Rays Rumors

Quick Hits: Braves, Keuchel, Rangers, Calhoun, Yanks, Giants, Rays

By Connor Byrne | June 6, 2019 at 1:54am CDT

Reports have pegged the Braves as one of the favorites to sign free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel, but David O’Brien of The Athletic throws cold water on that possibility. The Braves have inquired about Keuchel and do have interest in him, per O’Brien, though he writes their interest has been “overstated.” Atlanta has not engaged in deep negotiations with Keuchel, O’Brien adds. The latest from O’Brien jibes with a Tuesday report from Joel Sherman of the New York Post, who wrote that the Braves are “uncomfortable” with the idea of paying Keuchel the prorated value of the $17.9MM qualifying offer (approximately $11.5MM).

Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun landed on the 10-day IL on May 22 with a left quadriceps strain. It turns out the injury will likely keep him out of their lineup until at least late June, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggests. The 24-year-old Calhoun, a former top 100 prospect, was amid an encouraging season before he went to the IL. Not only did Calhoun hit .304/.416/.557 with eight home runs and more walks (22) than strikeouts (19) in 138 Triple-A plate appearances, but he got off to a .435/.458/.739 start with a pair of HRs in 24 major league PA.
The Yankees and Giants were among the many teams that showed interest in outfielder Harold Ramirez during his brief stay on the open market last offseason, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Blue Jays outrighted Ramirez on Nov. 20, and he ended up signing a minor league deal with the Marlins exactly a week later. The 24-year-old has since given the offensively challenged Marlins some much-needed production, having slashed .346/.386/.449 (128 wRC+) in 83 plate appearances.
Rays outfielder Tommy Pham has been out since May 30 with a strained right calf, but it appears he’ll avoid an IL stint. The club expects to plug Pham back into its lineup Thursday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays. Pham’s enjoying his third straight prodigious campaign at the plate, with a .300/.414/.483 (145 wRC+) line, eight home runs and 38 walks against 43 strikeouts in 244 attempts.

Can Avisail Garcia Continue To Out-Mash The Competition?

By Jeff Todd | June 5, 2019 at 11:33pm CDT

Avisail Garcia is destroying much of what he’s being thrown by Major League pitchers. After striding to the plate 208 times, he has an even .300 batting average, 11 dingers, and a healthy 138 wRC+. That’s awfully good value for the Rays, who paid him all of $3.5MM for one season of work.

There’s a reason they got Garcia for that amount: his substandard, injury-filled 2018 season, at the end of which he was non-tendered by the White Sox. It really didn’t come as a surprise when the South Siders cut bait and the Tampa Bay org picked up Garcia for less than half his projected arbitration salary.

The past is the past, so far as the Rays are concerned. What matters right now is that Garcia is seeing red and putting his contract in the black. But what happens when he returns to the open market this coming winter? We’ve still got a lot of plate appearances to watch, but what if he keeps up something like his current pace?

It isn’t as if he hasn’t done it before. Back in 2017, Garcia carried a .330/.380/.506 slash over 561 plate appearances — good for a 137 wRC+ that’s a near match for his current output. Then again, he leaned on a whopping .392 batting average on balls in play to reach that number, which plummeted back to .271 in the ensuing season while he tried to play through a hamstring injury. And he had posted underwhelming numbers previously. Garcia doesn’t stand out at all in terms of plate discipline, with roughly average strikeout numbers (despite huge swinging-strike rates) and slightly below-average walk rates for his career.

When he’s hot, he’s hot … not/not. Is that all there is to it? Should teams be wary of putting too much stock in his current upswing? Perhaps. The K/BB numbers are in line with his personal mean. There were some lean years in the past. Then again, it’s not as if there aren’t any changes worthy of attention in Garcia’s profile.

Statcast has picked up on quite a few interesting observations. Garcia is putting the barrel on the ball more than about nine in ten of his peers. He carries a healthy and career-best 46.5% hard-hit rate. His average exit velo is up to 91.4 mph after sitting just over 90 for the prior three seasons. Put it together, and Statcast actually thinks Garcia has been unlucky, crediting him with a .392 xwOBA that exceeds his .379 wOBA.

