Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tristan Gray

White Sox Reinstate Luis Robert Jr.

By Darragh McDonald | July 8, 2025 at 3:00pm CDT

The White Sox announced today that outfielder Luis Robert Jr. has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Infielder Tristan Gray has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte as the corresponding move.

It’s now down to these last few weeks. Robert has been an obvious trade candidate for a long time but the window has been closing and is almost shut. He is in the final guaranteed year of his contract. There are $20MM club options for next year and 2027 but he’s going to get a $2MM buyout at the end of this year.

Robert is capable of excellent production, or at least was. Injuries have often gotten in his way but he got into 145 games in 2023. He hit 38 home runs, stole 20 bases and received strong grades for his center field defense. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 4.9 wins above replacement that year.

Despite Robert’s efforts, the Sox went into a rebuild mode that year. They traded short-term assets at the deadline and then remade their front office before the offseason. Going into 2024, they traded controllable players like Dylan Cease, Aaron Bummer and Gregory Santos but Robert stayed.

At the time, it seemed like there was no rush. Robert still had two guaranteed years left on his deal, plus the two options, which seemed like bargains back then. Four years of a potentially elite player seemed like a massive asset and the Sox set a high asking price in trade talks.

Much has changed since then, none of it for the better. Robert had another injury-marred season in 2024, getting into just 100 games. When on the field, he produced a subpar .224/.278/.379 batting line, which translated to a wRC+ of 84. The Sox could have traded him again in the most recent offseason but didn’t want to sell low.

It was understandable to hope for a bounceback but the gambit hasn’t paid off. His performance has been even worse this year than it was last year. He currently sports a line of .185/.270/.313, which leads to a 63 wRC+. He is still stealing bases and getting good marks for his glovework but he’s been bad at the plate for well over a year now.

The ongoing health issues don’t help. That aforementioned 2023 season is the only time he’s played more than 100 games. He may get beyond that figure here in 2025 but has battled various nagging issues, including right knee soreness, right thumb soreness and left hamstring soreness.

He had avoided the IL until recently but the Sox finally put him there just over a week ago, listing his issue as a left hamstring strain. They were able to backdate the IL stint by three days since Robert had already been missing games.

Now Robert has close to no trade value left, unless he can quickly show glimpses of his past self in the next few weeks. Ideally, this little breather has allowed him to get over all his ailments and into good form. Even if that does come to pass, teams will surely remain wary of his health woes and inconsistency, which will tamp down the potential return the Sox can get.

Robert is making $15MM this year, which will leave about $5MM left to be paid out when the deadline rolls around. There’s also a $2MM buyout on his $20MM option for next year. The Sox are reportedly willing to include cash to facilitate a deal but Robert will likely still have to show some life in the next little while for the Sox to get anything notable.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Chicago White Sox Luis Robert Tristan Gray

29 comments

White Sox Designate Oscar Colas For Assignment, Claim Greg Jones From Rockies

By Steve Adams | March 26, 2025 at 12:51pm CDT

The White Sox have designated outfielder Oscar Colas for assignment and claimed infielder/outfielder Greg Jones off waivers from the Rockies, per a team announcement. Chicago optioned Jones and righty Justin Anderson to Triple-A Charlotte. The Sox also reassigned infielders Bobby Dalbec, Tristan Gray and Chase Meidroth to minor league camp alongside righties James Karinchak and Steven Wilson.

Now 26 years old, Colas came to the White Sox with considerable fanfare. The Cuban-born slugger was touted as one of the more intriguing prospects on the 2020-21 and 2021-22 international amateur markets. He bizarrely (and frankly, unfairly) drew comparisons to Shohei Ohtani, of all players, for his plus raw power and because he’d dabbled in pitching during his time in Cuba and a brief foray into Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Outlandish as that comparison was, it did set some unrealistic expectations among fans who were dreaming on Colas as a potential superstar.

