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Rays Acquire Luke Raley From Dodgers

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The Rays and Dodgers agreed to a deal this afternoon, announcing that corner outfielder Luke Raley has been traded to Tampa Bay. Los Angeles is acquiring pitching prospect Tanner Dodson in return. In order to clear space on the 40-man roster, the Rays placed Yonny Chirinos on the 60-day injured list.

Raley made his major league debut this past season. He didn’t perform well over his first 72 plate appearances, striking out 25 times while drawing just a pair of walks. The 27-year-old has a much better minor league track record, as he’s hit .289/.367/.489 in five minor league campaigns since being drafted in the seventh round in 2016. That includes a .297/.384/.553 showing over 456 plate appearances in Triple-A.

A lack of defensive value has limited Raley’s prospect appeal, but he’s ranked near the back half of the Dodgers’ top 30 farmhands for the past few seasons in the estimation of Baseball America. The outlet credits Raley with big raw power, albeit with some trepidation about an aggressive approach at the plate. Tampa Bay isn’t the only other organization who has tried (and succeeded) in prying Raley away from the Dodgers. The Twins acquired him from Los Angeles at the 2018 trade deadline in exchange for Brian Dozier. Minnesota sent him back to L.A. a year and a half later in the three-team Mookie Betts/Kenta Maeda trade.

Raley is affordable and can step right into the big league mix for Tampa Bay. He still has a minor league option year remaining, so the Rays needn’t carry him on the active roster. Yet he’ll bolster the organizational depth and could see a more immediate path to playing time if Tampa Bay pulls the trigger on an Austin Meadows trade. Recent reports have indicated the Rays are considering shipping Meadows elsewhere.

The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for the Dodgers, who have signed each of Jimmy Nelson, Danny Duffy and Freddie Freeman in recent days. They’ve devoted just one immediate roster spot to that trio — Los Angeles purposefully waited to finalize Freeman’s deals until after signing Duffy and Nelson so they could put both pitchers on the 60-day injured list — but they’ve also agreed to terms with Tyler Anderson. They’ll need to clear another roster spot to accommodate Anderson’s arrival.

In addition, Los Angeles picks up Dodson, whom the Rays selected 71st overall in the 2018 draft. A two-way player at Cal, he continued to work in both capacities early in his professional career. Scouts have long questioned how much offensive upside he’d have due to a lack of raw power, though, and he’s worked primarily off the mound in recent years. He tallied just 30 plate appearances in High-A last season but worked 56 1/3 innings as a reliever.

Between High-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery, Dodson combined for a 3.20 ERA. He struck out a solid 26.3% of opponents against a 9.5% walk rate. The Rays declined to add him to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft (which never ended up taking place) this offseason. He didn’t appear among Baseball America’s top 30 organizational prospects this winter, but Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote in January 2021 that his low-mid 90s fastball and slider could make him a viable big league reliever.

Chirinos, meanwhile, hasn’t pitched since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2020. The righty fractured his elbow last year, a setback that was always expected to prevent him being ready for Opening Day. Precisely when he might return isn’t clear, but he’ll miss at least the first two months of this season.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the terms of the trade.

Injury Notes: Sawamura, Tigers, Chirinos

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In pregame scrum before tonight’s ALCS game six, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters that reliever Hirokazu Sawamura is dealing with a hamstring injury was potentially going to be removed from the roster. (Twitter links from Chris Cotillo of MassLive and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.) However, Ian Browne of MLB.com later relayed word from Cora that Sawamura will be sticking around.

The Red Sox have their backs against the wall, as they are down 3-2 in the ALCS and will have to win in Houston tonight and tomorrow in order to survive. The health and effectiveness of every pitcher on the staff will be integral to their success in that regard. News of this hamstring issue is certainly concerning, though the fact that Sawamura has held his roster spot implies that the club still feels he’s a better option than bringing in a fresh arm, such as Matt Barnes. Sawamura has been a solid contributor out of the pen this year, as he had an ERA of 3.06 over 53 innings in the regular season, with a strikeout rate of 26.2% and 13.7% walk rate. He wasn’t on the team roster for the ALDS but has appeared three times in the ALCS so far, logging two innings in total.

