The Rays and White Sox announced a four-player trade sending middle reliever Steven Wilson and swingman Yoendrys Gómez to Tampa Bay for outfielder Everson Pereira and minor league infielder Tanner Murray.
Wilson is the most established of the group. The 31-year-old righty landed in Chicago as part of the Dylan Cease trade during the 2023-24 offseason. Wilson had posted a 3.48 ERA over his first two MLB seasons with the Padres. His numbers tanked during his first year with the Sox, leading them to run him through waivers last winter. Wilson pitched his way back to the big leagues by the middle of April and turned in a quietly solid year.
Over a career-high 55 1/3 innings, Wilson pitched to a 3.42 earned run average. He punched out 21.1% of opposing hitters against a personal-low 9.1% walk rate. Wilson leans heavily on his slider and sits in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball. He came up just shy of four years of service and is under arbitration control for the next three seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $1.5MM salary. Wilson has a full slate of options, so the Rays could send him between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham for the foreseeable future.
Gómez, 26, got a late-season look in the Sox’s rotation. He started nine of 12 appearances overall and turned in a 4.84 ERA through 48 1/3 innings. A former Yankees prospect, Gómez has bounced around the league on waivers. He’s out of options, which spurred the roster shuffling. Gómez sits in the 93-94 MPH range and has a deep arsenal but has never had pristine control. He’ll compete for a rotation or long relief role and will either need to break camp or again be designated for assignment.
The Sox swap Gómez for one of his former teammates coming through the Yankees’ system. Pereira, a righty-hitting outfielder, was once a notable international signee and solid prospect. The 24-year-old native of Venezuela has a career .271/.362/.519 batting line over three Triple-A seasons. Pereira’s solid power-speed combination has been undercut by strikeout concerns, though. He punched out at a 29% clip in the minors this year and struck out 28 more times in 73 big league plate appearances after the Rays acquired him from the Yankees at the deadline for José Caballero.
Pereira is also out of options. He’ll need to crack Chicago’s Opening Day roster or be designated for assignment. The Sox parting with a useful middle reliever for him suggests they’re likely to carry him in the big leagues. Pereira would slot behind Luis Robert Jr., Mike Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi as a fourth outfielder if the Sox keep all three of those players over the winter.
Murray, a 26-year-old non-roster utility player, rounds out the return. A fourth-round pick in 2020, Murray has gone unselected in the Rule 5 draft a few times. He’ll be eligible again this offseason unless the White Sox put him on the 40-man roster. He hit 18 homers but struck out at a 24.1% clip this past season with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate. He hit a below-average .241/.299/.400 across 572 plate appearances overall. The Sox figure to have him open the year with their top farm team in Charlotte.
Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported that Gómez was being traded to Tampa Bay in a deal sending Pereira to Chicago. James Fegan of Sox Machine had the two-for-two swap. Respective images courtesy of Gary Vasquez and Kim Klement, Imagn Images.
OF prospect?
Edit: 40 man roster or another lotto ticket prospect?
Is Everson Pereira still a prospect? You nailed it though!
That was a random guess lmao
Geynning at this point I think it’s more suspect than prospect.
Book is still being written. 176 PAs in the show for a guy who’s hit at every level. Certainly he deserves more opportunities than that
How is dude from Japan that can’t hit a fastball, sits on breaking pitches?, worth $200,000,000 but Pereira is done? Math don’t add for me
Pereira didn’t look good in his limited time with the Rays. I’m not surprised they moved him, and I wish him well. He still has potential.
Sox moving today
Have to figure they’ll grab a R5 or three… idk, but I thought the same about the Rox last year.
At the risk of hijacking the Rays/ChiSox post but btw JM, Pads protect RHers Miguel Mendez and Garrett Hawkins. Mendez hitting 100 and post-TJS Hawk sitting 97ish and both racking up the Ks! LFGSD 🤙🏽
Roster at 36!
Yeah I like the K/9 as well.
I count 37
Well, was 33 before Hart, Hawkins and Mendez. Darvish will be an non-factor going to the 60IL ASAP. Need a 1B/DH type (offset LH Sheets), maybe a backup C (depends on Campusano’s ST and the level of FO trust) and a couple arms. OF is set and the rest of the IF is fine. Would love to see a high-ceiling type of arm (Dustin May?) join Morejon in the rotation. Lengthen the bullpen with an arm and that’s 40 (pre-Darvish designation). Round out the 40 post-Yu IL with some talent that will be jettisoned during ST.
