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Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

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The sale of the Rays seems to be coming to fruition. A report from Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic says that a sale has been agreed to in principle which would see the club be sold from current owner Stuart Sternberg to a group led by Patrick Zalupski. The deal is worth about $1.7 billion and is expected to be completed as soon as September. The report adds that Zalupski plans to keep the club in the Tampa area, with a preference for Tampa proper over St. Petersburg. The sale would need to be approved by 75% of MLB owners in order to become official.

It was reported about a month ago that Sternberg was in “advanced talks” to sell the team to Zalupski’s group. Shortly after that reporting emerged, Marc Topkin and Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times spoke to hedge fund founder Trip Miller, who spoke of his desire to get involved in the bidding. It’s unclear if there was ever any chance of Miller’s group outpacing Zalupski’s, but it now seems basically confirmed that Zalupski’s group will be taking over.

As of a year ago, it seemed like Sternberg was going to stick around for a long time. He purchased the club in 2004 for $200MM. Since then, he has been trying to find a long-term home for the club so that the Rays could move on from Tropicana Field, which has long been viewed as insufficient and outdated for the major leagues.

Various proposals were floated over the years, including a creative plan which would have seen the franchise split its home games between Florida and Montreal. That was nixed but the Rays eventually put a plan in place to build a new stadium on the Tropicana Field site. Under that plan, the Rays would stay at The Trop through 2027 but would open the new facility in 2028. They had agreements in place with the city of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and private investors for the $1.2 billion project.

That entire plan was thrown off the rails in October when Hurricane Milton swept through the area, doing significant damage to The Trop, particularly the roof. The Trop became unplayable for 2025 and the new stadium plan got delayed. Elections in October changed the composition of local government bodies, with the new paradigm less amenable to the Rays. The club made arrangements to play the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner field in Tampa. That seemed to not sit well with some Pinellas County officials, as Steinbrenner Field is in Hillsborough County.

The relationship between Sternberg and local officials seemed to sour, as he claimed the delays would lead to massive cost overruns. It was reported in March that the Rays would not be moving forward with the planned deal. That was shortly after it had been reported that league officials had been pressuring Sternberg to sell.

Now it seems the transition process is making quick progress and Zalupski’s group could be at the helm a couple of months from now. That’s notable timing, as there are key things to be worked out regarding the future of the franchise. It’s still unclear if the The Trop will be playable in time for the 2026 season. There’s also the usual baseball matters of payroll and things of that nature. And of course, new plans will need to be developed for a future stadium.

As mentioned, the report from The Athletic says Zalupski’s preference would be for the club to be in Tampa proper, as opposed to St. Petersburg. That is something that will have to be negotiated with local officials and private investors. If the club can chart a course towards a move into Tampa, there would be logic to that. It has been suggested by many that The Trop’s location isn’t highly accessible, which has contributed to the club’s poor attendance figures over the years, despite generally fielding competitive teams. A move to Tampa could help in that regard, though previous attempts to get the club into Tampa have not been successful.

Zalupski is the CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a publicly traded, Jacksonville-based developer that has built more than 31,000 homes across ten states. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.4 billion, while his company’s valuation rests at $3.4 billion.

The timeline for the Rays will also have consequences across the league. Commissioner Rob Manfred has long insisted that expansion wouldn’t be a realistic possibility until the Athletics and Rays found new stadiums. The A’s are currently playing in West Sacramento but are expected to start playing in their new Las Vegas stadium by the 2028 season. If that plan progresses on schedule and the Rays get a new stadium plan in the works, then expansion will become a more realistic possibility.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Adolis Garcia Drawing Trade Interest

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Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia has been drawing trade interest from several teams as the deadline creeps closer, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. It’s not yet clear whether or how aggressively the Rangers will sell at this year’s deadline. Texas sits one game below .500 and 8.5 games out of first place in the American League West, but the Rangers are just 3.5 games back from the final Wild Card spot in the American League.

