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.
No you don’t have to soften your stance. Newsflash: nobody wants any of these players.
🧢
Cap – Jeffers to the Sox ….. that would be a nice move.
Fever- After beating the Sox, do we know the Twins will be sellers? Don’t know Jeffers contract, is he a free agent or controllable at the end of the year? I assume he would be costly. I would be more focused on Ryan, because our pitching is unlikely to hold up with who we currently have.
Like you had said Hicks is not going to be someone we can depend on, so bullpen help is another need. Still waiting to hear about Chapman, but like you said they may be keeping that quiet to not show how needy they are.
Uncle – Twins have 6 teams in front of them for the final WC spot, Bader is almost certainly gone and Jeffers is a free agent after next season. They have been unable to come to terms in a contract extension.
Ryan has 2 more years of team control, they will probably wait until the offseason to trade him unless some team blows them away with an offer.
Hicks and Alcala are definitely the weak links, but if properly managed the Sox bullpen can continue to succeed.
Supposedly Chapman will be available to pitch tonight or tomorrow, we shall see.
Fever- After reading about the rough flight and how the night had gone for Hicks, I probably should not hold that performance against him. He looked better his previous game.
They certainly are going to wait until the last minute to make a move. Catcher, first baseman, starter, bullpen arm, or none of the above, what will they do? At least we don’t have much longer to wait.
Uncle – There’s been three different things said about Hicks last night:
1) The flight
2) Tired from the number of pitches Sunday
3) The rain delay
We shall see how things play out, but he has a history of imploding every so often.
I think they will definitely get a starting pitcher and bullpen arm. I think there’s a good chance they get a catcher, preferably one who can fill in at first base.
Was glad to see Chapman come into the game, even if it was just for the final out. That is a good sign.
Uncle – I was cracking up when Gasper was brought into the game to pinch hit against Chapman.
Sure, bring in the guy with the career .443 OPS to face the best reliever in the game. Biggest mismatch of the season, I would have put big money on that 3-pitch strikeout.
As for Alcala, he proved again he can’t be relied upon. Him and Hicks are the weak links, I’m thinking Alcala will be the one to go because of the Hicks contract.
Fever- I agree Alcala looks like he is going to be the odd man out. Seems like he throws hard but can’t control pitch location.
Hicks has showed a bit more potential, but still needs work and with the contract you want to give him the benefit of the doubt. I assume he was a salary dump since the Giants were taking on Devers contract, not someone the Sox were anxious to get. Maybe Breslow thinks Bailey can turn him around.
Uncle – With Hicks it’s hit or miss …. either he hits the batter, or he misses outside the strike zone. LOL!!
Yes he was a salary dump for the Giants, but the Sox do envision him taking over the closer role next year.
The thing is, not every reliever is qualified to be a closer. Last night on NESN pregame they showed he has been far worse in high leverage situations than in low leverage situations, he appears to be a guy that doesn’t handle pressure well.
Anyway, it’s the oldest story in baseball ….. teams thinking they can help hard throwing pitchers improve their command of the strike zone. Sometimes they are successful, as the Pirates were with Chapman last year …. but more often than not it never pans out.
Throwing triple digits is no longer a big deal anymore like it was with Nolan Ryan. Lots of today’s pitchers throw triple digits, but not many can throw that hard for strikes.
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.
Would you trade Duran for Yandy + Lowe? Duran is the youngest and most talented player, and has the most years of service time remaining. However that would clear the OF logjam while resolving the very serious problems at 1B/2B. The Rays could keep Duran through 2028, or more likely flip him for prospects in the off-season.
I can’t imagine Duran would even be close to enough and rays trade guys hitting arbitration years not trade for them
Duran has way more upside than due to his age and the fact he’s performed at a high level as recent as last year. Diaz is solid, but also 33 years old already and going to start declining soon.
I would expect there to be two more players to be added to a deal like this with a prospect from the Sox moving and a pitcher from the Rays coming over
I wouldn’t give up Duran. Sox have good pieces in the minors even after all the promotions. It might take a few bodies, but they wouldn’t (shouldn’t) need to trade off the active roster for Diaz.
and the livins’ easy……..
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
They are players who are well paid and running out of team control. The Rays trade these kind of players all the time and this will be no different.
Can’t time it with a watch. But you can sure mark it on the calendar.
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.
Sternberg is famous for backing out of sales/deals…
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.
Dh, 3rd, 1st, and mashes lefties. Turner to the dumpster
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.
I doubt Laureano gets dealt. Robert isnt in the Padres budget. OHearn makes sense. Big game today for both the Padres and Cardinals.
Robert is within the budget especially when the white Sox said they would even pay his salary down for the right package.
Laureano is definitely on the table. He isn’t some untouchable.
Cardinals are going to sell at the deadline.
If the Padres get Robert i will change my name to San Diego Sam.
I dont think the Orioles are trading Laureano. They plan on competing next year and he will help with that.
The next 4 games will determine what the Cardinals will do. If they win 3 out of 4 including today’s game they won’t sell. Lose 3 out of 4 they will sell. 2 and 2 with a win today I really dont know. The Padres are barely better than the Cardibals as of today champ. Look it up.
I don’t need to look it up, I know where they are at. The writing is on the wall that the cards are ready to sell. Could that change with winning a number of games before the deadline…maybe.
I think they are pretty committed to moving relievers. The market is too strong for back in relievers. I think the cards will value the future over this team.
The Padres on the other hand really have no choice but to go for it. Future payroll and age of players, Prellers contract nearly up are too big of an issue not to.
Zero signs the cards are going to buy at the deadline.
