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Rays Rumors: Eovaldi, Ramos

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Ten teams were reportedly in attendance on Sunday to watch Rays right-hander Nathan Eovaldi pitch in New York, and he didn’t disappoint. Eovaldi delivered seven near-perfect innings against the Mets, striking out nine (against no walks) and allowing one hit. The Yankees, Diamondbacks, Braves, Brewers, Cubs, Giants, Reds and Marlins had scouts on hand to witness the performance, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports, though he notes that all of them aren’t necessarily interested in Eovaldi. The Yanks and Marlins are already familiar with Eovaldi, who has pitched for both teams in the past. Miami’s not going to buy Eovaldi, though, as it’s well out of contention and he’s a pending free agent. But the Yankees are World Series hopefuls who need a starter, so perhaps they’d consider a reunion with Eovaldi. The 28-year-old has returned from 2016 Tommy John surgery to post a 3.35 ERA with 8.19 K/9, 1.12 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent grounder rate over 48 1/3 innings.

  • More on the Rays, who are “closely watching” the Nationals’ farm system as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline draws closer, Jon Heyman of Fancred reports. The Nationals are interested in Rays catcher Wilson Ramos, per Heyman, which jibes with an earlier report from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. “There’s no sign” the Nationals have made any progress in trying to pry elite catcher J.T. Realmuto from the Marlins, Heyman writes, so Ramos may be the Nats’ best hope to upgrade behind the plate. Ramos spent 2010-16 in Washington and has landed back on the team’s radar amid what may be an All-Star season for the 30-year-old.

Chaz Roe To Miss 4-6 Weeks

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  • The Rays have placed reliever Chaz Roe on the 10-day disabled list with a torn left meniscus, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Roe will undergo arthroscopic surgery Friday and should miss four to six weeks, Topkin adds on Twitter. Roe has been a key part of the Rays’ bullpen this season with a team-leading 41 appearances, during which he has posted a 3.60 ERA, 9.77 K/9, 3.34 BB/9 and a 51.2 percent groundball rate in 35 innings.

10 Teams Expected To Watch Nathan Eovaldi's Start On Sunday

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  • With the Rays out of contention, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times runs down a bevy of potential trade pieces for the club. The list includes right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who’s expected to draw 10 interested teams to Citi Field to scout his start against the Mets on Sunday, Topkin reports. Eovaldi previously had several clubs on hand this past Monday when he turned in a quality start in Miami. After missing all of 2017 on account of August 2016 Tommy John surgery, the hard-throwing 28-year-old has encouraged this season with a 3.92 ERA, 7.62 K/9 against 1.31 BB/9 and a 49.6 percent groundball rate through 41 1/3 innings. Eovaldi’s also on a cheap salary ($2MM), which adds to his appeal, though he’s not under control past this season.

Nationals Interested In Wilson Ramos

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  • The Nationals recently sent special assistant Dan Jennings to watch Rays catcher Wilson Ramos, Cafardo reports. The Nationals are already familiar with Ramos, who played with the team from 2010-16, and the pending free agent figures to end up with either them or another club by the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. After a mediocre 2017, the 30-year-old Ramos has rebuilt his stock with a .287/.338/.460 line in 293 PAs. Those numbers are far better than the production Nationals catchers have offered. Washington’s backstops have combined to hit a league-worst .185/.278/.265 in 338 trips to the plate, thus contributing to the team’s five-game deficit in the NL East.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Rays Designate Jeremy Hazelbaker, Select Adam Kolarek

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The Rays have designated outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker, per a club announcement. That move was needed to open a roster spot for lefty Adam Kolarek, whose contract was selected.

Hazelbaker, 30, had been acquired earlier in the season from the Diamondbacks, but had yet to see any action at the MLB level. In 230 plate appearances at Triple-A on the season, he carries a .190/.278/.366 batting line. Though he has produced at a 116 OPS+ rate in 285 total major-league plate appearances, Hazelbaker is still waiting for his next crack at the game’s highest level.

As for Kolarek, he will get another chance after struggling in a brief debut in 2017. The 29-year-old has certainly earned his return. In 42 1/3 Triple-A frames over 29 appearances, he owns a 1.70 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 along with a hefty 62.7% groundball rate.

Rays Sign No. 31 Pick Shane McClanahan

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10:29am: McClanahan himself announced (on Twitter) that he has indeed signed with the Rays.

10:20am: The Rays and first-round pick Shane McClanahan have finalized a late deal with roughly six hours to go until the deadline for draft picks to sign, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (via Twitter). McClanahan, a left-hander out of the Unversity of South Florida, will receive a $2,230,100 signing bonus that comes in ever so slightly north of his $2,224,400 slot value at No. 31 overall. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times was the first to report that, after appearing to be at a potential impasse, the two sides were finally moving toward an agreement (Twitter link).

In securing a deal with McClanahan, the Rays have added arguably the top two left-handed arms in the entire 2018 draft class. No. 16 overall pick Matthew Liberatore was ranked among the top six prospects in the draft per each of Baseball America, MLB.com, ESPN and Fangraphs, and McClanahan ranked as high as No. 8 at BA, No. 14 at MLB.com and No. 15 at ESPN.