Garcia is doing things a bit differently than in the past. He’s putting the ball in the air more often than ever, with a launch angle that sits at 11.1 degrees after a third-straight year-over-year gain. His 1.24 GB/FB rate is by far the lowest of his career. (The leaguewide reduction in sinkers is likely playing a role, as Garcia is suddenly seeing half as many as he had before.) The flies are flying quite nicely, too. Just 2.0% are harmlessly dropping into infielders’ gloves, while 20+% are going over the outfield wall (about the same rate as they did for him last year).

There’s no question: Garcia is an increasingly interesting upcoming free agent asset. Garcia is enjoying a lofty .346 BABIP, but that’s not an outlandish number — particularly for a player who owns a .331 career mark. He’s even trending up defensively (+3 DRS, +3.4 UZR) and on the bases (six steals). With 1.6 fWAR in the bank, he’s on pace for a ~5 WAR campaign.

And we saved one of the best parts for last: Garcia hasn’t even turned 28 years of age. Okay, he’s just a week away from his birthday. Still, teams pondering a purchase this coming winter will get to plug a 28-year-old slugger onto their 2020 Opening Day roster.

What’s most interesting about Garcia’s free agent case is the presence of three other remarkably similar players: Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals, Yasiel Puig of the Reds, and Nicholas Castellanos of the Tigers. Their numbers obviously vary a bit, but over the past three seasons they have landed within a fairly narrow band.

All four are right-handed hitters with roughly league-average plate discipline (Ozuna and Puig are the best of the trio in K/BB) and good but not exceptional power (Garcia sits just under .200 ISO, the other three just over). Most carry high batting averages (excepting Puig, though he has done so in the past) and well-regarded corner outfield glovework (Castellanos is the exception, though he has graded as a palatable performer this year). They’re also all rather youthful free agents; Castellanos is the youngest, having just turned 27 in March, with Ozuna and Puig already past their 28th birthdays. All have had their ups and downs.

There’s more to consider than the past three seasons — Ozuna, in particular, has a much better and more consistent overall track record — but Garcia lines up rather well on a rate basis in that span. And he has handily outperformed the other three in the present season, with only Ozuna (121 wRC+) turning in above-average offensive output to this point.

In the latest iteration of MLBTR’s 2019-20 free agent power rankings, Ozuna placed third and Puig landed the tenth spot, while Castellanos drew an honorable mention. It’s plenty understandable that my wise and able boss, Tim Dierkes, mentioned those three while excluding Garcia. At that point, Garcia carried a decent but uninspiring stat line. But as the sample has grown, so has Garcia’s case to be considered among this group. Indeed, given Puig’s struggles at the plate this seasons and a tepid early showing from Castellanos — with league-average offense and marginal defense, he’s a full win behind Garcia — it’s possible Garcia will be the top challenger to Ozuna in this market class.

We’ll see how things shake out over the coming months, but Garcia’s reemergence helps to create an interesting dynamic. The broader free agent class is rather uninspiring, owing to a round of major extensions, but it’s interesting to see this foursome of youthful, rather analogous players entering free agency at the same time. Each will drive his own earning power on the field over the final two-thirds of the season, though the markets will surely intertwine. Garcia has a long way to go to securing a quality multi-year deal — in addition to producing, he’ll need to avoid further hamstring problems — but he has already done enough to this point to make that a realistic possibility.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rays’ Nick Ciuffo Out 8-10 Weeks Following Thumb Surgery

By Steve Adams | June 4, 2019 at 5:00pm CDT

Rays catcher Nick Ciuffo underwent surgery on his ailing thumb today and is expected to be sidelined for the next eight to 10 weeks, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). The Rays will also prolong fellow catcher Michael Perez’s minor league rehab stint a bit, as he’s still feeling some of the effects of the oblique injury that landed him on the IL in the first place.

The pair of updates once again raises questions about the organization’s depth behind the plate. Mike Zunino just returned from the injured list and is handling the bulk of catching duties in a timeshare with Travis d’Arnaud, but options beyond that pair are thin. Perez will give them one alternative, but Ciuffo is now on the shelf alongside Anthony Bemboom, while trade acquisition Erik Kratz was designated for assignment last week.

