Rays Select Braden Bristo, Option Taj Bradley
The Rays announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Braden Bristo from Triple-A Durham and optioned top pitching prospect Taj Bradley, who made his MLB debut against the Red Sox, back to Durham in his place. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay transferred righty Shane Baz from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Baz is recovering from September’s Tommy John surgery and could miss the entire season, so his move to the 60-day IL was a formality.
If the 28-year-old Bristo makes it into a game with the Rays, it’ll mark his big league debut after an eight-year minor league journey. The longtime Yankees farmhand was New York’s 23rd-round selection back in 2016, and he spent the next seven years climbing the ranks in their system. Bristo topped out at Triple-A in 2021-22 and never made it to the Majors with the Yanks, however. He elected minor league free agency at the end of the 2022 campaign.
In five innings with the Rays’ top affiliate in Durham thus far, Bristo has yielded three runs on six hits with an appealing 7-to-1 K/BB ratio. He’s had little problem missing bats in parts of three Triple-A seasons overall, fanning a strong 27.3% of his opponents. His 12.8% walk rate in Triple-A, however, is far more concerning. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen has previously noted Bristo’s high-spin curveball and a heater that can reach the mid-90s in short stints, but command has been an issue for Bristo in the upper minors — at least until this season. It’s a tiny sample, of course, but Bristo has walked just one of his 22 opponents so far.
For now, Bristo will give the Rays an extra arm in the ‘pen. Tampa Bay used Jalen Beeks as an opener in a bullpen game on Monday, and their ‘pen has covered a combined eight innings in the two games since.
Bradley won’t be able to return to the Majors for at least 10 days unless he’s recalled in place of someone who’s being placed on the injured list. Barring that scenario, yesterday’s MLB debut will go down as a spot start for Bradley, who ranks among the sport’s top 50 overall prospects. He tossed five innings against Boston and allowed three runs on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Rays, Angels, Prospect Promotions
The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast has relaunched! Simon Hampton is now your host, and we’re very excited to bring the new show to you every week.
Episode 2 is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well; use this link to find the show on Spotify and this one for Apple. You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Simon Hampton is joined by Steve Adams to discuss a wide range of topics around the baseball world:
- A look at the Rays hot start to the season, and why they’re impressing (1:03)
- As Grayson Rodriguez debuts for the Orioles, Taj Bradley is called up to the Rays, and a raft of other highly touted young players make their mark on the season, we take a look at whether the new top prospect service time rules are working (7:47)
- The Angels have made a solid start to the season, and with a deeper lineup and a promising rotation is this finally the year they get back to the playoffs? Or will their bullpen hold them back? (13:21)
Plus, we answer your questions, including:
- Who will be a surprise seller at the deadline, and who’s a surprise player that could be made available? (18:33)
- Is Gary Sanchez the answer to providing a bit more thump in the Giants’ lineup? (23:08)
- How will Francisco Alvarez do with the Mets? Will he force his way into the starting lineup on a regular basis, or will the Mets wind up sending him back to Triple-A and bringing in an external catcher? (25:55)
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Rays Promote Taj Bradley, Place Zach Eflin On IL
The Rays have placed right-hander Zach Eflin on the 15-day injured list due to back tightness, per broadcaster Neil Solondz. Pitching prospect Taj Bradley has been recalled to take his place and will make his major league debut on Wednesday. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times previously reported that these moves were imminent. Eflin’s IL placement is backdated to April 8, per Topkin.
Bradley, 22, was selected by the club in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. Since that time, he has continued to impress on the farm, moving up the minor league ladder and prospect lists. He pitched in Rookie Ball in 2018 and 2019, but then saw the minor leagues canceled by the pandemic in 2020. He split the following season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, throwing 103 1/3 innings with a 1.83 ERA, 31% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate. Last year, he went through Double-A and Triple-A, tossing 133 1/3 frames with a 2.57 ERA, striking out 26.5% of batters faced while walking just 6.2%.
