Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rays Rumors

Giants Acquire Ben Bowden From Rays

By | at

The Giants acquired left-hander Ben Bowden from the Rays, as revealed by Triple-A Durham manager Brady Williams (hat tip to Durham broadcaster Patrick Kinas).  There isn’t any word yet on what the Rays sent back in the deal. Bowden makes his return to the NL West, after spending the majority of his professional career in the Rockies organization.

Colorado drafted Bowden 45th overall in 2016, and while his development was slowed by two missed seasons (2017 due to injury, and naturally 2020 due to the canceled minor league campaign), the southpaw eventually reached the majors in 2021.  Bowden posted a 6.56 ERA over 35 2/3 innings out of the Rockies’ bullpen, with a 23.7% strikeout rate and a mediocre 11.9% walk rate.

Control problems have been an issue for Bowden for much of his career, with an 11.56% walk rate to show for 168 2/3 innings in the minor leagues.  However, he has also recorded plenty of strikeouts, and has a solid 3.42 ERA to show for his time on the farm.  The 2022 season could act as a microcosm of Bowden’s inconsistency — he posted an 8.22 ERA in 7 2/3 frames with the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate, before delivering a 2.45 ERA for Triple-A Durham after being claimed by the Rays in April.

Even within that improvement with the Bulls, Bowden still has an ungainly 14.4% walk rate.  Tampa Bay designated the lefty for assignment in May and then outrighted him off their 40-man roster, so San Francisco and the 28 other teams all opted to pass on Bowden during that stint on the DFA wire.

Bowden has shown enough potential that it is easy to understand why the Giants (a club with a proven knack for developing pitchers) would have interest, especially since the 27-year-old is already a big league-ready arm.  With Jose Alvarez on the 60-day injured list until September, Bowden gives the Giants another left-handed depth option for their bullpen at either the MLB or Triple-A level.

Rays Reinstate Jeffrey Springs, Option Luis Patino

By | at

The Rays have reinstated Jeffrey Springs from the 15-day injured list and optioned right-hander Luis Patino to Triple-A, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter).

Patino started yesterday’s ballgame for the Rays, giving up three earned runs in four innings of work. It was just Patino’s third start of the season, and just his second as a true starter. He was an opener for his first outing, going just 2/3 of an inning. In Triple-A, the 22-year-old has posted a 3.57 ERA across six starts totaling 17 2/3 innings.

Springs is having a mini breakout campaign at the age of 29. Across 11 starts and seven relief appearances, Springs has registered a 2.53 ERA/3.66 FIP in 64 innings, which is already a career-high. He’s been particularly sharp in terms of limiting free passes with a career-best 5.9 percent walk rate, well below the league average rate.

Rays Sign Roman Quinn To Major League Contract

By | at

The Rays announced that they have signed outfielder Roman Quinn to a major league contract. Outfielder Harold Ramirez, who broke his thumb prior to the All-Star break, has been placed on the 10-day injured list to open a spot on the active roster. To create room for Quinn on the 40-man roster, right-hander Cristofer Ogando was designated for assignment. Additionally, righty Cooper Criswell, who was designated for assignment two days ago, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Durham.

Quinn, 29, has spent the bulk of his career with the Phillies, having once been a very promising prospect for them. He cracked Baseball America’s list of top 100 prospects back in 2013. However, he’s been held back by injuries since then. He’s appeared in six different MLB campaigns but has appeared in only 201 total games, never topping 50 in any individual season. Whether it’s due to injuries or not, Quinn’s never really gotten into a groove at the plate, at least at the major league level. Across his time in the bigs, he’s hit .223/.300/.343, production that’s 26% below league average, according to wRC+. He has been valuable elsewhere, however, racking up 43 steals and providing quality defensive work.

This year, Quinn signed a minors deal with the Marlins but was let go and went back to the Phillies. He was put into 23 games but got just 40 plate appearances before being designated for assignment. He then signed a minors deal with the Royals and played well in Triple-A. It was a small sample of seven games with the Omaha Storm Chasers, but Quinn hit .250/.406/.500 for a wRC+ of 142. He was recently released and now has a new opportunity with the Rays, who will coincidentally be starting a series in Kansas City tomorrow night.

The Rays have seen their outfield depth tested this year, particularly in center. Manuel Margot has been out since mid-May with a “significant patellar tendon strain.” Though he could be an option later in the year, he’s still expected to be sidelined for some time. Kevin Kiermaier is also on the injured list, with a hip injury that has the potential to be season-ending. With those players both out of action, the Rays have been using Brett Phillips and rookie Josh Lowe in center. Phillips has always been a glove-first player but isn’t even living up to his own standards with the bat this year. His .147/.219/.259 slash line adds up to a 42 wRC+, barely half of his career rate of 74 wRC+. Lowe is expected to provide more offense at some point but hasn’t hit the ground running in his first taste of the majors. His slash line of .199/.258/.338 adds up to a 72 wRC+.

