Rays Sign Derek Norris
TUESDAY: Norris’ deal comes with $250K in incentives for 50, 75, 100 and 125 days on the big league roster, tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag. He’ll also collect $250K if the Rays trade him.
SUNDAY: To make room for Norris, the Rays have placed right-hander Kevin Gadea on the 60-day DL with elbow tendinitis, according to Topkin. If healthy, the Rays would have returned the Rule 5 pick to the Mariners (Twitter links).
SATURDAY: The Rays have officially announced the signing. A corresponding move to create a 40-man roster spot will come later today, Topkin tweets, with the simplest scenario being that Ramos would be placed on the 60-day DL.
FRIDAY, 3:40pm: Norris will earn $1.2MM and can add another $800K via incentives, Topkin tweets. That’ll be on top of the $688K or so he’s owed by the Nationals under the arb arrangement he had reached at the outset of his short-lived stint in D.C.
1:28pm: Free agent catcher Derek Norris will sign with the Rays, reports Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports. Norris chose the Rays over four other suitors (Twitter link). It’ll be a one-year deal, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Rays could control Norris for two years, though, as he’ll be arbitration eligible for the last time in 2018.
[RELATED: Updated Rays Depth Chart]
The Rockies and Cardinals had also been mentioned recently in connection to Norris, who reached the open market when the Nationals released him March 15. That came after a failed attempt to trade Norris, who would have been due $4.2MM. Instead, he’ll presumably earn a significantly lower salary with the Rays. Norris picked Tampa Bay over other teams because he expects to receive more playing time there than he would have elsewhere, according to Brown.
The Rays signed a high-profile backstop, Wilson Ramos, in free agency over the winter, but after suffering a torn ACL last season, he probably won’t debut until May or June. Even when he is healthy enough to return, Ramos could break back in as a designated hitter. Thus, as opposed to going with the unexciting duo of Luke Maile and Curt Casali as their primary catchers, the Rays are adding Norris, who’s easily the most proven of the three.
The 28-year-old Norris isn’t without his flaws, having batted an ugly .186/.255/.328 with a career-worst 30.3 percent strikeout rate in 458 plate appearances with the Padres last season. However, Norris isn’t far removed from slashing a palatable .246/.336/.392 in 982 PAs with the A’s and Padres from 2012-15. Norris is also coming off his second straight season in which both Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner assigned him plus pitch-framing marks behind the plate. That surely added to his appeal from the Rays’ standpoint, as the organization is known to value framing.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AL Notes: Rays, Twins, Athletics
The Rays are on the lookout for a right-handed bat, which would come in the form of either a shortstop or an outfielder, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Their preference is to to land an outfielder who has options and can back up center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, per Topkin, who lists Bryce Brentz, Peter Bourjos, Austin Jackson, Rob Refsnyder and Justin Ruggiano as possibilities. Former Ray Melvin Upton Jr. might be a candidate, too, if the Blue Jays dump him, Topkin writes.
Elsewhere on the Rays front, Jesus Sucre is likely to join the newly signed Derek Norris as one of their two catchers, according to Topkin. Tampa Bay still needs to add Norris and Sucre to its 40-man roster, which means the club could look to trade one of its other backstops, Curt Casali or Luke Maile (probably Casali), relays Topkin.
The latest on two other American League clubs:
- The Twins optioned right-hander Jose Berrios to Triple-A Rochester on Saturday, thus eliminating him from the competition for the final spot in their rotation. The job will go to either Adalberto Mejia or Tyler Duffey, whom Berrios fell behind while he was with Team Puerto Rico for 18 days at the World Baseball Classic. Berrios only threw 6 2/3 innings during that nearly three-week span, which hurt his chances of beginning the season in Minnesota, but he doesn’t regret participating in the tournament. “Playing for Puerto Rico is an honor; it makes me proud,” Berrios told Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press through an interpreter. “I know this is my team, it’s my job. This is who drafted me. This is who I’m going to make it with, but you don’t get to play for Puerto Rico every day or every year. That’s not how it is.” The 22-year-old Berrios, who has dominated in the minors, still seems likely to end up in the Twins’ rotation sometime in 2017. If that happens, the former premier prospect will try to bounce back from a rough rookie year in which he posted an 8.02 ERA, 7.56 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 over 58 innings.