Bradley is currently considered the #42 prospect in the game by Baseball America, #18 by MLB Pipeline, #60 by ESPN, #52 by Keith Law of The Athletic and #37 by FanGraphs. He was eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December but the Rays made the easy decision to add him to their 40-man roster to prevent him from being selected. That means he already has a roster spot but he’ll be making his MLB debut tomorrow.
The Rays are off to an incredible 10-0 start here this season, with their pitching playing a large role in that. They’ve only allowed 18 runs in those 10 games, easily the fewest in baseball with the Brewers next on the list at 26. Tampa’s schedule has been on the weaker side thus far, with their first nine games coming against the Tigers, Nationals and A’s, three of the worst teams last year. Nonetheless, they’ve gotten great results from their rotation, even with Shane Baz recovering from Tommy John surgery and Tyler Glasnow on the IL with an oblique strain. Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Eflin have all been great so far this season. Josh Fleming got roughed up in his first start but tossed four scoreless innings behind an opener in his second appearance.
Bradley will now check into that group for Eflin, at least for the time being. Solondz relays that manager Kevin Cash and Eflin both expect the latter to have a minimal stay on the IL, which would mean he’d only miss a couple of starts. The righty hasn’t exactly been a paragon of health in his career, as recurring knee issues have limited his workload over the years. He’s only once thrown 130 innings in a season, which was the 163 1/3 frames he tossed in 2019. He tells Topkin that he’s dealt with this back issue in the past and isn’t too concerned.
If those expectations come to pass and Eflin returns in a couple weeks, then it’s possible Bradley gets sent back down to Triple-A. That will likely depend on his performance, as well as that of Fleming and the health of the entire crew. There’s also the return of Glasnow on the horizon, which seems to potentially be slated for mid-May.
If it ends up coming to pass that Bradley sticks with the big league club for the rest of the season, he will be able to earn a full year of service time, just barely. A major league season is 187 days long but a player needs only to spend 172 of those in the majors, or on the injured list, in order to earn a full “year” of service time. Bradley has missed 12 days of the season thus far, giving him just enough time to creep over the one-year line, though getting optioned later in the year will obviously impact that trajectory.
In the event he does get that full year, he will be eligible for the prospect promotion incentive. As part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement, if a player has less than 60 days of service time and is on two out of the three top 100 prospects lists from Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline then earns a full year of service as a rookie, they become PPI eligible. If they then win Rookie of the Year or finish in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting before reaching their arbitration years, they can net their club an extra draft pick. This already happened once when Julio Rodríguez won American League Rookie of the Year last year, getting the Mariners an extra draft pick after the first round. Bradley is on all three of those prospect lists and is therefore in the mix for earning PPI eligibility this year.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Rays Notes: Glasnow, Fleming, Walls
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times noted yesterday that starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow is making progress in his rehab from an oblique strain he suffered this spring. Glasnow, who’s in the first year of the two-year extension he signed with the Rays last summer, has managed just 6 2/3 innings of work since he underwent Tommy John surgery partway through the 2021 season and hasn’t broken 100 innings in a season since 2018. When he is on the mound, however, he’s among the most dominant starters in the game, with a 2.75 ERA (152 ERA+) in 212 2/3 innings of work since the start of the 2019 season with a phenomenal 36% strikeout rate.
Topkin notes that Glasnow is set to begin throwing off a mound this week, and that the Rays hope he will be built up to 5 innings around the middle of May. That puts him slightly behind the six-to-eight week timeframe that was announced alongside Glasnow’s diagnosis at the end of February, though when he does return he’ll join a rotation of Jeffrey Springs, Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, and Zach Eflin that has been dominant to open the 2023 season, with those four starters having combined for a 1.29 ERA in their first seven starts of the season.
As phenomenal as that front four has been, there’s more questions surrounding the fifth spot in the rotation, at least until Glasnow returns to solidify it. Lefty Josh Fleming received the first start of the season in that spot, though Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times notes that he won’t be starting tomorrow’s game against the Red Sox after allowing five runs on ten hits in three innings of work to the Nationals, with the club instead set to give the ball of lefty Jalen Beeks as an opener, taking advantage of the club’s well-rested bullpen. Beeks, who had a 2.80 ERA in 61 innings last year, made seven starts for the club in 2022. That being said, the lefty went longer than two innings just once all season, in a relief appearance that lasted 2 1/3 innings.
