Playing Catchup: On Andrew Moore and Tommy Romero; Rays stadium update

Andrew Moore posted 5-1/3 innings of 6 H/1 ER ball on Monday. He struck out three and walked none. (Photo Credit: Seattle Mariners)

Between writing series previews and recapping ball games — and everything in between — other subjects I’d like to cover tend to fall by the wayside. Lost in the shuffle of last week’s unexpected trade of Denard Span and Alex Colome to Seattle, was an analysis of Tampa Bay’s return from the deal, as well as a minor newsworthy, stadium saga blip. Since it always is my intention to revisit any missed subjects in a timely manner, consider this piece as that.

Rays return from the Span/Colome trade

Two hurlers, RHP Andrew Moore and RHP Tommy Romero, came to the Rays organization, from Seattle, in return for Span and Colome. One projects to reach the big leagues sooner than the other.

Andrew Moore

Moore, 23, was the key piece of the deal. Despite going 1-5, with a 5.34 ERA in 11 games (nine starts) for Seattle last season, Tampa Bay sees much more than his big league numbers might indicate. Rays GM Erik Neander said they see Moore as a Jake Odorizzi/Marco Estrada type of pitcher with great makeup. He was promptly sent to Triple-A Durham, where he posted 5-1/3 innings of 6 H/1 ER ball on Monday.

Neander acknowledged that there is a chance to see him later this season.

Andrew Moore is a player we value highly and think fits in really well to the group we have in place.

But what about his repertoire? Good question. Moore is a four-pitch hurler that demonstrated far better results in the minor leagues than in the bigs, posting a 3-4 record with a 3.48 ERA, 4.12 FIP, and a 5.07 K/BB in 14 starts (75 innings) with Seattle’s Triple-A farm team last season.

Moore boasts a 90 mph fastball, although his secondary pitches are more functional than anything else, leaving him with no real put-away pitch, and forcing him to depend on contact to get outs. His changeup is his best swing-and-miss offering.

Like Odorizzi, Moore is an extreme fly-ball pitcher with ground-ball rates in the 20s and 30s in the upper minors. Moore has gotten punished for leaving mistakes out over the plate — he averaged an 8.4% middle of the strike zone rate, compared to the league average of 7.3%. Pair that with his 48.9% fly-ball rate, and it’s safe to say lot of balls sailed over the fence.

Moore can throw strikes, without a doubt, but against big league hitters he’ll need to throw better strikes.

Tommy Romero

Romero just joined the Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods.

The 20 year-old righty is thickly built and has the look of a future back of the rotation innings eater. According to Baseball Prospectus, his delivery has some effort but it’s clean and repeatable, allowing for future plus command potential.

Romero’s 91-92 mph fastball is heavy with some arm-side run, and tops out at 93 mph. He spots the pitch well low in the zone, and generates a lot of ground balls in doing so. He does tend to elevate the four-seamer in pitcher’s counts. Moore’s 83 mph changeup is his most advanced secondary offering. Romero replicates his arm speed, while the pitch shows some nice fade. His curveball is a work in progress, with mild break. It, however, is inconsistent and lacks feel.

Can the Rays draw more fans in Tampa?

Tampa Bay Times staff writer Chris O’Donnell published an article on Tuesday seeking to answer that very question, titled Rays move to Ybor City would put team within heart of region’s population, study shows.

The article is based on an analysis by county planners, in both Hillsborough and Pinellas, conducted at the request of the Tampa Bay Times. The results, using future population projections, are similar to a 2010 study by the ABC Coalition. Both studies said the further you moved a proposed facility away from Westshore (the population center of Tampa Bay), the fewer fans could get there in 30 minutes. The ABC Coalition study found that there is a difference of just 78,000 between Gateway/Mid-Pinellas and Ybor/Downtown Tampa.

O’Donnell writes, that if the Rays were to take the field today at — let’s call it Cigar City Stadium (in Ybor) — they would draw from a population of almost 920,000 people within a 10 mile radius.

Widen that to 15 miles and the numbers swell to 1.2 million people.

Regional demographic findings from the 2010 ABC Coalition study. (Credit: Noah Pransky)

Although how much that would raise actual attendance depends on other factors, although putting a ballpark within easier reach of that many more people would help, said Patrick Rishe (director of the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis), who was quoted in the article.

