The Rays optioned Taj Bradley to Triple-A Durham after tonight’s rough start against the White Sox, reports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. They’ll presumably announce that decision and a corresponding roster move tomorrow. Joe Boyle, who has been working in long relief, stands as the obvious candidate to step into the rotation.
Bradley didn’t make it out of the second inning tonight. He gave up four hits and three walks, allowing four runs in an inning and two-thirds. That promptly erased a four-run lead that the Rays had built in the bottom of the first. They took the lead back in the middle frames before an eighth-inning implosion by setup man Kevin Kelly led to an 11-9 defeat to the American League’s worst team.
This pushed Bradley’s season earned run average to 4.61 across 111 1/3 innings. The 24-year-old righty has a slightly below-average 20.2% strikeout rate against a 9.3% walk percentage. Leading up to tonight, he was coming off two of his best outings of the season. Bradley blanked the Orioles over six innings with as many strikeouts in his first start out of the All-Star Break. He’d closed the first half with six innings of one-run ball against Boston.
Bradley has been in Kevin Cash’s rotation all season. This is his first optional assignment since the end of 2023. Boyle, who was one of five relievers called upon tonight, worked three innings of one-run ball. He carries a 1.42 ERA in 19 innings over five MLB appearances. Acquired from the A’s in the Jeffrey Springs trade, Boyle has a huge arm but has struggled with command throughout his career.
The 25-year-old has seemingly taken a step forward in that regard this year. He walked 10.8% of batters faced across 15 Triple-A outings. That’s still higher than average but much more tolerable than the 17-20% range at which he’d sat for most of his minor league career. Boyle fanned 33% of Triple-A opponents with a 1.85 ERA while working from Durham’s rotation.
Bradley’s demotion one week before the deadline is interesting. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported a couple weeks ago that the club was open to offers on Bradley. ESPN’s Jeff Passan similarly wrote this morning that the one-time top pitching prospect is available in trade discussions. Bradley is likely still a season away from arbitration and under club control for four years beyond this one. If the Rays don’t trade him, they’ll need to keep him in Durham for at least 15 days unless he’s brought up to replace someone who is going on the injured list.
He’ll be traded soon
No he won’t. If the Rays were trading him, he would have stayed up with the ML team.
My gut tells me this was manipulation to get an extra year of control out of him. I didn’t see his rough outing nor the game against Baltimore but there is no way I demote the player I saw pitch against Boston just two weeks ago (unless there is more to the story involving off the field issues).
Rays needed to get a fresh arm in their bullpen plus Taj might benefit for a few weeks in Durham. He had options so why not use them.
he is still a thrower and not a pitcher. His stuff if MLB level (Heck, all star level), but he is still figuring out the rest of it.
I suppose that might be possible. Fangraphs says he has 1.114 years of service time, which I don’t think takes into account this year, so if they keep him down for most of the rest of the year, maybe that gets them another year of control.
Probably a little bit of both–time manipulation and play. It is the Rays, so they’ll always take advantage of time manipulation, but he has been inconsistent this year. He is really good when he is on, but from start to start you never know what you’re getting with him. I think it is worth seeing if Boyle can be a better option. They should still bring up Taj to spot start against the Red Sox. He always owns the Sox for some reason.
Fedde for Bradley.
Respectfully Fedde is hot trash. The cardinals will be lucky if they get anything other than salary relief for him
What about Phil maton and luken baker for bradley?
The Rays had Maton before and they trades him to the Mets(?). Either way the Rays will not take Maton again so that’s a big no
Maton is a rental reliever and the Rays season is circling the drain. The Rays won’t be interested in Maton, who by the way pitched awful for them last year and won’t be wanted back under any circumstances. Baker plays 1B/DH, which happens to be the deepest position on the Rays. Baker doesn’t play particularly well either.
Bradley is a pitcher who looks great for 3/4 of every game but implodes for an inning every other game. He is only in his 2nd year in the Majors and he has 4 years of control remaining. Even with his struggles, he’s been about a league average pitcher by many stats. He has a lot more trade value than I think you realize.
yes, i was thinking Bradley is in the Coby Mayo camp as semi distressed asset that likely just needs a change of scenary to unlock.
The Cards would love that.
Bradley and Fairbanks for Crooks or Bernal plus perhaps Gorman or Walker.
Since we’re just naming players now: Bradley and Simpson and Franco for Ohtani and Freeman and Betts.
“Who says no?”
Cards fans throw out big name former prospects like they’re still gold and they aren’t. Walker has little to no trade value. Do Cards fans not understand that? Gorman is a lot better trade chip than Walker, but he’s not a major chip in any sense. He’s hitting 101 wRC+ this year and has 0.5 fWAR, and that’s an improvement on last year. Rays say no to trading Bradley/Fairbanks for Crooks, Bernal, Goman AND Walker.
Lol Rays have no catcher long term. And if Gorman and Walker dont have a lot of trade value whst do you think Bradlet has? Delusional fella. Get with it.
There are teams that will still roster Walker, but you are right that no one is valuing him as a top 10 prospect anymore. There are plenty of other former top 100 prospects that just never did it in the bigs, and that is the sort of trade that could happen for walker.
