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Rays deal Jose Alvarado to Philly in a three-team trade; Erik Neander on the Blake Snell trade

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Left-hander Jose Alvarado was dealt to Philadelphia in a three-team trade on Tuesday.

The Tampa Bay Rays stayed active on Tuesday, dealing left-hander Jose Alvarado to Philadelphia in a three-team deal. As part of the swap, the Rays received minor league first baseman Dillon Paulson and a player to be named later or cash considerations from the Dodgers.

During the 2018 campaign, Alvarado posted a 2.39 ERA and 11.3 K/9 across 64 relief frames (70 games). Yet injuries hampered the left-hander the last two seasons, resulting in a 5.08 ERA and a 1.58 K/BB over 39 total innings. The lefty missed a lot of bats, yet a lack of control (7.6 BB/9) countered those punchouts. Shoulder inflammation limited the 25-year-old hurler to just nine regular-season innings last season, although he was able to toss 1-2/3 scoreless innings to contribute to the Rays’ victory over the Astros in the ALCS.

Paulson, 23, was a 13th-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2018 draft and hit .253 BA/.373 OBP/.464 SLG/.837 OPS with 47 doubles, 26 home runs, 125 RBI, and 124 walks over 778 plate appearances (over two seasons) in the Dodgers organization during his brief professional career, reaching the High-A level in 2019.

In dealing Alvarado, Tampa Bay opened up a 40-man roster spot that was needed for the completion of the Blake Snell trade with San Diego.

Erik Neander on the Snell trade

In a Zoom call with the media on Tuesday Rays Executive Vice President/General Manager Erik Neander told Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) and others that the Blake Snell trade created a step back for the 2021 squad in the present tense, however, he also believes the team will still be very good and that’s there’s enough time in the off-season to add to the group.

We have players on hand that are prepared to step up and assume greater roles as we go along. Being really good in 2021 is really important to us especially given what our players just accomplished. But at least as important is that we’re really good for a long time without interruption.

— Erik Neander

The Rays GM Neander said he had honest conversations with several returning players and understands why some of them didn’t want to see Snell traded after the 2020 World Series appearance.

You owe them honesty in these situations. We have an awful lot of confidence in the group that we (still) have. These guys have won an awful lot of games the last few years with Blake on the mound and with other pitchers on the mound.

— Erik Neander

Neander also noted why the decision was made to pull the trigger on a deal that many feel to be a lateral move, in that it did not necessarily improve the team.

This was done not because we were looking to move Blake. This was done in large part because of the talent that we’re getting back. That was the big driver for us here.

— Erik Neander

Neander clearly felt good about the decision based on the players the team received in return as well as the players they currently have. He spoke very highly of RHP Luis Patiño, the 21-year-old who boasts a blazing four-seam fastball that averages nearly 97 mph.

We think the world of him. … You’re talking about an incredible athlete. You’re talking about someone with top-notch aptitude and makeup.

— Erik Neander

Aside from Patiño, Neander felt 25-year-old catcher Francisco Mejía is another player that can help the Rays in 2021, although he conceded that Mejía needs some work defensively. The Rays GM felt that Mejía — who is expected to get most of his work behind the plate — would benefit from a change of scenery.

In spite of the trade, Neander expects the 2021 Rays to be contenders.

By no means is this any sort of white flag on this season. We have a lot of confidence in the group that we have here and we’ve got a lot of time left to continue to build this club out and to get this puzzle where we want it.

— Erik Neander

Yet without Snell and Charlie Morton, that task has been made more difficult.

We’ve got a lot of work to do. We also have a lot of confidence in the young pitching that hasn’t yet established themselves.

— Erik Neander

Part of that will be assessing the young group they currently have including Patiño, Joe Ryan, Shane McClanahan, and Brent Honeywell. And while 2021 could be a transition year for the Rays pitching staff, Neander is expected to continue to look to add a more experienced starter.

Noteworthiness

— The Rays added to their catching depth by re-signing 32-year-old Kevan Smith to a minor-league deal.