Getting from one part of Tampa Bay to another can be an issue, Rishe said. There’s no question that when you play so many games, proximity and convenience is vital.

Likewise, building a facility that 600,000 people could reach easily might add just 2,000 more fans on weekdays, said John Vrooman (Vanderbilt University sports economist) — a reasonable estimate, yet far from game changing for the Rays.

What’s more, O’Donnell also conceded that moving across the bay might mean abandoning many long-time Rays fans, citing a storyline from 2014, and Roger Noll (professor emeritus of economics at Stanford University).

When the 49ers left San Francisco for Santa Clara in 2014, the composition of season-ticket holders shifted dramatically towards the area’s South Bay. The Rays might experience something similar.

Noll also warned that a new stadium may only translate into a short-term boost in annual attendance. Even though Tampa is larger, it’s population is a little poorer and younger than St. Petersburg, may be less attracted to baseball.

The initial honeymoon effect of a new stadium will increase attendance a lot — probably by a million or more. But the honeymoon will wear off in a few years, and the new location is probably worth an additional attendance of 200,000 to 300,000 a few years down the road, said Noll.

At the end of the day, Stu Sternberg can stake his claim in Ybor City — and the Hillsborough County Commission, led by Ken Hagan, can try to cobble together a funding mechanism — but that doesn’t change the fact that Hillsborough County does not have the money to build the Rays a stadium. Articles will continue to be published, leading you to believe that a resolution to the Stadium Saga is just around the corner. Charlatans will continue to bang the drum for a 100% privately financed stadium in the 13th largest media market in the country, when that monumental feat has never been accomplished in the biggest of media markets, like New York City or Los Angeles. It is true, a stadium in Ybor would put the team closer to more fans, but so would one built in Gateway/Mid-Pinellas, where there is much more money available. In the words of Noah Pransky (WTSP Action News) don’t cross that (St. Petersburg) off the list just yet — the Rays sure aren’t.

LBWMF: Rays rally in the 13th to defeat the Athletics, 1-0

The Rays won just their second extra inning 1-0 victory in franchise history on Monday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Tampa Bay rallied with two outs in the 13th inning for the game’s only run, as the Rays defeated the Athletics 1-0 on Memorial Day. It was their first shutout of the season, just the second 1-0 extra-innings victory in franchise history, and the third straight win as the Rays got back to .500 for the third time this season.

Chris Archer got the start for Tampa Bay, and threw six innings of shutout baseball. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out seven. Even though his slider was inconsistent all day — at times it showed good tilt and finish, while at other times it stayed up in the zone and looked flat — his fastball was more on point, which made his rolling sliders effective as off speed pitches. Even so, his fastball command was erratic as well, as Archer threw just 18 of 35 heaters for strikes, and just 10 of 22 first pitch strikes over his six innings of work.

Home plate umpire Paul Nauert did no favors for Tampa Bay — pinching Archer (and those who followed) on more than a few on the black strikes, and calling them for balls, yet giving Trevor Cahill the benefit of the doubt on pitches in the same location. While the strikeszone map below is incomplete, it effectively shows a smattering of pitches from Rays hurlers that should have been called strikes, but weren’t. In spite of that, Archer pitched effectively and didn’t get into trouble until the fourth and sixth innings.

Evan the incomplete strike zone map shows that Tampa Bay got pinched on more than a few calls by home plate umpire, Paul Nauert, yesterday afternoon. (Credit: Brooks Baseball)

Marcus Semien led off the fourth by lashing a sharp single to left, and Jed Lowrie followed and worked the count full. With Semien running, Archer rolled a slider at the top of zone that Lowrie swung through for strike three. The pitch was handled perfectly by Jesus Sucre, who fired a laser down to second, where Joey Wendle slapped a quick tag on Semien, well ahead of the bag, to complete a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play.

The timing of the double play was fortuitous, as Matt Olson shot a 1-0 fastball into the right-center gap for a double. It would have plated the go ahead run had Semien reached second safely, but with the bases empty before the hit, Archer was able to instead make a good pitch and coax a tapper out of Chad Pinder to end the frame unscathed.

Then Jonathan Lucroy led off the sixth with an infield single before Archer fell behind Matt Joyce 3-0. He, however, battled back to a full count and got the former Ray to pop out to Matt Duffy. However, Archer walked Semien and Lowrie to load the bases, eliciting a mound visit by Kyle Snyder with starter Sergio Romo warming in the ‘pen — giving the right-hander a chance  to collect himself.