Bradley is at worst a league average pitcher with 4 years of control. So a lot of value. He is not landing a top 10 prospect, but if he was shipped out for a top 50 prospect, it would make sense. The team getting him knows his stuff plays, but there is something missing, if the team think they know the thing then they will go after him.
What the Os gave up for Rogers (Stowers and Norby, so 2 roughly MLB average regulars with 5ish years of control left) is a minimum for the value of Bradley, since the highs were higher for Rogers, but Bradley has struggled but nowhere near the level that rogers had. Walker at best is worth slightly less than Stowers when that trade occured- since walker has been a mess in the bigs recently, the ceiling is higher but the floor is much worse.
So walker and gorman for Bradley could start a converstation, the offer would still be rather light.
Bradley is at worst a minor leaguer like he is now.
Stowers and Norby were not considered average MLB regulars at the time of that trade. Stowers looked like a bum and Norby was an unknown.
The Cardinals dont really need Bradley. At all. If the Rays want to keep him so be it. I hear the Durham Bulls but on a good show.
James – Unfortunately, the Rays have a lot of experience with the Walkers of the world (e.g., Brujan, Mead, etc.).
James – Walker and Gorman for Bradley is missing the headliner part of the trade. It’s very light.
Walker was the number 1 prospect in all of baseball at one point. Now the Rays DO have experience in number 1 prospects being out of the league in their 20s but as far as I know Walker isnt a pervert.
Bradley is in AAA. What exactly do you think hes worth champ?
Fairbanks is from the St Louis area. He will be dealt to the Cardinals soon. For a catcher because the Cardinals have plenty of them and the Rays do not.
Joker Of Cards
King – I think a pitcher with less than 2 years of service time isn’t automatically a failed pitcher because he gets sent down in his 2nd year.
Bradley and Fairbanks to the Mets for Tidwell and Megill, For the Mets those 2 go into the BP ?
The Rays could just wait for Fedde to clear waivers and sign him as a free agent for the prorated league minimum and not have to take on his salary
Are all Cards fans delusional? Or are we just blessed here at MLBTR?
Blessed here. The nutty, irrational posts are the main reason I come to this site several times a day.
I would like Mets to trade for Taj, but definitely not for a top 5 prospect. How about inconsistent Megill plus prospects for inconsistent Taj?
Nope. What about Rasmussen for Benge and Y.Rodriguez?
I’d make that trade in a flash if I were the Cards.
ROFL… No, that’s not happening. Bradley is a pitcher who looks great for 3/4 of every game but implodes for an inning every other game. He is only in his 2nd year in the Majors and he has 4 years of control remaining. Even with his struggles, he’s been about a league average pitcher by many stats. On the other hand, Fedde is in the last year of control and he sucks. You’re suggesting (I hope in jest) that the Rays trade Bradley for literally a penny or two on the dollar.
Why? Not including tonight, 4 of his last 5 starts were really good. The White Sox are on a hot streak right now. It won’t last of course, but they’re hitting everyone
In all seriousness, the Rays have mishandled the development of both Bradley and Baz to an unbelievable degree. Bradley’s problem is that he implodes for 1 inning per game. Sometimes it’s in the 1st or 2nd and sometimes it’s at the end of his start. The Rays should have sent him down to work on the mental aspect when Boyle proved ready (ie: 2 months ago). They compounded that mistake by routinely bringing in struggling relievers to relieve Bradley, resulting in almost all of his inherited runners being allowed to score over the past 2 months (Kevin Kelly is particularly to blame here). So Bradley’s topline stats suck, his confidence is a little shaken, and only now when the season is effectively over do they send him down. I wish I understood the thought process, but I don’t. The RFO and Cash have not been on their game the past 2 1/2 seasons.
This was more about giving Boyle a chance in the rotation, than a reflection on Bradley. He’ll be back soon after the Rays trade a pitcher by the trade deadline.
Heston Kjerstad for Bradley?
No. Kjerstad has a small fraction of Bradley’s trade value. It’s not remotely close.
I disagree that the values are that far off… but i agree the Os would need to throw some other pieces into the mix…. maybe Beavers or something else that is rotting in the upper minors for the Os (there are several).
Kjerstad and beavers for Bradley could work.
Mayo for Bradley could also work (but Mayo is one of the hardest guys to figure out how to value- but he just feels like a rays player to me)
James – Where are you getting your trade numbers? I’m getting mine from a reputable trade site that calculates trade values (baseballtradevalues.com). It seems like you’re just throwing out names of former top prospects who haven’t had success and saying they are worth Bradley. Bradley has a problem making mid-inning adjustments when things go sideways on him, but if you compare his FIP and xERA to other pitchers in the league, you see that he has the 37th best xERA among starting pitchers with at least 70 IP this year (out of a total of 120 pitchers) and has the 63rd best FIP among those same 120 pitchers. Folks are talking about him like he’s a failed pitcher when in fact his results show he is a solid #3. I don’t care about ERA, his W-L record, and other old school stats that are heavily influenced by factors outside the pitcher’s control With perfectly average pitchers making $15-20MM AAV these days, a guy like Bradley who is still making league minimum has a lot of trade value.