Quinn hasn’t been a lightning rod with the bat himself, but he is a switch-hitter. With Phillips and Lowe both hitting from the left side, he at least provides the Rays with the opportunity to try out a platoon in center. Even if he doesn’t suddenly break out at the plate, he should at least provide some competent defense and a burst of speed.

As for Ogando, 28, he was just selected to the club’s roster at the start of July, only making a single appearance of two innings before getting optioned back to the minors. In 36 2/3 innings for the Bulls this year, he has a 3.68 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 35.5% walk rate. The Rays will have one week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him.

Criswell, 25, was just claimed off waivers from the Angels last week. The righty made a very brief MLB debut last year, logging 1 1/3 innings for the Angels. The rest of the year was spent in Triple-A, where he threw 47 innings with a 6.51 ERA, 20.4% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 41.8% ground ball rate. He landed on the 60-day IL at the start of this year and recently began a rehab assignment, throwing 18 innings in the minors before the Rays nabbed him on waivers. He’ll stick in the organization without occupying a roster spot.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links 1, 2 and 3) and team broadcaster Neil Solondz (Twitter links) relayed the details of these transactions prior to the official announcement from the team.

Rays Reinstate Pete Fairbanks, Outright Dusten Knight

By | at

July 20: The Rays announced that Knight has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Durham, as relayed by broadcaster Neil Solondz.

July 17: The Rays have announced some roster moves prior to today’s game, starting with right-hander Pete Fairbanks being reinstated from the 60-day injured list. To make room on the active roster, lefty Jalen Beeks was placed on the 15-day IL due to right lower leg tightness. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, righty Dusten Knight was designated for assignment.

Fairbanks, 28, has emerged as a key reliever for the Rays over the past couple of seasons. Acquired from the Rangers for Nick Solak in 2019, he threw 26 2/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball in the shortened 2020 campaign. That came with an excellent 33.3% strikeout rate, though a walk rate on the high side at 12%. He moved up the bullpen charts enough to earn seven holds that year. He followed that up with similar results in 2021, throwing 42 2/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA, 29.6% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. Again, he was called on for important assignments, logging 14 holds and five saves.

He was expected to be a key part of the Rays’ bullpen again this year but tore a lat muscle in Spring Training. He’ll make his season debut as soon as he gets into a game. The absence of Fairbanks has been just one of many subtractions from their relief corps this year. While Fairbanks is coming off, the Rays still have four notable relievers on the 60-day IL: Nick Anderson, J.P. Feyereisen, JT Chargois and Andrew Kittredge.

With all of those options sidelined, the club has leaned on a committee approach for their high leverage innings this year. Eight different pitchers have at least one save but no one has more than six. Fairbanks should now step into the mix as well, alongside hurlers like Colin Poche, Jason Adam and Brooks Raley. Despite those bullpen setbacks, and many injuries elsewhere, the club is 50-41 and currently in possession of the top American League Wild Card spot.

Knight, 31, made his MLB debut with the Orioles last year but joined the Rays on a minor league deal in the offseason. He was selected to the big league club in April but designated for assignment one day later. After being outrighted, he was selected again in May. He’s pitched just eight innings at the MLB level this year, spending most of his time with the Durham Bulls. In 30 2/3 Triple-A innings, he has a 3.82 ERA, with a strong 25.7% strikeout rate but a 16.7% walk rate that’s double the current MLB average of 8.3%. The Rays will have a week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times announced the moves prior to the official announcement (Twitter links).

Steven Souza Jr. Announces Retirement

By | at

Outfielder Steven Souza Jr. took to Twitter today to announce his retirement from baseball after almost a decade in the big leagues.

“It’s been an incredible journey that I dreamed as a kid I would be able to go on,” wrote Souza, before going on to give a heartfelt thanks to the many people whose lives touched his along the way.

Steven Souza | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsSouza, 33, was a third-round pick of the Nationals out of Cascade High School in 2007 and made his big league debut with the Nats in 2014. After getting into 21 games for Washington down the stretch, Souza went to the Rays in December 2014 as part of a convoluted three-team trade that saw Wil Myers go from Tampa to San Diego and Trea Turner go from the Padres to the Nats.

Souza would spent the next three seasons with the Rays, which will no doubt go down as the best stretch of his career. From 2015 to 2017, he played 378 games, hitting 63 home runs, 53 doubles, four triples, stealing 35 bases and hitting .238/.327/.426.

Incredibly, Souza was part of yet another three-team trade prior to the 2018 season. In this deal, Souza went to the Diamondbacks while Brandon Drury went to the Yankees, among other pieces changing hands. Unfortunately, Souza’s trip to the desert would be a disappointing one, with injuries preventing him from sustaining the production he showed in Tampa. He was limited to 72 games in 2018 due to pectoral issues and hit just .220/.309/.369 when on the field. In March of 2019, Souza sustained a far worse injury, slipping on home plate during a Spring Training game. The club would later announce that Souza tore or damaged multiple ligaments in his knee, which would require season-ending surgery.

