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Rays, Mets Complete Wilmer Font Trade

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The Rays have acquired right-hander Neraldo Catalina from the Mets as the player to be named later in last week’s trade that sent righty Wilmer Font from Tampa Bay to New York.

Catalina, 18, has yet to pitch in a professional game and hasn’t even been in the Mets organization for one calendar year. He was signed out of the Dominican Republic last July 2 and received a $150K signing bonus at the time, as Baseball America’s Ben Badler recently noted in reviewing the team’s 2018-19 international free-agent class. Badler notes that Catalina is already a massive 6’6″ and 205 pounds with a fastball that reaches 95 mph and a power slider. Obviously, he’s years away from being any kind of factor in the Majors, but he seemingly makes a nice lottery-ticket arm to add to the minor league ranks in Tampa.

Font, 28, has made just one appearance for the Mets since the time of the trade. He tossed four innings in a spot start and allowed a pair of runs on three hits with no walks allowed and one strikeout. He had a tough start to the season with the Rays — nine runs on 15 hits and five walks in 14 innings — but he’s a fairly hard-throwing righty who has seen a substantial uptick in swinging-strike and strikeout rate so far in 2019. Font is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on the Mets’ roster moving forward or else be passed through waivers before he can be sent to the minor leagues.

Rays “Keeping In Touch” With Craig Kimbrel

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The Rays were reportedly in contact with free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel as of late March. A month and a half later, Kimbrel remains without a job, and the Rays are still among clubs “keeping in touch” with the seven-time All-Star, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The 24-14 Rays own baseball’s second-best record thanks in part to their bullpen, which ranks second in the majors in ERA and seventh in K/BB ratio. And they’ve done it without an established closer, having deployed Jose Alvarado, Diego Castillo and Emilio Pagan for at least three saves apiece. All three have been highly effective this season, as has fellow reliever Jalen Beeks, but with the juggernaut Yankees-Red Sox tandem breathing down Tampa Bay’s neck in the American League East, there’s room for outside reinforcements.

The main question for Kimbrel suitors, especially the low-budget Rays, centers on what type of offer would convince him to end his protracted stay on the open market. The 30-year-old entered free agency in November with designs on a contract befitting of a Cooperstown-caliber reliever. However, even after Kimbrel reportedly dropped his price to a more reasonable level last month, the market for the ex-Braves, Padres and Red Sox star has been shockingly tepid.

At this point, with the June 3-5 draft just a few weeks away, Kimbrel seems likely to continue without an employer until sometime next month. As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd explained this week, teams have held off on signing Kimbrel for this long, so it doesn’t seem one will blink until it no longer has to surrender draft pick compensation for adding the qualifying offer recipient.

If the Rays were to sign Kimbrel prior to the draft, though, they’d have to part with their third-highest pick. On paper, that’s the smallest penalty available to clubs, but in the Rays’ case, it would mean losing the valuable 39th overall choice. Of course, the financial ramifications accompanying a Kimbrel signing also seem to stand in the way of a union with Tampa Bay. The Rays own the majors’ lowest 40-man payroll at just north of a paltry $53MM, so there should be room for Kimbrel or another pricey pickup(s) in theory. The franchise has never been known for spending, however, and Kimbrel may land a multiyear deal that would add a sizable commitment to its limited payroll beyond this season.

Tyler Glasnow Pulled With Forearm Tightness

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The Rays pulled starter Tyler Glasnow from tonight’s game after he motioned to the dugout. The club has announced that tightness in his right forearm was the cause for the move, as MLB.com’s Juan Toribio was among those to report on Twitter.

More will be known after a full examination, but that’s obviously not the most promising initial indication. Forearm issues can be related to elbow troubles, though there’s no reason to assume that there’s a significant problem in the joint.

The Rays organization will be holding its collective breath while Glasnow gets checked out. Long considered a top-shelf talent, he has put it all together thus far in 2019. Glasnow is sitting at 97.5 mph with his four-seamer, drawing strong groundball numbers, generating lots of weak contact, and — most importantly — finally exhibiting the command that had long eluded him.