McClanahan, 21, was a redshirt sophomore and as such had some degree of leverage over his situation, as he could’ve returned to USF for his junior season. Instead, he’ll bring a fastball that reaches triple digits and a potential plus changeup to the Rays’ farm system as he begins his pro career. The biggest concerns with McClanahan stem from a poor finish to his collegiate season in addition to the possibility that his slight frame and below-average control could force him into the bullpen at some point. However, a triple-digit lefty with the potential for a strong changeup makes for a plenty intriguing bullpen piece, and if he can indeed pan out as a starter, then the Rays may have gotten a pair of bargains with their top two picks in the ’18 draft.

East Notes: Ramos, Phillies, Wade

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Here are the latest notes from the game’s eastern divisions:

  • Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times checks in on Rays catcher Wilson Ramos, writing that the veteran seems likely to be playing elsewhere within the next few weeks. The burly receiver acknowledges that change is likely coming, though he says his focus is on putting his head down and “trying to do my job.” Topkin notes that there’s at least an argument to be made for the Rays to consider an early deal for Ramos, as there are a few other catchers that could potentially change hands this summer. A deal seems possible at any time, though we haven’t really heard all that much to this point regarding interest in Ramos, who’s slashing a robust .291/.340/.468 with a dozen home runs through 285 plate appearances.
  • There are a pair of interesting subscription pieces in The Athletic regarding the rising Phillies. Matt Gelb examines the team’s approach to the deadline, explaining how the changing state of affairs in the NL East — particularly, the recent fall-off of the Nationals — will impact things in Philadelphia. With the Nats now needing to climb out of a significant hole, the opportunity for the Phils to take a division title could certainly increase the appeal of buy-side moves. As the article covers, third base and right field stand out as potential areas for improvement. The club could certainly always look into pitching improvements as well. Meanwhile, Meghan Montemurro documents the Phillies’ efforts to unearth talent in non-traditional countries. It’s all about maximizing limited available resources in the international realm, where the focus has long been on a few Latin American and Asian nations.
  • The Yankees will bring up Tyler Wade to take the roster spot created when Gleyber Torres hit the DL, Jack Curry of the YES Network tweets. Wade, 23, has struggled mightily in limited MLB action over the past two seasons. And he has not exactly knocked the cover off of the ball at Triple-A despite carrying good numbers there last year. As Curry notes (via Twitter), however, Wade has been much better in recent weeks. That said, the infielder likely won’t get much of a shot in his return to the majors, as Neil Walker figures to remain ahead of him on the depth chart at second base. Brandon Drury is also a potential option at second, though he has yet to play there in New York.

Multiple Teams Watching Nathan Eovaldi

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  • Evaluators from the Red Sox, Phillies, Cubs, and Braves were on hand to watch Nathan Eovaldi’s Monday start for the Rays, MLB.com’s Bill Chastain writes.  Of course, several other players on the Rays or Marlins were also likely under observation, though Eovaldi represents an interesting low-cost option for teams in need of rotation help — of the teams listed, only the Cubs wouldn’t appear to be in need of starting pitching depth.  After missing all of 2017 recovering from Tommy John surgery and then missing time due to minor elbow surgery and a rib muscle strain at the beginning of this season, Eovaldi has returned to post a 3.92 ERA, 49.6% grounder rate, 7.6 K/9, and a minuscule 1.3 BB/9 rate over his first 41 1/3 frames.  He has received some significant help in the form of a .211 BABIP, a 79.6% strand rate and a .285 wOBA that is well under his .321 xwOBA, though ERA indicators (4.75 FIP, 3.59 xFIP, 3.57 SIERA) are largely in line with his real-world ERA.  Eovaldi is also averaging 97mph on his fastball.

Rays Select Ryan Weber

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The Rays have selected the contract of righty Ryan Weber, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter links). Tampa Bay moved fellow righty Wilmer Font to the 60-day DL to create 40-man space.

In other moves, reliever Andrew Kittredge is also coming up to the active roster. To create the two needed openings there, the Rays have placed lefty Vidal Nuno on the 10-day DL and optioned righty Austin Pruitt.

Weber, 27, was up earlier in the year but only made one appearance before being outrighted. He has been successful at Triple-A, turning in 68 2/3 innings of 2.23 ERA ball. Though his combination of 5.8 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 aren’t terribly exciting, Weber has carried a 51.8% groundball rate and functioned in a multi-inning capacity — a consideration of particular importance given the Rays’ unusual staff usage.

Notable International Prospect Signings

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With the 2018-19 international signing period kicking off today, there will be dozens of six- and seven-figure bonuses handed out to teenage prospects, primarily out of Latin America, filtering in throughout the day today. Many of these have been in the works for quite some time, as is reflected by the fact that most of the top players’ destinations and signing bonuses have been previously reported/projected (and by the fact that the top agreements will all be reported in one swift avalanche today).

We’ll keep track of the notable National League signings here and the notable American League signings in a separate post. Note that you can read up on each of these players with the dedicated international coverage available from Ben Badler of Baseball America (subscription required), Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com and Kiley McDaniel & Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs, each of whom has scouting info on the top echelon of international amateurs. Badler is also tracking the all of the signings from all 30 teams.

Onto some of the more notable signings…

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