- It came as a surprise when the Twins designated DH Byung Ho Park for assignment in February, but he ultimately remained with the organization after clearing waivers. Nearly two months later, he has the inside track on a big league roster spot on account of Kennys Vargas‘ less-than-ideal spring, per Berardino. Vargas, who was also with Puerto Rico at the WBC, has gone just 1 for 15 with three walks during the Twins’ exhibition season. His situation worsened when he fouled a ball off his left foot Friday, and is now on crutches. Although initial X-rays were negative, the Twins will send Vargas for further testing, writes Berardino. “If he doesn’t play for a week, it’s going to have an impact,” manager Paul Molitor said of Vargas’ chances of earning a place with the Twins. “He just hasn’t had many at-bats.”
- Righty Jesse Hahn looks like the odd man out in the Athletics’ rotation battle, observes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Judging by the A’s pitching schedule, they appear poised to go with Andrew Triggs and Raul Alcantara for their final two starting spots, Slusser notes. Hahn was subpar at both the major league and Triple-A levels last season, and he hasn’t bounced back with a decent spring. The 27-year-old has yielded 15 earned runs on 25 hits in 15 1/3 innings.
AL East Notes: Dombrowski, Rasmus, Rays, Alvarez, Shapiro
While the Red Sox pitching depth has been a cause of concern this spring, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski doesn’t think the team is going to add any more starting pitchers, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes. “Not that you don’t constantly keep a pulse of everything as far as you can, but to be overly aggressive in terms of trying to do something in that regard, I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Dombrowski said. Even if the Sox did want to acquire starters, Dombrowski noted, the fact that the rotation is set (David Price‘s arm issues notwithstanding) doesn’t give the team much incentive to lure a veteran pitcher. As Dombrowski rhetorically asks, “if Price comes back quickly, what do you do with that guy? I’d gladly have two or three more guys at Triple A that were big league starters, that were good, that we can bring up at any time. But they want to sign with a big league contract.”
Here’s more from around the AL East…
- Colby Rasmus will likely begin the season on the disabled list, the Rays outfielder tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. After last season concluded, Rasmus underwent surgeries on his hip and core area, and he still isn’t quite fully recovered enough to handle regular left field duty. Mallex Smith will likely be Tampa’s Opening Day left fielder, though Rasmus may not miss more than a week’s worth of games.
- With Derek Norris now in the fold and Wilson Ramos expected back in May or June, the Rays‘ current catchers are facing uncertainty, MLB.com’s Bill Chastain writes. Curt Casali, Luke Maile and Jesus Sucre had been in competition for the two catching jobs, though now only one will stick around on the 25-man roster to serve as Norris’ backup. Sucre may face the biggest hurdle, as the Rays would have to make room to find him a spot on the 40-man roster if he makes the team.
- Pedro Alvarez‘s minor league deal with the Orioles includes an opt-out clause in May, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. Alvarez is trying to make the O’s as an outfielder, which could be a tough call given Alvarez’s inexperience at the position and the number of other outfield candidates also in camp, Kubatko notes.
- Scott Boras recently had some harsh words about the Blue Jays‘ method of assigning pre-arbitration salaries, particularly in regards to Boras client Aaron Sanchez being renewed for a league-minimum salary in 2017. As Jays president Mark Shapiro noted in a radio interview with Jeff Blair and Stephen Brunt on The FAN 590 (hat tip to Sportsnet’s David Singh), however, both the team and the agent are on the same page in wanting to see Sanchez eventually maximize his earnings. “[GM Ross Atkins] and I have told Aaron, ‘Listen, we want to pay you a lot of money. We want to pay you more money. The more we pay you the better, because that means you’ve performed better,’ ” Shapiro said. “We want our guys to all do extremely well for us to have to pay them a ton of money. Because if we have to pay them a ton of money, that means they’re performing on the field, which means we have a better chance to be a championship team.”