Even before the White Sox signed him, Colas had signaled that he no longer intended to pitch and that he’d focus his efforts on his work as a position player. He formally signed with Chicago in Jan. 2022 for a reported $2.7MM bonus. Colas went on to tear through minor league pitching that season, slashing .314/.371/.524 with 23 homers across three levels. Strong as those rate stats were, his production came with some red flags. Colas spent the bulk of the season playing against younger and less experienced competition, and he rarely walked. His strikeout rates also climbed rapidly as he moved from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A.

The Sox gave Colas his big league debut in 2023, and he quickly looked overmatched. In 75 games and 263 plate appearances, he hit just .216/.257/.314 with a tiny 4.6% walk rate and a bloated 27.6% strikeout rate. Of the 328 big league hitters with at least 250 plate appearances in 2023, Colas chased balls off the plate at the 13th-highest rate, per Statcast, despite also turning in a well below-average contact rate on such swings. Only 39 of those 328 hitters had a lower overall contact rate than Colas.

For all of Colas’ big league struggles in 2023, he at least turned in a .272/.345/.465 line in Triple-A Charlotte. That was league-average production by measure of wRC+ — a testament to the hitter-friendly nature of the Triple-A International and Pacific Coast Leagues. Colas showed solid discipline in the minors, walking at a 9.2% clip against a roughly average 22.3% strikeout rate.

The 2024 season brought considerable regression. Colas hit only .246/.332/.400 in Triple-A. His 11% walk rate was an improvement, and his 23.1% strikeout rate effectively matched the prior season, but Colas’ power deteriorated. He also became increasingly prone to hitting grounders and harmless infield flies; nearly one-quarter of his fly balls in Triple-A last year registered as infield flies. That’s more than double the 10.3% MLB average. Despite the Sox fielding a historically bad team, they scarcely gave Colas a look; he logged only 38 plate appearances and hit .273/.368/.273 while fanning 10 times (26.3%). Spring training hasn’t done Colas any favors. He received only 18 official plate appearances and went 4-for-16 with seven strikeouts.

The White Sox will now trade Colas or place him on waivers within the next five days. Outright waivers are a 48-hour process, which could drag his stay in DFA limbo out to a maximum of one week. Though he was a touted prospect not long ago, Colas’ struggles and limited skill set might allow Chicago to keep him. Today’s front offices typically aren’t enamored of power-focused corner bats with questionable on-base skills and sub-par defensive acumen.

In Jones, the Sox will pick up one of the sport’s fastest players. The 27-year-old has only six MLB plate appearances to his credit — he went 1-for-6 with a homer for Colorado last year — but drew 80 grades for his speed as a prospect. Jones went 46-for-49 in stolen bases at the Triple-A level last year despite being limited to just 89 games by injury. He hit .267/.344/.453 with the Rockies’ top affiliate (99 wRC+).

Jones is in the last of his three minor league option years. The former Rays first-rounder has split the bulk of his pro career between shortstop and center field. He’ll give the South Siders some depth at both spots and would presumably be an option in the outfield corners or at second base and third base as well. The Rockies gave him 64 games in center, 16 at shortstop, eight at second base and four in right field last year.

Colorado picked Jones up in a March 2024 trade sending left-handed pitching prospect Joe Rock to the Rays. The Rockies are left without anything to show for that swap now, whereas Rock has blossomed into a nearly MLB-ready rotation prospect for Tampa Bay. Rock profiles as more of a back-end starter or multi-inning reliever than a top-of-the-rotation talent, but the swap has clearly worked out in the Rays’ favor to this point.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Chicago White Sox Colorado Rockies Transactions Bobby Dalbec Chase Meidroth Greg Jones James Karinchak Justin Anderson Oscar Colas Steven Wilson Tristan Gray

42 comments

White Sox Sign Brandon Drury, Tristan Gray To Minor League Deals

By Steve Adams | February 7, 2025 at 2:56pm CDT

The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve signed infielders Brandon Drury and Tristan Gray to minor league contracts. Both will be in major league camp as non-roster invitees to spring training.