Other injury notes…

  • Chris McCosky of The Detroit News relays some updates on a few Tigers prospects from the Arizona Fall League. Infielders Spencer Torkelson and Ryan Kreidler will both miss the remainder of the league due to an ankle injury and calf injury, respectively. Meanwhile, outfielder Riley Greene has completed his concussion protocol. It had already been announced last week that Greene would miss the AFL because of a concussion sustained at the end of the Triple-A season. For a Tigers club that has been rebuilding in recent seasons, their prospects are incredibly important to turning the corner into being competitive, and that includes these three. MLB Pipeline has Torkelson, Greene and Kreidler as the club’s first-, second- and tenth-best prospects. Baseball America has the same 1-2 punch at the top but has Kreidler at 12th. FanGraphs also starts out with Torkelson and Greene at the top but has Kreidler at 25th. All three players reached Triple-A this season for at least 40 games, meaning they are right on the doorstep and knocking on the door of the majors.
  • Rays’ righty Yonny Chirinos won’t be ready for next year’s opening day, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Chirinos has been out of action for more than year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August of 2020, but has suffered a setback that will keep him out even longer. Topkin’s report says that the hurler fractured his elbow last month and that the best case scenario for his recovery would be for him to be on a rehab assignment in April or May. Before this extended absence, Chirinos was looking like he could be a foundational piece for the Rays. From 2018 to 2020, he threw 234 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.65. Even without Chirinos, the rotation should be in decent shape, with the presence of arms such as Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Yarbrough, Luis Patino, Shane Baz, Josh Fleming, Brendan McKay and Dietrich Enns. The Rays have never had an opening day payroll higher than $77MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, and Jason Martinez of Roster Resource estimates their payroll for next year to already be above $70MM. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for reinforcements, though they will surely non-tender a few of their arbitration-eligible players and bring that down a tad. The Rays are also always a candidate to figure out a way to move some money around, such as the contract of Kevin Kiermaier, whose name has been floated in trade talks for years and is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, valued just over $12MM.

AL East Notes: Benintendi, Kluber, Rays

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Despite all of the trade speculation swirling around Andrew Benintendi, the Red Sox haven’t “reached a point of no return in trade talks,” The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes, and “there’s a solid chance, though not a guarantee” that Benintendi won’t be moved.  One of the obstacles preventing a deal is the number of quality left field options remaining in free agency, so a team in need at the position might prefer to just sign a longer-term answer, rather than swing a trade with the Sox for a player who is only under team control for two more seasons.  Speier notes that the Red Sox themselves could be such a team looking for a longer-term outfielder, and could explore the free agent market themselves if Benintendi is indeed dealt.

More from around the AL East…

  • Since over half the league sent scouts to watch Corey Kluber’s showcase event, it isn’t surprising that there was some significant money on offer for the veteran righty, who ended up signing with the Yankees on a one-year, $11MM deal.  Several teams made eight-figure offers, according to SNY.tv’s Andy Martino, and the Yankees’ offer wasn’t the most expensive contract on the table.
  • Kluber drew plenty of interest from elsewhere in the AL East, as Martino writes that the Blue Jays were one of the clubs “bidding aggressively.”  Speier sheds a bit more light on Kluber’s situation, noting that he “seemed most interested in a clean one-year deal” rather than a one-year contract with a 2022 option attached — a structure that would have perhaps been more appealing to the Red Sox, another team with legitimate interest in Kluber’s services.
  • The Rays also “made a very strong run” at Kluber, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  With Kluber now off the board, Chris Archer is still under consideration as the Rays continue to look for veteran rotation help.
  • Also from Topkin, he provides health updates on Yonny Chirinos (Tommy John surgery) and Brendan McKay (shoulder surgery).  Chirinos has started to play catch, despite only undergoing his TJ procedure back in August.  While the early progress is a good sign, it would still be a surprise if Chirinos was able to pitch at all in 2021 given the usual timeline for Tommy John recovery.  McKay’s timeline isn’t as clear, as it was estimated last August that his labrum issue would keep him sidelined through at least the start of the spring.  However, Topkin reports that McKay is expected to “soon” start playing catch, which could give both the star prospect and the Rays a better idea of when McKay will be ready for the 2021 season.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/15/21