Quick Hits: Draft, Norris, Sternberg, Hanson, Quintana
This year’s amateur draft class is still quite unsettled, though in Baseball America’s initial ranking of the Top 100 draft prospects, Hudson Belinsky and John Manuel note that a pair of two-way players are standing out as the potential top two picks. Louisville first baseman/left-handed pitcher Brendan McKay is drawing most of his attention as an “elite pure hit tool” batter though “at least one” interested team prefers him on the mound. No right-handed high school pitcher has ever been drafted first overall, though 17-year-old Hunter Greene has an upper-90s fastball and has touched the 102mph mark. This kind of live arm at such a young age has even drawn some Dwight Gooden comparisons, so most evalutors prefer Greene as a pitcher, though he also possesses “top-of-the-scale raw power” as a shortstop. The Twins own the first pick in June’s draft, though McKay and Greene are just two of nine players Minnesota is reportedly considering for the top selection.
Here’s more from around baseball…
- The Rays are currently “on the outside looking in” of the Derek Norris hunt, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (via Twitter), though they are still one of multiple teams talking to the free agent catcher. The Rays have a need at catcher since Wilson Ramos will miss some time at the start of the season and require DH days after returning, and they’ve been linked to Norris since he was released by the Nationals last week.
- Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg spoke to reporters (including MLB.com’s Bill Chastain) about the team’s search for a new ballpark, noting that the Rays have already moved on from their top choice. “We had some ideas on locations that weren’t available, that I thought would work perfectly, that were off the table,” Sternberg said. “So we’re sort of moving down our list, No. 2, 3, and 4. Sometimes it’s like starting pitchers. You have five of them, and sometimes No. 4 is better than No. 2, and really better than No. 1.“
- Reds right-hander Nick Hanson, the club’s third-round pick in the 2016 draft, will undergo Tommy John surgery, as reported by SB Nation’s Eric Roseberry and the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Zach Buchanan (Twitter links). Hanson, a Minnesota high schooler, was slated to attend the University of Kentucky before agreeing to an above-slot $925K bonus to join the Reds. The 2017 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked him as the 30th-best prospect in Cincy’s system, describing the 6’6″ 18-year-old as “understandably raw with a loose arm” but owning a fastball in the 91-95mph range and the potential for an above-average curveball. Given the usual TJ recovery period, Hanson’s best-case scenario for a return is midway through the 2018 season.
- Jose Quintana is worth the big price it would cost the Pirates to acquire the southpaw from the White Sox, Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette opines. Quintana’s strong track record and affordable contract make him a good fit for the Bucs, who could sacrifice young arms Tyler Glasnow and Mitch Keller in order to win now with Quintana, in Zeise’s view. Giving up outfield prospect Austin Meadows could be difficult, though Zeise wonders if the Sox have perhaps slightly lowered their asking price. (White Sox GM Rick Hahn said nothing had changed on that front in comments to reporters today.) Pirates GM Neal Huntington “should do [the trade] today,” Zeise writes, if Chicago would accept Glasnow, Keller and Josh Bell.
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Betts, Leon, Donaldson, Boxberger, Beckham
In an interesting look inside the Red Sox front office, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports on the team’s analytical upgrade efforts. While the organization has long been associated with number-crunching and information hoarding, it has only recently ramped up its full-time staff to launch a new database effort and keep pace with other clubs. It’s an interesting look at the process behind and purposes of the team’s next steps in analytics.
Here’s more from Boston and the rest of the AL East:
- In a look at Red Sox star Mookie Betts, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe delves into the role of off-field earning opportunities in determining the contractual path of Betts and other young stars. “[Getting endorsements] kind of eliminates things I’ve wondered as far as contracts go and the business part of the game,” says Betts. “[But] everything I can ever desire is going to start from me taking care of business on the field.” Whether that precludes a long-term deal — or, at least, drives up the potential price — remains to be seen.