Drury, a Wasserman client, is a veteran of ten major league seasons who’s suited up for seven teams along the way. The 32-year-old has had multiple productive stretches, most recently hitting .263/.313/.493 with 58 home runs over 1179 plate appearances in the three-year period from 2021-23. Drury was outstanding in a short look with the 2021 Mets and in a lengthier look with the Reds and Padres in 2022. He parlayed that into a two-year, $17MM deal with the Angels and looked like a shrewd pickup in year one of that deal after he batted .262/.306/.497 with 26 homers (his second straight season topping 25 round-trippers).

The 2024 campaign, however, was a nightmare. Drury hit only .169/.242/.228 in 360 plate appearances. He saw a major spike in pop-ups and grounders, with his 57.1% ground-ball rate spiking by 15 percentage points over his 2023 levels. No one in baseball (min. 300 plate appearances) put a higher percentage of batted balls on the ground than Drury. For a player whose sprint speed ranked in the 18th percentile of big leaguers, per Statcast, that’s an obviously alarming and suboptimal trend.

Defensively, Drury can move all around the diamond. He’s played all four infield positions and both outfield corners, with the bulk of his time coming between second base and third base. On the whole, defensive metrics like Outs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved feel Drury’s body of work at second base, third base and first base have been solid, if unspectacular. He did log below-average grades in 2024, though he was hampered by a hamstring strain and a lengthy bout with an upper respiratory illness that knocked him out of action for nearly two weeks and could’ve had some impact on his play on either end of that infection.

Gray, a BJB Group client, has logged brief MLB appearances with the 2023 Rays and the 2024 Marlins. He’s gone just 5-for-33 with a homer in that tiny sample, though there’s little to be gleaned from what amounts to about a week’s worth of MLB at-bats. The 28-year-old has shown plenty of thump in Triple-A. He popped 33 homers with the Rays’ Durham affiliate in 2022 and slugged another 30 big flies the following year. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Gray is a .238/.306/.472 hitter.

Like Drury, he brings some infield versatility to the table. He’s played all four infield positions. Unlike Drury, however, his most frequent spot has been shortstop, giving him far more defensive utility. He’s played nearly 2500 innings at short, more than 1400 at third base, more than 1300 at second base and just over 900 at first base. There are some strikeout concerns, but Gray is a left-handed hitter who can move to any spot on the infield and has shown 30-homer pop in the minors.

For a Sox club with little to no infield certainty both players are a sensible fit on a non-guaranteed deal. Andrew Vaughn is locked in at first base, but that’s about the only spot that’s set in stone (and even he could switch to DH if need be; he’s not a strong defender). Free agent signee Josh Rojas will likely handle third base, but he’s plenty familiar with playing second if the Sox prefer to give someone else a look at third. Lenyn Sosa, Brooks Baldwin, Jacob Amaya and top prospect Colson Montgomery are the only middle infielders on the 40-man roster. Montgomery will open the season in the minors, leaving the other three as de facto front-runners at shortstop and second base. Drury or Gray could feasibly work their way into that group with nice showings during spring training.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Chicago White Sox Spring Training Transactions Brandon Drury Tristan Gray

31 comments

Tristan Gray Elects Free Agency

By Steve Adams | January 27, 2025 at 4:21pm CDT

4:21pm: Gray has indeed opted free agency. He can now sign with any club.

2:04pm: Pirates infielder Tristan Gray cleared waivers following last week’s DFA, MLBTR has learned. As a player with a prior outright assignment, he’ll have the option of rejecting a second outright in favor of free agency, if he chooses to do so. If he accepts an outright assignment, he’d likely be assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis and be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Gray, 29 in March, landed with the Bucs back on Halloween when they claimed him off waivers from the A’s. Over the past calendar year, Gray has signed as a minor league free agent with the Marlins, been selected to the majors, and claimed off waivers by the A’s and Pirates.

