As many offseason trade rumors suggested could occur, the Tampa Bay Rays traded OF/DH Austin Meadows to Detroit on Monday for infielder Isaac Paredes and a Competitive Balance Round B selection. Tampa Bay had been shopping Meadows and Kevin Kiermaier in recent weeks.
Meadows, along with Tyler Glasnow and Shane Baz, was part of the Rays’ now-famous 2018 trade deadline deal for Chris Archer. Meadows slashed .291 BA/.364 OBP/.558 SLG/.922 OPS with 33 home runs across 591 plate appearances in 2019, emerging as a critical piece of the lineup. But, his numbers fell off significantly in the truncated 2020 season, although Meadows bounced back a year later, slashing .234 BA/.315 OBP/.458 SLG/.773 OPS with a .327 wOBA, a 113 wRC+, and 21 home runs.
Paredes, 23, made his big league debut in 2020 and has spent parts of the last two seasons with the Tigers. Even so, it would appear that he had been blocked from consistent stints on the roster by Jeimer Candelario, Miguel Cabrera, Jonathan Schoop, and Spencer Torkelson. He slashed .215 BA/.290 OBP/.302 SLG/.592 OPS (37-172) with two home runs and 11 RBI across 57 big league games.
Over his Major League career, Paredes made 38 starts at third base, nine starts at second base, and four starts at shortstop. The Rays had been seeking a right-handed first baseman, and one has to wonder if Paredes will get some reps there?
Last season, he hit .208 BA/.306 OBP/.319 SLG/.625 OPS with three doubles, a triple, a home run, and five RBI across 23 games over (four stints) in Detroit. Although he spent most of the season in Triple-A East Toledo where he performed significantly better, slashing .265 BA/.397 OBP/.451 SLG/.848 OPS with 11 homers, 42 RBI, and more walks than strikeouts (56 vs. 47) over 72 games. He followed that up with a stint in the Mexican Pacific Winter League, playing for Venados de Mazatlan, where he slashed .282 BA/.437 OBP/.409 SLG/.846 OPS with four home runs and 23 RBI in 42 games.
Meadows’ fielding had always been somewhat suspect, however, he played a competent left field in ’21. Yet, Randy Arozarena is a better left fielder to the tune of a +7 DRS as compared to a -1 DRS and a 4.1 UZR. Enter Josh Lowe, Tampa Bay’s No. 2 prospect, who appears ready for the big leagues after hitting .291 BA/.381 OBP/.535 SLG/.916 OPS in 111 games with the Bulls last season.
Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) tweeted that the club plans to recall Lowe to break camp with Tampa Bay. He will be in line for regular at-bats in the lineup, joining Manuel Margot, Kiermaier, Arozarena, and Brett Phillips as plus defenders in all three of the outfield spots — which gives Kevin Cash an opportunity to run some excellent defensive groups in the outfield.