Garcia, 32, is in the midst of a second straight down year at the plate. He slugged 97 home runs for Texas from 2021-23 while batting a combined .246/.305/.472 (113 wRC+), but he’s hitting .228/.282/.401 in 1010 plate appearances dating back to last season (91 wRC+). He’s been hot for the past month, however, as evidenced by a .266/.312/.469 slash over his past 141 trips to the plate. He’s ripped six homers and eight doubles in that span and done so while striking out at a reasonable 21.3% clip (against a 6.4% walk rate).

That dip in strikeouts is particularly encouraging. Garcia fanned in nearly 27% of his plate appearances from Opening Day through early June, and he punched out at a 27.8% rate last year. He’s cut down considerably on his chase rate and his swinging-strike rate during this recent hot stretch, and when he does make contact, the quality is strong: 92.8 mph average exit velocity, 13.9% barrel rate, 48.5% hard-hit rate.

In addition to a recent uptick in offensive performance, Garcia is enjoying a bounceback year defensively as well. The two-time All-Star and 2023 Gold Glove winner saw his once-excellent defensive grades crater in 2024. Defensive Runs Saved (-5) and Statcast’s Outs Above Average (-13) both felt he was one of the worst defensive outfielders in the sport last year. It’s possible there was some carryover from a knee injury suffered late in the 2023 season, as Garcia’s average sprint speed in 2024 sat at a career-worst 26.7 feet per second. He’s not all the way back up to peak levels in 2025, but his 27.3 ft/sec is an improvement. DRS again has him among the game’s elite outfielders (+14), while OAA (+1) feels he’s at least back on the positive side of things.

Garcia is controllable via arbitration for one more season beyond the current campaign. If Texas falls too far out of the playoff picture, it makes sense to listen on him, although there’s an argument that they should be open-minded even if they push more firmly into the postseason chase in the next couple weeks. Garcia has always had strikeout and OBP concerns. He’s due what should be a notable raise on this year’s $9.25MM salary as he heads into his final season of club control. In Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter, the Rangers have two long-term outfield spots locked in place.

There’s no top outfield prospect on the immediate horizon, but Garcia is only controlled one more year, will command a notable eight-figure salary and up until June 10 or so had the look of a plausible non-tender candidate. His well-timed hot streak and a generally short supply of impact bats on the market might allow the Rangers to bring in some young talent and free up some payroll space at a time when Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle, Patrick Corbin and half the Texas bullpen (Chris Martin, Hoby Milner, Shawn Armstrong, Luke Jackson) will be up for free agency at season’s end.

Poll: Who Will Win The 2025 Home Run Derby?

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The 2025 home run derby takes place tonight at 7pm Central as part of the 2025 All-Star festivities in Atlanta. The field of eight consists of…

Per MLB.com, here is the format:

“In the first round, the eight players each have three minutes or 40 pitches (whichever comes first) to hit as many homers as possible. There is also a bonus period for each player that lasts until they record three outs (any swing that doesn’t result in a home run) within the period. If a player hits a home run of at least 425 feet within the bonus period, the period is extended until the player records a fourth out.

The players with the top four homer totals advance to the semis. In the event of a first-round tie, the player who hit the longest home run during the round advances.

In the semifinals, the format shifts to “knockout style,” with No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3. The seeds are determined solely by the number of home runs each player hit in the first round. Players will have two minutes or 27 pitches in the semifinals and finals, and home run totals from the first round don’t carry over.

Ties in the semifinals or finals are broken by successive three-swing “swing-offs” until there is a winner.

The winners of the two semifinal matchups advance to the finals, where the limits are reduced to two minutes and 27 pitches. The player with the most home runs after that period is crowned Home Run Derby champion.

One final note: Each batter is entitled to one 45-second timeout in each of the three regulation periods, but timeouts can’t be called during the bonus periods or tiebreakers.”

According to Yahoo Sports, $2.5MM will be given out as prize money. The winner gets $1MM and the runner-up $750K. The rest of the money will be shared amongst the other participants. Last year’s champion was Teoscar Hernández of the Dodgers but he is not defending his title. He spent some time on the IL in May due to a groin strain and doesn’t want to risk reaggravating that injury, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. He also fouled a ball off his foot here in July and missed a few games.