Working in the zone more frequently and generating more first strikes than ever before helped Glasnow to work to a 1.47 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 entering today’s action. He coughed up a few earned runs this evening before exiting, but also tacked on nine strikeouts against just two walks in his 5 1/3 frames.

Rays Acquire Travis d’Arnaud

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6:26pm: This move is now official. Infielder Matt Duffy was shifted to the 60-day injured list to create 40-man space; the team will wait to make a corresponding active roster move.

6:03pm: The Rays have struck a deal with the Dodgers to acquire catcher Travis d’Arnaud, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Cash considerations will go to Los Angeles in return.

This represents the continuation of d’Arnaud’s already disjointed season. After working back to health in the wake of Tommy John surgery, he opened up as the Mets’ backup backstop but was dumped at a surprisingly early juncture.

The Dodgers signed the out-of-options d’Arnaud as a righty bench bat with designs on trying him at other positions, but instead pivoted quickly to today’s move. d’Arnaud is now slated to help fill in while the Rays deal with injuries to their top two backstops (Mike Zunino and Michael Perez).

Perhaps it’s not surprising to see these organizations showing interest in d’Arnaud as a fill-in and possible bounceback performer. He was long considered quite talented and has at times been a quality-hitting catcher. Best of all, the New York club is on the hook for d’Arnaud’s $3.52MM salary (less a pro-rated portion of the league minimum) so it’s a virtual free-ride for other outfits.

There’s no reason to think that the Dodgers soured on d’Arnaud after watching him take just one plate appearance, though perhaps they weren’t enthralled by what they saw when they worked him out at first base and left field. Perhaps the team was simply willing to let him go because there was a clear opportunity for him in Tampa Bay and because it was just as interested in utilizing other players to fill out the roster.

James Loney Retires

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Veteran first baseman James Loney, who’d launched a comeback bid when he signed with the Atlantic League’s Sugar Land Skeeters, announced his retirement from baseball Friday.

It’s been three years since Loney, now 35, appeared in a big league game. His last Major League work came in 2016 when he batted .265/.307/.397 through 366 plate appearances with the Mets. Loney had a brief stint with the Korea Baseball Organization’s LG Twins, did not play in 2018 and appeared in just 11 games with the Skeeters this season before today’s announcement.

Although it’s been a bit since Loney was prominent in Major League Baseball, he’s still a well-known name to most fans thanks to a solid 11-year run at the MLB level. Selected by the Dodgers with the 19th overall pick in the 2002 draft, Loney debuted as a 21-year-old less than four years later and quickly solidified himself as a viable long-term piece in Los Angeles. He hit .284/.342/.559 in 111 plate appearances during that rookie effort and followed it up with a brilliant .331/.381/.538 showing in 375 plate appearances during the 2007 season.

That cemented Loney’s place in the L.A. lineup, and while his bat never matched that lofty standard again, he was a solid offensive presence for the Dodgers over the next four years, consistently hitting for average with quality on-base skills and one of the game’s lowest strikeout rates. In parts of seven seasons with his original organization, Loney hit .284/.341/.423 all while providing the Dodgers with above-average defense at first base.

Loney struggled in a brief run with the Red Sox after being included in 2012’s epic Adrian Gonzalez/Carl Crawford/Josh Beckett blockbuster and settled for a one-year deal with the Rays in hopes of rebuilding his stock. He did just that. Loney turned in a .299/.348/.430 performance with his characteristically strong glovework in his first season with Tampa Bay, and he parlayed that success into a three-year, $21MM deal to remain with the Rays. He’d give Tampa Bay a second season of above-average output before struggling in year two of that pact and eventually being released prior to the final season of the deal. It was at that point that Loney latched on for what now proved to be his final season — the aforementioned Mets run.

All told, Loney logged 1443 games in the Majors and hit .284/.336/.410 with 108 home runs, 267 doubles, 21 triples, 38 stolen bases, 528 runs scored and another 669 knocked in. Beyond that, Loney was a monster in the postseason, hitting .350/.429/.525 through 91 plate appearances across parts of eight different series (mostly with the Dodgers). Between his first-round bonus and his 11 seasons in the Majors, Loney racked up more than $38MM in career earnings.