Archer threw a first pitch slider to Olson, who chopped into the shift for an odd looking, yet effective, 6-4-3 double play.

Oakland also had another great opportunity to win the game in the ninth, yet Matt Andriese entered with two on (Lowrie double off the wall, Olson walk against Jose Alvarado) and none out, and got the next three batters in order to send the game to extra innings. Sucre helped in the inning, pouncing on a sacrifice bunt that took a fortunate hop to get the force at third. The play was reviewed, but the call was confirmed.

Sucre also prevented a pair of wild pitches in that inning.

Andriese went on to pitch three perfect innings ahead of Ryne Stanek, who pitched a scoreless 12th.

Meanwhile, two outs into the top of the 13th, Johnny Field started the go ahead rally by grounding an infield hit into the hole at short. Semien fielded the play, but couldn’t come up with it. Sucre followed by driving a single into center, pushing Field up to second. Mallex Smith then got ahead of Chris Hatcher 2-0 before he lined a fastball over the head of Lowrie and into right-center for another single. The throw home from Stephen Piscotty was too late to beat the head-first slide of Field, who scored from second.

Stanek came back out in the bottom of the frame and got the first two outs sandwiched around a Semien walk. Cash called on Venters to face Olson, and after a seven pitch battle — including a 71 mph curveball at the top of the zone — Oakland’s first baseman went down on a foul tip strikeout to end the game, earning Venters his first save since August 22, 2011.

The New What Next

The Rays can get over .500 for the first time since Opening Day on Tuesday with Blake Snell (6-3, 2.78 ERA) starting opposite Daniel Gossett (0-2, 6.28 ERA).

Blake Snell blanked the Red Sox on three hits over six strong innings on Thursday, fanning eight and walking two. By shutting down a tough Boston lineup, the southpaw kept his strong start to the season rolling — collecting his sixth victory of the campaign and lowering his ERA to 2.78. Despite averaging a 3.79 ERA over his 218-1/3 career big-league innings coming into the season, Snell’s 1.02 WHIP and 3.21 K/BB over 58-2/3 innings this season certainly look like the real deal in the early goings of the 2018 campaign.

Daniel Gossett allowed just one unearned run on four hits and a walk with five punch-outs over seven innings in a hard luck loss Wednesday against the Mariners. That was the best start of the season for the 25 year-old right-hander, who previously allowed five and four runs (respectively) over 7-1/3 innings of his first two outings this season. So far he has relied primarily on his 94 mph four-seam fastball that is bereft of movement, and a hard 89 mph worm killer slider, while also mixing in a 93 mph sinker with little arm-side run and sink, a firm 86 mph changeup with slight cut action, and a whiffy 81 mph curveball. Gossett is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in one career start against the Rays (totaling seven innings). Key Matchup: CJ Cron (1-3)

You can read more about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Athletics — a series preview

Rays 5/29/18 Starting Lineup

Miller 1B
Cron DH
Wendle 2B
Ramos C
Duffy 3B
Smith CF
Robertson SS
Gomez RF
Field LF
Snell LHP

The New What Next: Rays vs Athletics — a series preview

The Rays ended their home stand having won 2-of-3 against the Orioles, and winners of eight of their last 12 series. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland Athletics begin a four-game series on Memorial Day at the Oakland Coliseum, in the other Bay Area. The Rays are coming off a mediocre 3-3 home stand against Boston and Baltimore, but are winners of three of their last four games. Meanwhile, the A’s had similar results against Seattle and Arizona.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

The Rays didn’t fare well with runners in scoring position in their last series, going just 7-for-36. However, Tampa Bay went 7-for-26 in games two and three, for a much more palatable .267 BA wRISP. Had the Rays been able to cash in on the 10 wRISP opportunities on Friday, they’d easily have swept the Orioles.

Oakland won its last series against Arizona, but scored just six runs in total. That’s a testament to the Athletics’ pitching staff, which has performed to a combined 2.62 ERA/3.50 FIP over the last seven games. However, the same staff has performed to an overall 4.09 ERA/4.20 FIP on the season, while allowing an average of 4.38 runs per game. Compare that to Tampa Bay, which has scored 4.45 runs per game (on average), but allowed 4.07.