Rays trade Blake Snell to San Diego in a five-player deal

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On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Rays sent Blake Snell to San Diego in a five-player trade.

The Tampa Bay Rays made a gallant attempt* at defending the 2020 American League pennant by dealing Blake Snell to San Diego in a five-player trade. In return, the Rays received the Padres No. 3, 7, and 14 prospects — RHP Luis Patiño, RHP Cole Wilcox, and C Blake Hunt — and C Francisco Mejía. The deal is pending physicals.

It is a stunning, yet typical, turn of events for the perineally cheap Rays who were known to be open to offers for the left-hander, although there had been no indication prior to Sunday that any deal, much less this one, was particularly close. Tampa Bay continues to operate on the cheap in the name of payroll flexibility, showing a willingness to move anyone if it can recoup a sufficient value.

Between this deal, and allowing Charlie Morton to walk, the reigning AL champions have moved away from two of their top three starters this winter. They enter Spring Training with a reduced payroll, yet they are no less better. Erik Neander and the Rays front office now figure to add pitching as they look to fend off the Yankees and the Blue Jays at the top of the division. With Snell’s contract off the books, the Rays’ payroll is down to a projected $57-Million — $17-Million shy of last season’s opening payroll of $74-Million.

Opinions aside, the deal is all but done, and I may as well take this opportunity to introduce the newest Rays.

RHP Luis Patiño

Luis Patiño is a versatile pitcher — with regards to his ability to pitch in the rotation or out of the bullpen — that made his big league debut in 2020, working primarily out of the ‘pen. His first 17-1/3 big-league innings didn’t go well, as he struggled with command and performed to a 5.19 ERA/5.61 FIP. However, the right-hander had thrown 7-2/3 innings above A-ball entering the 2020 campaign and likely would’ve been given more minor-league time in 2020 if not for the pandemic shortened season. He was nothing short of dominant from 2018-19 (in the low minors) and boasts a high-upside arm that could contribute in Tampa Bay as early as 2021. He is controllable through 2026.

Patiño has swing-and-miss stuff as well as the ability to fill up the strike zone. FanGraphs views Patiño at least as Snell’s equal.

Fastball: 65 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 60

Patiño’s velocity came on in a huge way as he got on a pro strength program and he’s added 40 pounds of good weight and about 10 ticks of velo since he signed. He’s a charismatic autodidact who has taken a similarly proactive approach to learning a new language (he became fluent in English very quickly, totally of his own volition) as he has to incorporating little tricks and twists into his delivery (he’s borrowed from Mac Gore) to mess with hitters. Were this a college prospect, he’d be in the conversation for the draft’s top pick, and I’m very comfortable projecting on the command and changeup because of the athleticism/makeup combination. I expect Patiño will reach the big leagues this year in a bullpen capacity and compete for a rotation spot in 2021.

— FanGraphs

RHP Cole Wilcox

Wilcox, a 2020 draftee out of the University of Georgia, was viewed as a first-round talent that fell because of a high bonus demand as a draft-eligible sophomore. San Diego signed the 21-year-old for a $3.3-Million signing bonus. The right-hander boasted a mid-90’s fastball (sitting 93-96 mph) as a starter in 2020, as well as an 85-89 mph slider with biting two-plane movement, and a changeup — his two promising secondary offerings. Wilcox was ranked twelfth among San Diego farmhands by Baseball America. He walked no hitters in his final three 2020 starts and walked just two in 23 total innings.

Wilcox’s fastball and slider, as well as his current command, are enough to project him in a late-inning bullpen role, although a better changeup would enable him to be a mid-rotation hurler.

C Blake Hunt

Hunt has emerged as a top 100 caliber prospect after three decent seasons in which he slashed .255 BA/.331 OBP/.381 SLG/.712 OPS with five home runs in 89 games for Class-A Fort Wayne in 2019.

Per Eric Longenhagen (FanGraphs), the 22-year-old catcher has “been hitting to all fields with power” and shown high-end arm strength in recent workouts.