Of this year’s eight participants, Olson is the only one with previous derby experience. Ronald Acuña Jr. was originally in the lineup to represent the home team but he was scratched with some back tightness, so Olson has stepped in. In 2021, Olson hit 23 home runs in the first round but was edged out by Trey Mancini’s 24, with that year’s format being a head-to-head bracket style. He has 276 career home runs in regular season play, including 17 this year.

Olson should be the hometown favorite but Buxton might also get some support since he grew up in Georgia. Per Betsy Helfand of the Pioneer Press, Buxton’s son is very excited to bring him a towel and Gatorade during the event. Buxton has 154 career home runs, including 21 so far in 2025.

Raleigh is having a monster season, with 38 home runs already in the bank. The record for most home runs in a season by a primary catcher is Salvador Perez with 48, so Raleigh is on pace to destroy that. Raleigh’s previous career high was his 34 homers last year, so he already eclipsed that before the break.

Chisholm spent some time on the IL but has 17 home runs in just 65 games this year. Cruz only has 16 this year but strikes out a lot while his Statcast data is off the charts, so perhaps his stuff will play up in the derby setting. Rooker hit 30 home runs in 2023, 39 last year and is up to 20 already this year. Caminero and Wood are each playing a full major league season for the first time. Caminero has 23 home runs and Wood 24.

Here are two polls for MLBTR readers, the first asking who you want to win the derby and the second asking who you think will win.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Jairaj, Imagn Images

Royals Place Michael Lorenzen On Injured List

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The Royals have placed right-hander Michael Lorenzen on the 15-day injured list due to a left oblique strain, per a team announcement. The move is retroactive to July 11, so he’ll be eligible to return no sooner than July 26. He joins fellow starters Cole Ragans (rotator cuff strain) and Alec Marsh (shoulder impingement) on the injured list.

Lorenzen, 33, re-signed with the Royals on a one-year deal worth $7MM this past offseason. He’s been a serviceable back-end option for Kansas City, taking the ball 18 times and pitching to a 4.61 ERA with a 20% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate in 99 1/3 innings. Lorenzen had his two worst starts of the season back-to-back on May 26 (six runs in five innings) and on June 3 (seven runs in 2 2/3 innings), but he’s rebounded with a tidy 3.63 earned run average and a 31-to-9 K/BB ratio over his past six starts (34 2/3 innings).

Kansas City didn’t specify a projected timetable for Lorenzen’s return, though even Grade 1 oblique strains (the least-severe) can sideline players for upwards of a month. The Royals also did not announce a corresponding move at this time. They’ll open the second half with three games in Miami and would need a fifth starter for the second game of their following series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on July 22.

With Lorenzen headed to the shelf, the Royals only have four healthy starters on the major league roster: Kris Bubic, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Noah Cameron. It’s a talented quartet, but the depth beyond the group is shaky.

Right-handers Kyle Wright and Luinder Avila are both on the 40-man roster in Triple-A but are both injured; Wright is dealing with a Grade 2 oblique strain, while Avila has been out since late May due to a shoulder impingement. Rich Hill, Thomas Hatch and Dallas Keuchel are among the veteran options who are in the Royals’ system but not on the 40-man roster (although Keuchel just signed last week). Down in Double-A, prospects Ben Kudrna, Steven Zobac and Frank Mozzicato are having tough seasons. The Royals could opt for bullpen games in the fifth spot if Lorenzen isn’t expected to be shelved much beyond the minimum 15 days. Righty Jonathan Bowlan tossed three innings in his most recent appearance and could handle the bulk of bullpen game if the need arises.

Yankees Claim Rico Garcia

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The Yankees have claimed right-hander Rico Garcia off waivers from the Mets, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The Mets designated Garcia for assignment last week. The Yankees had an open 40-man spot. Garcia is out of options, so they will need to open an active roster spot for him.

Garcia, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason. He then tossed 30 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 4.45 earned run average. He struck out 27.4% of batters faced but also gave out walks at a 14.8% clip.

