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Who’s on second? The aftermath of the Logan Forsythe trade: part two

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Your new second baseman, Willy Adames? (Photo Credit: USA Today Sports)

As J.J. pointed out on Friday, following the unexpected trade of infielder Logan Forsythe, the Tampa Bay Rays have a lot to figure out over the next couple of weeks as they head into Spring Training. Piggybacking on the aforementioned piece, what follows are some other options for Erik Neander and the Rays to fill the hole at second.

According to Rays Radio Blog, Neander will use the next couple of weeks to sort out the situation:

Neander says the organization will use the next couple of weeks for clarity in determining the team’s second base situation, looking at internal and external options. Among the internal options are Tim Beckham, Nick Franklin and Daniel Robertson, or Brad Miller, if the team is to acquire one of the available free agent bats still available that plays first base.

How might the Rays solve this quandary?

Brad Miller

It appears, at the moment, the plan is to move Brad Miller over to second base from first, where last season he was shifted from shortstop. Miller is athletic enough to play shortstop, and a transition to second base likely would not be a problem.

If they plan to go in this direction, Tampa Bay could sign one of the remaining right-handed free agent first baseman such as Mike Napoli, Mark Reynolds, or Chris Carter. Or, as Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) suggested, they could actually go get two first-base types, one that hits from each side, creating platoon advantages:

…they could actually go get two first-base types, one that hits from each side, creating platoon advantages, a more potent bench and — depending on who — potentially a better glove. Among lefties, think Brandon Moss, the return of Logan Morrison (recovering from wrist surgery) or maybe Pedro Alvarez.

Tim Beckham

Prior to the Forsythe trade, Beckham was expected to get most of his at-bats against left-handed pitching, after slashing .259 BA/.302 OBP/.457 SLG/.759 OPS/105 wRC+ in 216 plate appearances against southpaws. However, there is a thought that he could play a much larger role, given the team’s need up the middle.

Be that as it may, his career .218 BA/.275 OBP/.408 SLG/.683 OPS/85 wRC+ line against right-handed pitching, paired with the fact that he makes far too many mental (and base running) gaffes, is likely enough to keep Beckham in a bench depth role.

Nick Franklin

Acquired in the 2014 trade of David Price, Franklin was expected to get the bulk of the playing time in a platoon with Forsythe heading into the 2015 season. Yet as fate would have it, Franklin strained his oblique at the end of Spring Training, and started the season on the disabled list. The switch hitting Franklin played well when he was able to get on the field last season, slashing .270 BA/.328 OBP/.443 SLG/.771 OPS with six home runs in 60 games.

He again could have a bead on the second base job in 2017, especially against right-handed pitchers, as he slashed .285 BA/.347 OBP/.482 SLG/.829 OPS in 152 plate appearances against righties last season. To his credit, his promising rookie campaign in 2013 suggests Franklin’s success is not a fluke.

Daniel Robertson

Robertson owned a 110 wRC+ over 511 plate appearances last season with Triple-A Durham, posting an impressive 11.4% walk rate, and a 19.6% strikeout rate. Things were not always peachy with Robertson though.

Through the first 82 games of the season, the infielder was staked with a lackluster .648 OPS, a .075 ISO, and just 16 extra base hits in 348 plate appearances — the unfortunate result of a hamate bone fracture the previous season. Robertson was able to bounce back after working with hitting coach Chad Mottola, and finished the year with an .860 OPS, a .147 ISO, and 13 extra base hits over 36 games (163 PA).

Willy Adames

Adames probably will not crack the Opening Day roster, but that has more to do the team’s desire for an extra year of control — while trying to avoid Super-2 status — than it has with his perceived readiness.

Many within the organization are very high on Adames, including Rays farm director Mitch Lukevics:

His attitude, his aptitude, his work ethic — all the intangibles make Willy Adames stand out along with his skill. His ability to field a ground ball, to throw a baseball, to hit a baseball makes him a very unique player.

Adames, 21, tore up the Southern League for the Rays Double-A affiliate Montgomery Biscuits, slashing .274 BA/.372 OBP/.430 SLG/.802 OPS/134 wRC+ with 11 homers and 57 RBI.

Still, his brief October-November stint in the Dominican League, where he hit .167 in 10 games, reinforces the idea that a few months with Triple-A Durham may be needed.

Conclusion

The trade of Forsythe could be a make or break moment in the 2017 season before the first pitch is even thrown. Whatever the case, Neander and company will need to make the right decision, and fast, if the Rays are to be a threat in the AL East once again. In the words of Topkin, one thing for sure, the Rays will consider all options.

Noteworthiness

— The Rays have not yet announced the signing of outfielder Colby Rasmus, although that’s not due to any issues with his physical, tweeted Topkin.

