- As they continue to work on upgrading their roster, the Rays are willing to take trade offers for infielders Tim Beckham and Brad Miller, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). With the recent additions of Adeiny Hechavarria and now Lucas Duda, the Rays are perhaps a bit overstocked in infielders. Still, Tampa Bay is more interested in listening to potential offers than in shopping the pair around, Crasnick notes.
Rays Rumors
Rays Acquire Lucas Duda
The Rays have officially struck a deal to acquire veteran first baseman Lucas Duda. In return, the Mets have added right-handed relief pitching prospect Drew Smith.
[RELATED: Updated Rays & Mets Depth Charts]
Duda is playing on a $7.25MM salary this year, just over $2.6MM of which remains and all of which will be absorbed by his new team, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). To create 40-man roster space, the Rays have designated outfielder Shane Peterson for assignment, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported (via Twitter).
Duda, 31, has posted compelling offensive numbers this year after an injury-riddled 2016 season. Through 291 plate appearances, he has slashed .246/.347/.532 and delivered 17 home runs, largely matching the output he provided in his excellent 2014 and 2015 campaigns.
Clearly, the slugger has his limitations, beginning with the fact that he only plays first base (where he has graded as an average defender). He strikes out in about a quarter of his trips to the plate and carries a .246 batting average both this year and in his career. And he’s definitely better against right-handed pitching, though Duda has been better than usual against southpaws this year. But the power is obviously legitimate — Duda has knocked 125 career dingers — and he knows how to draw a walk (12.7% BB rate on the year).
Though the Rays have their own breakout offensive performer at first in Logan Morrison, the team has room for another big left-handed bat. With outfielder Colby Rasmus hanging up his spikes mid-way through the year, the Rays could utilize Corey Dickerson in the outfield to allow Duda to step in at DH.
For the Mets, the move helps to alleviate an immediate roster logjam by opening the door for Jay Bruce to play first base. Of course, that’s not likely to last long, as he and others could yet be on the move. New York will ultimately provide top prospect Dominic Smith his first taste of the majors; with the departure of Duda, that could come in short order.
Meanwhile, New York picks up a pitcher who could be a contributor in New York as soon as the present season — though the Mets likely won’t be in a rush to add him to the 40-man roster. Smith, 23, was a third-round pick in the 2015 draft. He made his way to the Rays as the player to be named later in the winter deal that sent Mikie Mahtook to the Tigers.
With a big fastball and quality curve, Smith looks as if he could turn into a steady and affordable MLB relief asset. The MLB.com prospect team ranked him 30th on the Tampa Bay farm, noting that his upside is as a setup arm. Smith threw 28 2/3 innings of 2.20 ERA ball at the High-A level upon landing with the Rays organization and recently ascended to Triple-A after a quick stop at the penultimate level of the minors.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported that a deal had gained momentum (Twitter links) after Marc Carig of Newsday reported earlier that Tampa Bay had shown some interest in Duda. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter) had Smith’s inclusion. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweeted that the deal was complete.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rays Acquire Dan Jennings From White Sox
The Rays have begun to bolster their bullpen, announcing on Thursday that they’ve acquired lefty reliever Dan Jennings from the White Sox in exchange for first base prospect Casey Gillaspie. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Rays designated right-hander Diego Moreno for assignment.
[Related: Updated Chicago White Sox depth chart and Tampa Bay Rays depth chart]
Tampa Bay has been known to be interested in picking up a left-handed reliever, and they’ve reportedly checked in on the likes of San Diego’s Brad Hand and Detroit’s Justin Wilson in recent weeks. Both relievers are reportedly attached to exorbitant asking prices, however, which likely prompted the Rays to shift to another southpaw that they can control beyond the current campaign. Notably, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that the Rays are still looking at bigger names on the relief market, so there could yet be further additions to the Tampa Bay bullpen.
Jennings, 30, has been a solid bullpen piece for the Sox since being acquired prior to the 2015 season in a shrewd trade by Chicago GM Rick Hahn. (The Sox sent righty Andre Rienzo to Miami in exchange for Jennings.) Jennings has totaled 161 1/3 innings out of the South Siders’ bullpen in the past three seasons, and while his 7.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 marks don’t stand out, he’s used a 59.1 percent ground-ball rate and a paltry 23.7 percent hard-contact rate to help him to a 3.12 ERA in that time.
While he’s long been effective against lefties, Jennings has been flat-out lethal against southpaw swingers in 2017, limiting them to a feeble .164/.286/.211 batting line through 85 plate appearances. He’s also earning just $1.4MM in 2017 and can be retained for another two years via arbitration, making him a nice longer-term piece for the Rays’ bullpen.
Jennings becomes the second reliever that the White Sox have flipped in a one-for-one swap involving a solid offensive prospect in as many days. (Anthony Swarzak officially went to the Brewers in exchange for outfielder Ryan Cordell yesterday.) Gillaspie, 24, was the Rays’ first-round pick in the 2014 draft and entered the season ranked as the game’s No. 74 overall prospect in the eyes of Baseball America. That ranking came on the heels of a strong .286/.387/.482 batting line in 555 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A in last year’s age-23 campaign.
