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Rays Designate Dana Eveland For Assignment, Release Ryan Webb

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The Rays have designated left-hander Dana Eveland for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man and 25-man rosters for right-hander Dylan Floro, per a club announcement (links to Twitter via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Additionally, the team announced that Ryan Webb has cleared waivers and been released following his DFA late last month.

[Related: Updated Rays Depth Chart]

Eveland, 32, has surrendered 19 runs in 20 innings with the Rays this season. He’s punched out 18 hitters in that time, but he’s surrendered a troublesome 27 hits and 15 walks, leading to his bloated earned run average. The Rays will have 10 days to trade, outright or release the left-hander. If outrighted, he’ll have the ability to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, although he’s already been designated for assignment and accepted an outright assignment once this season. Eveland has a 5.42 ERA in parts of 11 seasons at the big league level, though he’s totaled just 443 1/3 innings in that time.

In his place, the Rays will turn to the 25-year-old Floro, who has put up strong numbers in Triple-A this year. While Floro doesn’t come with the gaudy strikeout totals that are often associated with up-and-coming relief prospects, he’s demonstrated stellar control throughout his minor league career since being selected in the 13th round of the 2012 draft. He’s saved seven games for the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in Durham this season, posting a 2.81 ERA and averaging 7.1 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9 along the way. Floro didn’t rank among the Rays top prospects on the lists put out by Baseball America, MLB.com or Fangraphs this season but has emerged as an intriguing bullpen option for Tampa Bay.

As for Webb, he’ll hit the open market in search of a new opportunity. The 30-year-old signed a one-year, $1MM contract with Tampa Bay this winter but totaled just 17 1/3 innings of 5.19 ERA ball before being designated. Webb’s ground-ball rate dipped to a still-solid 48.4 percent, but he displayed strong control during his time with the Rays (two unintentional walks) and has a track record of limiting walks and racking up ground-balls. Webb doesn’t light up the radar gun, but he’s been a solid middle relief option for a number of years, as he’ll carry a 3.43 career ERA with per-nine-inning averages of 6.2 strikeouts and 2.8 walks to the open market along with his career 56.1 percent ground-ball rate.

Rangers Reportedly Interested In Jake Odorizzi

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The Rangers and Rays have had talks about a trade that would sent right-hander Jake Odorizzi from Tampa Bay to Texas in exchange for a bat, per Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). The two sides aren’t close to a deal but have continued their talks, per Bowden, who notes that the Rays are unsurprisingly interested in the likes of Jurickson Profar, Joey Gallo and Lewis Brinson.

It’s not clear from the report what exactly the Rangers would be willing to surrender in order to pluck Odorizzi from the Rays, but the 26-year-old figures to come with a fairly substantial asking price. Odorizzi is earning just over the league minimum this season as he won’t qualify for arbitration until the upcoming offseason. He’s controllable through the 2019 campaign and has been a solid contributor to the Rays since being acquired in the James Shields/Wade Davis/Wil Myers blockbuster (although, in retrospect, Odorizzi deserves fairly lofty billing when describing that deal as well).

Over the past two and a half seasons with the Rays, Odorizzi has turned in 461 1/3 innings of 3.78 ERA ball, averaging 8.5 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine innings pitched. While he’s certainly a fly-ball pitcher, his ground-ball rate has increased significantly over the life of his time with the Rays, and the uptick in grounders hasn’t come at the expense of his ability to miss bats. Odorizzi is throwing a career-high number of two-seam fastballs (25.3 percent, per PITCHf/x), and the resulting 39.2 percent ground-ball rate is a career best.

Injuries throughout the Texas rotation have led the club to explore multiple avenues to bolster its rotation. The Rangers are said to be interested on Odorizzi’s own teammate, Matt Moore, and the team was also connected to Twins right-hander Ervin Santana over the weekend. Currently, the Rangers are without Colby Lewis through late August, and Derek Holland is slated to be on the disabled list for a yet-undetermined duration. Yu Darvish, too, is on the shelf, and while he’s set to return in the near future, it’s tough to be 100 percent confident in the durability of a pitcher that had Tommy John surgery in 2015 and quickly returned to the DL with shoulder discomfort.