The Pirates were Gray’s original organization, selecting him in the 13th round back in 2017. He was traded to the Rays less than a year later as part of the deal bringing outfielder Corey Dickerson to Pittsburgh. He went on to spend parts of six seasons the Rays organization, briefly making his MLB debut with Tampa Bay in 2023. He only appeared in two games and tallied five plate appearances, but Gray made the most of that tiny look when he popped his first big league homer off righty Jorge Lopez. Gray totaled 31 plate appearances between the Marlins and A’s in 2024 and went 3-for-28 with a double.

While he hasn’t hit much in a tiny big league sample, Gray has shown plenty of pop in the upper minors. He swatted 33 homers with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A club in 2022 and connected on another 30 in 2023. He’s played in parts of four seasons in Triple-A and posted a combined .238/.306/.472 batting line.

Gray has played all four infield positions in his professional career, though shortstop has been the most frequent, with 2477 innings there. The Marlins and A’s played him at the corners exclusively in 2024, however. Overall, Gray has 1439 professional innings at third base, 1312 at second base and 911 at first base. He’s a versatile left-handed bat with some platoon issues and strikeout concerns but plenty of pop and a better-than-average walk rate in each of the past two Triple-A campaigns.

MLBTR originally reported that Gray had already been assigned outright to Triple-A, which is not accurate. We regret the error.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Pittsburgh Pirates Transactions Tristan Gray

12 comments

Pirates Designate Tristan Gray For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | January 20, 2025 at 7:21pm CDT

The Pirates designated infielder Tristan Gray for assignment, the team informed reporters (including Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Pittsburgh had not officially added Andrew McCutchen to their 40-man roster until this evening, so they needed to open a spot. McCutchen re-signed on a $5MM deal last month.

Pittsburgh claimed Gray off waivers from the A’s in the first few days of the offseason. The 28-year-old had spent a couple months on the A’s, as they’d only claimed him from the Marlins at the end of August. Gray has suited up for both those teams and had a brief stint on the Rays in 2023. Despite playing for a trio of clubs, he has just 17 games of MLB experience. He has hit .152 with one homer in 36 plate appearances.

The lefty-hitting Gray has a much more extensive minor league track record. The Rice product has taken nearly 1800 trips to the dish across four Triple-A seasons. Gray has hit .238/.306/.472 with 90 home runs in 443 games at the top minor league level. Strikeouts have kept him from getting an extended MLB look, as he has fanned in nearly 30% of his Triple-A plate appearances.

Gray has some power and a decent amount of defensive versatility. He has upwards of 1000 minor league frames at each of shortstop, second base and third base. Gray has just over 900 professional innings at first base as well. He has mostly played the corner infield in his limited big league time. He’s likely to end up on waivers again this week. Gray has been outrighted once in his career, so he’d have the ability to elect minor league free agency if he goes unclaimed.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Pittsburgh Pirates Transactions Tristan Gray

149 comments

Pirates Claim Tristan Gray

By Darragh McDonald | October 31, 2024 at 5:40pm CDT

Infielder Tristan Gray has been claimed off waivers by the Pirates, per an announcement from the Athletics. The A’s also announced that right-hander Austin Adams and infielder Armando Alvarez have been outrighted off the 40-man roster. There was no previous reporting about the three being removed from the roster but it’s a time of year where clubs regularly try to clear roster spots. The A’s tried with these three but the Pirates swooped in to grab Gray.

Gray, 28, was only on the Athletics’ roster for a couple of months, as they claimed him from the Marlins at the end of August. Between those two clubs and the Rays, he has a tiny amount of major league experience, having stepped to the plate 36 times in 17 games. He has a dismal line of .152/.222/.273 though it’s obviously a tiny sample size.

The Bucs are undoubtedly more interested in Gray’s prospect pedigree and minor league numbers. It was actually Pittsburgh that drafted him, selecting him with a 13th-round pick in 2017. His initial stint with the Bucs was short-lived, as he was traded to the Rays in the February 2018 trade that brought Corey Dickerson to Pittsburgh.