The 2017 season has been a struggle for Gillaspie, however. He’s slumped to a .227/.296/.357 slash through his first 395 PAs with Triple-A Durham and had slipped from fifth to tenth on MLB.com’s rankings of the organization’s top 30 prospects. That said, MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo still placed a solid 50 grade (on the 20-80 scouting scale) on Gillaspie’s overall potential moving forward, praising the switch-hitter’s “untapped power potential” and touting him as at least a league-average defender at first base.
CSN Chicago’s Chuck Garfien tweets that Gillaspie, the younger brother of former White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie, is currently dealing with a broken toe and is expected to be out for another one to two weeks. He’ll then report to Triple-A Charlotte.
Losing his roster spot as a result of the trade will be the 30-year-old Moreno, who has tossed 5 2/3 frames out of the Rays’ bullpen this season and allowed three earned runs on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts. Moreno’s biggest claim to fame is being one of the two players traded by the Pirates to the Yankees in the 2012 swap that sent A.J. Burnett to Pittsburgh. He has just 16 innings at the big league level but has posted a more palatable 3.70 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 through 165 1/3 career innings in Triple-A.
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick first reported that the Rays were closing in on a trade for a left-handed reliever (Twitter link). Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported the specifics (also on Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rays Place Jake Odorizzi On 10-Day DL
The Rays have placed righty Jake Odorizzi on the 10-day DL, per Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). A lower-back issue is the cause for the placement.
Odorizzi says he has dealt with lower back troubles since the spring, as Mooney further reports (Twitter links). The hope is he’ll only miss a pair of outings. While the move would likely remove him from trade consideration, and he has previously been tabbed a trade candidate, that seemed unlikely anyway with the Rays firmly in contention.
Hopefully, the respite will give Odorizzi a chance to get his season back on track. While his 4.47 ERA is hardly disastrous, it’s also not what we’ve come to expect from the 27-year-old righty. While he’s maintaining a fairly typical blend of 7.8 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9, Odorizzi has surrendered 23 long balls in just 94 2/3 innings on the year.
That said, the injury — along with Odorizzi’s struggles — does serve to highlight the ever-present need to maintain adequate pitching depth. Tampa Bay has that in spades, so much so that it has long been speculated the organization would consider dealing from a surplus. But with Matt Andriese already out and Odorizzi now ailing, perhaps it’s less likely than ever that pending free agent Alex Cobb will be on the move.
On the other hand, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes, the Rays’ front office is still looking closely at the club’s postseason odds as it charts a course forward. Even with less than a week to go before the deadline, it seems, movement in the standings will impact the extent to which the team looks to add — or even push it toward considering a deal for Cobb.
The Rays are seemingly focused at this point on adding relief pitching as the deadline draws near. Perhaps hanging onto Cobb and the rest of the starting options will also help deepen the pen, though all indications are the Rays will look to make at least one outside addition.
To fill the roster spot created by Odorizzi’s injury, the club has recalled righty Andrew Kittredge, who has put up some intriguing numbers this year at Triple-A (in addition to making his first three MLB appearances). To fill the rotation spot, though, it seems the club could turn to Austin Pruitt; Mooney notes (via Twitter) that Pruitt was scratched from his scheduled outing last night.
Long List Of Teams Interested In AJ Ramos
MONDAY: In addition to the Rockies and Cubs, the Nationals are said to be “expressing strong interest” in Ramos, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Ramos has previously been tied to the Nats, though those talks reportedly took place before the team’s recent addition of a pair of late-inning relievers. Of course, Washington is still said to be looking at yet more relief targets.
SATURDAY: The Diamondbacks, Rockies, Rays, Red Sox, Cubs, Brewers and others all have interest in Marlins closer AJ Ramos, FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick and others tweeted earlier this week that the Marlins were taking calls on Ramos.
The Marlins, of course, recently traded reliever David Phelps to Seattle for a package including outfield prospect Brayan Hernandez, and Ramos could potentially be an even more desirable trade target. The 30-year-old has a 4.08 ERA and 4.8 BB/9 this season, but with a strong 11.5 K/9. He also has 89 career saves and a long history of success in the ninth inning, making him a strong late-inning option for a contender. (Of course, many clubs on Heyman’s list of interested teams, including the Rockies, Red Sox, Cubs and Brewers, appear set at closer, but that wouldn’t preclude them from having interest in another good late-inning arm.) Ramos can be controlled through 2018 via the arbitration process.
With Phelps gone, the Marlins are expected to lean harder on Junichi Tazawa, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro recently explained. Tazawa has pitched nine scoreless innings this month. The team also has Kyle Barraclough, Nick Wittgren and Dustin McGowan to pitch in the late innings. It’s not yet clear, however, who would take over the closer role should Ramos depart.