The Mets lost a number of pitchers to the injured list in recent weeks and called Garcia up to the big leagues at the start of July. He got into two games and gave them 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He averaged over 96 miles per hour on his fastball while also throwing a slider, curveball and changeup. The Mets bumped him off the roster when Kodai Senga was reinstated from the IL.

The Yankee bullpen has recently taken a number of hits. Mark Leiter Jr., Fernando Cruz and Yerry De los Santos all hit the IL in the past few weeks. Jake Cousins has been on the IL all year but recently required Tommy John surgery.

Garcia was a freely-available arm who has posted some intriguing strikeout numbers this year, so the Yanks have grabbed him off the wire. Since he’s out of options, his grip on a roster spot may be tenuous. The Yanks, like all contenders, will surely be looking to make bullpen additions before the deadline.

The righty has also pitched for the Rockies, Giants, Orioles, Athletics and Nationals, but always in fairly limited stints. He has appeared in five major league seasons but has just 40 1/3 innings under his belt, posting a 6.47 ERA in that time. From 2022 to the present, he has 165 minor league innings with a 3.33 ERA, 31.7% strikeout rate and 12.7% walk rate.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Blue Jays, Joe Mantiply Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league contract with left-handed reliever Joe Mantiply, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. Toronto also recently inked utilityman Buddy Kennedy to a minor league pact after he was released by the Phillies. He’s already made his debut with their Triple-A affiliate.

Mantiply was released by the Diamondbacks in early June after struggling considerably early in the year. The 34-year-old has a nice track record and was an important piece of Arizona’s bullpen from 2021-24, tossing 198 1/3 frames with a 3.63 earned run average, 22% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 51.9% ground-ball rate. He picked up three saves and 50 holds over that four-year run.

That track record feels like a distant memory after Mantiply was rocked for a 15.83 ERA in 9 2/3 big league innings this season. He’s never been a hard-thrower, but Mantiply’s 88.2 mph average fastball in 2025 was well shy of its 91.3 mph peak or even last year’s 89.5 mph average. Mantiply has struggled both in the majors and in Triple-A this season; he was tagged for a 5.56 ERA in 11/3 innings with the Diamondbacks’ Reno affiliate.

The Jays already have a pair of lefties in the big league bullpen: Justin Bruihl and breakout setup man Brendon Little. A third southpaw, Mason Fluharty, was just optioned to Triple-A Buffalo late in the season’s first half. Bruihl is a minor league signee who was just selected to the big league roster a few weeks ago. Fluharty was excellent up into early June but was rocked for a dozen runs in a span of 7 1/3 innings before being optioned back to Buffalo.

Mantiply will add some left-handed depth beyond that trio. He’ll join Amir Garrett — also with the Jays’ Triple-A club — as a veteran lefty reliever with some track record hoping to earn a look in Toronto.

Kennedy has appeared in parts of four major league seasons between the D-backs, Tigers and Phillies, but he’s only tallied 157 plate appearances in that time. He’s a .193/.287/.296 hitter at the big league level but touts a nice .279/.388/.432 slash in just over 1600 Triple-A plate appearances. Kennedy has already taken eight plate appearances in Buffalo, going 0-for-7 with a walk. He’s primarily played second base and third base in pro ball but does have more than 400 innings at first base and 93 innings of left field work under his belt.

Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

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On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.

The 2025 season is chugging along, and the trade deadline is just over two weeks away. If you have a question about the campaign, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

D-backs Have Listened To Offers On Outfield Depth

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The Diamondbacks remain on the fringes of the NL postseason picture, sitting five and a half games out in the Wild Card chase. General manager Mike Hazen has said he hopes the team performs well enough to position itself as a late buyer, but the GM has also at least been listening to offers on some of his outfielders, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. That does not include star Corbin Carroll, unsurprisingly, but Heyman suggests names like Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk have likely been discussed.

Of the four outfielders, Grichuk is the most obvious trade candidate. He’s playing the 2025 season on a one-year, $5MM contract. He’ll unlock a $250K bonus when he reaches his 200th plate appearance — he’s currently at 174 — and another $250K if he reaches 275 plate appearances.