He was with the Rays through 2023 but reached free agency after that season and secured a minor league deal with the Marlins. To this point, between his various organizations, he has hit .238/.311/.454 in his minor league career for a 104 wRC+. He is capable of playing all four infield positions.

Gray’s previous tenure in the Pirates’ system predated Ben Cherington being hired as the general manager, but the appeal of grabbing him now is understandable. Gray’s minor league offense has been passable and he can provide the club with depth all around the infield. He is still optionable and doesn’t need to be guaranteed a spot on the active roster.

The Pirates have uncertainty at essentially every infield position. Shortstop Oneil Cruz was recently moved to center field. Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes has ongoing back problems. First baseman Rowdy Tellez was released late in the 2024 season. Second base was a revolving door this year.

For Adams, this move is effectively an early non-tender. He could have been retained for 2025 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a salary of $1.7MM. This move suggests the A’s weren’t keen at bringing him back at that price.

Adams has regularly posted strong strikeout numbers but often with poor control. He throws his frisbee slider the majority of the time, often missing bats but also missing the strike zone and hitting batters.

He tossed 41 1/3 innings for the A’s this year, allowing 3.92 earned runs per nine. He struck out 27.7% of batters faced but also gave out 23 walks for a 12% clip and hit 13 batters.

Players with at least three years of service time or a previous career outright have the right to elect free agency rather than accept another outright assignment. Adams qualifies on both counts and will likely be officially a free agent soon.

Alvarez, 30, just made his major league debut this year. He was selected by the A’s in June and hit .243/.282/.270 in 39 plate appearances.

His minor league numbers have been better in recent years, as he hit .301/.369/.551 over the 2022-24 seasons for a 127 wRC+. But as a 30-year-old journeyman who just made his MLB debut, the A’s likely didn’t view him as a key building block and bumped him off the roster.

Alvarez doesn’t have three years of service or a previous career outright, but he does have seven years in the minors, so he’ll soon be able to elect minor league free agency.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Oakland Athletics Pittsburgh Pirates Transactions Armando Alvarez Austin Adams Tristan Gray

21 comments

Athletics Claim Tristan Gray

By Darragh McDonald | August 27, 2024 at 3:20pm CDT

The Athletics announced that they have claimed infielder Tristan Gray off waivers from the Marlins and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. Miami had designated him for assignment in recent days. The A’s had an open 40-man spot after designating infielder Abraham Toro for assignment earlier today.

Gray, 28, got a bit of prospect attention earlier due to some interesting offensive numbers in the lower levels of the minors. However, he has struggled to bring that up to higher levels. From 2017 to 2019, he got into 293 minor league games from Low-A to Double-A. He hit a combined .239/.319/.428 in those for a 116 wRC+.

The pandemic wiped out the minors in 2020 and Gray has been playing Triple-A ball since then, getting into 431 contests. He’s hit 88 home runs in that time but also been struck out at a 30.2% clip while walking 8% of the time. All that leads to a .236/.305/.470 batting line and 95 wRC+. He also has 12 major league plate appearances between the Rays last year and the Marlins this year, hitting .167/.167/.417 in those.

Gray has played all four infield positions throughout his career and has continued to do so here in 2024. He can provide the A’s with depth all over the diamond, perhaps for a long time. He has a full slate of options for now. He is burning one here in 2024 but will still have two left beyond this season. He also has just a few days of service time, meaning he’s nowhere close to qualifying for arbitration or free agency.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Miami Marlins Oakland Athletics Transactions Tristan Gray

3 comments

Marlins Designate Forrest Wall, Tristan Gray For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | August 26, 2024 at 4:55pm CDT

The Marlins announced today that outfielder Griffin Conine has been selected to the roster, a move that was reported yesterday. The club also added right-hander Mike Baumann, recently claimed off waivers, to the active roster. To open spots for those two, they club optioned right-hander Brett de Geus and placed infielder Xavier Edwards on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 24, with mild back extensor soreness. Outfielder Forrest Wall has been designated for assignment to open up a 40-man spot. The club didn’t announce a corresponding 40-man move when Baumann was claimed but it appears to be Tristan Gray, as his transactions tracker at MLB.com lists him as designated for assignment.