Rays Place Mike Zunino On IL, Select Anthony Bemboom

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The Rays announced that they’ve placed catcher Mike Zunino on the 10-day injured list due to a left quad strain and selected the contract of fellow backstop Anthony Bemboom. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported that the move was coming and suggests that Zunino will be out about three weeks (Twitter links). Tampa Bay also activated Austin Meadows from the IL, as expected.

Tampa Bay has now lost its top two catchers in the span of 48 hours. Michael Perez was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday morning due to oblique tightness and replaced on the active roster by Nick Ciuffo, who’ll now serve as the Rays’ primary catcher for the time being. Ciuffo, a 2013 first-round pick, has yet to establish himself as much of an offensive option in Triple-A, where he’s hit .236/.272/.347 in 316 career plate appearances. He does control the running game quite well — 42 percent caught-stealing rate in his minor league career — and graded out as an above-average pitch framer in 2018, per Baseball Prospectus.

Bemboom, 29, has only played in eight games this season himself thanks to injuries of his own. An eight-year minor league veteran, he’s in his first season with the Rays organization having previously spent six years in the Halos’ minor leagues ranks as well as the 2018 season in the Rockies’ system. Bemboom is a career .249/.344/.382 hitter in Triple-A and carries a 31 percent caught-stealing rate since being drafted in the 22nd round back in 2012. He posted above-average marks in pitch framing in each of the past two seasons, as well.

Certainly, it’s not an ideal pairing of catchers for a first-place club. As noted Wednesday at the time of the injury, though, there’s not much in the way of readily available veteran help. Perhaps they’ll explore the market for a short-term backup option, but it’s unlikely that the trade market at this stage of the season would yield anyone who can be reasonably expected to provide more offense than Ciuffo.

Rays Expected To Activate Austin Meadows On Friday; Nate Lowe Demoted

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Outfielder Austin Meadows is expected to be activated from the 10-day IL prior to the Rays’ game with the Yankees on Friday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  Meadows will take the 25-man roster spot left open by Nate Lowe, as the Rays sent the highly-touted youngster down to Triple-A following yesterday’s game.

Meadows hit the injured list on April 21 due to a sprained right thumb, so his return will fall just short of the projected timeline of “a few weeks” mentioned by Rays general manager Erik Neander a day after the IL placement.  It’s good news for the Rays, since Meadows’ hot start was a huge reason for Tampa’s early-season success.  Meadows was hitting .351/.422/.676 with six homers over 83 plate appearances at the time of his injury, and while some regression is inevitable (.400 BABIP, .454 wOBA compared to a .408 xwOBA), it certainly isn’t out of the question that a former top prospect like Meadows could be a big contributors in his first full Major League season.

With Meadows back, Lowe’s first taste of big league action will come to an end after nine games and a .257/.289/.314 slash line over 38 PA.  It was perhaps a little surprising to see Tampa promote Lowe so soon, though the 23-year-old had been ripping up Triple-A pitching and the Rays had a need for another bat with both Meadows and Joey Wendle on the IL.  Rather than keep Lowe in the majors as a bench player, the club will instead send him back to Triple-A where he can everyday at-bats and continue his development.

In terms of service time, Lowe’s clock stopped almost as soon as it started, so it’s hard to yet determine the impact on his future team control.  While it stands to reason Lowe will be back in the majors at some point in 2019, the Rays already control him through at least the 2025 season, and the team might not bring him back until they can ensure that he won’t be a Super Two candidate.  (Of course, this could all be moot if Lowe becomes the latest Rays prospect to sign an early-career extension, a la Brandon Lowe, Matt Moore, or Evan Longoria.)

Lowe has played only first base and DH in his young career, making him an imperfect fit at this point on a Rays roster that values multi-positional versatility.  Lowe’s first base duties will again likely be split between Ji-Man Choi and Yandy Diaz, though Diaz has seen an increasingly amount of time at third base in recent days due to Daniel Robertson’s struggles.  Brandon Lowe could also see some time at first base, with Robertson or Andrew Velazquez filling in at second, so the Rays are hardly short on potential lineup options.

Rays Place Michael Perez On IL; Mike Zunino Dealing With Quad Issue

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It’s been a rough 24 hours for the Rays’ catching tandem, as Michael Perez was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique tightness while Mike Zunino exited Wednesday’s game due to a tight left quadriceps. Tampa Bay had recalled Nick Ciuffo from Triple-A Durham prior to the game, so he was able to step in for Zunino late in today’s game.

But, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times points out, Zunino, Perez and Ciuffo are the only three catchers on the Rays’ 40-man roster. With Perez out and Zunino ailing, there’s little in the way of depth on which to call. And, if Zunino ultimately proves to require a stint on the injured list, the situation will be exacerbated, even if only for a short period of time. Topkin suggests that 29-year-old Anthony Bemboom could be added to the 40-man roster if a need arises, but he’s only played eight games in the minors this year since returning from his own injury.

In terms of readily available help outside the organization, there simply isn’t much available. While veteran catchers Travis d’Arnaud, Drew Butera and Jesus Sucre all lost their roster spots recently, none is available on the open market or waivers. The Dodgers signed d’Arnaud after he was released by the Mets, while both Butera (Rockies) and Sucre (Orioles) accepted outright assignments with the clubs that designated them for assignment. Tampa Bay is as active as nearly any club on the trade market, so perhaps they’d swing a deal for a short-term veteran stopgap should Zunino require an absence of any note.

The Rays are off on Thursday, and Zunino will undergo further testing tomorrow with the hope that he won’t need to miss much (or any) time. If he needs to sit out for even a few games, it seems likely the Rays will have a 40-man roster move in the works in the near future.

Mets To Acquire Wilmer Font

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The Mets have reached an agreement to acquire right-handed reliever Wilmer Font from the Rays in exchange for cash or a player to be named later, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports (via Twitter). Font, 29 later this month, is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to be added directly to the big league bullpen.

Font has worked as both an opener and a reliever over the past two seasons between the Dodgers, A’s and Rays. He’s not found much success at the MLB level, with a career 6.51 ERA in 65 innings of work. However, he’s shown enough that four clubs have been willing to commit a 40-man roster spot over the past calendar year. Font has averaged 94.3 mph on his heater in his MLB career, complementing that offering with an 83.2 mph slider and a 75.5 mph curveball.

It should be noted, too, that the Mets are likely in somewhat of a scramble to find arms to fill out their big league staff. Left-hander Steven Matz is dealing with a nerve issue that’ll likely sideline him for at least one start, as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman recently tweeted. On the heels of that report, SNY’s Andy Martino followed up by tweeting that Jason Vargas is also likely to head to the injured list with a minor hamstring injury. He may only miss one start, and the Mets won’t need a fifth starter for nearly two weeks, but it’s nonetheless another arm soon to be rendered unavailable.

Rays Option Yarbrough, Recall Velazquez

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The Rays have sent down lefty Ryan Yarbrough in favor of infielder Andrew Velazquez, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Yarbrough, 27, was recalled yesterday following an April 24th demotion, but was not needed given the postponement of the Rays’ Sunday tilt in Baltimore.  Yarbrough has been scored upon in four of his five appearances this year, resulting in an 8.10 ERA in 16 2/3 frames.  He’ll head back to Triple-A Durham following a 2018 season that resulted in a fifth place Rookie of the Year finish, with a lone vote from Dick Scanlon of the Lakeland Ledger.  Scanlon’s was the only Rookie of the Year ballot to omit Shohei Ohtani.  Last year, Yarbrough was able to rack up 16 wins serving as the Rays’ self-termed “bulk guy” or primary pitcher, the hurler who follows the team’s opener.  In this capacity, Yarbrough made 32 relief appearances, averaging about 3.7 innings each time.

Velazquez, 24, made his big league debut for the Rays last year as a September call-up.  According to the Baseball America Handbook, Velazquez’s “ability to play an excellent center field, second, shortstop, or third base makes him a useful utility-man.”  Indeed, Velazquez has logged innings at all of those positions for the Durham Bulls.  A seventh round pick of the Diamondbacks in 2012, Velazquez was shipped along with Justin Williams to the Rays for Jeremy Hellickson in November 2014.

The Rays, currently owners of the best record in baseball, will move to a 12-man pitching staff for the time being.  This puts the Rays in the minority for the American League, where two-thirds of clubs run with a 13-man pitching staff at the moment.

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