It is likely that the team is waiting to sort out a roster move before making the Rasmus deal official. Per Topkin, the most likely options to open a 40-man roster spot are trading RHP Erasmo Ramirez, ditching either reliever RHP Eddie Gamboa or Ryan Garton, or dropping OF Jason Coats.

— Four Rays prospects made the MLB Pipeline Top 100 list:

21: INF Willy Adames
31: RHP Brent Honeywell
33: RHP Jose De Leon
76: INF/OF Jake Bauers

Jason Hanselman (The Process Report) took an exhaustive look at the fantastic four, and it is worth your while to read up!

— While in New York on other city business, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman went directly to Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred with his push to keep the Rays in the Sunshine City with a new stadium at the Tropicana Field site.

Rays nearing deal with Shawn Tolleson; trade Mikie Mahtook

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The Tampa Bay Rays are said to be nearing deal with RHP Shawn Tolleson. (Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Rays are said to be nearing deal with RHP Shawn Tolleson. (Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Rays are close to a major league agreement with former Texas Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson, reports Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times). Additionally, the Rays announced that they have traded outfielder Mikie Mahtook to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash.

Tolleson was non-tendered by the Rangers last month after a poor 2016 campaign (7.68 ERA/3.89 FIP over 36.1 innings), however, he was excellent as recently as the 2014/15 seasons. In his two-year run of success, the right-hander logged a 2.88 ERA/3.57 FIP and fanned 24.4% of batters while walking just 7.6% (9.1/2.8 K/BB) across 144 innings of relief. Because of it he earned the ninth-inning role and he fared well, racking up 35 saves in 2015, while earning $3.3-Million in his first year of arbitration.

2016 was not kind to Tolleson, who saw his strikeout plummet to 17.3%, even though he walked only 6.0% of batters. The culprit? An obscene 24.2% HR/FB rate. Tolleson was able to accrue 11 saves and one hold, yet his four blown saves consequently led to his expulsion from the closer’s role in favor of teammate Sam Dyson.

According to Topkin, while Tolleson missed time with a back injury in 2016, he’s now said to be healthy, which gives him a decent shot at cracking the Rays’ bullpen. Should he return to form in Tampa Bay, the Rays will be able to control the righty through the 2018 season.

Since he is expected to sign a major league deal, the Rays will need to make another cut from the 40-man roster in order to add either Tolleson or Colby Rasmus.

On that very subject, the Rays were able to clear one roster spot Wednesday afternoon with the trade of Mahtook, who was selected as the 31st overall pick in the 2011 draft.

Mahtook debuted in 2015 and posted an impressive .295 BA/.351 OBP/.619 SLG/.970 OPS line with nine home runs in just 115 plate appearances — including an impressive .353 BA/.397 OBP/.706 SLG/1.103 OPS over the final 24 games of the season. His bat regressed in 2016, however, with the outfielder slashing just .195 BA/.231 OBP/.292 SLG/.523 OPS with three homers over 65 games (196 big league plate appearances). Mahtook was sidelined by a broken left hand for a good portion of the 2016 season, though his injury likely didn’t have much to do with his lack of production.

Noteworthiness

— To better know a Ray… The guys on Hot Stove talked to Rays outfielder Mallex Smith about learning he was traded twice in one day, his 2016 season and more.

Rays trade Drew Smyly to Seattle for three minor leaguers; acquire OF from ChiSox

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(Photo Credit: Kim Klement/USA Today Sports)

(Photo Credit: Kim Klement/USA Today Sports)

On Wednesday, Erik Neander finally made the pitching deal long expected of the Tampa Bay Rays, trading lefty Drew Smyly to Seattle for center fielder Mallex Smith — who was just acquired by the Mariners in a trade with Atlanta — along with minor  league lefty Ryan Yarbrough, and minor league infielder Carlos Vargas.

Smyly has been a solid, back-end southpaw since his acquisition by Tampa Bay at the 2014 trade deadline, although was sidelined for much of the 2015 season by a torn labrum. He followed with a career-worst 4.88 ERA over 30 starts in 2016. He, however, posted career highs in starts (30) and innings (175-1/3), and managed an 8.6/2.5 K/BB rate. And while he lowered his groundball rate to a career low 31.3%, he allowed a career high 1.64 home runs per nine innings — for a grand total of 32 homers. To his credit, Smyly has consistently thrown strikes and limited walks throughout his career.

The former Ray joins fellow recent acquisition Yovani Gallardo, Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and James Paxton in the rotation. Seattle has control of Smyly for two years, and he is projected to earn $6.9MM via arbitration for the coming season.

Tampa Bay received three minor leaguers in return, one of which — Mallux Smith — has 72-games of big league experience under his belt.

When the Mariners traded for Smith earlier today, in a trade that cost the team a pair of prospects, they did so with the intent to flip him to Tampa Bay. According to Jeff Todd (MLB Trade Rumors), Smith was targeted by the Rays, despite the continued presence of Kevin Kiermaier in center and the recent signing of Colby Rasmus.