The Rays, currently 14 games below .500 and in last place in the American League East, have reportedly considered parting with some of their starting pitchers, with Odorizzi, Moore, Drew Smyly and Erasmo Ramirez among the most logical pieces to be dealt. Chris Archer figures to draw plenty of interest as well, though it’s hard to see Tampa Bay selling low on its ace when he has so much club control remaining, and top prospect Blake Snell isn’t likely to be going anywhere just months after his big league debut. Alex Cobb could potentially be a trade candidate in August once he’s back from Tommy John surgery, though the offseason strikes me as a better time to move him, as he won’t have much time to reestablish himself prior to Aug. 31.

Alex Cobb Set For Rehab Start

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  • Rays righty Alex Cobb will make his first rehab start on Wednesday, per a club announcement (h/t to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, via Twitter). Cobb, who is working back from Tommy John surgery, can remain on assignment for 30 days. His timeline probably isn’t a determining factor, but so long as he remains on track it certainly would make it easier for Tampa Bay to move a starter.

Rays Outright Andrew Bellatti

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  • The recently-designated Andrew Bellatti has been outrighted by the Rays. Despite providing 23 1/3 innings of 2.31 ERA pitching last year at the major league level, the right-hander has not cracked the majors this year and had struggled in limited action at Triple-A.

Rays Rumors: Archer, Moore

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  • Led by former Rays general manager and current president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers are in pursuit of Tampa Bay right-hander Chris Archer. The Rays aren’t planning on moving the 27-year-old as of now, though, which backs up FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal’s report from Saturday.
  • If they’re unable to swing a deal for Teheran, the Red Sox might turn their attention to Rays southpaw Matt Moore – in whom they’re interested. Moore, who has three more years of team control left via club options, also intrigues the Astros, Dodgers, Orioles, Royals, Yankees and previously reported Rangers.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Rays Considering Dealing Starting Pitchers

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The expectation is that this summer’s trade market will be largely devoid of quality starting pitchers, but last-place Tampa Bay could change that. The Rays, who are 33-47 and 10 games out of a Wild Card position, are discussing putting some of their young starters on the block well in advance of the Aug. 1 trade deadline, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links). One member of the group unlikely to go anywhere is underachieving right-hander Chris Archer, whose team-friendly contract might be too difficult for the Rays to part with, per Rosenthal.

With Archer probably staying in a Rays uniform and top prospect Blake Snell seemingly a poor bet to go anywhere, that leaves Jake Odorizzi, Drew Smyly, Matt Moore as rotation members Tampa Bay could shop. Each is likely attainable if the right offer comes along, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reported Saturday afternoon.

Odorizzi, who has backed up a respectable ERA (3.91) with solid strikeout and walk ratios per nine innings (8.59 and 2.96, respectively) across 94 1/3 frames this year, has already drawn interest from the Marlins. In 468 2/3 big league innings dating back to 2012, Odorizzi has held his own – 3.80 ERA, 8.45 K/9, 2.84 BB/9 and a 10 percent infield fly rate – though his 34.5 percent grounder rate (39.2 percent this year) is well below average. The 26-year-old right-hander is playing this season on an ultra-cheap $520,700 salary and has three years of arbitration eligibility remaining.

Smyly, 27, has run up a sky-high strikeout rate for the second straight year (10.09), improved his walk rate from 2.7 to 2.24, and continued generating a large amount of infield pop-ups (13.5 percent). Nonetheless, the southpaw’s run prevention has taken a significant hit. Through his first 96 1/3 innings this season, Smyly has recorded a 5.33 ERA – which is more than two runs worse than the excellent 3.11 mark he put in 66 2/3 frames last year.

Notably, Smyly missed a large portion of 2015 with a torn labrum and opted against season-ending surgery in favor of rehabilitation through rest, which proved successful then. However, research done for MLBTR during the offseason by Bradley Woodrum and Tim Dierkes showed that Smyly remains at relatively high risk of eventually needing Tommy John surgery. That could hurt his value, then, even though he logged a 3.45 ERA, 8.51 K/9 and 2.54 BB/9 in 55 starts with the Tigers and Rays from 2012-15 and is on a palatable salary ($3.75MM) with two more arbitration trips on the docket.