Beyond the sheer scarcity of catching options, the Rays have received zero production from d’Arnaud since acquiring the longtime Mets backstop in a deal with the Dodgers (who’d picked him up after he was released by New York). In 75 plate appearances with Tampa Bay, d’Arnaud has hit only .149/.227/.179. Since d’Arnaud is out of minor league options, the Rays will have to either option Perez to Triple-A when his rehab assignment is complete or designate d’Arnaud for assignment as they did with Kratz. That, in turn, would only further thin out the catching mix.

Suffice it to say, the Rays seem quite likely to be on the lookout for some catching depth in the weeks to come — even if it’s just some additions at the minor league level. The Rays have 26-year-old Mac James in Triple-A Durham, but he’s not hitting well either, and options beyond him appear limited. One option for Tampa Bay would be to take a look at veteran catcher Chris Stewart, who recently opted out of a minor league contract with the Padres.

Rays Sign Vidal Nuno

By Connor Byrne | June 3, 2019 at 10:19pm CDT

The Rays have signed left-handed reliever Vidal Nuno III, according to Roster Roundup. He presumably inked a minor league contract.

Nuno landed a minors deal with the Nationals back in January, but they released him last week with a June 15 opt-out date approaching. The 31-year-old struggled to a 7.25 ERA/6.32 FIP with 10.07 K/9, 4.84 BB/9 and a 35.9 percent groundball rate in 22 1/3 innings with the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate before returning to the open market. A significant portion of that damage came in one appearance, though.

With his Washington stint in the rearview, Nuno’s returning to the Tampa Bay organization. He spent last season with the Rays, notching 33 innings of 1.64 ERA ball in the majors. The soft-tossing Nuno’s success in the run prevention department came with less encouraging peripherals, though, as he recorded a 4.46 FIP with 7.91 K/9, 2.73 BB/9 and a paltry 28.6 percent grounder rate. He also benefited from a perfect strand rate and a .216 batting average on balls in play against.

Also a former Yankee, Diamondback, Mariner and Oriole, Nuno saw big league action in each season between his 2013 debut and last year. He owns a 4.06 ERA/4.68 FIP, 7.45 K/9 against 2.51 BB/9, and a 37.9 percent grounder mark in 377 innings at the sport’s top level.

Rays Activate Yandy Diaz From 10-Day Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | June 2, 2019 at 9:11am CDT

The Rays announced some roster moves this morning, including the activation of infielder Yandy Diaz from the 10-day injured list. Nate Lowe, called up just yesterday from Triple-A, is on his way back to the minors in a corresponding move. The Rays also optioned right-hander Adam Kolarek yesterday, but Kolarek is now making a quick return to the big leagues since southpaw Jose Alvarado has been placed on the family medical emergency list.

Diaz hit the IL on May 23, with a retroactive placement to May 20, with a left hand contusion after being hit by a pitch from the Yankees’ Chance Adams. While Diaz was reportedly still feeling some soreness in his hand, a brief stint in extended Spring Training camp seems to have done the trick, and the corner infielder will now make his return to Tampa Bay’s lineup. Acquired as part of the three-team trade that sent Jake Bauers to Cleveland last December, Diaz has hit an impressive .256/.339/.500 with nine homers over 180 plate appearances in a Rays uniform, delivering on the promise that his hard-hit ball statistics indicated during his time with the Tribe.

Lowe’s latest turn in the Show lasted only a day, as the slugging first base prospect now has a .263/.310/.316 slash line over 42 PA this season. It stands to reason that Lowe will continue to be shuffled between the majors and minors as circumstances warrant, though the Rays will surely keep an eye on his service time so as to gain an extra year of team control over the youngster.

Rays Notes: N. Lowe, Kolarek, Diaz, Perez

By TC Zencka | June 1, 2019 at 9:47am CDT

The Tampa Bay Rays have optioned lefty Adam Kolarek to Triple-A, per MLB.com’s Juan Toribio (via Twitter). Kolarek has been largely effective in the Rays pen this season, but the demotion is less likely about performance as it is part of the workaday fluidity of Rays roster management. Kolarek heads to Durham as the current league leader in appearances with 29, though the 19 2/3 innings he has amassed speaks to his type of usage. After a couple of spotless stretches, Kolarek has been touched up for runs in four of his last seven appearances, though it’s notable that Kolarek faced less than five batters in each of his clean appearances, where he tends to falter when pushed beyond that mark. When facing five hitters or more this season – something he’s done nine times – Kolarek surrendered runs seven times, including seven consecutive dating back to mid-April. When Kolarek’s deployment is limited to less than five batters, he’s been tagged for an earned run only once in 20 outings this season.