Wall, 28, was claimed off waivers from Atlanta a month ago. He’s mostly been kept on optional assignment in that time, only taking three plate appearances with the Marlins. Combined with his brief time with Atlanta, he has a strong line of .311/.380/.422 but in a small sample of 50 trips to the plate at the major league level.

He’s had a much larger sample of playing time in the minors, but with less impressive numbers. From 2021 to the present, he’s appeared in 352 minor league contests with a .269/.355/.383 line and a 94 wRC+.

But beyond the bat, he can provide value with his legs. In that aforementioned 352-game stretch of minor league games, he has swiped 155 bags while being caught 29 times. His brief major league career has also involved nine steals in 13 tries.

That’s clearly an enticing quality but the tepid offense hasn’t been enough for him to earn much playing time and he’s now been squeezed off a roster again. With the trade deadline now in the rear-view mirror, the Marlins will have to place him on waivers in the coming days. If any club is looking for some wheels for their bench or in a depth role, Wall still has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time. He doesn’t have a previous career outright nor three years of service time, so he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency if he passes through waivers unclaimed.

Gray, 28, was signed by the Marlins to a minor league deal in the offseason and was selected to the roster in May. He has only received seven plate appearances in the majors this year, spending most of his time on optional assignment in Triple-A. He’s hit 17 home runs in 100 games at that level but the offensive environment is strong in the International League this year and his .245/.318/.459 line only translates to a wRC+ of 97.

That increases the sample size of Gray being a bit below average at Triple-A. From 2021 to the present, he has 431 games at that level with a .236/.305/.470 batting line and 95 wRC+. He does bring defensive versatility to the table, having played all four infield positions, but the lack of offense has limited him to 12 major league plate appearances to this point in his career.

Like Wall, Gray will be on waivers in the coming days. He also has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time, so he could provide a claiming club with many years of club control. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he could elect free agency by virtue of having a previous career outright.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Miami Marlins Transactions Brett de Geus Forrest Wall Griffin Conine Mike Baumann Tristan Gray Xavier Edwards

5 comments

Marlins Select Tristan Gray

By Nick Deeds | May 12, 2024 at 11:33am CDT

The Marlins announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Tristan Gray. In corresponding moves, the club optioned right-hander George Soriano to Triple-A and transferred righty JT Chargois to the 60-day injured list.

Gray, 28, was a 13th-round pick by the Pirates in the 2017 draft but was traded to the Rays alongside Daniel Hudson in the deal that brought Corey Dickerson to Pittsburgh back in 2018. Gray worked his way through the minor league system with the Rays to reach the Triple-A level in 2021, but ultimately stalled out at the level thanks in part to Tampa’s deep cache of infield talent across the past two seasons.

After slashing a solid .235/.312/.485 in 132 games at the level last year, Gray finally got his first big league opportunity in the form of a two-game cup of coffee with the Rays in September. The 27-year-old made the most of his time in the big leagues, going two-for-five with a home run and zero strikeouts, but was outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster back in November nonetheless.

That lead Gray to sign a minor league deal with the Marlins this offseason, and after the longtime minor leaguer clubbed ten home runs in 34 games with Triple-A Jacksonville to open the year it appears Miami plans to give him a shot at the big league level. Gray has plenty of experience at all four infield spots and should get the opportunity to contribute to the Marlins, who have received below average production all around the infield except at second base, where the club recently traded away Luis Arraez and is now left to rely on Vidal Brujan and Otto Lopez.

Whether Gray will be able to seize upon this opportunity is an open question. His power potential is self-evident, as he’s walloped 73 homers at the Triple-A level since the start of the 2022 campaign with isolated slugging percentages of .250 or more in each of the past three seasons. That proclivity towards the long ball comes with a worrisome amount of swing-and-miss, however. Gray’s striking out in a whopping 36.4% of his trips to the plate in the minors this year, and his 29.5% strikeout rate back in 2021 was the only time he’s struck out less than 30% of the time in a season at the Triple-A level.