While the club appears to be set up well regarding the pitching staff, there’s reason for concern on the other side of the ball, as the day after center fielder Jose Siri went on the injured list with a strained hamstring, it now appears possible that shortstop Taylor Walls may join him. Walls suffered an injury to his elbow on Friday and hasn’t played this weekend, with Ackert noting the club plans to send him for imaging on Monday. If Walls requires a stint on the injured list, Ackert notes that infielder Jonathan Aranda is traveling with the team and will likely step in to take over Walls’s roster spot. Walls struggled with the bat in 2022, slashing a meager .172/.268/.285 in 142 games.
Aranda, who was among the Rays’ top prospects prior to losing rookie eligibility in 2022, struggled in his MLB debut, slashing just .192/.276/.321 in 32 games. Aranda has always torn the cover off the ball in the minor leagues, however, with a career .915 OPS in 111 career games at the Triple-A level. A potential injured list stint for Walls could also open up playing time for Vidal Brujan, who was added to the roster in the wake of Siri’s injury. Brujan was among the top prospects in the sport when he made his debut in 2021, but in 62 games from 2021-2022, the young switch-hitter failed to establish himself at the major league level. Still, he has 223 career steals in the minors and experience in all three outfield spots in addition to third base, second base, and shortstop, leaving him as a valuable utility option should he prove himself capable of hitting in the major leagues.
Rays Place Jose Siri On 10-Day Injured List
The Rays have placed outfielder Jose Siri on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. Utilityman Vidal Brujan has been called up from Triple-A to take Siri’s place on the active roster.
Siri is one of several players off to a great start for the unbeaten Rays. The 24-year-old Siri has blasted out of the gates with a .318/.333/.682 slash line and two home runs in his first 24 plate appearances of the season, while starting six of seven games as Tampa Bay’s apparent top choice in center field. There wasn’t much doubt that Siri’s glovework was worthy of a regular lineup spot, though his breakout (albeit in a small sample size) is extremely promising to his overall ceiling.
Siri had shown some intriguing hitting potential in his minor league days with the Reds and Astros, but after an impressive 49-PA stretch in his 2021 MLB debut season, Siri hit a far more modest .213/.268/.339 over 325 combined PA with Houston and Tampa in 2022. The Rays acquired Siri as part of the three-team swap last trade deadline that saw Trey Mancini head from the Orioles to the Astros.
Not much has gone wrong for the Rays in amassing their 7-0 record, but the club is certainly hope that Siri can be back on the field sooner rather than later. As usual, Tampa Bay has depth options in place to fill in for injured players, as any of Manuel Margot, Josh Lowe, or Brujan are likely to see time in center field until Siri returns. Brujan isn’t far removed from being a regular on top-100 prospect lists, though he has batted only .150/.207/.231 in 188 PA since making his big league debut in 2021.
AL Notes: Story, Brantley, Rays
Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, including Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, today that Trevor Story is doing well in his rehab, and providing an update about his progress. Story has begun regularly fielding groundballs in the infield dating back to camp this spring, and will begin throwing in two weeks. He’ll advance to hitting next month, sixteen weeks after his elbow surgery. That’s great news for Boston fans, as it means Story is still on track to make his season debut sometime around the middle of the season. As things stand, the Red Sox are relying on Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo and Yu Chang for middle infield duties, with offseason acquisition Adalberto Mondesi joining Story on the IL.
The return of Story would potentially relieve Hernandez of his duties as an everyday shortstop, allowing him to bounce between second base and center field as he did during his past two seasons in Boston. 2023 is the second year of Story’s six-year, $140MM deal with the Red Sox. In his first year in Boston, Story slashed just .238/.303/.434 (100 wRC+) in 94 games, though he did post an elite defensive season by Outs Above Average, which gave him a +10 mark for his work at second base. While that sort of production didn’t quite match the expectations associated with the contract he signed, a steady presence like that would be a huge boon to the Red Sox in the second half, given the uncertainty of their middle infield situation.
