Rays-Brewers trade

[ashbury]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/05/rays-trade-willy-adames-brewers.html

SS Adames plus pitcher Trevor Richards to Brewers in exchange for two pitchers, Feyereisen and Rasmussen.

Neither analysis tool I use, Baseball Trade Values nor OOTP likes this trade from the Ray's POV - Adames being viewed way, way higher than any of the other pieces involved. What do you think the Rays see in their two new pitchers that conventional wisdom seems not to?

[tony&rodney]

The Rays are more in tune with the game than any team in baseball and because they lack money they adjust on the fly. This means building a stronger bullpen because they feel their middle infielders strength can handle dealing Adames. 

FWIW, BTV is nonsense numbers.

[twinfan]

The Rays brass know what they are doing in developing pitchers. We'll see down the road how this pans out.

[Otto von Ballpark]

22 hours ago, ashbury said:

Neither analysis tool I use, Baseball Trade Values nor OOTP likes this trade from the Ray's POV - Adames being viewed way, way higher than any of the other pieces involved. What do you think the Rays see in their two new pitchers that conventional wisdom seems not to?

I suspect the Rays have been trying to trade Adames since the offseason and haven't been able to get any higher value offers for him. I guess Adames has a pretty high K rate lately, but it may just be that teams are hoarding their prospects a bit more right now? Even Adames' conservative ZiPS projection of 2.0 WAR should be pretty attractive from a 25 year old SS who hasn't quite hit arbitration yet.

From the Rays perspective, Adames starts making money in this upcoming offseason, and the Rays had 3 infield prospects doing well at AAA: Walls (who got the call-up to replace Adames), Brujan, and consensus #1 overall prospect Franco.

[AceWrigley]

When I first saw this trade I thought the Rays had hired Bill Smith to do their trading.  Looks like a really good trade right now from the Brewers perspective. J.P. Feyereisen (whom no one can spell or pronounce) is a 16th round draft pick out of River Falls, WI with a solid minor league track record. Drew Rasmussen was actually drafted by the Rays in the 1st round in 2017 but didn't sign after he got hurt, then was drafted by the Brewers in the 6th round the next year.

I think the interest for the Rays here is Rasmussen and they must feel he has real upside, Also, they have viable shortstop prospects to move up. Adames is a major league shortstop that will help the Brewers who have struggled from the shortstop position.

If Rasmussen develops into a solid major league starter give kudos to the Rays for their savvy talent evaluation and courage to pull off what looks like a risky trade. If Adames hits and gives the Brew Crew some solid shortstop years, they'll be happy.

[ashbury]

I felt as though the Rays' motivation to trade Adames was clear, and justifiable. They have a surplus, so why not trade the piece that is about to become expensive.

At the moment, what they got in return is two bullpen arms. Unless they think they can convert one to a starter, or one is primed to become the next Mariano Rivera, I am surprised that that's all they got for an up the middle talent.

[RedBull34]

 

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

I felt as though the Rays' motivation to trade Adames was clear, and justifiable. They have a surplus, so why not trade the piece that is about to become expensive.

At the moment, what they got in return is two bullpen arms. Unless they think they can convert one to a starter, or one is primed to become the next Mariano Rivera, I am surprised that that's all they got for an up the middle talent.

I don't feel that anybody here (to include yourself) were suprised the Rays dealt Adames.  I think it's simply their return that is suprising.

[Otto von Ballpark]

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

I felt as though the Rays' motivation to trade Adames was clear, and justifiable. They have a surplus, so why not trade the piece that is about to become expensive.

At the moment, what they got in return is two bullpen arms. Unless they think they can convert one to a starter, or one is primed to become the next Mariano Rivera, I am surprised that that's all they got for an up the middle talent.

Another way to phrase it might be, I am surprised the Rays pulled the trigger on the deal right now, if this was the return.

Looking around the league, it seems like a lot of teams are set at SS, or don't have much incentive to upgrade right now. Might be further complicated by the Rays being a clear AL pennant contender -- they might not mind getting full WAR value back in return, but they certainly don't want to bolster a potential wild card / postseason competitor at the same time! Usually that would mean waiting until the deadline, or even the offseason, to actually make a deal. But I guess the Rays were ready to evaluate Walls, ahead of the expected promotion of Franco next month?

FWIW, the Rays always seem best positioned to maximize reliever value too, so I don't know that they need the return to become SP or elite relievers to do well in this trade (although that may impact a WAR evaluation of the deal).