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The deadline to exchange arbitration figures is today at 1pm ET. As of this morning, there were 125 arbitration-eligible players who’d yet to agree to terms on their contract for the upcoming 2021 season. Arbitration is muddier than ever before thanks to the shortened 2020 schedule, which most believe will lead to record number of arb hearings this winter. Be that as it may, it’s still reasonable to expect dozens of contractual agreements to filter in over the next couple of hours.

We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.

I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.

Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)

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40-Man Roster Additions: 11/1/20

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With the offseason kicking off, most teams are bringing some inactive players back onto their rosters. Here’s the latest:

  • The Rockies announced they’ve activated outfielder Ian Desmond from the restricted list. Outfielder David Dahl and right-handers Peter Lambert and Scott Oberg are back from the 60-day injured list, putting Colorado’s 40-man roster tally at 38. Desmond opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns and is entering his final year under contract. Dahl underwent shoulder surgery in September, capping a miserable season. Lambert, meanwhile, underwent Tommy John surgery in July. Oberg unfortunately also had to go under the knife, undergoing thoracic outlet surgery to alleviate blood clots in September.
  • The Indians reinstated right-hander Jefry Rodríguez from the 45-day injured list (via Tribeinsider). While working at Cleveland’s alternate training site, the 27-year-old went down with a strain in his throwing shoulder in early September. Rodríguez worked 98.2 innings of 5.20 ERA ball with the Nationals and Indians between 2018-19 but didn’t pitch in the majors in 2020. Cleveland’s 40-man roster now sports 35 players.
  • The Rays activated pitchers Jalen Beeks, Yonny Chirinos, Colin Poche and Cody Reed from the 45-day injured list (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Each of Beeks, Chirinos and Poche has undergone Tommy John surgery over the past few months, meaning none will be ready (or even particularly close) at the start of next season. Reed suffered an injury to his left pinky finger shortly after being acquired from the Reds. He’s expected to be a full-go for spring training, Topkin notes.
  • The Mariners have brought outfielder Mitch Haniger, catcher Tom Murphy and right-hander Andres Muñoz off the 45-day injured list, per Greg Johns of MLB.com. Haniger has dealt with a series of brutal injuries since emerging as one of the sport’s quieter stars, but he’s finally expected to be healthy next spring. Like Haniger, Murphy missed the entire 2020 season; the backstop broke a bone in his foot on the heels of a breakout 2019. Muñoz underwent Tommy John surgery while part of the Padres’ system in March. Still, the Mariners acquired the fireballing 21-year-old before the trade deadline as part of the return for Austin Nola, Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla. Seattle now has 35 players on the 40-man roster.

Yonny Chirinos Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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AUG. 25: Chirinos underwent successful surgery Tuesday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com tweets.

AUG. 21, 2:22pm: Rays skipper Kevin Cash confirmed to reporters that Chirinos will require Tommy John surgery and likely miss all of the 2021 season as well (Twitter links via Topkin).

1:10pm: Rays right-hander Yonny Chirinos landed on the IL this week due to an elbow strain, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times now reports (via Twitter) that the right-hander’s injury is not only a season-ender but will likely require Tommy John surgery. It’s a tough blow to the same first-place Rays pitching staff that just lost Brendan McKay to shoulder surgery and has been without Charlie Morton for two weeks due to shoulder inflammation. Longtime top prospect Brent Honeywell recently underwent another surgery as well.