- Sandy Leon seems on track to open the season with the lion’s share of the time behind the dish for the Red Sox, skipper John Farrell told reporters including Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). But the manager made clear that he doesn’t intend to rely too heavily on any one man at the catching position, suggesting it’ll be a fairly evenly shared platoon situation between Leon and Christian Vasquez — at least to start the season.
- Star Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson took the field in Grapefruit League action for the first time yesterday, as MLB.com’s Paul Hagen writes. All indications were that his calf issue didn’t hold him back, so it seems that Toronto can still look forward to Donaldson’s presence on the Opening Day roster.
- Rays righty Brad Boxberger isn’t going to be ready for Opening Day, but does hope to be contributing in the majors during the month of April, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. His lat issue will still require at least a week-long layoff before he beings a new throwing program.
- The career of former top Rays prospect Tim Beckham has continued its roller-coaster path, Topkin writes. After a rough end to 2016, Beckham now seems ascendant yet again, with a strong showing in spring and unexpected opportunity at shortstop with Matt Duffy still on ice. Beckham is drawing rave reviews from manager Kevin Cash and veteran players for his commitment and performance, perhaps suggesting there’s still some hope the 27-year-old can turn the corner at the game’s highest level.
Rays Release David Carpenter
The Rays have released veteran righty David Carpenter, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. Also cut loose from the organization was fellow right-hander Jeff Walters.
Signed to a minors deal over the winter, the 31-year-old Carpenter was hoping to make it back to the majors for the first time since 2015. He had struggled to gain traction last year, too, while attempting to work back from shoulder issues that derailed his MLB career.
Carpenter worked to a 2.63 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 over 126 innings over the course of the 2013-14 seasons, making him a high-quality setup option. But he was not the same pitcher in the following campaign, striking out just 5.5 batters per nine in an injury-shortened year.
The righty has actually been pretty good this spring, allowing three earned runs on seven hits over 8 2/3 innings. He recorded six strikeouts and didn’t issue a single walk in that span. Clearly, though, the Rays still didn’t see quite enough reason to expect he’d be able to contribute in the majors this year, so Carpenter will presumably go searching for another opportunity.
As for Walters, 29, it once seemed likely he’d contribute to the Mets pen. But he struggled with consistency and turned in a down year in 2016 at Triple-A, where he worked to a 5.89 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 over 65 2/3 innings. Walters landed in MLB camp with the Rays, but struggled in his 4 2/3 frames of Grapefruit League action.
Rays, Yankees Interested In Nick Ahmed
The Rays and Yankees have joined the Padres in showing some trade interest in Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed, The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro reports. The D’Backs had begun listening to offers for the defensive star thanks to a surplus of other middle infield options, with San Diego already linked due to manager Andy Green’s familiarity with Ahmed in his old job as Arizona’s third base coach.
It makes sense that both AL East rivals would be checking in on Ahmed given how Tampa and New York have both suffered injury setbacks at shortstop. The Rays are still uncertain as to when Matt Duffy will be able to begin full baseball activities in the wake of his extended recovery from Achilles tendon in his left heel last September. The Yankees, meanwhile, will be without Didi Gregorius until the end of April as the shortstop recovers from a shoulder strain.
At first glance, the Yankees would seem to have the lesser need for Ahmed since they already have several other middle infield options (Ronald Torreyes, Ruben Tejada, Donovan Solano, Pete Kozma, Tyler Wade or even second baseman Starlin Castro) on hand, plus they have a rough idea about when Gregorius will be back on the field. Tampa Bay’s timeline for Duffy is much more uncertain, and the Rays were already operating under something of a strained middle infield in the wake of trading Logan Forsythe to the Dodgers.
Tim Beckham is slated to take over at short in Duffy’s absence, leaving the Rays short a right-handed platoon option for second baseman Brad Miller, who struggles against lefties. Daniel Robertson and the switch-hitting Nick Franklin are the other viable middle infield options on the 40-man roster, as it is rather unlikely that top prospect Willy Adames will get an early promotion to the big leagues.