After two consecutive years of above-average offensive performance relative to his league and continued resolve that he is a viable defensive catcher, Hunt now looks like he has a real chance to be an everyday backstop. I’ve seen him pop as low as 1.88 on throws to second and, despite his size, he’s agile enough and has sufficient hands to receive and frame big league stuff. Hunt also has a contact-oriented approach at the plate, one that’s quite conservative (zero leg kick) and doesn’t take full advantage of his movement skills. It relies entirely on Hunt’s hands to generate power, and that will likely result is 12-ish homers and a bunch of doubles. It’s a second-division look to me, but I think there’s more ceiling on the game power if Hunt’s lower half gets more involved in his swing.

— Eric Longenhagen

His gap-to-gap ability, combined with his defensive foundation, make Hunt a good everyday catching prospect that will graduate to Double-A in 2020.

C Francisco Mejía

Mejía is not far removed from being seen as an elite catching talent although he comes with question marks about his catching aptitude and has compiled just a .225 PA/.282 OBP/.386 OBP/.668 OPS slash line in 362 career plate appearances over the past four seasons.

Daniel Russell (DRaysBay) summed up Mejía well, writing:

Francisco Mejia is technically a catcher who is technically a switch hitter but none of that has materialized at the major league level. As a former Top-20 prospect in all of baseball, his acquisition post-hype is charitably in the Rays style of targeting players like Tyler Glasnow, but it’s not clear that the Rays would rely on such a poor performer behind the dish, given their reputation for targeting high-end framing catchers.

Mejia was worth negative value as a framing catcher per Statcast in 2019, and negative value by Baseball Prospectus’s cumulative CDA in both 2019 and 2020. Despite a career 75 wRC+ there’s a lot of promise left in the bat, but the Rays do not have the luxury of adding a designated hitter to the roster when Yoshi Tsutsugo is due $7 million in 2021. Something has got to give.

— Daniel Russell

To sum things up, the trade does bring back good value for Snell — that should not be overlooked. Whether Patiño or Mejía (in the least) can offset the loss of Snell, an affordable top-tier hurler, in 2021 fails to be seen though. Put differently, the deal gives the Rays payroll flexibility to compensate for the money they didn’t actually lose in 2020. And while Stu Sternberg should’ve issued a simple edict to the Rays’ front office — focus on the 2021 World Series — he and the front office instead focused on payroll flexibility which doesn’t mean a damn thing in the context of the 40-man roster if they are not willing to actually spend money.

*If that sentence had you scratching your head, that was by design.

Rays sign Michael Wacha to a one-year, $3-Million deal; pitching notes

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The Tampa Bay Rays inked a one-year, $3-Million deal with RHP Michael Wacha on Friday.

On Friday, the Tampa Bay Rays inked a one-year, $3-Million deal with right-handed free-agent hurler Micahel Wacha. The veteran now joins Blake Snell, Ryan Yarbrough, Tyler Glasnow, and Shane McClanahan as the Rays front five starters in the rotation. For the time being, Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster is full.

Wacha, 29, is an eight-year veteran that spent most of his career with the St Louis Cardinals, where he was a middle of the rotation hurler. His best season came in 2017 when he finished with a 4.13 ERA and a 3.63 FIP across 165-2/3 frames. Yet injuries have impacted Wacha’s career although he’s reportedly healthy now.

Wacha struggled through eight starts with the Mets in the truncated 2020 season, pitching to a 6.62 ERA and a 5.25 FIP with nine home runs allowed in just 34 innings of work. His 2019 season was also less than stellar thanks in no large part to the aforementioned. His peripherals were eye-popping, to say the least, making Wacha a low-risk/high reward target. The 11.3% swing-and-miss rate was his highest since 2013 according to FanGraphs, and he generated whiffs on a career-high 34.3% of pitches outside the zone. He also logged a very strong 37-to-7 K/BB, and his 1.89 BB/9 was the lowest of his career.