More from around the American League…
- Michael Brantley has departed Houston for the Astros spring complex in West Palm Beach, as noted by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Brantley traveled with the team for the club’s World Series ring ceremony on Opening Day, but now returns to Florida to continue his rehab from last season’s shoulder surgery. McTaggart notes the Astros hope to have him back in the “next couple of weeks”, which tracks with GM Dana Brown’s previous statement that Brantley was likely to miss at least three weeks of games. It seems as though Brantley might be back at the earlier end of that estimate, which would surely lift an Astros lineup that will be without Jose Altuve for around two months to open the season.
- Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the Rays renewed both left-hander Shane McClanahan‘s and right-hander Drew Rasmussen‘s contract for the 2023 season, indicating neither hurler agreed to their 2023 salary. While pre-arbitration players like McClanahan and Rasmussen have no negotiating power over their salaries, they can refuse to agree to their 2023 salary, a symbolic gesture that indicates the player does not agree with the club’s proposed salary. McClanahan will earn $737,000 in 2023 while Rasmussen will earn $73,700. Both players figure to be arbitration eligible this offseason, with McClanahan likely poised to qualify as a Super Two player, while Rasmussen appears set to secure a third full year of service time this season.
Tigers Acquire Dillon Paulson From Rays
The Tigers have acquired minor league first baseman Dillon Paulson from the Rays in exchange for cash, tweets Chris McCoskey of the Detroit News. It’s the second cash swap that’s sent a minor leaguer from Tampa Bay to Detroit this week, as the Tigers also purchased outfielder Grant Witherspoon from the Rays a couple days ago. Paulson isn’t on the 40-man roster, so the Tigers don’t need to make a corresponding transaction.
The 25-year-old Paulson is a left-handed hitter who was originally selected by the Dodgers in the 13th round of the 2018 draft. He landed in Tampa Bay as part of the three-team trade that sent Jose Alvarado from Tampa Bay to Philadelphia.
Paulson has been productive throughout his minor league career and got out to a terrific start with the Rays’ Double-A club in 2021, slashing .340/.373/.396 but in a tiny sample of just 59 plate appearances. Unfortunately, he sustained a torn ACL that required surgery and wiped out the remainder of his ’21 campaign. He was limited to just 24 games in 2022, batting a combined .224/.382/.448 in 89 plate appearances between Rookie ball and High-A.
Paulson will turn 26 in June, but because of the canceled 2020 season and that ACL tear, he’s only played in 15 games above A-ball. He’ll give the Tigers a lefty bat to stash in the middle of their system in hopes that with better health, he can build upon his career .257/.374/.458 output in 214 minor league games.
Yankees Acquire Colten Brewer From Rays
6:36pm: Both teams have announced the trade. Tampa Bay receives cash in return.
6:15pm: Right-hander Colten Brewer, who had been in camp with the Rays on a minor league deal, will instead go to the Yankees and be added to their 40-man roster, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He had recently been reassigned to minor league camp but Topkin reports he had an assignment bonus that allowed the Yanks to acquire him. Yankees manager Aaron Boone had previously indicated the club was working on a “potential deal” and it seems this is what he was referring to.
Brewer, 30, appeared in the big leagues from 2018 to 2021, with the Padres in the first of those years but then with the Red Sox for the next three. In 91 major league innings, he has a 5.04 ERA, 20.3% strikeout rate, 13.4% walk rate and 50.4% ground ball rate. He spent last year with the Royals on a minor league deal, tossing 39 2/3 innings at Triple-A with a 4.76 ERA, striking out 24.9% of opponents, walking 10.7% and getting the ball on the ground at a 51.9% clip.