Moore has mimicked Smyly in having trouble preventing runs (4.67 ERA ) despite amassing strikeouts (8.61 per nine) and limiting walks (2.62), though he’s coming off a terrific June in which he threw 38 2/3 frames of 3.72 ERA ball. The former top prospect was an eminently useful starter from 2012-13 before injury issues – including April 2014 Tommy John surgery – kept him sidelined for the vast majority of the previous two campaigns. Moore, who’s making $5MM this year, has three affordable club options of $7MM, $9MM and $10MM left on his deal before he’ll become a free agent at the end of the 2019 season. The Rangers are reportedly among the teams interested in acquiring the 27-year-old.

Given the youth and team control Odorizzi, Smyly and Moore offer, their presences on the block could hugely impact the trade deadline. Several playoff contenders (other than the aforementioned Marlins and Rangers) are likely to be on the hunt for starters, which should put each member of the trio in demand.

Jonny Venters Has UCL Tear

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  • The Rays have announced that reliever Jonny Venters has a “left UCL injury,” and the injury is in fact a UCL tear, the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin writes (Twitter links). Venters briefly appeared in a rehab assignment in Class A+ this season. It’s been a brutal series of events for the lefty, who was attempting to come back after having Tommy John surgery for the third time. He is unsure whether to retire or continue to try to return to the Majors. Venters hasn’t appeared in the bigs since 2012, when he whiffed 69 batters in 58 2/3 innings for the Braves. Venters’ career stat line — 2.23 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 4.3 BB/9, and a ridiculous 68.4% ground-ball rate — is borderline dominant, but he can’t seem to make his way back to the mound.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/1/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Rays outfielder Jaff Decker cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, via Twitter. Decker struggled badly in a limited sample this year at the major league level. He has been quite a productive Triple-A hitter, though, and is still just 26 years ofa ge.
  • Outfielder Alex Presley has rejected an outright assignment with the Brewers, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports on Twitter. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo had tweeted that Presley cleared waivers. Presley heads back onto the open market after a disappointing run with Milwaukee. The 30-year-old still draws interest, and generally does plenty of damage in the highest level of the minors, but just hasn’t ever gained traction in the majors.
  • The Blue Jays have released righty Chad Jenkins, per a tweet from Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 20th overall pick in the 2009 draft, Jenkins has just topped one hundred frames at the major league level and does own a 3.31 career ERA. Clearly, though, the organization never felt that Jenkins warranted a more extended chance. Through 29 2/3 Triple-A innings this year, Jenkins had struggled to a 5.16 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and an uncharacteristic 5.2 BB/9.
  • Heading to the White Sox on a minor league deal is infielder Danny Muno, per Cotillo (via Twitter). Muno, 27, has had little more than a cup of coffee in the majors. He was cut loose by the Mets after posting a .239/.391/.318 slash over his first 110 plate appearances of the year at the Triple-A level.

Earlier Updates

  • The White Sox have inked center fielder Tony Campana to a minor league contract, per the team’s transactions page at MLB.com. Campana, who’s already played one game with his new organization, was recently released by the Nationals after opening the season with their Triple-A affiliate. The 30-year-old struggled at the plate this season, hitting .220/.294/.236 in 144 plate appearances after missing nearly all of the 2015 season due to a torn ligament in his knee sustained in Spring Training 2015 (with the White Sox). Campana’s 2016 struggles aren’t representative of his track record, of course. The fleet-footed veteran has a lifetime .282/.343/.347 slash line in parts of five Triple-A seasons even including this year’s line, and he’s also logged parts of four seasons in the Majors, where he’s compiled a .249/.296/.288 line between the Cubs, Angels and D-backs. Speed has traditionally been Campana’s calling card; he’s gone 66-for-75 in stolen base attempts over the life of 257 big league games and 216-for-286 in his minor league career.

Jay Bruce Willing To Waive No-Trade Clause In Deal To Contender

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Reds outfielder Jay Bruce has a limited no-trade clause, but doesn’t intend to use that to hold up a deal to a contending club this summer, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports. Bruce sits at the top overall spot on MLBTR’s most recent top trade candidates list.

