Rays’ Sell-Off Continues With Adam, Paredes Trades
No player appears safe as the Tampa Bay Rays continue to retool their roster with just over 24 hours until Tuesday’s 6pm ET trade deadline arrives.
Rays team president and general manager Erik Neander capitalized on this year’s lucrative reliever market Sunday morning, acquiring three high-profile prospects from the San Diego Padres for right-hander Jason Adam. The 32-year-old, earning $2.7 million this season, is under club control through 2026.
San Diego agreed to send three top-15 prospects to Tampa Bay, including top pitching prospect Dylan Lesko. The two joining him are outfielder Homer Bush Jr. and catcher J.D. Gonzalez – previously ranked as the organization’s Nos. 8 and 12 prospects, respectively.
Adam, pitching in his third season with the Rays, posted four saves with a 2.49 ERA and 3.34 FIP while striking out 50 batters across 47 relief appearances. He’s walked just 16 hitters over 47 innings, recording an 8.9-percent walk rate, the second-lowest of his career.
The 6-foot-3 righty joins high-leverage relievers Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada and Yuki Matsui, all of whom will help bridge the gap to Padres closer Robert Suarez, whose 23 saves are tied for fourth-most in the majors.
As for the Rays’ return, Lesko immediately becomes the franchise’s top pitching prospect per MLB Pipeline, with Bush Jr. (No. 20) and Gonzalez (No. 28) also placed inside the top 30.
The 20-year-old righty, a 15th-overall selection by the Padres in 2022, features plenty of swing-and-miss stuff but has struggled with his command, as evidenced by his 6.46 ERA, 16.5-percent walk rate and 1.42 HR/9 in 16 starts at High-A this season. He has, however, fanned a quarter of the batters he’s faced thus far.
Later in the day, Neander struck another deal, sending third baseman Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs for a package of three players, including utilityman Christopher Morel and two pitching prospects (Hunter Bigge, Ty Johnson).
Paredes, a free agent after 2027, enjoyed a breakout performance last season, blasting a career-high 31 home runs with 98 RBIs while slashing .250/.352/.488 over 143 games. He earned a 137 wRC+, accounting for 4.3 fWAR – both career-bests.
This season, the heavy-pull, right-handed-hitting infielder has 16 home runs, 55 RBIs, a .245/.357/.435 slash line and a 131 wRC+ in 101 contests. It’s a homecoming of sorts, as he re-joins the organization he signed with out of Mexico in 2015.
While the Cubs entered Monday’s slate well outside a playoff spot, sitting five games back of the final NL wild-card seed with a 51-56 record, acquiring Paredes likely signifies more about the future than it does about the present.
Morel was previously a member of Chicago’s core position-player group, but he hasn’t been able to replicate the success of his first two major league seasons. After posting career highs across the board in 2023, the 25-year-old has struggled to a .199/.302/.373 slash line, hitting 18 home runs and driving in 51 runs over 103 games in ‘24.
The Rays will have plenty of opportunities to get Morel back on track, though, as he’s under club control through 2028 and won’t be arbitration-eligible until after next season.
Since declaring themselves as sellers last Friday, Tampa Bay has now shipped off four key pieces: Randy Arozarena, Zach Eflin, Adam and Paredes. But they’ve further strengthened an already elite farm system, adding 10 prospects to the pipeline – with another on the way as a PTBNL from the Arozarena deal.
And there’ll likely be trades to come, with first baseman Yandy Díaz, second baseman Brandon Lowe, utilityman Amed Rosario, closer Pete Fairbanks, and reliever Shawn Armstrong expected to be available in discussions.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Bryan Green. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.