Chirinos has quietly emerged as an important contributor for the Rays in recent seasons, pitching to a combined 3.65 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 1.23 HR/9 and a 42.8 percent ground-ball rate. That showing was expected to cement him as a member of the Rays’ starting rotation in 2020, but he’s been limited to 11 1/3 innings by a pair of IL placements due to elbow troubles.

Given the timing of the injury, it’s quite possible that Chirinos will miss the entirety of the 2021 season as well. Tommy John surgery typically requires a minimum of 12 months to recover — quite often closer to 14 months. Perhaps with a speedy recovery, he’ll emerge as a bullpen option for the Rays late next year, but getting any contribution from him at all in ’21 would be a bonus and should not be considered a given.

Fortunately for the Rays, they have their typical brand of enviable starting pitching depth from which they can draw. Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Ryan Yarbrough and Trevor Richards are currently making starts with Chirinos, Morton and McKay on the shelf, the the team has several other potential options to which they can turn. Former top prospect Anthony Banda is back from his own Tommy John procedure and working in long relief at the moment. Either he or fellow southpaw Jalen Beeks could conceivably be stretched out to help patch things over. At the alternate training site, well-regarded prospects Shane Baz and Shane McClanahan loom as options as well.

Of course, with the Rays in first place and the Aug. 31 trade deadline looming, the possibility off augmenting the staff with someone not currently in the organization can’t be ruled out. The Rays are considered to have the best minor league system in baseball, so they should have no trouble putting together an alluring package for any of the names that figure to be available. Speculatively speaking, that list could include the likes of Lance Lynn, Dylan Bundy, Taijuan Walker and Kevin Gausman, among numerous others.

Rays Place Yonny Chirinos On Injured List

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The Rays have placed right-hander Yonny Chirinos on the injured list with strain in his pitching elbow, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com. The team recalled righty Aaron Slegers from its taxi squad to take Chirinos’ place.

It’s always troubling when a pitcher goes down with an arm injury, especially considering Chirinos just came from an IL stint by a triceps issue. Chirinos spent the minimum amount of time on the shelf then, but it’s unclear how long he’ll need to return from this injury.

Chirinos was a productive swingman for the Rays from 2018-19, a 44-appearance, 25-start span in which he combined for a 3.71 ERA/4.07 FIP with 7.63 K/9 and 2.14 BB/9 in 223 innings. He has only been able to throw 11 frames in three starts this year, but the bottom-line production (2.38 ERA, 7.94 K/9 and 3.18 BB/9) has been palatable again.

Including Chirinos, the Rays – known for thinking outside the box – have already used eight different pitchers to start games this season. The 15-9 club could get one of its “traditional” starters, the injured Charlie Morton, back this weekend.

Rays Place Yonny Chirinos On Injured List

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The Rays have placed starter Yonny Chirinos on the injured list, retroactive to Aug. 3, with right triceps inflammation, Juan Toribio of MLB.com tweets. The team recalled fellow righty Trevor Richards from its alternate training site to take Chirinos’ place.

Fortunately, expectations are that Chirinos will not be on the IL for long, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. While Charlie Morton, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow overshadow him in the Rays’ rotation, Chirinos has been an effective swingman for the club since he debuted in 2018. The 26-year-old has logged a 3.61 ERA/4.09 FIP with 7.61 K/9 and 2.21 BB/9 during his 231 2/3-inning career. He totaled 8 2/3 frames of one-earned run ball in two starts this season before landing on the IL.

Chirinos had been scheduled to start Saturday versus the Yankees, but it’s now unclear who will take the ball for the Rays then. Richards may be a candidate, though, as he combined for 48 starts as a Marlin and Ray from 2018-19. Although Richards was a passable starter in those seasons, he began this year in rough fashion. After Richards allowed six earned runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings in two appearances, the Rays optioned him earlier this week.