Jed Hoyer long interested in Bradley so here is his chance and for the cubs to pounce on yet another reclamation project by buying low.
You made that up. Congrats!
Cubs fans might be the most delusional fan base
They love mediocre players for some strange reason.
Rays aren’t giving away Bradley, and he’s not a reclamation project. He’s a league average pitcher with Ace potential. Rays aren’t giving him away in his pre-arb years. If the Cubs want him, the asking price requires Caissie and Horton or Brown to even start discussions. You won’t get another freebie from the Rays. Paredes was a 1 and done give away.
@mp2891: You forgot to mention Taj Bradley’s one inning implosions and being great in 75% of his starts problem
Mock me if you want, but it doesn’t make what I’ve said any less true.
I just don’t think it needs to be said in every post, that’s all
You are delusional if you think Taj Bradley could net the rays both Cassie and Cade Horton from the Cubs. Horton might end up the better pitcher and is up with the Club pitching well right now. He isn’t going anywhere, especially for a “former” top prospect who can’t consistently keep it together at the MLB level and just got sent down. I like Taj as possible debt and a development play for the Cubs, but Cade Horton isn’t going anywhere near that deal. Taj probably ends up a middle or bottom of the rotation guy. Maybe Cassie and a couple lesser pieces make sense but no way they are getting an MLB ready orgs number 1 prospect plus a MLB ready SP with years of control and top of rotation upside for Taj. Crazy to even suggest this. LOL
I don’t think the Cubs would trade Cassie and Horton, but I also don’t think the Rays will trade Bradley. You talk about Horton and his upside the way the Rays talk about Bradley. Yeah, Bradley was sent down, yeah some of his topline stats say he’s a 4/5 pitcher, but there are others that say he’s a solid #3 today, with upside. The discussion that he’s a reclamation project that can be had for scraps is more nonsense than anything I have posted.
Never said scraps, I’d love for the Cubs to trade for Taj and would even suspect it would start with Cassie, but no way Horton would be involved. I don’t think the cubs would even do a 1 for 1 swap of Horton and Taj. I could see more like Cassie plus maybe 2 outside the top 100 prospects. Regardless, I don’t see this happening now, possible off season deal if all the cubs pick up is a rental, but they have their sites set on top of the rotation impact for a deep playoff run so I don’t think Taj would be part of the plan right now.
Very surprising demotion and strange timing. There has to be more to the story.
Everybody over ten years old is drowning.
Taj Bradley, as an MLB player, is absolute garbage.
Good luck getting anything back for him in a traade
Absolute garbage? Well done living up to your name. Bradley is like most young pitchers trying to figure it out. He will.
Trade him to the Braves. We’ll deal with his struggle and potential “upside”
Looks like a perfect project for Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter (not a slam on Tampa who rocks at developing pitchers…see Joe Boyle). Bradley, Diaz and a high leverage bullpen arm packaged up with a bow would be nice forvsome one stop shopping. Tampa can probably just take the Tigers bat boy in return and turn him into an MVP or Cy Young 😉
They’re not trading Yandy.
They should though.
It’s the Ray’s! They trade guys just like him and still win!
Curious move. Only 24, and his numbers are not that bad. His ’23-’25 numbers look perfectly acceptable for a young pitcher trying to establish himself. Also his two previous outings were outstanding. So suddenly one bad outing gets him sent down?
Bradley has a fixable problem. He struggles to make adjustments mid-inning. He can make adjustments mid-game though, and he has excellent stuff. He is being sent down to work on that problem, but I don’t know that it will happen in a lower stress environment. We will see…
The Rays did not get their farm system by selling low. When the split-finger was introduced(Bruce Sutter) it was said to be hard on the arm, blamed fro the end of Scott Garrelts’ career among others. Cash said that Bradley’s success was based on his use of the split which he had shelved this year.. Pitchers sometimes shelve pitches that hurt to avoied surgery. Bradley missed the ’20 season so I guess that was surgery. Anyway the Rays seem to want him to get the split back.
However, like I said before , so much for trading from “rotation depth”.
Regarding Littell: Can the Rays put a QO on him? If so, they would get a pick after the first round(>) from a huge field of players. If they trade him they would just get whoever the trading partner wants to let go. And teams are very careful of trading with the Rays.
Every minor leaguer missed the 2020 season. That was the Pandemic year when there was no minor league season.
If the Rays put a QO on Littell, they would probably get Littell. I know old school fans who believe ERA is the defining stat think Littell is crazy good, but more advanced stats suggest he’s been damn lucky all year that his horrendous HR problem hasn’t resulted in a lot more runs being scored. I struggle to see him getting more than a 2/$24MM deal, which is probably less than the 2025-26 QO offer amount.
Taj has been garbage for 3 yrs
Since the day he arrived in the majors
Huge disappointment, just cant figure it out
I hope the Cubs trade for this guy.
I would take him over hunter green at least he can answer the Bell Green has as many ir days as mlb active roster days
There’s a guy with good stuff that Cashman should grab! Low risk, high reward IMO