The “writing on the wall” is coming from this site which is run by Cubs fans.
They have never been committed to selling. Not in the offseason and not now. You made that up in your head.
The Padres have long term problems we can agree on that.
Your team has lost 2 of the last 3 to a team you say isnt a contender. Thats a fact.
Yeah that’s happens in the mlb every 3 days.
Cards will be trading away players, book it.
Your team just got shut down by Miles Mikolas. If the Padres hadn’t won yesterday they would be at risk of falling behind the Cardinals in the standings today.
Maybe one day the Padres and their fans will know what its like to win something.
I’m sorry if you took me saying the cards are going to sell personally.
Cards are a great franchise and I’m sure they will be great again. This just isn’t their year.
You know it and so does everyone else.
I’m not saying this is the padres year either. I’m saying they are in different situations. Contention or not.
Like I said the Padres were a couple games away from getting passed in the standings by the Cardinals. You act like one team is a contender and one is not.
Like I said the next 4 games will determine what the Cardinals do. If they win 3 or 4 of them they won’t sell. Wait and see. Lose 3 or 4 and I bet they will. If the Padres handled their business the first couple games of the series we aren’t having this conversation but they ran into the buzz saw named Miles Mikolas.
Cards are going to sell, not because they aren’t in it win or lose today. Still two months left, plenty of games.
It’s about the future for them and they can get a haul for Hensley.
Tell me who are they going to buy? Padres are guaranteed buyers. It’s two teams in two different spots not in the standings but in where they feel the future holds.
In my opinion anyways, you may feel differently and that’s a respectable position either way.
What haul? Helsley is a bit of a flake. He’s a rental. There is no Gleyber Torres available and waiting to be dealt.
I never said the Cardinals are going to buy i said they won’t sell.
So stand pat?
Guess you can do that but I doubt they will.
Red sox among others would definitely compete with padres if the rays are moving Diaz…let’s get the bidding war going!!
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.
I thought the Rays had excellent depth outside of losing Diaz, Arananda, Caminero, Lowe and Lowe. Those five are the core of the Rays but their depth otherwise is pretty solid.
They have Simpson and DeLuca in the OF and Thaiss is good depth at C. Morel can play third behind Caminero and Caballero can play SS behind Walls.
But when you lose Lowe it blows up the entire group. He is the lynch pin.
Sternberg is famous for backing out of sales/deals…
I thought they rightfully reassessed the idea of building a stadium on a coastline that will be inundated with Hurricanes for the next thousand years.
Maybe this ocean surface temperature stuff isn’t malarkey after all? Maybe we should move this stadium inland a bit?
Sternberg’s getting forced out by MLB. I think they want to move the team all together, after the playoffs didnt sell out a few years back. I think its a great market, but should move the stadium to Orlando unless you can build on Dale Mabry.
Downtown Tampa is dead, chickens in the streets in Ybor City. I have a hard time believeing they sell out hockey games, Floridians love air conditioning.
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?
Yep word on the street is Yandi is just gonna go ahead and stay in Cincy after today’s series😂
The Mets aren’t in on catchers
No matter what, Yandy made the move from 3B to 1B far better than Devers.
🤣😂
Yandy in a Bosox uni would be great. While he’s no Gold Glover, I’m sure we’d score more runs with him in the lineup, than any runs he may let in defensively, he is a quality high contact/average bat that will solidify 1B and add depth to the lineup! The question is what will it take to acquire him?
The fact that the Indians/Guardians gave up on Diaz for perceived attitude issues is mildly infuriating. Or was it because he doesn’t bat LH? Could’ve saved a lot of time finding Manzardo when they could’ve found someone to play RF.
The “attitude problem” was him not hitting for as much power as people wanted. His typical launch angle is a bit low. The Rays picked him up and just let him hit, they didn’t mess with his stance to try to squeeze out a couple more home runs. The result was a fine hitter with moderate power.
and a heck of a nice guy! Very friendly
He also got in Tito’s doghouse for not hustling. Then their meeting afterwards didnt translate well.
Who knows if Lowe can handle LF? When was the last time he even played there? He can handle 2B and 1B, but I wouldn’t put a lot of stock into playing him in the outfield as an acquiring team
I’ve heard locally that the new coming new Rays owners are currently at least partially involved in the day to day management of the club. Does this mean reshaping at the trade deadline the team they will, as reported, take complete control of in September? If so, could be a firesale.
A lot of people are speculating that that is what is happening, but it would be very unusual for that to be the case in a transaction that has yet to close. More likely, the current team management is running things as they ordinarily would, but there are certain players that new ownership would want to be consulted before being traded.
Yandy would be dandy.
Why would there be a fire-sale. Sure, the Rays are always willing to move their players. But a fire-sale? The team is good, the payroll is tiny, and they’ve got a great farm. They might move Diaz and/or Lowe to maximize their returns, but that’s just the Rays doing business.
Relatively speaking. Diaz, B Lowe, Fairbanks, being traded to me, would be one.
Yandy to Rangers!!
I would like to like in a fantasy world where Jake Burger and a prospect gets us Yandy Diaz, thank you.
Plenty of options out there that could improve the Red Sox. Question is what will it cost. Yandy certainly has potential, but is he going to be worth what it would you would need to give up to get him?
They don’t need another round of Jansen. That did not work last time and not sure how much of an improvement he would be over Wong, so why waste even a low level prospect.
They don’t have a good recent track record at the deadline, so hope they can change that this year.
“Meanwhile” must START the sentence. It cannot come in the middle, between commas. How do you mess this up twice in the same article?