We’ve been quietly waiting on a Tampa Bay Rays trade for some time. No, not necessarily a trade with the Cubs – although the rumors have circulated aggressively – but some kind of trade to clear a roster spot for new signee Steve Pearce.
Marc Topkin sums it up:
Would seem given long delay #Rays could have something more going than just a DFA to make room for Pearce. https://t.co/Bt1M4tAWQP
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) January 28, 2016
And when someone asked the logical question – is it just a problem with the physical? – Topkin declined:
Always a possibility, but don't think that's the issue here https://t.co/gctD7sjf0W
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) January 28, 2016
So that means … a trade?
Yup. So says Ken Rosenthal:
Sources: #Rays on verge of trade with #Rockies.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 28, 2016
We’ll see how this shakes out. There were some vague rumors earlier in the week about the Rockies liking Jake McGee – who’d been a rumored Cubs target – which doesn’t make a ton of sense to me for a team like the Rockies, but, hey, it’s not my club. The Rays, for their part, could possibly stand to add a bat in the outfield, which the Rockies have in spades.
From there, might the Rays look to move a spare outfielder like Desmond Jennings? A guy who could fit nicely as a complementary piece on the Cubs? I’m just spit-ballin’ here. Let’s see where this goes.
UPDATE: Sure enough, it’s a Rockies outfielder going to the Rays:
Sources: #Rays getting Dickerson. Expected to send multiple pitchers to #Rockies. Others possibly involved.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 28, 2016
[adinserter block=”2″]Picking up Dickerson, even though he can play elsewhere besides the outfield, when paired with the Pearce signing, almost certainly takes the Rays out of any interest they may have had in Jorge Soler (which, in turn, bleeds into this morning’s Dexter Fowler rumor). Of course, the Rays have always been rumored to want Javier Baez most of all, so this could all be beside the point.
I can’t wait to see what pitchers are going to the Rockies. I don’t think we’ll see a three-team-type situation, by the way, because the Rockies need quality pitching as much as anyone – well, at least younger pitching. If they get McGee in this deal, it’s conceivable they could turn right around and shop him.
UPDATE 2: Sure enough, it’s McGee going to the Rockies, among others:
#Rays trading Jake McGee to #Rockies for Dickerson. Minor leaguers involved
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) January 28, 2016
If the Rockies intend to keep McGee – a lockdown closer, who is under control only this and next year – I’m going to be scratching my head. I guess the Rockies might fancy themselves a roll-of-the-dice competitor, but without much pitching, in a deeply competitive division, I just don’t see it. Maybe McGee is on the market still, albeit from another team.