They say in order to be successful in baseball, you must beat those directly ahead of you in the rankings. As it stands, the Athletics are two games ahead of the Rays in the Wildcard standings. True, it may be a fool’s errand to even think about Postseason baseball 50-games into the 2018 season, especially when the Rays are still one game under .500. One also cannot discount the trade whispers surrounding the team, which bring uncertainty and unease. Be that as it may, the Rays have an opportunity to leap-frog a direct competitor — one that is under-performing Tampa Bay, at least as it relates to BaseRuns. The Rays are performing more like a 27-23 team, with a +19 run differential, while Oakland should be 26-26 on the season with a +4 run differential. They also have outperformed the Athletics in every offensive category over the last 14-days, with the exceptions od ISO and HR%. If Archer and company can keep the ball in the park, they have a good chance of winning the series.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

In the end there is a reason the Rays are 21-1 when they score at least five runs, and that’s due in part to the pitching staff which has performed to a combined 3.66 ERA/4.02 FIP throughout the month of May. Can they continue to perform well against the +.500 team from Oakland?

Noteworthiness

Over the next four days Kevin Cash will lean on Chris Archer (3-3, 4.68 ERA), Blake Snell (6-3, 2.78 ERA), Nathan Eovaldi (0-0, 0.00 ERA), and the bullpen (11-12, 4.19 ERA). Bob Melvin will counter with Trevor Cahill (1-2, 2.75 ERA), Daniel Gossett (0-2, 6.28 ERA), Sean Manaea (5-5, 3.34 ERA), and Daniel Mengdon (5-4, 2.85 ERA).

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Chris Archer allowed one run on four hits and three walks through six innings Wednesday night against Boston. He struck out six. Archer dueled his mentor, David Price, pitch for pitch in the marquee matchup. He looks to close out a strong May effort after a horrible first month of play which found Archer performing to a 6.61 ERA, and a 1.59 WHIP in six starts. In five May starts, Archer owns a 2.76 ERA with a 1.07 WHIP. The main difference? He has kept the ball in the yard; Archer allowed a homer in each of his first six starts, yet aside from his worst May start against the Orioles on May 12 — in which he gave up three home runs — Archer hasn’t allowed a long ball all month. Archer is 1-0 with a 3.97 ERA in two career starts against Oakland, both of which came at the Trop.

Trevor Cahill pitched well despite taking a no-decision against Seattle on Tuesday, throwing a season-high 102 pitches. A two-run homer by Mike Zunino in the seventh inning was his only blemish. Cahill has thrown four quality starts this season, in six total games, and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any given outing. Nevertheless, his offense hasn’t given him enough run support, alas a 1-2 record. This season he has relied primarily on a 92 mph worm killer sinker and a whiffy 85 mph changeup, while also mixing in an 88 mph 12-6 slider, a hard 80 mph knuckle curveball with sharp downward bite, and a whiffy 93 mph four-seam fastball. The 30 year-old right-hander is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in five career starts against Tampa Bay. Key Matchup: Carlos Gomez (2-3, RBI)

Blake Snell blanked the Red Sox on three hits over six strong innings on Thursday, fanning eight and walking two. By shutting down a tough Boston lineup, the southpaw kept his strong start to the season rolling — collecting his sixth victory of the campaign and lowering his ERA to 2.78. Despite averaging a 3.79 ERA over his 218-1/3 career big-league innings coming into the season, Snell’s 1.02 WHIP and 3.21 K/BB over 58-2/3 innings this season certainly look like the real deal in the early goings of the 2018 campaign.

Daniel Gossett allowed just one unearned run on four hits and a walk with five punch-outs over seven innings in a hard luck loss Wednesday against the Mariners. That was the best start of the season for the 25 year-old right-hander, who previously allowed five and four runs (respectively) over 7-1/3 innings of his first two outings this season. So far he has relied primarily on his 94 mph four-seam fastball that is bereft of movement, and a hard 89 mph worm killer slider, while also mixing in a 93 mph sinker with little arm-side run and sink, a firm 86 mph changeup with slight cut action, and a whiffy 81 mph curveball. Gossett is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in one career start against the Rays (totaling seven innings). Key Matchup: CJ Cron (1-3)

Nathan Eovaldi was on the disabled list since March 28 with loose bodies in his right elbow. After arthroscopic surgery and a slight setback, Eovaldi is scheduled to make his first start of the season Wednesday at Oakland.