Wacha’s fastball velocity bottomed in 2019 with the Cardinals, sitting at a career-low 93 mph, however, he made some positive gains in 2020 and currently sits at 93.6 mph. He also changed his pitch selection considerably in New York, scrapping his curveball in lieu of a three-pitch mix; the four-seam fastball, a cutter, and a Bugs Bunny changeup. His changeup is the most intriguing offering, as it boasts significant movement that allows him to miss bats.

The right-hander becomes another hurler in a long line of low risk/high reward reclamation projects that the team has become well known for, which Rays GM Erik Neander spoke about on Friday.

We have a lot of confidence in our pitching program and it’s not one particular type or style of pitcher. Frankly, I think more than anything I just think it’s the care, it’s the human touch that they invest in each and every pitcher to help them get them the most out of themselves that really drives it.

— Erik Neander

Noteworthiness

— The Rays are among the teams with interest in free-agent right-hander Ryne Stanek. The former Ray was a regular opener with the team in 2018 and 2019 when he pitched to a 3.17 ERA/3.64 FIP and averaged more than 10 strikeouts per nine across 122 frames. Stanek had difficulty in Miami, which acquired him before the 2019 trade deadline, and the right-hander was non-tendered as a result.

— Brent Honeywell underwent arthroscopic right elbow surgery on Wednesday. The successful procedure was done to relieve mild discomfort and it isn’t expected to impact his 2021 season. That is good news for the hurler, who is expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation in Spring Training.

Rays re-sign Mike Zunino to a one-year, $3-Million deal with an option for the 2022 season

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The Rays re-signed Mike Zunino to a one-year deal on Wednesday with an option for the 2022 season.

On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Rays announced that they re-signed catcher Mike Zunino to a one-year, $3-Million deal which includes an option for the 2022 season. Tampa Bay now has a returning catcher that is beloved by the pitching staff and is conscious of the challenges of the job.

Some of it is really very simple, some of it is really unique where we really try and pull the pitchers’ strengths out. And then I think you look at the overall stuff that our pitchers feature. It’s really really potent electric stuff and it takes some time for a catcher to be able to recognize and adjust.

— Kevin Cash

Zunino came over from Seattle in a November 2018 trade which sent former outfielder, Mallex Smith, to the Mariners. He has two full seasons of experience in Tampa Bay under his belt, and the backstop fits well into the team’s culture, which Rays skipper Kevin Cash spoke about in a Zoom call with the media following the deal.

There’s consistency to it but it doesn’t move the same way every single game. And the more reps catchers can get and get familiar with it and see the adjustments on a day to day basis those pitches make, the better equipped they’re going to be able to handle it in a game situation.

— Kevin Cash

Defensively, the Florida native is well-respected as a game-caller and a handler of pitchers, although according to Statcast, his framing ability has been on the decline over the last two seasons. Superlatives aside, Zunino’s offensive prowess has been his biggest knock over the last two seasons. While it seemed that Zunino would develop into an offense-first catcher early on in his career — he slugged 90 home runs with Seattle from 2014-18 — he slashed just .161 BA/.233 OBP/.323 SLG/.556 OPS across 373 plate appearances in a Rays uniform. He did bolster his résumé with a big performance in the 2020 ALCS, however.

Given that Zunino is the only big-league catcher on the 40-man roster, the Rays will remain active in free-agent and trade talks to acquire one or two more catchers this offseason. As Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) noted, “some of the free agents available (in alphabetical order) include Alex Avila, Curt Casali, Jason Castro, and Austin Romine. There are also teams that are carrying five or six catchers on their 40-man, so there could be an opportunity to add one via a minor trade.” Rene Pinto and prospects Brett Sullivan and Ronaldo Hernandez will also get looks during Spring Training.

As for the terms of his contract, Zunino will earn $2-Million in guaranteed salary — which is less than half of what the team would have paid Zunino had they picked up his $4.5-Million club option last month — while the deal also includes a $1-Million option buyout. The club option for 2022 is worth between $4-7-Million depending on playing time.