As mentioned, Brewer was in camp with the Rays on a minor league deal. He tossed 9 1/3 innings over eight appearances this spring, not allowing any earned runs while striking out 15 hitters and walking three. Despite that strong performance, he didn’t crack Tampa’s roster, as he was reassigned to minor league camp yesterday.
While the Rays weren’t willing to afford him an immediate big league job, the Yankees will plug him into the bullpen. Brewer is out of minor league option years, so he’ll have to stick on the active roster or be offered to other teams once New York officially selects his contract. He has between two and three years of service and would be eligible for arbitration for the first time next winter if he holds his roster spot all year.
The Yankees have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move once Brewer’s acquisition is final. New York has a number of players on the injured list — Ben Rortvedt, Lou Trivino and Tommy Kahnle among them — who could be moved to the 60-day injured list if the club anticipates a notable absence.
Tigers To Acquire Grant Witherspoon From Rays
2:51pm: The Tigers sent cash to the Rays in exchange for Witherspoon, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Detroit will still need to open a 40-man roster spot before tomorrow to accommodate the additions of Shreve and Wingenter.
2:06pm: The Tigers have acquired minor league outfielder Grant Witherspoon in a trade with the Rays, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Tampa Bay’s end of the deal remains unclear as of yet, though it’s worth noting that the Tigers need to open a 40-man roster spot to accommodate the expected addition of relievers Chasen Shreve and Trey Wingenter. They already opened one spot by outrighting Rony Garcia to Triple-A Toledo not long ago. That doesn’t ensure that the Tigers are sending a player from the 40-man roster, though it’s certainly possible.
Witherspoon, 26, was the Rays’ fourth-round pick back in 2018. He split the 2022 season between Double-A and Triple-A, slashing a combined .266/.343/.467 with 17 home runs and 15 stolen bases. The bulk of that production came against right-handed pitching, as the lefty-swinging Witherspoon mustered a rather tepid .237/.313/.404 slash against fellow lefties. The Rays split Witherspoon’s time in the outfield rather evenly between all three spots last year, though he’s primarily been a center fielder to this point in his professional career.
He’s not on the 40-man roster but was in big league camp with Tampa Bay. He struggled to a .154/.291/.231 output there, but that came in a tiny sample of 31 trips to the plate. With the Rays, Witherspoon was behind Randy Arozarena, Manuel Margot, Jose Siri, Josh Lowe and Luke Raley on the depth chart, at the very least, as all are on the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay has also played infield prospects Vidal Brujan and Greg Jones in the outfield of late.
With the Tigers, there’ll be a less crowded path to playing time. Detroit is lacking in established big league outfielders, and while they’re hopeful of an Austin Meadows rebound and steps forward from players like Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Matt Vierling, there’s more room for a productive upper-level minor leaguer like Witherspoon to force his way into the mix with the Tigers than with the Rays.
Rays Acquire Tony Locey From Rockies
The Rays announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired right-hander Tony Locey from the Rockies in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move isn’t necessary.
Locey, 24, is one of four players the Rockies acquired from the Cardinals in the trade that sent Nolan Arenado to St. Louis. The Cardinals also sent Austin Gomber, Elehuris Montero and minor league infielder Mateo Gil to Colorado in that swap.
In 2022, Locey reached the Double-A level for the first time but saw his longstanding command issues continue while opponents hit him harder than ever before. After beginning the ’22 season with a 3.09 ERA through 67 innings in High-A (despite a 13.9% walk rate), Locey was hammered for a 12.11 ERA in 35 2/3 innings. He yielded 48 runs on 60 hits, 28 walks and five hit batters, striking out just 28 of his 197 opponents along the way (14.7%).
Overall, Locey has walked 14.7% of the opponents he’s faced since being selected in the third round by the Cardinals out of the University of Georgia back in 2019. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote in his 2021 report on Locey that he had a heater that could run up to 97 mph but noted the following year that his velocity had dipped. Locey was used as a starter in 20 of his 26 appearances with the Rockies this past season, but it’s possible the Rays will shift him into a bullpen role, given the ongoing command troubles and poor results in the rotation.