The 23 year-old Smith was Atlanta’s number eight prospect entering the 2016 season, and is valued for his defense and base running. As Scott Grauer (DRaysBay) wrote, Smith’s minor league career stolen-base percentage is 79.3 percent (230-for-290). In 1,795 career plate appearances in the minors, he owns a 10.8 percent walk rate and 17.0 percent strikeout rate. He is a career .296 hitter across parts of five minor league seasons, including a .287 mark across 72 games at the Triple-A level with Gwinnett last season.

Smith appeared in 72-games with the Braves last year when Ender Inciarte hit the disabled list. He wasn’t productive early on, slashing a lackluster .238 BA/.316 OBP/.365 SLG/.681 OPS in 215 plate appearances overall, although he rebounded to hit .272 BA/.338 OBP/.440 SLG/.778 OPS in 43 games from late April to mid-June when he suffered a fractured thumb. Smith boasts an 80-grade speed, while his defensive prowess finds him projected as a potential future Gold Glove winner.

Yarbrough, a fourth round pick by Seattle in 2014, was rated as the Mariners’ number 11 prospect by MLB.com. His fastball sits in the 91-93 mph range — topping out in the mid 90’s — and he also features a devastating changeup. The lefty profiles as a ground-ball inducing (51% more groundouts than pop-outs over his career) long man, or a spot starter pending the development of his slider. Even if it doesn’t come along, he has a future as a lefty reliever who can coax ground balls in double-play situations. He will likely start the 2017 season at Triple-A Durham.

According to Todd, Vargas ranked as one of the top international prospects on the market two years ago:

Vargas is still just 17 years of age — he’ll turn 18 in March — and ranked as one of the top available international prospects on the market a couple of years ago. Cooper tweetsthat he was set to rank 26th on Seattle’s forthcoming top 30 prospect list, and there’s reason to believe he could carry even more upside than that most ranking would suggest. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen, for instance, tweets that there’s “sneaky” value in Vargas, whom he tabs as eventual third baseman with “big pull power projection” and a good approach.

In writing about Vargas last spring, BA’s Ben Badler noted that he has too many moving parts in his swing but has displayed a strong baseball IQ and an impressive ability to make adjustments at the behest of the Mariners’ staff. Badler also credited Vargas with above-average raw power, an ability to hit the ball the opposite way, and an above-average arm with a quick release. In 62 games/256 plate appearances in the Dominican Summer League last year, Vargas batted .242/.344/.391 with seven homers, 11 doubles and nearly as many walks (32) as strikeouts (35).

Tampa Bay also claimed outfielder Jason Coats from the Chicago White Sox, designating Dylan Floro for assignment to clear roster space.

The 26-year-old Coats hit 27 home runs over 200 Triple-A games between 2015 and 2016, however, he batted just .200 with a .298 OBP and .340 SLG in his first 58 major league plate appearances. Baseball America notes that he can cover all three outfield spots.

Floro made his big league debut with Tampa Bay in 2016, posting a 4.20 ERA over 15 relief innings.

Hot-Stove: Rays ink one-year, $5-million deal with Colby Rasmus

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The Tampa Bay Rays inked a one-year, $5-million deal with 30 year-old OF Colby Rasmus on Monday. (Photo Credit: Unknown)

The Tampa Bay Rays inked a one-year, $5-million deal with 30 year-old OF Colby Rasmus on Monday. (Photo Credit: Unknown)

The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to a one-year, $5-million deal with 30 year-old free agent outfielder Colby Rasmus, reports Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times). The deal comes with incentives that could boost its value to around $7-million.

Rasmus slashed just .206 BA/.286 OBP/.355 SLG/.641 OPS/.257 BABIP/.282 wOBA last season for Houston, following a 2015 campaign in which he batted .238 with a .475 SLG with 25 home runs and 61 RBI and a 117 wRC+ in 137 games. He is coming off of surgeries for a cyst in his ear as well as hip and core muscle maladies — which tends to explain his offensive fall-off.

Rasmus presents another left-handed bat to the outfield along with Kevin Kiermaier and Corey Dickerson. For the Rays, Rasmus will likely slot in at DH and left-field, while serving as a capable backup for Kiermaier in center, where he has spent a good amount of his career. According to Topkin, Dickerson could find himself serving more as a DH next season.

While Erik Neander and the rest of the Rays’ front office hopes for a bounce-back season, in the batter’s box, from Rasmus, the outfielder has drawn strong defensive reviews, especially last year when he posted a +20 DRS, and is known as a good base runner even though he doesn’t often attempt to steal.

