The Rays have struggled badly in the month of July, with a 6-14 record that has left them just one game over .500 and 2.5 games out of an AL Wild Card spot. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the club’s recent skid has forced their front office to reconsider some of its stances on keeping certain players in the fold, including first baseman Yandy Diaz and second baseman Brandon Lowe. While the Rays are currently signalling an openness to moving both players, Rosenthal adds they could reverse that decision if the club’s play in the coming days warrants it and that a final decision may not be made until Wednesday, the day before this year’s trade deadline.
The addition of Diaz and Lowe to the market as available pieces would be a major shift to a position player market that lacks standout controllable pieces. MLBTR’s Top 50 Trade Candidates for the 2025 Deadline list, published just yesterday, features only a handful of hitters controlled beyond the 2025 season. Steven Kwan of the Guardians and Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals would be impact pieces but are both viewed as unlikely to be dealt. Adolis Garcia of the Rangers and Alek Thomas of the Diamondbacks have high upside but are in the midst of difficult seasons. Mike Tauchman, Jesus Sanchez, and Ramon Laureano are all solid corner outfield options with two seasons of team control but limited upside. Luis Robert Jr. is technically controlled for two seasons after this one and offers superstar-level upside, but has struggled so much this year that it remains an open question if his options will even be exercised.
In that sort of trade market, it goes without saying that Diaz and Lowe would be extremely attractive pieces if the Rays do decide to dangle them. Diaz, 34, is a lackluster defender at this point in his career who may be best suited for a DH role but has been one of the most reliable offensive players in the game for quite some time. He’s hitting .299/.376/.475 (139 wRC+) since the start of the 2022 season, and this year sports a solid 126 wRC+ with 18 homers in 99 games, a 13.9% strikeout rate, and a 7.7% walk rate. He’s under team control through 2027. Lowe, meanwhile, comes with a club option for the 2026 season and has been a steadily above-average bat for his entire career with a .248/.329/.482 (125 wRC+) career slash line and a similar .269/.320/.480 (120 wRC+) line in 86 games this season.
Diaz’s combination of power and contact ability would make him a major upgrade to any offense that can fit him into the lineup, and Rosenthal suggests that the Red Sox will “almost certainly” be at the top of the list of interested teams if the Rays do make Diaz available. Boston has been relying on a combination of Abraham Toro and Romy Gonzalez at first since losing Triston Casas to injury earlier this year, but Diaz would be a massive upgrade over that duo and could even help to soften the blow if Alex Bregman opts out of his contract this winter by adding another big right-handed bat to the lineup. Speculatively speaking, the Rangers, Brewers, and Padres are among the other clubs that could use a bat of Diaz’s caliber and would be able to make room for him at either first base or DH.
Lowe, meanwhile, has relative youth on his side at just 30 years old and could be a fit for more teams due to his ability to handle both second base and left field. The Phillies, Giants, Padres, Astros, and Dodgers are among the many contenders who could stand to upgrade at least one of those positions. Lowe would be a particularly intriguing fit for Houston given that his lefty bat would help balance an overwhelming right-handed Astros lineup, and his positional flexibility maps perfectly with that of Jose Altuve, meaning the that the club could lock down both positions between the two veterans.
One other name Rosenthal mentions as a possible trade chip is catcher Danny Jansen. Unlike Lowe and Diaz, Jansen is not controlled beyond the 2025 season; he has a mutual option for 2026, but those are all but guaranteed to be declined by one party or the other. The Padres are known to be in the market for catching help this summer, as are the Red Sox and Mets. Jansen is in the midst of a fairly pedestrian season with a 99 wRC+ and poor defensive metrics, but he’d nonetheless be an upgrade over Boston’s Connor Wong or San Diego’s Elias Diaz. Other clubs could jump into the market for catching help as well if an injury occurs in the next few days that requires them to look for outside help.
Now I can sleep!
You’re softening.
Is Danny Jansen’s weak defense an upgrade for the Mets over Luis Torrens?
NOOOOO.
Jansen back to Boston. Please no.
Yandy in Boston would be sublime.
NOOOO Not Yandy!!! Take Walls or B Lowe or Fairbanks, but not Yandy!! 💥
Softening their stance translate to they’ve been asking for the universe , now they only want the moon and the stars. Neither of these two players are being moved. This is what’s called Headline NOT News
With the sale I wouldn’t be shocked to see both get dealt so the new owners and administration have more say on the roster.
I wonder if they will stick because the AL East has become a mess with the exception of Toronto that started to surge.
Yandy to Cubs makes so much sense that Jed hasn’t even called.
How in the world does Yandy make sense? They have Busch at 1B, one of the top bats in the league this year and a full outfield.
How does it make sense?
He’s a terrible fielder.
Diaz makes sense for the Padres. Major hole at DH.
At least one of Diaz, Robert, Ohearn and or laureano will be a padre by the deadline.
I can also see a deal with the Yankees involving Rice. Perhaps with Cease and others going to the Yankees.
Will see but Preller will be very active the next 5 days.
Donovan to Houston would be a great fit. One problem, the Astros probably don’t have anything the Cardinals want.
Nah. He doesn’t bat RH.
I am kidding.
MLB putting pressure on the Rays to sell? It dont make much sense that the Rays are selling this season.
They dont want the playoffs at Steinbrenner so Rays are tanking it?
More like they have been losing a lot and have last confidence in their chance this year.
You have got it, bwmiller, The Rosenthals of the world–and their followers, ignore what the Rays might actually get in return from their preferred bigger market teams. As the Detroit broadcasters pointed out yesterday, the Rays’ problem is that their lineup lacks depth. Trading Brandon or Yandy makes this worse, not better. And please recall that some of these preferred teams don’t have worthy prospects they’re willing to trade.
And the sale doesn’t go through until September. .It involves financing. So in case it falls through, Stu should be looking at Present Value, not prospects ;n; promises.. It’s very unlikely he’ll let a putative purchaser dictate things.
Rays are getting the dead ball treatment from the commish’s office….
One stop shopping for the Tigers. Yandy, Fairbanks and Bradley fill three needs. Tigers send one of their catching prospects back as part of the trade with some pitching and AAA hitting prospects.
Yandy and Tork share 1B/DH and Carp gets his wish to play more OF when he gets back. Keith, Baez and McKinistry share 3B and keep moving around. Hinch can mix and match with the best of them.
Incoming call from Jerry dipoto
In the playoffs, only the four-seed is guaranteed home games, right?