have started thinking about next season and trades and signings.
I’m sure they have. A really nice player.
If I’m Stearns, I’m keeping Mauricio and Vientos and gauging what I can get for Baty.
Looking ahead a little bit……Do you expect the Mets to resign Alonso if he opts out? If so, does that factor into which player to trade?
Unless Pete really wants to stay and takes a 2-3 year deal I don’t see him resigning. Stearns doesn’t seem like the type to spend the kind of money on an aging 1b men like Pete even with his incredible year.
Please drain the ASTROS for every thing you can get… lmao 😆
Mets farm system was ranked middle of the pack, but probably included Ventos and others when evaluated. Houston ranked 29th-of-30 in the survey I saw. And of course both have untouchables. So were talking an “underrated””below-the radar” prospect. from an bare-cupboard farm system..
MLB coverage, where all the “children” are above average…
There seems to be more smoke than I’d expect surrounding a Lowe trade. However, he drives the Rays season every year, and I don’t expect a trade. I saw a stat last year that said the Rays win something like 80% of games where he just gets a hit, which means they lose a lot of games when he’s cold or on IL. Speaking of which, Lowe has played in only 2 games since 7/6. He got a hit in one of the two games, and the Rays won both games. The Rays are 3-15 in the games he has missed since July 6th.
So as for a trade. If trade value websites like BTV are to be believed, Lowe has very little trade value and any player coming back to the Rays in trade is the kind of player that won’t stand out in a deep but largely devoid of top talent Rays System. Lowe only has a Team Option for next year, so the Rays’ commitment to him beyond this year is zero. If I’m the RFO, I am not trading Lowe for whatever pittance he is deemed to be worth by traditional valuation models. His value to the Rays cannot be measured by just looking at his stats.
Mets don’t need Lowe. Decoy move
He could be a nice LH DH option – an upgrade from Winker. But yeah, they need a bullpen upgrade. Fairbanks would be good for the Mets.
The reason the rumors have the NY and LA teams in on everyone is because they still have newspapers in their market. More journalists means more rumors. Every team is doing their due diligence. They just don’t have the press to report it.
He would definitely be a great fit in Houston. Left-handed bat, solid player. Great pick up if they can swing a deal.