With the lefty headed to Durham, Nate Lowe will join the big league club for the second time this season. The team has made the moves official. Lowe’s first stint with the team led to four starts at first base and five as designated hitter in early May. In that short sample stint, he hit .257/.289/.314 without a long ball. With Triple-A Durham he’s put up numbers more commensurate with expectations – .257/.390/.424 – though he has yet to tap into home run power at either level after blasting 27 bombs across three levels last season. Ji-Man Choi has been just okay at first for the Rays so far, so there may be room for Lowe to make his mark if can arrive hot to St. Petersburg. Still, the Rays value their flexibility, and Lowe profiles similarly to Choi at first/DH. Lowe is in the lineup today, set to bat fifth and play first while Choi DH’s and hits cleanup.
Lowe’s presence is largely to make up for the injured Yandy Diaz, who has been a big part of the Tampa offense since being acquired from Cleveland this winter. Diaz has been out since May 20th with a left hand contusion. His comeback trail begins today, however, as he heads to Port Charlotte for extended Spring Training, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Cuban-born Diaz produced more pop than projected for a groundball hitter through the seasons’s first two months. Nine home runs is the cover story, but his underlying power numbers are equally impressive (.500 SLG, .244 ISO). While such a prodigious power jump seems likely to regress to the mean at least somewhat, Diaz’s power surge has nonetheless preserved the approach the made him attractive to the Rays in the first place: above-average hard hit rate (44.1%), low strikeout rate (18 K%), and lots of walks (11.1 BB%). It bodes well that these numbers have held the line despite Diaz already eclipsing a new career high in plate appearances (180) while seeing a significant drop in BABIP (from .371 in 2018 to .263 in 2019). Every game matters for the Rays, who have been without impact at-bats with Daniel Robertson manning the hot corner in Diaz’s stead. Robertson, 25, owns an insufficient .207/.316/.293 slash line through 150 at-bats in 2019.
In other recovery news, Michael Perez could begin a rehab assignment by early next week, per Topkin (via Twitter). An oblique injury has limited the Rays backup catcher to only 15 games this season. Starter Mike Zunino is now back, but stand-ins Erik Kratz and Travis d’Arnaud have both struggled to put together productive at-bats. Through 39 career games at the big league level this year and last, Perez owns a .274/.328/.385 line with one career home run. That might not light your world on fire, but it would still represent a pretty sizeable upgrade over the production the Rays have received from their catchers of late.

Rays Designate Erik Kratz, Activate Mike Zunino

By Jeff Todd | May 31, 2019 at 2:01pm CDT

The Rays announced that they have designated catcher Erik Kratz for assignment. His roster spot will go to fellow backstop Mike Zunino, who has been activated from the injured list.

Kratz turns 39 in mid-June and still hasn’t topped a thousand career MLB plate appearances, but he has carved out a second act as a trustworthy journeyman reserve. Unfortunately, he has managed only five hits and two walks in 53 plate appearances this year with the Giants and Rays.

Zunino ended up missing three weeks with a quad strain. It may have felt like a lengthier duration than that for a Tampa Bay team that has received next to nothing offensively from the catching position. Zunino hasn’t exactly torn it up at the plate himself, turning in a familiar blend of good pop and unsightly on-base numbers. But he has been much more productive than Kratz and Travis d’Arnaud, who have stepped in amidst a dizzying run of injuries for Rays catchers. (Michael Perez and Anthony Bemboom are still on the IL.)

Quick Hits: 2009 Draft, Trout, Morton, Twins, Bradley, Marlins

By Mark Polishuk | May 30, 2019 at 9:20pm CDT

Stephen Strasburg generated headlines as the consensus first overall pick of the 2009 draft, though that draft has taken on a different historic import almost ten years later, as that was the night Mike Trout officially became a Major League player. MLB.com’s Jim Callis looks back at the 2009 draft with a decade of hindsight, re-drafting the first round with the top players who were selected (and signed contracts) from that year’s class. In this scenario, the Nationals take Trout first overall instead of Strasburg, who falls to the Pirates with the fourth overall pick. The Mariners take Nolan Arenado with the second pick, while the Padres take Paul Goldschmidt third overall.

