The Rays go old
Fortifying themselves for a postseason race with the Yankees and Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays obtained veteran DH Nelson Cruz along with a minor leaguer from Minnesota for two prospects.
The good news is that the Rays did end up winning the division by eight games before losing a four-game division series to Boston.
The bad news is that Cruz did little to advance Tampa Bay’s 2021 hopes. He hit .226 in the final two months of the regular season, and against the Red Sox batted just .176.
The worse news is that one of the players the Rays shipped to Minnesota for Cruz was Joe Ryan, who has emerged as a centerpiece of Minnesota’s pitching plans. In five 2021 starts, Ryan was 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA. In 2022, he’s 7-4 with a 3.78 ERA through 16 starts.
The Rays traded a front-line starting pitcher for a DH they didn’t really need who came up small in the only five critical games of his season, the division series against Boston.
The Rays also got Calvin Faucher, a fringe major league prospect who has been unimpressive in 14 relief appearances for the Rays thus far in 2022.
Verdict: In short, this was a trade the Rays ought to really regret making.