It’s hard to see how the Sox have improved by this trade.
They secured Robert Jr.’s replacement, because nobody else currently on the 40-man should be getting everyday play in CF on a rebuilding team.
If the Robert trade doesn’t happen until midseason, Pereira gets 4th OF playing time until then.
Former Yankees prospect for former Yankees prospect lmao
Swapping two former Yankees prospects basically
The Rays are swapping like crazy
First big offseason trade
So the Rays managed to turn Jose Caballero and Jose Siri into a couple of middle relievers with control issues. Joy oh happy day.
The rays play the long game
Benintendi spent a good amount of time at DH so there is opportunity for all 4 players to be in the lineup at the same time if they are all still with the team come the regular season
Watch Steven Wilson become the best reliever in baseball now.
He will remaster the bullpen.
Yeah, I was thinking the same !!
Wow that’s quite a return for a journeyman and a kid they were gonna DFA. See why the Rays did that as they cycle through arms accumulating innings but thats some high ceiling on Everson.
Actual trades being done!
I think I’d rather Wilson’s floor over Pereiras ceiling. The other pieces don’t look like much.
And the Sox prefer Everson’s ceiling over Wilson’s floor. Sox gave up 2 players who weren’t going to be difference makers as they already have an over abundance of pitching prospects, whereas they urgently need a high ceiling OF to pair with Braden Montgomery. A win-win given the way the Rays utilize serviceable cost-controlled (read: cheap) arms to eat innings
By cheap meant thrifty, as in cost effective. Better? Lotta respect for what the Rays achieve w their constraints and if you’re a fan, God bless ya, get out there when youre able, every $15 ticket helps
Rays return to the Trop in 2026.
It looks a lot worse when you remember Caballero was pretty much traded 1:1 for Pereira a few months ago.
Rays also received Marshall Toole as the PTBNL. Awful trade though.
The Rays will figure something out about him and he’ll throw 200 innings with sub 2.00 ERA because the Rays.
Pereira on the move again. Good luck. No pressure in Chicago.
Truth. Rays
As a diehard Rays fan, I wish the “Rays trade mystique” was still a thing, but I haven’t seen it in a while. They heavily reset the roster at the 2024 trade deadline and — except for a 34-game stretch this year — have been a more-bad-than-good team since.
There’s not a single difference-making OF in the whole Rays organization right now, majors or minors, that’s for sure; Pereira clearly wasn’t that guy either.
Who replaces Fairbanks at the backend? Uceta, Jax or a committee? Surprised they didn’t ship him at the deadline if they were simply going to place him on an ice floe and send him on his way
As a Rays fan, I hope for the committee approach. However, it’s likely to be Uceta or Jax otherwise.
Yeah, not trading Fairbanks at the deadline is another fail on the Rays’ report card. Far too many Ds and Fs lately.
A former Yankees prospect, Gómez has bounced around the league on waivers.
There’s a familiar story.
Pereira ok. Murray needs to cut back on his strikeouts
CWS are all about 2027, as they will have another waste year in 2026. They aren’t going to pick up Robert’s option in hopes of signing him to a 1 year prove it deal for less money in hopes of flipping him during the season. Pereira is just the organization trying to capture prospect they think they can develop better than the Yankees or TB…which is the joke.
Rays are trying to compete next year
Still TBD in my opinion. They don’t have the bats to compete next year, and that’s before they trade someone like Lowe or Diaz.
I never said they will. I meant the front office is trying to. But they do have a weird thought process I can’t understand.
I want to chalk the last two years up to Stu meddling in the RFO, first because he wanted to generate goodwill to get a new stadium approved and then this past year because it was his last year owning the team. If he didn’t meddle and all the decisions of the past 2 years are the RFO trying their best to manage the team…. well, that’s scary and really sucks for Rays fans. We’ve lost 1-2 members of the front office each year for like 5 years straight, and the brain drain could be showing.
It’s an okay trade. The Rays strengthen ‘pen and the White Sox get 2 prospects that could contribute. Steven Wilson is the main headline.
Fun times for Southside.
A bunch of meh but from experience we know Rays got the upperhand here.