The actual draft spots of these superstars (Trout went 25th overall, Arenado in the second round, and Goldschmidt not until the eighth round) is indicative of the draft’s unpredictable nature, as teams and pundits simply never know which unheralded youngster might develop into a gem. Callis includes several interesting notes and scouting opinions about various players at the time of the 2009 draft, including the item that only the Athletics, Diamondbacks, and Tigers were known to be linked to Trout, among teams who had a chance to select him before the Angels. Many clubs didn’t have interest due to rumors that Trout was seeking a $2.5MM draft bonus, which would’ve exceeded the slot price for all but the top five picks, though in the end Trout signed with the Angels for the $1.215MM league-recommended slot price attached to the 25th overall selection.

Mike Zunino Close To Return

By Connor Byrne | May 30, 2019 at 12:45am CDT

The Rays have been without injured catcher Mike Zunino for three weeks, but he could return as early as Friday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Zunino went to the 10-day IL on May 9 with a left quad strain.

Injuries, not just to Zunino, have victimized Rays catchers this year. Zunino headed to the shelf just four days after an oblique strain sent fellow backstop Michael Perez to the IL. When the club lost Zunino, it promoted Anthony Bemboom as his replacement, but the latter wound up on the IL on May 15 with a knee sprain.

With only struggling minor league Nick Ciuffo to turn to as a healthy 40-man option, the banged-up Rays had to scour the trade market for help earlier this month. They acquired former Mets starter Travis d’Arnaud from the Dodgers on the 10th and landed journeyman Erik Kratz in a deal with the Giants on the 16th. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, those two haven’t offered much help so far. D’Arnaud and Kratz have combined for seven hits (five singles, two doubles), 17 strikes and three walks in 52 plate appearances, essentially making them automatic outs.

Aside from Perez – who’s still dealing with “discomfort,” per Topkin – no Rays backstop has done much at the plate this season. That includes Zunino, though the ex-Mariner’s .220/.260/.407 line in 96 PA would be welcome for the Rays compared to what they’ve gotten from d’Arnaud and Kratz.

It seems likely the return of Zunino will lead to the end of Kratz’s time on the Rays’ 40-man roster. The 38-year-old’s out of minor league options and has been behind d’Arnaud in Tampa Bay’s pecking order.

Rays Select Oliver Drake, Transfer Tyler Glasnow To 60-Day IL

By Connor Byrne | May 26, 2019 at 10:10am CDT

10:10am: The Rays have transferred righty Tyler Glasnow from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL to make room for Drake, per Topkin. Glasnow has not suffered a setback to his injured forearm, manager Kevin Cash announced. However, the burgeoning ace, 25, now won’t return until sometime in July (the 12th at the earliest). When Glasnow went to the IL on May 11, he was only supposed to sit out four to six weeks, making Sunday’s news an unfortunate blow for a Tampa Bay club that is firmly in the AL playoff hunt.

8:51am: The Rays have selected right-hander Oliver Drake’s contract from Triple-A Durham, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. In a corresponding 25-man move, the team optioned righty Casey Sadler. Drake’s not on the Rays’ 40-man roster, which is full, so they’ll need to create a spot for him.

Drake’s in his first year with the Rays, who acquired him from the Blue Jays in January. Tampa Bay designated Drake for assignment two weeks later to make room for the signing of outfielder Avisail Garcia, but the hurler remained in the organization. Since then, the 32-year-old has only managed a 4.94 ERA in 23 2/3 Triple-A innings, though he has paired eye-opening strikeout and walk rates (15.21 K/9, 2.66 BB/9) with a 50 percent groundball mark.

For the most part, Drake has toyed with his competition at the minors’ highest level, where he owns a 2.36 ERA with 13.1 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 133 2/3 innings. Drake’s success at Triple-A has led a slew of organizations to take chances on him, including five last year alone. However, Drake wasn’t able to hold down a major league spot with any of the Angels, Indians, Brewers, Twins or Blue Jays in 2018, nor could he distinguish himself with the Orioles or Brew Crew from 2015-17. In his MLB stints with those franchises, Drake pitched to a 4.59 ERA in 137 1/3 innings, but he did post a 3.48 FIP with 9.9 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent grounder rate.

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