Edgar Garcia

The Phillies have agreed to trade right-hander Edgar Garcia to the Rays in exchange for a player to be named later, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports (via Twitter).  Tampa Bay has designated infielder Daniel Robertson for assignment to create roster space for Garcia, MLB.com’s Juan Toribio reports (Twitter link).

Philadelphia designated Garcia for assignment late last week.  The 23-year-old made his big league debut in 2019, tossing 39 innings out of the Phils’ bullpen and posting 5.77 ERA, 10.4 K/9, and 1.73 K/BB.  Homers and walks were Garcia’s biggest issue, as he allowed 11 home runs and issued 26 free passes over his 39-inning stint.

The long ball also developed as a problem for Garcia at Triple-A (1.6 HR/9), though admittedly over the small sample size of 33 2/3 career innings at the top minor league level.  For his entire minor league career, Garcia has posted some solid numbers — a 3.43 ERA, 3.27 K/BB rate, and 9.3 K/9 through 301 1/3 innings in Philadelphia’s farm system.  The Rays obviously think there’s some potential for Garcia to add their ever-revolving bullpen mix.

It wasn’t long ago that Robertson was considered to be a potential shortstop of the future in Tampa, or at least the type of multi-positional player the Rays love to deploy.  He even hit .262/.382/.415 over 340 plate appearances in 2018, though a thumb injury shortened that season and then a knee problem hampered Robertson in 2019.  With Willy Adames taking over at shortstop (with Wander Franco looming on the horizon) and Joey Wendle and Mike Brosseau emerging as utility infield answers, it seems like Robertson was simply squeezed out of a job.

Robertson has hit .231/.340/.352 with 16 home runs over 831 career MLB plate appearances, and he also has a .280/371/.411 slash line through 2389 PA in the minors.  Between these numbers, his former first-round pedigree (34th overall pick in 2012), and his ability to play left field and all over the infield, Robertson seems like a decent candidate to be plucked off the DFA wire.