Ahmed hasn’t shown much at the plate (a .597 OPS over 842 career plate appearances) in his brief career and he carries some notable injury history in the form of season-ending hip surgery from last August. On the plus side, he is controllable through the 2020 season, and potentially through 2021 spending on how much more service time he accumulates this season — he has already clocked two years and 54 days of service time in his career. Ahmed has also shown himself to be a superb defender at short, with +34 Defensive Runs Saved and a 14.3 UZR/150 over 1920 career innings at the position.
In another item from Piecoro, he also reports that the Diamondbacks are listening to offers on right-hander Enrique Burgos. The 26-year-old has a fastball that averages just shy of 96mph and he owns an impressive 10.8 K/9 over 68 1/3 career innings in the majors, though Burgos has managed only a 5.27 ERA thanks to control issues (an even 5.00 BB/9). Piecoro figures that the D’Backs are trying to move Burgos in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for Gregor Blanco, Tom Wilhelmsen, or another player who could win an Opening Day job.
AL East Notes: Britton, Price, Red Sox, Duffy, Pearce
As a dominant AL East closer that relies on one signature pitch, the Orioles‘ Zach Britton has much in common with Mariano Rivera, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark writes. Obviously Britton has a ways to go before matching Rivera’s incredible track record, though Britton’s sinker (which he threw 92.2% of the time last season) is already being compared to Rivera’s legendary cut fastball. Without fully explaining his secrets behind the pitch, Britton tells Stark about what makes his sinker unique, and also how he came upon the pitch by accident while trying to learn, ironically, a cutter.
Here’s more from around the AL East…
- David Price was re-examined by Red Sox team doctors today and the team reported that the ace lefty “has lost enough strength in his arm to where he is weaker than he was when he reported to Spring Training,” Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes. Price still isn’t on a timetable to begin his throwing program, and thus Silverman speculates that Price’s DL stint could now stretch into May, as opposed to the previous theorized return date of late April. “You don’t really attach yourself to a calendar. You’ve got to listen to the pitcher’s situation, how his body is responding and what the objective tests are telling us. He’s getting closer to getting a ball back in his hand,” manager John Farrell said.
- Despite the recent spate of injuries to newly-acquired Red Sox, Dave Dombrowski doesn’t feel the team’s medical evaluation process is at fault, CSNNE.com’s Evan Drellich writes. “I don’t find anything that’s been abnormal this spring compared to any other spring I’ve ever been,” Dombrowski said. “We’ve focused a great deal on medical. But we’ve been doing that for years and we continually look at that all the time.” Price, Drew Pomeranz, Tyler Thornburg, Carson Smith and Hector Velazquez have all dealt with some degree of arm issues with joining the Sox since Dombrowski took over as president of baseball operations, though he argues that acquiring pitching of any type carries inherent risk. “With the sophistication of the medical industry nowadays, I don’t know the last time I’ve traded for somebody or signed somebody: nobody has a pristine arm,” Dombrowski said. “Nobody. I can’t even tell you the last time — it doesn’t exist. So you’re going to know that that’s just part of the equation. And then you have to weigh what type of risk you’re willing to take.”
- It looks like Rays shortstop Matt Duffy will miss Opening Day, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that the club is still trying to determine a timeline for Duffy’s injury rehab. Duffy underwent Achilles tendon surgery on his left heel last September, and has been limited to just strengthening exercises and drills this spring, without any running and no baseball activities. Rays manager Kevin Cash implied that Duffy’s current problems may not be related to his Achilles surgery, which could be a positive in getting him closer to readiness.
- Steve Pearce declined to tell Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun if the Orioles were in touch about re-signing the veteran utilityman, though he praised the O’s for supporting his decision to undergo elbow surgery late last season when the club was in a pennant race. Pearce also noted that he decided to sign with the Blue Jays since “they were hard and aggressive” in their pursuit this winter. “As a player, when you have somebody who wants you that bad and they come after you, they don’t mess around, they’re not trying to low ball — as soon as we got to a number we got comfortable with and they got comfortable with, it was an easy sign,” Pearce said.
