Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays aren’t usually going to be your target for a salary dump trade, on account of they don’t like to spend money. It’s kind of their whole thing. But, Puig’s contract isn’t looking to be outrageous, so this move would be more like a baby salary dump, something the Rays could stomach.
The Rays are going to have to spend some money and/or take on some contracts in 2019 if they want to grab one of the AL wildcard spots or (gasp) compete for the division. They just signed starter Charlie Morton to a 2 year $30 million deal, which was kind of a surprise both because of the money and the fact that he’s a traditional starter (it looked last year like the Rays might be ditching those). With a front end of Cy Young winner Blake Snell, Morton and a very promising looking Tyler Glasnow the Rays rotation is actually looking kind of scary. If they want to capitalize on this they’ll need some more offense, and Puig is just what the doctor ordered.
Puig makes sense for the Rays for more than his play on the field. The team just failed to convince the city of Tampa that they need a new stadium, partially due to lack of attendance and local support. As inconsistent as he is Puig is also one of baseballs most charismatic players, one of the few in the game likely to both flip and lick a bat. Adding Puig alone wouldn’t suddenly start bringing crowds out in droves to the Trop, but it would give fans something to cheer about as their team starts on the path to winning consistently.