Tampa Bay To Designate Christopher Morel, Jake Fraley For Assignment
8:20 pm: The team has officially announced the moves.
5:47 pm: The Rays are expected to designate outfielders Christopher Morel and Jake Fraley for assignment, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Topkin also reported that catcher Dominic Keegan, right-hander Alex Cook, and second baseman Jadher Areinamo are expected to be added to the 40-man roster. The trio will grab the vacated roster spots to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.
Tampa Bay acquired Morel as the headliner of the trade that sent Isaac Paredes to the Cubs ahead of the 2024 trade deadline. He was hitting .199 at the time, but had popped 18 home runs and lowered his strikeout rate to a career-best 24.5%. Morel stumbled to a 59 wRC+ to close the year with the Rays. He hit three homers and saw his strikeout rate jump back up to 29.5%.
Morel played a part-time role for Tampa Bay this past season, logging 305 plate appearances. He flashed the power/speed combo that had made him an intriguing asset, with 11 home runs and seven steals, but continued to strike out at an untenable rate. Morel whiffed a career-high 35.7% of the time in 2025. After spending time at second base, third base, and shortstop in his first three seasons, Morel played almost exclusively outfield and DH last year. He made one appearance at second base, but that was the extent of his time on the dirt.
With a pair of 20-homer seasons under his belt and a bit of defensive versatility in his game, Morel will likely get another look at the big-league level. He’s had stretches of getting the strikeouts in check, and he’s always had a solid walk rate.
Tampa Bay claimed Fraley off waivers from Atlanta in early November. The Braves had scooped him up off waivers from the Reds back in August. He appeared in nine games with the team before going down with an oblique strain that cut his season short.
Fraley debuted with the Mariners in 2019. After a few seasons in a limited role, he was shipped to Cincinnati in the Eugenio Suarez trade. Fraley slashed a solid .259/.344/.468 in his first year with the Reds, though knee issues capped his workload. Injuries would limit his playing time for the duration of his Cincinnati tenure. Wrist and toe injuries cost him time in 2023, and the knee held him back again in 2024. Prior to the season-ending oblique injury this year, Fraley had hit the IL twice with calf and shoulder issues.
Keegan was taken in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. He tore through Tampa Bay’s minor league system before hitting a bit of a roadblock at Triple-A in 2025. MLB.com ranked him 15th among the Rays’ prospects.
Cook was also drafted in 2022, with Tampa Bay landing him in the 12th round. He’s pitched almost exclusively as a reliever since joining the organization. Cook has spent most of his time in the low minors, but did get up to Double-A last year. He tossed 15 2/3 innings with a 2.30 ERA for the Montgomery Biscuits to close the season.
Areinamo came over from the Brewers in the Danny Jansen trade. Baseball America had him 10th in Milwaukee’s system midway through the season. After slashing a strong .297/.355/.463 at High-A prior to the trade, he joined the Biscuits and put up a solid 111 wRC+.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images
Brewers Acquire Danny Jansen
The Rays and Brewers announced a trade sending catcher Danny Jansen from Tampa Bay to Milwaukee in exchange for infield prospect Jadher Areinamo. The Rays are including some cash to help pay down the remaining $2.667MM on Jansen’s one-year, $8MM contract. It’s a homecoming for Jansen, who’s a native of Appleton, Wisconsin. The Rays’ changes behind the plate don’t stop there, as they’re reportedly in agreement to acquire Marlins catcher Nick Fortes in a separate trade (full breakdown on that swap available here).
Catching wasn’t a prominent need for the Brewers entering the season. William Contreras has emerged as one of the best backstops in the sport, slashing .283/.363/.472 from 2022-24. His once-panned defense has improved to premium levels in Milwaukee. However, Contreras has been playing through a fracture in his left middle finger and struggled considerably at the dish this season, slashing just .242/.342/.340 this season. Backup catcher Eric Haase hasn’t picked up the slack with the bat. Over the past month, Contreras and Haase have combined to hit .228/.294/.289.
As the Brewers’ catchers have struggled to increasing levels, Jansen has picked up the pace. He’s hitting just .204/.314/.389 on the season overall, but that’s dragged down by a brutal start to the year. Since May 11, he’s batting .232/.321/.486 in 163 trips to the plate.
Notably, while Jansen is hitting only .197 against lefties, he’s still getting on base against them at a big .356 clip and slugging .465 versus southpaws. Contreras is hitting .223/.373/.266 against lefties on the season. Haase is batting only .160/.192/.280 in his 26 plate appearances against left-handers. Jansen struggled against lefties mightily early in his career but has above-average on-base and power numbers against them each year since 2022. In that time, he’s slashing .216/.344/.442 when holding the platoon advantage
Jansen has graded as a plus defender in the past, but his framing and throwing grades have dwindled in recent years. Milwaukee has a knack for vastly improving catcher defense — framing in particular — which could bode well for a Jansen rebound in that regard. He’ll presumably move into a timeshare behind the plate with Contreras, who is penciled into tonight’s Brewers lineup. That could spell the end of Haase’s time on the roster, but it’s certainly possible the Brewers will carry three catchers or that they’ll give Contreras some extended downtime to allow his ailing left hand to heal.
Areinamo, 21, was an amateur signee out of Venezuela during the 2021-22 international signing period. Baseball America ranked him 10th among Milwaukee prospects on their latest midseason update of the system. He sat 17th at FanGraphs in mid-May and is currently 24th at MLB.com.
Though he’s primarily been a shortstop in High-A this season, Areinamo has more experience at second base than at short. He’s also dabbled at the hot corner. He’s turned in a .297/.355/.463 batting line in 415 plate appearances and popped 11 home runs on the year. Areinamo also has 24 doubles, a pair of triples and 15 stolen bases — albeit in 23 tries (65.2% success rate).
Scouting reports on Areinamo tout his plus hit tool but question an overaggressive approach that could be exposed as he moves up the ladder and faces more advanced pitching. Accordingly, he’s fanned in just 11.6% of his plate appearances in what is his second run through the High-A level. Listed at just 5’8″ and 160 pounds, Areinamo unsurprisingly possesses what scouts feel is below-average power. He has a chance to develop into an everyday option at second base, where his average arm profiles better than it does on the left side of the infield. He could also wind up being a contact-oriented utilityman who bounces between several positions.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that the Rays and Brewers were finalizing a Jansen trade. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that the deal was done and that the Rays were in the process of adding another catcher. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported that Areinamo was the prospect return for the Rays and that Tampa Bay was including some cash in the swap.