- In other AL East news from earlier today on MLBTR, the Blue Jays are close to a contract extension with manager John Gibbons, the Yankees will be without Didi Gregorius for roughly six weeks due to a shoulder injury and the Rays could still possibly trade a pitcher before Opening Day.
Rays Could Trade From Pitching Depth
The Rays could strike a late-spring deal involving one of their pitchers, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). It’s not immediately clear how likely that scenario is, but it’s interesting that it’s a real consideration at this stage of camp.
Tampa Bay already parted with important staff members at last year’s trade deadline, when it shipped Matt Moore to the Giants, and earlier this winter, when Drew Smyly was dealt to the Mariners. But the organization also ended up adding a MLB pitching candidate over the winter when it swapped second baseman Logan Forsythe to the Dodgers for intriguing prospect Jose De Leon.
Now, it seems, the Rays are again looking to tweak their staff mix. The “strongest candidate” to be moved, per the report, is righty Erasmo Ramirez, who Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times recently suggested as a possible trade candidate. The 26-year-old has turned in 254 innings of 3.76 ERA ball, with 6.7 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9, over his two seasons in Tampa Bay. Though he functioned mostly as a starter in 2015, Ramirez worked almost exclusively from the pen last year.
With just $3.2MM owed to Ramirez and two more years of arbitration control remaining, he’d be an appealing acquisition target to a variety of organizations. Several teams are said to be looking to bolster their rotation depth to account for ailing starters, and Ramirez would represent a sturdy starting option who could transition to a pen role as needed.
That same versatility is of obvious value to the Rays, though the team has a similarly flexible pitcher on hand in Matt Andriese with numerous other arms available on the 40-man roster. Presumably, pitchers other than Ramirez could also be on the move in the right circumstances. Righty Alex Cobb has long been discussed as a possible trade target, though parting with him would likely mean selling low given that he only made it back very late in 2016 after a long Tommy John rehab. Top starters Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi have also been chatted about quite a bit, though both would represent major trade targets for rival organizations.
AL East Notes: Thornburg, Donaldson, Travis, Boxberger
Reliever Tyler Thornburg tops the Red Sox‘ list of concerns as the 2017 season approaches, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. Thornburg has dealt with dead arm for most of Spring Training so far. The Red Sox gave up a fairly hefty package of talent that included infielder Travis Shaw and prospect Mauricio Dubon to get Thornburg, but so far Thornburg’s Red Sox tenure is off to a rough start — he misinterpreted the Red Sox’ prescribed offseason training regimen, according to Cafardo, and now will probably have to start the season on the disabled list. The Red Sox might end up missing longtime late-inning reliever Koji Uehara, who they allowed to depart for the Cubs. Cafardo notes that Thornburg could join a list of Red Sox relief trade acquisitions who disappointed due to injury, including Carson Smith, Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey — although, of course, Hanrahan and Bailey weren’t acquired under the Red Sox’ current front office, and it’s way, way too early to write Thornburg off. Thornburg pitched an apparently successful bullpen session on Saturday. Here’s more from the AL East.
- Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldson makes his Spring Training debut today playing DH against Minnesota, John Lott of the Athletic tweets. Donaldson suffered a calf injury near the start of Spring Training and has been out the past month. Donaldson’s return isn’t the only bit of good news for the Jays. Second baseman Devon Travis, who has missed time after having offseason knee surgery, also appears to be returning to health — Lott tweets that Travis expects to make his official spring debut later this week.
- One player whose injury prognosis isn’t so sunny is Rays reliever Brad Boxberger, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes (all Twitter links). Manager Kevin Cash says Boxberger’s lat injury isn’t improving as quickly as the team had anticipated, and that he’s unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Boxberger struggled with an oblique injury during a poor 2016 season in which he posted a 4.81 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 7.0 BB/9 in just 24 1/3 innings. His absence could create an opportunity for recent waiver claim Jumbo Diaz, who’s about to return to the Rays after pitching in the World Baseball Classic, according to Topkin.