The team reportedly toyed with the idea of starting Eovaldi on Tuesday, splitting up Chris Archer and Blake Snell in the rotation, but that plan changed Sunday.

I think just given how we stacked up, we talked about maybe inserting Nate, but then you can also make the argument on the flip side, it’s been working pretty good for (Chris Archer and Matt Snell), they kind of complement each other in that they’re different and they attack differently, Cash said. Obviously, one is right, one is left. So to keep them back to back after a little more time thinking, that’s what we decided to do.

In his last season of action (2016) he relied primarily on a hard 98 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action and slight arm-side run, and an 89 mph splitter which boasts some natural sink, while also mixing in a hard 87 mph slider, and a 94 mph cutter with good “rise” and little cut action.

Sean Manaea allowed six runs on eight hits over 3-2/3 innings against Arizona on Friday, striking out two and walking a pair in a losing effort. Manaea allowed four extra-base hits during his very short outing, the last of which was a two-run triple by Paul Goldschmidt that knocked him out of the game. This was Manaea’s shortest outing of the season and the first time he’s given up more than four runs. After a fantastic April — he allowed just four earned runs across five starts, including a no-no against Boston on April 21 — Manaea has allowed a total of 21 earned runs through five starts in May, bringing his ERA to 3.34. This season he has relied primarily on his 91 mph four-seam fastball with heavy sinking action and obvious run, and an 83 mph worm-killer changeup with slight cut action, while also mixing in an 80 mph 12-6 slider with two-plane movement. He is 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA in two career starts against Tampa Bay. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (2-8), Rob Refsnyder (2-6, 2B, 2 RBI), Daniel Robertson (1-3), Mallex Smith (2-3)

The Rays have not yet named a starter in the series finale. I will update this piece once one is named.

Daniel Mengdon tossed a two-hit gem Saturday against the Diamondbacks, en route to his fifth win of the season. He fanned five and issued zero walks. Mengdon continued to dominate, as he has now given up just four earned runs over his last 33-2/3 innings (1.07 ERA), including a current 17-inning scoreless streak. The 25 year-old right-hander coaxed 13 ground balls in that outing, which has been a big part of his success over this stretch. However, with only 43 strikeouts in 66-1/3 innings this season, and an insanely lucky — and unsustainable — .164 BABIP over the last 14-days, a regression is anticipated. This season he has relied primarily on his 93 mph four-seam fastball with some added backspin, while also mixing in an 85 mph slider with two-plane movement, a 93 mph sinker with little armside run and almost no sinking action, an 83 mph changeup that has some slight arm-side fade, and a 73 mph curveball. Key Matchup: CJ Cron (1-2)

TNWN: Rays look for series win against Baltimore on Sunday; pregame notes

The Tampa Bay Rays look to win the series against the Orioles on Sunday. (Photo Credit: Anthony Ateek/X-Rays Spex)

After a 5-1 win over the Orioles on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays look to win a series against Baltimore on Sunday. A victory also would bring Tampa Bay (24-26) within a game of .500 ahead of the jaunt out west to Oakland and Seattle.

For the third straight game, Tampa Bay will start a right-handed reliever against Baltimore’s right-handed heavy lineup. Sergio Romo (1-1, 4.66 ERA) will start the game for the second time in this series, and fourth time in the last nine days — becoming the first pitcher to do that since Claude Osteen (July 17-25, 1975). He allowed a run on Friday after a two-out strikeout-wild pitch, the only run he’s allowed opening a game.

The strategy has worked by an large. Aside from Romo’s work, Ryne Stanek looked phenomenal on Saturday. Starting his first game since he was in Double-A Montgomery (2016), Stanek needed just 21 pitches to retire all five batters he faced on a groundout, three swinging strikeouts, and a fly-ball out. The right-hander topped out at 101 mph on multiple occasions, and of his 21 pitches 14 went for strikes with eight swings-and-misses (57% SwStr%). It was, without a doubt, his best performance as a Ray, and allowed him to drop his ERA to 4.05 (down from 5.40).

All told, Tampa Bay’s relievers first strategy has been fruitful, with Romo and Stanek performing to a combined 4.2 IP/1 ER/2 H/2 BB/10 K line.

