3:31pm: Both clubs have now officially announced the swap.
1:50pm: The Phillies are going to acquire right-hander Yoniel Curet from the Rays. Right-hander Tommy McCollum is going the other way. The Rays designated the Curet for assignment recently to open a roster spot when they signed outfielder Cedric Mullins. Philadelphia’s 40-man roster count jumps from 34 to 35. Reporter Mike Rodriguez first noted that Curet was going to Philly. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported on McCollum’s inclusion.
Curet, now 23, joins a new organization for the first time. The Rays signed him as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic. By the end of 2023, he was eligible for the Rule 5 draft. He hadn’t even climbed as high as Double-A yet and had shown clear control problems, but he also racked up strikeouts. From 2021 to 2023, he logged 197 innings across various levels with a 2.97 earned run average. He walked 15.3% of batters he faced but also punched them out at a 31.7% clip.
The Rays didn’t want to risk losing him in the Rule 5, so they gave him a 40-man spot. His 2024 season was quite strong. He made 26 starts between High-A and Double-A, throwing 119 innings with a 2.95 ERA. His 11.9% walk rate was still high but an improvement for him, while his 31.5% strikeout rate was relatively unchanged. He had enough hype that Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him as the #61 prospect in the whole league going into 2025.
But this year was a bit of a setback for him. He was on the injured list for most of the first half due to an injury in his throwing shoulder. Once healthy, he tossed 55 1/3 innings with a 3.90 ERA, 12.8% walk rate and 25.5% strikeout rate. FanGraphs now lists him as the 11th-best prospect in the Rays’ system.
Due to his control problems, Curet might end up getting pushed to the bullpen. However, he still young and has an option remaining. The Phils can send him to Triple-A and either keep him stretched out or see if his stuff plays up in a relief role.
The Rays squeezed Curet off their roster but are getting a non-roster player in return. McCollum was available in today’s Rule 5 draft but wasn’t selected. According to JJ Cooper of Baseball America, this trade wasn’t able to be finalized until the draft was completed with McCollum going unselected.
McCollum, 27 in June, was an undrafted free agent in 2021. The Phils signed him and he has been pitching as a reliever in their system since then. Somewhat similar to Curet, he has a history of striking guys out while also giving them free passes. From 2021 to 2024, McCollum threw 134 innings with a 3.56 ERA, 31.8% strikeout rate and 15.6% walk rate. In 2025, he reduced the walk rate all the way down to 6.9% but his strikeout rate also fell to 25.5%. He posted a 3.07 ERA in 55 2/3 innings.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
“The Phillies are going to acquire right-hander Yoniel Curet from the Phillies”
The rare 1-team trade
I saw this immediately too. Haha
A few years from now we’ll need to examine who wins this trade…
George Costanza must have moved to Philadelphia.
Unnecessary paperwork
Sounds like Phillies gave up to much to the phillies.
It’s an internal move…
It’s the nexus of the universe!
The Curet, if you please. I wish Chat GPT would do my job for me too.
The Phillies actually sort of did a cousin to the rare one team trade years ago, Amaro traded Rob Ducey to the Blue Jays and immediately got him traded back; Rob Ducey was traded for Rob Ducey.
This reminds me of the meme where the guy points at himself.
The spider man meme with 2 Spider-Mans and sometimes there’s 3 Spider-Mans
I believe the correct spelling is Spiders-Men.
We might need a Spider-Mensa to determine the correct spelling…
Wait, the Phillies are going to get a player from the Phillies? I think you mean Rays.
Darragh leaves a lot of typos in his articles. Maybe he’s testing to see if we are reading more than just the headline.
He just fixed it. Now it says Rays.
I understand the urgency of getting the news out though. Glad Traderumors allows for writers to edit in post.
Yep gotta get that Yoniel Curet news out ASAP.
Phils keep on going back to that Rays 40 man roster crunch for pitching upside and development plays. Jose Alvarado was one of them; and then Cris Sanchez…going to hope that this one goes nearly as well for a trifecta.
Hopefully, the third time will continue to be the charm.
Yeah, worth the lottery ticket for the Phillies. Seems like a fair trade but the Phillies getting more potential in return. McCollum doesn’t come off as MLB ready at all but who knows, maybe the Rays can fix that.
Great trade for Phillies.
Only rough part for the Phillies is that this is Curet’s last option year, so they’re going to have to figure out quickly how they want to use him (reliever?) and if he can be an MLB contributor.
Rays fan here and I think the Rays made a mistake choosing Curet as the sacrificial lamb for their offseason mission to sign every LHB outfielder available. I would have waited until next year to give up on Curet given his upside and 2024 production, but whatever. The Rays have a master plan… It’s hard to see the big picture or them improving the team with this master plan, but they have one and are following it.
“Yoniel Curet”
Oughta fix what ails them
Yoniel Cruet: Belgian pastry?