Rays Release Rickie Weeks
The Rays have released infielder Rickie Weeks to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for newly acquired Sergio Romo, the team announced. Weeks had been on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, though he’d been on a rehab assignment in Triple-A. Andrew Kittredge has been optioned to Triple-A Durham to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Weeks, 34, hit .216/.321/.340 in 112 plate appearances with the Rays earlier this season, totaling 90 innings at first base in his lone action on defense. Weeks was brought in largely due to his track record of success against left-handed pitching, but he stumbled to a .176/.333/.275 through 63 plate appearances. Weeks had a solid campaign at the plate as recently as 2016 with the D-backs (.239/.327/.450) and has handled lefties well throughout his career, so he could latch on elsewhere as a minor league signee.
Romo, who had been designated for assignment by the Dodgers, was acquired by the Rays on Saturday in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later.
Latest On Rays' Deadline Plans
- The Rays are seeking an “impact reliever” and perhaps some offensive help leading up to the trade deadline, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The club did add to its bullpen when it acquired Sergio Romo from the Dodgers on Saturday, but the 2017 version of the ex-Giants closer doesn’t inspire much confidence. As such, he won’t be their last relief addition, tweets FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. The Rays will take a “responsible” approach to the deadline, writes Topkin, but a willingness to add salary and deal “good” prospects still exists. They’re also not ruling out trading someone from their major league roster, suggests Topkin.
Rays Acquire Sergio Romo
The Rays have acquired reliever Sergio Romo and cash considerations from the Dodgers for cash or a player to be named later, per an announcement from Los Angeles.
After an excellent stint with the Giants from 2008-16, Romo drew offseason interest from the Rays before heading to LA on a one-year, $3MM deal. Staying in the National League West didn’t go well for the 34-year-old Romo, who pitched to a 6.12 ERA (with a less-than-encouraging 5.75 FIP) in 25 innings as a Dodger. He also posted a career-worst walk rate (4.32 per nine) and yielded home runs on 26.9 percent of fly balls – an enormous increase over his 13.9 percent mark from last season. As a result, the Dodgers designated Romo for assignment on Thursday.
Given his woes this year, Romo hardly looks like a cure-all for the Rays, who have been in the market for relief help leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Still, he’s a low-cost pickup who did show some promising signs as a Dodger. Romo struck out 28.7 percent of batters in LA, matching his career mark, logged a 14.8 percent swinging-strike rate that betters his lifetime figure (14.2) and helped offset a low ground-ball rate (35.4 percent) by inducing pop-ups with regularity. At 15.4 percent, Romo’s infield fly rate places him among the majors’ upper echelon when it comes to relievers.
Even with Romo on hand, it stands to reason the Rays will continue to scour the market for relief upgrades over the next week-plus. While the 51-47 club is 1.5 games up on a wild-card spot, Tampa Bay’s success hasn’t come because of its bullpen. Rays relievers entered Saturday 22nd in the majors in ERA (4.37) and 23rd in fWAR (1.4), though the now-departed duo of Danny Farquhar and Jumbo Diaz contributed heavily to those unremarkable numbers before the team jettisoned them in recent weeks. The right-handed Romo hasn’t been any better this year, and he’ll now look to bounce back among a relief corps that includes more stable righty options in Alex Colome, Chase Whitley, Brad Boxberger, Tommy Hunter and Erasmo Ramirez.
Ken Gurnick of MLB.com first reported the trade (on Twitter). Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rays Notes: Neshek, Kiermaier
The Yankees had scout Brandon Duckworth in attendance to watch Texas’ game in Tampa Bay on Friday, leading to speculation that the Bombers are interested in Rangers ace Yu Darvish, writes George A. King III of the New York Post. New York is one of many potential suitors for Darvish, who struck out 12 Rays in eight innings Friday. For the Yankees, Darvish would more than make up for the loss of Michael Pineda to Tommy John surgery and give the playoff hopefuls another front-line starter to join Luis Severino. However, it’s unclear whether they’d be willing to pay what figures to be a heavy price for a rental.
- The Rays are interested in acquiring reliever Pat Neshek from the Phillies, so Philadelphia is heavily scouting Tampa Bay’s farm system, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Neshek is among a host of relievers the bullpen-needy Rays have been eyeing with the deadline approaching.
- While the Rays are currently looking for outside help, they have an in-house reinforcement on the way in center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who suffered a hip fracture June 8. Kiermaier is eligible to return from the DL on Aug. 9, and he expects to do just that if all goes well on a rehab assignment, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Even though Kiermaier is one of the Rays’ cornerstones, their outfield has fared nicely in his absence, with Mallex Smith and Peter Bourjos filling in well in center.
Jumbo Diaz Elects Free Agency
- Righty Jumbo Diaz is a free agent after rejecting an outright assignment from the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. The bulky 33-year-old had a solid 2016 campaign but scuffled upon arriving in Tampa Bay. In his thirty innings, he was touched for a 5.70 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9.