Health Notes: Mallex, Chirinos, Lourdes, Lowrie, Smith

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Some health updates from around the league with the regular season just four days away:

  • Mariners center fielder Mallex Smith made his Summer Camp debut Saturday, notes Greg Johns of MLB.com. The speedster had not been previously been available for undisclosed reasons. Nevertheless, manager Scott Servais says he’s “pretty confident” Smith will be ready to go for the season opener, per Johns. This could be something of a make-or-break year for Smith, who fell flat in his first season in Seattle. He figures to take the bulk of the center field playing time, presumably flanked most days by Kyle Lewis and Jake Fraley.
  • Rays right-hander Yonny Chirinos made his first Summer Camp appearance today, per various reporters (including Juan Toribio of MLB.com). Chirinos confirmed he’d tested positive for COVID-19 last month, experiencing mild symptoms, adds Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Fortunately, he’s now feeling better, and apparently cleared all MLB protocols for a return. The 24-year-old expressed an expectation he’ll be ready for Opening Day (via Toribio). Given the lack of ramp-up time, Chirinos’ innings will certainly be closely monitored in the early going. Nevertheless, it’s encouraging the 26-year-old is healthy again and in the process of getting back up to speed.
  • Blue Jays left fielder Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. was held out of activities yesterday with left side discomfort, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet was among those to relay. It doesn’t seem there’s huge cause for concern at the moment, but even a brief absence would threaten his availability for Opening Day. Gurriel repeating his strong 2019 effort (.277/.327/.541 with 20 home runs in 343 plate appearances) would go a long way if the Jays are to make a surprising push for the postseason in the shortened campaign.
  • Mets infielder Jed Lowrie continues to be plagued by left leg issues, notes Tim Healey of Newsday. He won’t participate in today’s Summer Camp matchup with the Yankees. As Mike Puma of the New York Post points out, that doesn’t bode particularly well for Lowrie’s chances of being ready for Opening Day. It’s the latest setback for the well-respected veteran in a Mets’ tenure unfortunately marred by them. Injuries held Lowrie to just eight plate appearances in the first season of a two-year, $20MM deal.
  • Orioles outfielder Dwight Smith, Jr. was cleared to participate in camp Friday. The 27-year-old acknowledged that a positive COVID-19 test was the reason he’d been delayed, per Rich Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball. Fortunately, he’s obviously now managed to clear the protocols for a return and hopes to be ready for Opening Day. Smith hit just .241/.297/.412 (83 wRC+) with 13 home runs in 392 plate appearances last season.

Rays Activate Yonny Chirinos

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The Rays have activated right-hander Yonny Chirinos from the 10-day injured list, according to Juan Toribio of MLB.com. He’s been on the shelf since early August, when inflammation to his middle finger forced him to the injured list.

Chirinos has enjoyed a nice sophomore season, blossoming into a full-time starter for the Rays. He was able to provide nice insurance against the injury to Tyler Glasnow and has been a reliable part of the Rays pitching staff.

In his age-25 season, Chirinos has given the Rays 126 2/3 quality innings, tallying a 3.62 ERA and a 4.16 FIP, striking out 7.8 batters per nine innings while averaging 2.0 walks. He’s settled nicely into a role as a regular starter, a change of pace after serving as a “follower” in his rookie year and for the first few outings of 2019.

However, there hasn’t yet been any indication whether Chirinos will return as a starter or reliever. He offers some flexibility, so it could go either way, but don’t expect him to offer the same length that he provided prior to the injury. As fellow starters Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell likewise work their way back from injuries, they have been strictly limited in their workloads, meaning that Chirinos could serve as a solid multi-inning option behind that pairing.

While Chirinos hasn’t posted the most promising peripheral numbers, his results have been nonetheless impressive, and the Rays will certainly welcome all the help they can get as they aim for a Wild Card berth.

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