Rays Declare Chris Archer, Evan Longoria Not Untouchable
By Joshua Mayer
At a recent media gathering, Tampa Bay Rays President of Baseball Ops Matt Silverman was asked about possibly dealing stars Evan Longoria and Chris Archer. His Response: “we will not turn away from a big deal.”
With the Winter Meetings just days away, the MLB hot stove is expected to heat up. With an abundance of quality young pitching, the Rays have long been mentioned as a possible seller for pitcher-needy clubs. Drew Smyly, Jake Odorizzi, and Alex Cobb all seem like decent possibilities to be dealt, but buyers like the Atlanta Braves are most interested in ace Chris Archer.
Similarly, on the hitting side of things, Logan Forsythe has drawn some trade interest, but Evan Longoria would be the biggest trade chip if made available. Now that Silverman has declared anyone to be available for the right price, a bidding war could commence.
After three consecutive losing seasons, the Rays are stuck in a continuous rebuild. At the same time, the team has a good amount of talent. Tampa Bay only got a glimpse of their new look infield after Matt Duffy was acquired in 2016. Coming into spring training, all four infielders are expected to be healthy and ready to go.
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At third, Longoria continued to put up All-Star caliber numbers with 36 HR and a 127 OPS+. Duffy will look to stay healthy at shortstop and repeat his tremendous 2015 rookie year where he finished second in the rookie of the year voting with a .295 AVG and 10 Defensive Runs Saved. Forsythe had his second consecutive above average year, hitting 20 HR in only 127 games with an OPS+ of 113. Brad Miller is slotted at first after having a breakout year in 2016 with 30 longballs.
The catcher position and the outfield is where the weakness is at for the Rays ballclub as Kevin Kiermaier provides a serviceable option in center, but not much else is proven. Steven Souza is still attempting to make good on the fact that he was traded for Wil Myers, and Corey Dickerson was unable to replicate his Coors Field inflated statistics in 2016.
This current roster dynamic leads to interesting questions. Can the team get younger and also get more competitive? Perhaps. The Rays can market a starting pitcher, even Chris Archer, in an attempt to get an impact outfielder or catcher to improve their roster for 2017. With Archer gone, the rotation would look something like this (2016 ERA):
Blake Snell 3.54 ERA
Drew Smyly 4.88 ERA
Jake Odorizzi 3.69 ERA
Alex Cobb 8.59 ERA (5 GS)
Matt Andriese 4.37 ERA
Taylor Guerrieri 3.76 ERA (AAA)
The bullpen can use a few quality arms but has some nice pieces in Alex Colome, Erasmo Ramirez, Danny Farquhar, Xavier Cedeno and a returning Brad Boxberger.
Does this mean the team would be better without Archer? Certainly not. But if the team can strike a deal with a team looking for a top pitcher, perhaps they can fill a hole on offense while being able to get close in replacing Archer’s production.
These are purely speculative on my part but if Silverman and the Rays can get a player like Nomar Mazara, Ender Inciarte, or Marcell Ozuna from teams rumored to be looking for pitching, it could go a long way in getting closer to contention in 2017.
On the other hand, if the team sells Longoria, it would appear that they are punting on the 2017 year altogether to focus on the future. If the front office feels there are too many holes to fill with limited money available, restocking the farm system would be far from the worst idea. This move would leave the team with another hole in the infield though, ridding them of their one strength on offense.
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For most Rays fans hoping to contend in the uber-competitive AL East in 2017, keeping both is most likely the preferred option. But maybe trading Archer can actually be good if the right trade comes together.