2. Tampa Bay Rays front office +1.3
The new Neander-Bendix leadership team has made 32 moves impacting the 2022 season with a net impact on the Rays of +1.3 games of WAA. If that doesn’t sound like much, hey we’re only halfway through the season and a front office that can boost its personnel profile by two or three games per season has done something.
Of those 32 moves, only 14 worked out to Tampa Bay’s benefit; 16 were negative and two were neutral.
Here are the five most impactful.
Nov. 3: Michael Wacha was granted free agency. On Nov. 27, Wacha signed with the division rival Boston Red Sox, for whom he has to date produced a 6-1 record and 2.69 ERA in 13 starts encompassing 70 innings. On April 22, Wacha lasted 5 innings against the Rays, allowing two earned runs but just three hits and emerging with a 4-3 victory. He has produced a 1.5 WAA to date for the division rivals.
April 5: The Rays shipped outfielder Austin Meadows to Detroit in exchange for Isaac Paredes. In 118 plate appearances Paredes has produced a team-leading 11 home runs and a .903 OPS. That translates to +1.2 WAA.
April 23: After a brief introduction in 2021, utility player Vidal Brujan was called up in late April and has seen steady duty since being recalled in mid-May. But it has not been productive duty. Brujan is hitting just .160 through his first 144 plate appearances, generating -1.0 WAA.
March 17: The Rays signed Jason Adam just after the conclusion of the lockout; he had been given free agency by the Cubs the previous November. Adam has given the Rays’ bullpen a boost, working 31 innings with a 1.47 ERA and a +0.8 WAA.
Nov. 14: In what appeared at the time to be a consummately minor deal, the Rays shipped pitcher Louis Head to Miami for a minor leaguer. Head has pitched in 23 games for Miami and he has not done well, as his 7.23 ERA and -0.8 WAA attest. Paradoxically, shipping such an under-achiever off to another team actually works as a benefit to the Rays’ ledger.