Making room for Gray on the roster is Soriano, a 25-year-old righty who pitched to solid results in multi-inning relief for the Marlins last year. In 52 innings of work across 26 appearances, Soriano posted a 3.81 ERA and 4.37 FIP while striking out 22.8% of batters faced. The wheels have come off for the right-hander this season, however, as he’s been lit up to the tune of a 9.26 ERA with a 6.76 FIP in 11 2/3 innings of work this year. Walks have been a major problem for Soriano this year, as he’s offered free passes to a whopping 13% of batters faced across his ten appearances. The righty figures to try and get his command back under control at the Triple-A level going forward and could return to the Marlins later this season should he get things back on track.

As for Chargois, the right-hander has been out since February with neck spasms and last appeared in a rehab game on April 26. The 33-year-old righty has a respectable 3.55 ERA and 3.85 FIP in 195 innings of work when healthy enough to take the mound and would surely improve the club’s pitching staff once healthy enough to return, though it’s unclear what his timetable for returning to action might be.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Miami Marlins Transactions George Soriano J.T. Chargois Tristan Gray

2 comments

Marlins Sign Tristan Gray To Minors Contract

By Mark Polishuk | November 17, 2023 at 9:05am CDT

The Marlins signed infielder Tristan Gray to a minor league deal, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald (X link) reports.  The Rays placed Gray on outright waivers earlier this month, and he became a free agent after clearing the waiver wire.

Gray had been a member of Tampa’s organization since February 2018, when the Rays dealt the infielder and Daniel Hudson to the Pirates for Corey Dickerson.  Something of a flier prospect at the time, Gray worked his way up the minor league ladder to Triple-A Durham, where he played for almost all of the 2021-23 seasons.  The exception to that extended Triple-A stint came this past September, when Gray made his MLB debut by appearing in two games for the Rays and homered and singled over five plate appearances.

Like many Rays products, Gray can play at multiple positions, with a lot of experience at every spot on the infield except catcher.  Most of Gray’s playing time has come at shortstop and third base, making him an interesting candidate for a bench job in Miami.  Jake Burger and Jon Berti are both right-handed hitters, so the left-handed hitting Gray could be a complement at either position or perhaps even a platoon partner with Berti depending on how the Marlins address the shortstop role.

Of course, new Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix is very familiar with Gray’s work due to Bendix’s past role as Tampa’s general manager, so it isn’t surprising that Miami has snapped up a potentially useful player who was a little expendable to the Rays.  Gray is considered to be a decent but unspectacular fielder at his various positions, while the Rays are deep in infield talent.  As well, Gray has shown quite a bit of power in the minors, but is something of a one-dimensional bat.

Gray has hit 71 homers over his 1300 career PA at the Triple-A level, hitting the 30-homer threshold in each of the last two seasons.  However, Gray’s career slash line in Durham was a modest .233/.301/.474, as he posted 406 strikeouts and didn’t often walk.  Gray turns 28 in March so he isn’t exactly still an up-and-comer, yet his power potential indicates that he could still possibly be a late bloomer and a more productive overall hitter if he can just make more consistent contact.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Miami Marlins Transactions Tristan Gray

7 comments
Load More Posts
Show all
    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    Kolby Allard Elects Free Agency

    Rangers Re-Sign Billy McKinney To Minor League Deal

    White Sox Outright Vinny Capra

    White Sox Sign Kyle Tyler To Minor League Deal

    Nationals Sign Luis Garcia

    Poll: The Yankees’ Biggest Need At The Deadline

    Yankees Place Mark Leiter Jr. On IL With Fibular Head Stress Fracture

    Rhys Hoskins Expects To Be Out Roughly Six Weeks

    Yankees Moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. Back To Second Base

    White Sox Reinstate Luis Robert Jr.

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version