Austin Pruitt is slated for the bulk of the innings against Baltimore, although Tampa Bay will also have an extra arm in the bullpen the next few days.

Following last night’s game, Anthony Banda was been optioned back to Triple-A Durham in order to make room for the hard throwing Nathan Eovaldi in the rotation, but in the interim, the Rays have called up RHP Jaime Schultz to fill that roster spot.

Kevin Gausman (3-3, 3.48 ERA) will take the mound against the Rays. Gausman fanned 10 in 6-1/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday. He allowed nine hits and one walk in the no-decision against. Gausman was staked to a two-run lead when he left the game, but Baltimore’s ‘pen gave it up. This was Gausman’s sixth quality start on the season, and perhaps his most impressive of all, as he recorded a career-high 25 swinging strikes against a befuddled White Sox lineup. He now has an excellent 3.87 K/BB and 3.48 ERA over 62 innings of work. He allowed two runs on 11 hits over 7-1/3 innings against Tampa Bay on the 11th, and is 6-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 13 career starts against the Rays. Seven of those starts came at the Trop, where he is 3-3 with a 3.46 ERA. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (5-14, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Matt Duffy (2-4), Wilson Ramos (3-12, HR, RBI), Rob Refsnyder (3-8, 2B, BB), Mallex Smith (3-10, 3B, BB), Denard Span (6-13, 3 2B, 3 RBI), Jesus Sucre (2-6, 2 2B, 1 RBI), Joey Wendle (1-4)

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Orioles — a series preview, part three

Rays 5/27/18 Starting Lineup

Miller 1B
Cron DH
Wendle 2B
Ramos C
Robertson SS
Smith CF
Gomez RF
Arroyo 3B
Refsnyder LF
Romo RHP

Noteworthiness

— Per Thomas Bassinger (Tampa Bay Times):

The Rays have gone four games without hitting a home run, their longest drought of the season. Only two teams have had longer droughts — the Reds, who went six games without a homer, and the Brewers, who went five games.

Heading into Saturday’s game, the Rays had hit 46 home runs, the fifth fewest in baseball. Willy Adames, who was optioned back to Triple-A Durham on Thursday, was the last player to hit one (May 22).

Teams who haven’t hit a home run in a game have lost twice as often as they have won. The Rays are 6-15.

— As we posited on Friday, Kevin Cash confirmed that the Rays will close out games by committee, with the team using some combination of Jose Alvarado, Chaz Roe and maybe Sergio Romo.

I don’t think we’re in a position to name a closer right now, Cash said. We’ve learned over many years of doing this that games are won and lost in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and we want to be prepare to use who we feel is best equipped to get those outs right then and then we’ll figure out the ninth when that time comes.

— Per Neil Solondz (Rays Radio):

Wilmer Font has also officially joined the Rays after arriving during yesterday’s game. The right handed reliever was acquired in a trade with the A’s on Friday. Ironically, he’ll be making his return to Oakland right away on the upcoming road trip, where Font said his family is still living as of now.

Rays Roster Moves: blowback from the Denard Span/Alex Colome trade

Denard Span saw the writing on the wall, although he never expected to be traded this early in the season. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times)

The Tampa Bay Rays stunned the baseball world Friday afternoon, kicking off the trade season early by dealing OF Denard Span and RHP Alex Colome to Seattle for a pair of pitching prospects. Call the timing of the deal surprising or unexpected, yet the move itself is not shocking in the least. After all, everyone knew that Span and Colome would be dealt at some point season, after the trade-rumor-filled offseason bore no fruit for the pair.

The hot-takes on the deal were almost instantaneous. Rays ace Chris Archer was frustrated by the move, saying:

Erik (Neander, Rays GM) is on record saying that it doesn’t make our team better today, which is a little frustrating to hear. We got off to a slow start, but the last month or more we’ve been playing a lot better baseball.

Everybody in this room wants our team to continue on the path that we’ve been on, and it’s going to be tough to do without the guy who led off for us most of the last two months and the guy who’s been pitching the ninth inning for the last three years for us.

Hopefully we see some type of return, maybe some of younger guys get called up soon. But, again, I’m not here to be mediocre or just be competitive. I want to win. I want to win on a regular basis. Hopefully we can keep our head above water until we get injected with that new blood they say is coming.