Rays deal Nate Lowe to Texas; acquire an RHP from St. Louis in the Rule 5 Draft

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The Tampa Bay Rays traded Nate Lowe and two lower-level prospects to Texas ib Thursday for three players.

On Thursday, the Tampa Bay The Rays made their first trade of the offseason, sending Nate Lowe to Texas — along with two low-level prospects — for three 20-year-old prospects: catcher/outfielder Heriberto Hernandez, infielder Osleivis Basabe, and outfielder Alexander Ovalles. The move freed up a roster spot, and the Rays now have 38 players on the 40-man roster as they look to add players via trade or free agency to build on last year’s World Series appearance.

With Ji-Man Choi and the platoon of Mike Brosseau and Yandy Diaz standing in the way of Lowe as he fought for consistent playing time, the Rays dealt the infielder to the Rangers where he should get the reps he deserves.

The headline player for Tampa Bay is Hernandez, who slashed .320 BA/.450 OBP/.625 SLG/1.075 OPS with 23 home runs, 32 doubles, and 98 RBI in just 113 career minor league games across two seasons. The catcher/outfielder is a borderline top one hundred player, according to FanGraphs (No. 112 overall prospect and the third-ranked prospect in the Rangers system). He spent most of 2019 with the Rookie-level Arizona League Rangers, although he played three games with Short-A Spokane following a promotion. Between the two levels, he hit .345 BA/1.071 OPS with 28 extra-base hits (17 doubles, 11 homers) and 49 RBI in 53 games.

Following the 2019 regular season, Hernandez was named to the AZL postseason All-Star Team and led the league with 48 RBI, 66 hits, and 124 total bases (including 32 extra-base hits), and ranked among league leaders in batting average (.344), doubles (17), home runs (11), runs (42), OBP (.433), and SLG (.646).

Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) wrote a de facto scouting report on the other two prospects, writing:

Basabe is currently ranked as the number 16 prospect in the Rangers system by FanGraphs and 20th by MLB.com. Over two minor league seasons, Basabe is batting .334 (.825 OPS) with 18 doubles, one home run, 66 RBI, and 19 stolen bases in 89 games. He spent most of the 2019 season with the Rookie-level AZL Rangers, hitting .323 with 32 RBI in 37 games.

The 20-year-old Ovalles was signed by the Cubs originally and dealt to Texas in the Cole Hamels trade. Ovalles has batted .299 (.832 OPS) with 18 doubles, four home runs, and 41 RBI in 70 games in his pro career. Ovalles split 2019 between the Rookie-level AZL Rangers and Short-A Spokane.

The Rays drafted the 23-year-old Guenther in the seventh round in 2019 out of TCU. At Rookie-level Princeton in 2019, Guenther batted .320 (.854 OPS) (56-for-175) with 10 doubles, two home runs, and 30 RBI in 48 games.

— Neil Solondz

In addition to the three prospects acquired via trade, the Rays also picked up a right-handed hurler, 27-year-old Jordan Brink, from St. Louis in the minor league Rule 5 Draft.

Brink was originally drafted as a left-handed-hitting outfielder by the Cubs in the 11th round of the 2014 draft. His bat never developed in college where he slashed .224 BA/.292 OBP/.299 SLG/.591 OPS with 81 strikeouts in 108 games through his first two seasons. However, as a sophomore in 2013, the right-hander began to receive more opportunities on the mound as a reliever, and he eventually pitched his way into the team’s starting rotation. Brink finished the season with a 3.92 ERA and 65 strikeouts across 59-2/3 frames.

Fast forward to 2019 when he last pitched professionally with the Southern Illinois Miners in the independent Frontier League. Brink punched out 55 over 35-1/3 innings, going 2-3 with a 2.04 ERA and six saves. Based on the movement he gets on his changeup and fastball, Brink is an intriguing pitcher that will get his fair share of looks in Spring Training.