The NTC would let Bruce reject deals to the Yankees, Red Sox, Athletics, Rays, Marlins, Twins, Indians and Diamondbacks. Jon Heyman of todaysknuckleball.com repored earlier today that Bruce would quite likely be willing to go to Cleveland, and it appears that he’d also be amenable to other hypothetical landing spots. Rumblings have connected Bruce to a variety of clubs, including the Dodgers, Giants, White Sox, and Royals since the start of the season.

Bruce, 29, tells Sheldon that he’s willing to “consider waiving the no-trade clause for all types of reasons,” with “no blanket reason I wouldn’t.” The veteran said he’d need to take each situation as it comes, with agent Matt Sosnick saying that such a choice has yet to be brought to their attention.

Bruce continued on to emphasize that he’d be quite interested in an opportunity to join an organization that has designs on contending. “If I am moved, which has seemed likely for the last year and a half, I’d like to go where the team is mostly likely to win,” he said. “Teams that want me are likely seeking somebody to help them win.”

Notably, Sosnick suggested that Bruce won’t necessarily be looking to utilize the clause for leverage with regard to his contract. “We’re not setting in stone any financial qualifiers,” he said. “If the deal is good for Jay and good for the Reds, he would consider anything — including waiving the no-trade. … There is no team that he would unequivocally not go to.”

Bruce has increasingly cemented his status as a premium trade piece, as he is once again hitting like the All-Star-caliber player he was from 2011 through 2013. The two intervening seasons are easier and easier to forget, as he carries a .279/.325/.568 slash with 17 home runs and a league-leading six triples into July. Bruce’s early-career extension is another asset: he’s earning $12.5MM this year and can be controlled for $13MM in 2017, which is particularly appealing with a dearth of young sluggers on the upcoming free agent market.

Matt Moore Drawing Trade Interest; Rangers Among Possible Suitors

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We’ve heard recently that the Rays could be willing to deal lefty Matt Moore, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the interest is building. The Rangers are “hot on Moore’s trail,” per the report, with three or four other rival organizations also showing signs of pursuit.

Moore struggled in his return from Tommy John surgery last year, and his current 2016 ERA of 5.04 isn’t exactly sparkling. But as Topkin details, the 27-year-old southpaw has shown signs of returning to being the type of quality starter he was before his new UCL was installed.

Thus far, Moore has boosted his strikeout rate (8.5 K/9) and lowered his walk rate (2.6 BB/9) as against his work last year. That reflects a return to his pre-TJ, double-digit swinging strike rate along with a reduction of his once-troubling tendency to issue free passes. Moore’s fastball velocity has moved back north, even if it’s still shy of what he once delivered.

Moore carried a 3.66 ERA into the month of May, then was banged up in his next seven starts. But he’s had only one dud in his last four outings, and that seems to have helped to fuel new interest. The biggest issue thus far has been the long ball, as Moore is coughing up 1.61 dingers per nine on a 15.0% HR/FB rate.

Performance is obviously hugely important in assessing Moore’s trade value, but the underlying contract rights are also critical. While much of the super-cheap portion of his early-career extension is already in the rearview mirror, he is still owed just $5MM this year and can be controlled for three more campaigns through a series of options. If all are exercised, he’d earn only $26MM over the three seasons to come, with $4.25MM in buyouts baked in if things turn south.

It remains to be seen what approach Tampa Bay takes at the deadline, but the club already looked like a plausible seller of starting pitching before it fell off the pace in the AL East. The Rays could have a bit of a rotation surplus, particularly once Alex Cobb comes back from his own TJ procedure, and a seller’s market beckons.

The club’s decision as to which, if any, starter to deal will be an interesting storyline to follow over the next month. Cobb has been the subject of trade chatter in the past. Jake Odorizzi looks like another quality, controllable arm that could draw a strong return; indeed, he placed eighth on the most recent list of MLBTR’s top trade candidates. And some have wondered whether even staff ace Chris Archer could be moved, though he is well off of his typical run-prevention numbers.

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