It isn’t yet known whether or not the team will continue to pursue a first baseman to platoon with Brad Miller. MLB Trade Rumor’s Jeff Todd spoke to that Monday, saying:

The Rays have also been connected, at least loosely, to a variety of right-handed hitters, including veteran slugger Jose Bautista. It isn’t known at this point whether adding Rasmus will preclude the club from pursuing one of the various first base/DH types still floating around on the market, but it’s certainly possible to imagine multiple acquisitions if the price is right. Tampa Bay is also still reportedly engaged with other organizations about their surplus of capable rotation arms.

Once the deal is made official by the team, the Rays will need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Rasmus — be that by trade or otherwise.

Hot Stove: Tampa Bay Rays Offseason Update

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(Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

(Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

Introducing our newest writer, Adam Hayes. Adam also heads up “USS Sports Machine,” a blog that covers sports in general. We’re excited to add him in the fold, and here’s to many more pieces like the one below.

Competing in the American League East Division is tough no matter what city you’re from. This statement pales in comparison to the 2016 Tampa Bay Rays’ season. The Rays finished dead last in the division with a 68-94 record. Although a record 3 teams reached the postseason from this division, the Rays finished their season 16 games behind the Yankees, a team that wasn’t included in this post-season grouping. The team doesn’t want to jump to the assumptions that they will now face a rebuild after a third-straight losing season. The team is focusing on retooling and adding depth to the positions that already feature talented arms, prospects or positional standouts.

Steadying the rotation

One area that the team can lean on is their rotation. There are some many arms in their system and on their big-league roster that hold individual potential and intrigue. The model for consistency has been something that was lacking last season and the team doesn’t want to face that again this season. The 5 guys that look like the favorites to lead the rotation at this point are: Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Blake Snell, Alex Cobb and Drew Smyly. Looking down at the farm system one will find talents like Matt Andriese, Taylor Guerrieri and Brent Honeywell. The team is very consistent when it comes to developing their talents before calling them up, especially their pool of arms. Snell is the youngest in the rotation at age 24 and Cobb is the oldest at 29.

Snell and Archer mark two names that would be hard to pry away from the Rays, but nothing is out of the question. The way the Red Sox are moving the entirety of their farm system for big arms marks a potential trade situation that would benefit both parties. The Rays don’t have a problem moving their arms either, as long as they receive enough in return. None of these guys really are hurting the team’s cap space and none are too demanding either. Smyly looks like an attractive option to other teams and it could pave the way for the acquisition of an everyday guy and give a younger guy their shot in the bigs.

Position problems

Moving away from pitching leaves the team in a bind at positional play. There is one big problem the team faces with their positional players: they like all their starters. Evan Longoria at third, Matt Duffy at short, Logan Forsythe playing second, Brad Miller at first and one Nick Franklin to fill-in as a backup; this fits the team’s vision. The outfield remains rather consistent in the names that are featured including: Kevin Kiermaier, Steve Souza, Mikie Mahtook and Corey Dickerson. If you take the combined average of these positional players, you are left will a relatively young group. In fact, the Rays roster, as a whole, ranks near the top as one of the league’s youngest on average. This is where the team needs to capitalize. They need to search through the free agent pool and find guys that have been featured members on their teams for many years.

Two names that are brought to the discussion table are Ryan Howard and Pedro Alvarez. Howard had a dismal in Philadelphia last year and that team wants nothing to do with him now. How about swinging in and picking up a former home run leader for a low price? Seems like a good move for a squad that lacks veteran leadership. Alvarez is another attractive option based off his model of consistent play and leadership capabilities. Wilson Ramos was brought in as a serviceable catcher with a mind for the game most of these player’s lack. Look for the team to go older when it comes to free agent signings and if they are to part with their arms, look for additional developmental talents in return or plug-and- play positional players.

Noteworthiness

— The Rays announced eighteen invites to Spring Training for players not currently on the 40-man roster:

LHPs Dana Eveland and Justin Marks; RHPs Diego Moreno, Neil Wagner, Jeff Ames, and Andrew Kittredge; catchers Michael McKenry, Nick Ciuffo, and Jonah Heim; infielders Casey Gillaspie, Dalton Kelly, Jake Bauers, Ryan Brett, Jake Hager, Patrick Leonard; and outfielders Shane Peterson, Johnny Field, and Dayron Varona

Only 52 days and counting until pitchers and catchers report to camp.

— JT Morgan gave a few more specifics about the aforementioned 18 players over at DRaysBay.

— The Houston Astros announced that Root Sports SW has hired Todd Kalas to be their head play-by-play announcer.

Kalas had been with Tampa Bay for 18 seasons serving as a pre and post game host, while also hosting in-game interviews, taking over in the booth when needed, perusing the confines of any given stadium, and partying with pretty much everyone.

Kalas was born in Houston and practically grew up in the booth while his father, Harry Kalas, called games for the Astros.

We too wish Kalas nothing but the best of luck!