Grichuk’s contract is structured such that Grichuk is owed a $2MM salary and a $3MM buyout on a $5MM mutual option for next year. That makes him a bit more expensive for the rest of the season than a standard one-year, $5MM contract would imply; he’d have about $634K in salary remaining at the time of the trade deadline but also that $3MM buyout and some potential incentive pay. Of course, the D-backs could make a trade more appealing by including cash to offset some of that backloaded 2025 salary.

The 2025 season hasn’t been Grichuk’s best, but he’s still hitting for power. The 33-year-old is batting .242/.282/.466 with seven homers, 13 doubles and a triple in his 174 trips to the plate. His 5.7% walk rate is right in line with his career mark. His 21.6% strikeout rate is down from his career level of about 25% but noticeably higher than the personal-best 16.5% clip he turned in last year in a more productive season with the Snakes.

Gurriel, 31, is a tougher sell from a trade standpoint. He’s being paid $14MM this season and is guaranteed $13MM in 2026 plus at least a $5MM buyout on a $14MM club option for the 2027 season. His .251/.299/.421 batting line (98 wRC+) already represents a down year, and any team to acquire him would know Gurriel will either opt into the remaining $18MM he’s guaranteed beyond the current season or go on a second-half tear and opt out. It’s not an appealing structure, and the Diamondbacks would probably need to eat a significant portion of the remaining money he’s owed to facilitate a trade.

Thomas and McCarthy are both controllable lefty-swinging outfielders, but neither is having a good season at the plate. Thomas, once touted as one of the top outfield prospects in baseball, has yet to hit in parts of four major league seasons. He’s an above-average runner and strong defensive center fielder, but this year’s .245/.295/.366 batting line (84 wRC+) is actually the best of the 25-year-old’s young career. He’s a lifetime .230/.276/.360 hitter in just under 1200 big league plate appearances.

McCarthy, on the other hand, has had plenty of big league success at the plate — just not in 2025. He hit .283/.342/.427 in 99 games back in 2022 (116 wRC+) and slashed .285/.349/.400 (110 wRC+) as recently as last season. He had a down year in 2023, however, and the 27-year-old has struggled to a career-worst .144/.228/.244 line (33 wRC+) in 102 trips to the plate this season.

That’s a relatively small sample, of course, and McCarthy has had some demonstrably poor luck. He’s hitting just .151 on balls in play — less than half the .328 career mark he carried into the season and some 130 points lower than the league average. McCarthy isn’t hitting the ball hard at all (83.9 mph average exit velocity, 23.7% hard-hit rate), but he also had poor batted-ball metrics even in his more productive 2022 and 2024 seasons. His 15.7% strikeout rate remains excellent, and McCarthy has walked at a solid 8.8% rate.

The D-backs optioned McCarthy to Triple-A after a rough three-week start and only recalled him back in late June. He batted .314/.401/.440 in 237 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks’ top affiliate in Reno and has put together an improved (albeit still diminished) .222/.300/.400 slash in his past 51 major league plate appearances.

Both Thomas and McCarthy are controllable for an additional three seasons. Both are eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason. The Diamondbacks burned McCarthy’s final option year when they sent him down to Triple-A back in April. He’ll be out of minor league options next year. Thomas also entered 2025 with one option year remaining, but his is still intact, as he hasn’t been sent down at any point this season.

Vinny Nittoli To Opt Out Of Brewers Deal

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Reliever Vinny Nittoli plans to trigger the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Brewers, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. The actual opt-out date is tomorrow and will give the Brewers 24 hours to add Nittoli to the big league roster, MLBTR has learned. If the Brewers choose not to select Nittoli to the roster, he’ll become a free agent.

The 34-year-old Nittoli pitched in the majors each season from 2021-24 but has totaled just 18 2/3 MLB frames in that time. He’s pitched to a sharp 2.41 ERA across those four seasons, which have been split between the Mariners, Phillies, Mets, A’s and Orioles. Nittoli has fanned 17.3% of his major league opponents against a 6.7% walk rate.