After missing the entirety of the 2019 campaign, Arizona non-tendered him, allowing Souza to reach free agency for the first time in his career. He’d go on to see MLB action over the next three seasons with the Cubs, Dodgers and Mariners, respectively, but unable to recapture his previous form. Over those three seasons, he hit .152/.221/.291.

In the end, Souza was able to appear in 505 MLB games and make 1,895 plate appearances. He’ll head into retirement with a lifetime batting line of .229/.318/.411, 72 home runs, 71 doubles, eight triples, 383 total hits, 223 runs scored, 207 runs driven in and 42 stolen bases. He was able to earn more than $10MM over his big league tenure. MLBTR congratulates Souza on a fine career and wishes him the best of luck in his next chapter.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rays Claim Angel Perdomo From Brewers, Designate Cooper Criswell

By | at

The Brewers have announced that left-hander Angel Perdomo has been claimed off waivers by the Rays. The Rays then announced the claim, with Perdomo being sent to Triple-A Durham, along with designating righty Cooper Criswell as the corresponding move.

Perdomo, 28, spent years in the Blue Jays system as a starter but maxed out at High-A in 2018. After reaching free agency, he latched on with the Brewers on a minor league deal, who have used him exclusively as a reliever since then, apart from a one-inning “opener” start in Triple-A last year. Perdomo had a decent first year in the Brewers organization in 2019, throwing 69 1/3 innings across Double-A and Triple-A. In that time, he had a 4.28 ERA, along with an excellent 35% strikeout rate but concerning 15% walk rate.

Since then, he’s been slowed down by both by injuries and the pandemic. In 2020, the minor league seasons were wiped out, though Perdomo was able to make his MLB debut, throwing 2 2/3 innings for the Brew Crew. Last year, he was limited to 31 total innings between Triple-A and the big league club, while throwing only 4 1/3 minor league frames here in 2022. That means he has just 38 innings thrown since the end of the 2019 season.

When healthy, Perdomo cooks with a high-strikeout and high-walk recipe. Since joining the Brewers, the only stop wherein he had a strikeout rate lower than 35% was the 26.3% rate in his brief 2020 showing in the big leagues. (For reference, this year’s average for MLB relievers is 23.5%.) However, that comes with healthy doses of free passes, as evidenced by his 23.5% career rate in the bigs, more than double this year’s 9.2% rate for MLB relievers. Perdomo is in his last option year, meaning the Rays can give him the rest of the season to try and get healthy and iron out those control issues, though he will need occupy an active roster spot next year or else be designated for assignment.

As for Criswell, 25, this concludes a very short stint on the Rays roster, as he was claimed from the Angels just three days ago. He was assigned to Triple-A Durham but didn’t make an appearance before today’s transaction. The righty made a very brief MLB debut last year, logging 1 1/3 innings for the Angels. The rest of the year was spent in Triple-A, where he threw 47 innings with a 6.51 ERA, 20.4% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 41.8% ground ball rate. He landed on the 60-day IL at the start of this year and recently began a rehab assignment, throwing 18 innings in the minors before the Rays nabbed him on waivers. They will now have a week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times announced the Criswell DFA and Perdomo’s option to Durham before the official announcement from the Rays.

Springs, Beeks Expected To Return After Minimum IL Stints

By | at

  • Rays manager Kevin Cash updated reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) about a pair of pitching injuries, noting that Jeffrey Springs is expected to be activated during the Rays’ first series after the All-Star break.  Springs’ placement on the 15-day IL (for tightness in his lower right leg) was retroactive to July 7, so the southpaw looks like he’ll miss just the minimum amount of time.  Cash also thinks Jalen Beeks will miss only 15 days, after Beeks went to the IL just today with a similar leg injury.

Rays’ Harold Ramirez Suffers Broken Thumb

By | at

Rays first baseman/outfielder Harold Ramirez left today’s game after being hit on his hand by a pitch. The club later announced to reporters, including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, that he has a broken right thumb and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Ramirez, 27, has been somewhat quietly having an excellent breakout season in Tampa. Although he’s only walking 6.1% of the time, he’s also only striking out at a 13.7% clip, producing a batting line of .329/.376/.446. The resulting wRC+ of 141 indicates he’s been 41% better than the league average hitter. Among hitters with at least 250 plate appearances, that’s the 23rd highest mark across the majors, just ahead of Pete Alonso.