Span enjoyed his time in Tampa Bay, and he wasn’t shocked by the trade per se. Rather the timing of it took him by surprise:

It’s a bittersweet day, more bitter than sweet though. I never thought that I would enjoy being home and playing for my hometown team as much as I did.

Just seeing even the first two months of this season, how this team had already grown and gotten better, it was just a joy to see. And just the atmosphere in that clubhouse, it’s unlike any atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of to be honest. It’s loose. It’s fun. I told Erik and (senior VP) Chaim (Bloom) that they have a good thing going here.

On one hand, it landed the team a starting pitcher, Andrew Moore, that the front office sees as part of the future core, and opened additional opportunities now for younger players like Johnny Field, with others slated to come up in June.

And if we are being honest, Span’s offensive contributions waned as the first month rolled into the second. No disrespect to the outfielder, but he was unexpectedly productive to start the season — PECOTA pegged him for a .259 BA/.316 OBP/.373 SLG/.689 OPS line with six home runs, 54 runs scored and 37 RBI in 372 plate appearances, and at the height of his productivity (March/April) he slashed .256 BA/.372 OBP/.449 SLG/.821 OPS with a 130 wRC, three homers, 14 runs scored, and 21 RBI. Yet his productivity fell dramatically in May, with Span slashing .215 BA/.354 OBP/.308 SLG/.662 OPS, with a 95 wRC in 79 plate appearances. Because of it, the Rays likely viewed his productivity during the first month of play as unsustainable over the long haul, and chose to strike while the iron was lukewarm … while he still had some trade value. The question begs, can the tandem of Carlos Gomez and Field ratchet up their contributions at the plate in Span’s wake?

As for Colome, the right-hander sports an unsightly 4.15 ERA and a 2.88 K/BB. Then again, he also carries a 2.69 FIP and an improved 9.6 K/9, not to mention a 54.5% groundball rate. His low strand rate (65.4%) and high BABIP-against (.354) help explain the discord.

The Rays also picked up Wilmer Font from the Athletics; he has been added to the 25-man roster as depth out of the bullpen. Neander confirmed that they would veer toward a closer by committee scenario over the short-term, leaving the ultimate decision up to Kevin Cash on a game-by-game basis. It is plausible that Jose Alvarado could get the first crack at closing, after all his big velocity, improved command and “cool” during high leverage situations makes him the heir apparent to the job.

Either way, the Mariners essentially took the $12-million they saved on Robinson Cano’s suspension, and added a setup man — which Colome will be used as — and another outfielder.

On the other hand, the perception by many is that this is an extension of principal owner Stu Sternberg’s offseason directive to slash payroll.

To be fair, everyone is right in a sense. After all, Gomez is expected to return from the DL on Saturday, and the deal allows Field, who has exceeded expectations thus far, to stay with the big league squad. Moreover, the Rays organizational pitching depth took a hit thanks to injuries, and the trade helps replenish the Minor League stock of arms.

While Neander argued that this was not a salary dump, at least not in the traditional sense, the Rays wiped the slate of more than $9.1-million after the $4-million in cash considerations they sent to Seattle are taken into consideration — reducing the overall payroll to approximately $64-million, the lowest it as been since 2011.

And since it all relates, previous to the start of the 2018 campaign, Rays Principal Owner Stu Sternberg took umbrage to a grievance filed by the MLBPA in February, bandying about a $75-million payroll total — a sum that was approximately $3-million higher than the starting figure a season ago.

We have a good sense of what we’re doing, we have … a great track record of putting a very competitive product, or an incredibly competitive product on this field for the last 10 years, Sternberg said. And I’ll stand by that for 2018 and beyond as well.

Then again, the Rays ended last season with a $91-million payroll — the highest payroll total under Sternberg’s tenure, and almost $30-million more than today. In all fairness, Sternberg indeed did increase the payroll at the start of the season, however, he did so unintentionally, not because he actively sought to improve the product on the field via a flurry of lateral moves. The figure was higher because the team took on payroll when Span was acquired from San Francisco, in the Longoria trade. It is now significantly lower than the 2017 Opening Day figure. I guess he cannot flaunt that substandard payroll total any longer.

In the end, the trade can be viewed both positively and negatively, just like any other Tampa Bay trade of the last decade. The timing, however, is atrocious when viewing it through the lenses of developing team chemistry.

If I may quote the late, great Kurt Vonnegut:

And so it goes…