Nittoli has spent the 2025 season with the Brewers’ Triple-A club in Nashville, pitching to a 3.86 ERA with an impressive 28.9% strikeout rate and an 8.6% walk rate. The journeyman right-hander doesn’t throw hard, sitting just 88-90 mph with his go-to cutter, but he’s induced chases on pitches off the plate at a strong 35.1% clip and recorded an excellent 14.3% swinging-strike rate during his time in Nashville this season.

The Brewers already have a strong bullpen. Milwaukee relievers rank 18th in the majors with a 4.00 ERA, but that includes some early struggles by Joel Payamps, swingman Tyler Alexander and righty Elvin Rodriguez — none of whom are on the 40-man roster at this point. Each of Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, Jared Koenig, Nick Mears, Grant Anderson and DL Hall has an ERA of 3.69 or better. Five of those seven are under 3.00 (including a 1.66 mark for Ashby). The Brewers’ bullpen has a flat 3.00 ERA over the past calendar month — second-lowest in MLB.

Given the strength of that group, there’s no urgent need to add Nittoli, who’s out of minor league options and would need to stick in the big league bullpen if he’s selected. If the Brewers don’t want to lose the depth, they could select Nittoli to the 40-man roster and option Tobias Myers back to Nashville. (Myers was just recalled a few days before the All-Star break and didn’t get into a game.) The rest of the ’pen is largely set, however, so the Brewers may wind up letting Nittoli explore opportunities elsewhere despite his solid results in Nashville.

The Opener: Home Run Derby, Draft Day 2, Rodriguez

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. 2025 Home Run Derby:

All-Star week is officially underway, and with it comes the return of an All-Star week staple: the Home Run Derby. Eight sluggers will battle it out for the $1MM prize, and this year’s participants are Byron Buxton of the Twins, Junior Caminero of the Rays, Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Yankees, Oneil Cruz of the Pirates, Matt Olson of the Braves, Cal Raleigh of the Mariners, Brent Rooker of the Athletics, and James Wood of the Nationals. The event is scheduled to begin at 8pm ET this evening, and will air on ESPN. Of this crop of contestants, only Olson has participated previously; he was eliminated in the first round back in 2021 while representing the A’s. It’s hard to view anyone other than catcher Cal Raleigh as the favorite headed into today’s event given his MLB-leading 38 homers this year. If he can take home the trophy, he’ll be the first catcher to do so in the event’s history and the first Mariners representative to win the Derby since Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

2. MLB Draft Day 2: 

Yesterday, MLB held the first three rounds of the 2025 draft. Eli Willits was drafted first overall by the Nationals, while consensus top talent Ethan Holliday went fourth overall to the Rockies. The full results of the first round can be found here. Now, the attention of teams will turn towards the later rounds of the draft. Rounds 4 through 20 are scheduled to take place today as teams around the league wrap up the draft, with Round 4 slated to begin at 11:30am ET this morning. A handful of top talents fall outside of the first few rounds every year, and that’s once again the case this season. A look at MLB Pipeline’s Draft Tracker reveals three top-50 talents in the draft have not yet been chosen: Oregon outfielder Mason Neville, Lincoln-Way East HS southpaw Jack Bauer, and Memorial HS right-hander Matthew Fisher.

3. Rodriguez to see doctor about ailing elbow:

Rays right-hander Manuel Rodriguez was pulled off his rehab assignment on Friday after experiencing some soreness in his elbow in conjunction with unusually low velocity. Rodriguez, who saw an alarming drop to just 91.2 mph during his latest outing after averaging 96.9 mph throughout the year, will be further evaluated today. The 28-year-old was a key piece of the Rays’ bullpen this year prior to his injury, with a 2.08 ERA and 2.98 FIP in 31 appearances. The Rays acquired Bryan Baker from the Orioles last week in hopes of bolstering their relief corps, though his team debut did not go well (three runs in one inning). A notable absence for Rodriguez could spur Tampa Bay’s front office to further address the bullpen.

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