While any team would surely suffer to lose that kind of production for a few weeks, it’s especially noteworthy for a Rays team that’s had a host of injuries to deal with, including in the outfield. When Ramirez is inevitably placed on the injured list, he will join Kevin Kiermaier and Manuel Margot. In Kiermaier’s case, his injury has the potential to be season-ending, per Topkin, though more details will come on that after he sees a specialist in the weeks to come. Margot might return at some point this season, but not soon. Even if Ramirez’s thumb is okay in a couple of weeks, he will likely need to get in some rehab work in order to get back into game shape.

That leaves the club with Randy Arozarena, Josh Lowe, Brett Phillips and Luke Raley as their regular outfielders. Arozarena is having another good season, but the rest are all hitting at below-average rates right now, with none of the three producing a wRC+ higher than 71 on the year, coming into today’s game. Brandon Lowe has played outfield in the past but only just returned from the IL in the last couple of days. He played second base yesterday but is the designated hitter today. Vidal Bruján is in the minors and could be recalled, though he also struggled in his MLB action this year, producing a wRC+ of just 41.

Despite all their injury woes, the Rays began today in the top American League Wild Card spot with a record of 50-41, meaning they will likely look to do some buying ahead of the August 2 trade deadline. There were a number of outfielders featured on MLBTR’s recent list of top trade candidates, including Andrew Benintendi, David Peralta, Ian Happ, and many others.

Rays Make Several Roster Moves

By | at

The Rays have made a number of roster moves today. In terms of additions to the active roster, Brandon Lowe was activated from the 60-day injured list and Ryan Yarbrough was recalled from the taxi squad, per Neil Solondz of the Rays (via Twitter). To make room on the 40-man roster for Lowe, centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier was transferred to the 60-day injured list with left hip inflammation. To create the active roster space, Ralph Garza Jr. and Jonathan Aranda were both optioned to Triple-A.

Lowe has been one of the Rays top position players as the organization has surged to prominence over the last couple of seasons. Second base has become a full team effort with Lowe on the shelf. Aranda, Taylor Walls, Vidal Brujan, Yu Chang, and Isaac Paredes all started at the keystone in July. Lowe has been out since May 15 with a lower back injury. Before the injury, he racked up 133 plate appearances with a .212/.293/.415 triple slash line.

For his small part, Aranda stepped in nicely for a seven-game stretch, going 6-for-16 at the plate, striking out three times without taking a walk. It was the first bit of big league action for the 24-year-old infielder.

Yarbrough tossed 34 innings for the Rays earlier this season with a 5.82 ERA/5.35 FIP. The crafty southpaw has been as consistent a presence as the Rays allow over the past five seasons.

In a separate deal, the Rays have claimed Cooper Criswell off waivers from the Angels and optioned him to Triple-A, per Solondz. To make room on the 40-man roster, Shane Baz was transferred to the 60-day injured list. The 25-year-old Criswell made his Major League debut for the Angels last season, making a single start. He has registered a 3.50 ERA through 18 innings in Triple-A this season.

Rays Activate Luis Patino, Transfer Mike Zunino To 60-Day IL

By | at

The Rays reinstated right-hander Luis Patiño from the 60-day injured list, optioning Tommy Romero to Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, catcher Mike Zunino has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Patiño missed around three months after straining his oblique during his first start of the season. The 22-year-old returns to action with a start tonight against the surging Orioles. Acquired as part of the Blake Snell swap over the 2020-21 offseason, Patiño started 15 of his 19 appearances during his first year in Tampa Bay. He worked to a 4.31 ERA across 77 1/3 innings, striking out a roughly average 22.2% of opponents against a serviceable 8.7% walk rate. Patiño was a bit home run prone, but it was still a promising showing for a pitcher who won’t turn 23 years old until October.

Tampa Bay has been navigating a brutal stretch of health issues on the pitching side. They still have eight pitchers on the 60-day injured list, and three more (Jeffrey Springs, Josh Fleming and Shane Baz) have landed on the 15-day IL within the past week. Fleming and Baz are each set to miss significant time; the former is likely to lose upwards of a month due to an oblique strain of his own, while the latter won’t even throw for at least four weeks after spraining his elbow.

It hasn’t been much rosier on the position player side, as Zunino is one of five regulars on the shelf. The veteran backstop has been out since June 10 with left shoulder inflammation. The club has expressed concern he could be dealing with a thoracic outlet issue, although he’s undergone Botox treatment in hopes of avoiding season-ending surgery. In either event, Zunino doesn’t seem close to a return to the field, so his IL transfer isn’t much of a surprise. He’ll be ineligible to return to the big leagues before the second week of August.

Zunino had struggled before his IL stint, hitting a career-worst .148/.195/.304 through 36 games. That’s particularly disappointing on the heels of a 33-homer 2021 campaign, and he’s headed towards free agency on the heels of what looks like a mostly lost season. The Rays have turned to Francisco Mejía and the recently-acquired Christian Bethancourt as their pairing behind the dish in his absence.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top