The Rays are acquiring right-hander Freddy Peralta from the Mets, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. In return, the Mets will get Aidan Smith, Émilien Pitre and Gary Gill Hill, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Previously, Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported that three players were going to the Mets. There is no cash changing hands in the deal, per Sherman.
Tampa has been big-game hunting in the rotation market. They were connected to Tarik Skubal, the best rental starter available. However, the Dodgers reeled him in, so it seems the Rays have pivoted to arguably the most notable rental starter after Skubal.
It’s not Tampa’s usual modus operandi to take a big swing on rentals but it seems certain stars have aligned to make them act this way. For one thing, they are having an excellent season. They are 65-45, tops in a weak American League. They are 3.5 games up on a Yankee team that is struggling to score while Aaron Judge is on the injured list. If they can hold on to win the division, they would get almost certainly get a first-round bye, as the Central and West division leaders are well back of the top two teams in the East.
While the big league team has been racking up wins, good things have been happening on the farm as well. Baseball America recently ranked Tampa’s prospect pipeline second in the majors, behind only the Brewers.
On top of that, the rotation has some question marks. Shane McClanahan just hit the injured list due to mid-back tightness. It’s not expected to be a long absence but McClanahan also missed the 2024 and 2025 seasons due to arm issues. It’s anyone’s guess how he’ll fare down the stretch. Drew Rasmussen is healthy this year but has a notable track record of arm troubles. Ian Seymour is having a breakout year but still has fewer than 140 big league innings under his belt. Griffin Jax has spent the past few years as a reliever and is already up to 86 2/3 innings, a career high in a big league season for him. Nick Martinez has great numbers this year but is outperforming his underlying stats and has oscillated between rotation and bullpen work in his career.
There’s lots of talent in there but also lots of uncertainty. Despite that, the Rays have put themselves in a good position in the standings and have a strong farm to draw from, so they have decided to act boldly.
More to come.