Civale ready to help Rays in pennant race

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Aaron Civale took the first bus from the Cleveland Guardians’ team hotel to Minute Maid Park on Monday afternoon, walked into the visitors' clubhouse and found pitching coach Carl Willis waiting for him.

Civale followed Willis into manager Terry Francona’s office, sat down for a phone call and learned from Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti that he’d been traded by the club that drafted him seven years ago and helped him develop into the solid starter he’s become. Just like that, Civale was on his way to the Rays.

“There's obviously a lot of emotions involved in every direction that you could imagine. But at the end of the day, I'm super excited for the opportunity,” Civale said during a conference call Tuesday afternoon. “The Rays are one of the best teams in baseball. They do things the right way. I've heard nothing but great things about how things are done over there, so I'm excited to jump right in.”

The Rays were equally thrilled to complete the trade, which sent Top 100 first-base prospect Kyle Manzardo to the Guardians in a one-for-one swap. The front office was pleased to accomplish its top goal prior to the Trade Deadline. The coaching staff was happy to add a proven pitcher. Players were amped up by the front office adding to a contending club.

“I know our front office certainly valued that and where the mindset of the clubhouse is on a daily basis, and we've seen it go in multiple directions at the Deadline,” manager Kevin Cash said on Monday. “I hope that we are all interpreting this as our front office trying to improve a really good club, and feel like we did that with Aaron.”

Civale said he did his best to block out the trade rumors leading up to the Deadline, and clearly, the speculation didn’t affect his performance. He posted a 1.45 ERA in six starts last month. So when the news came down, he felt a number of different emotions.

“I can't say I was expecting it. I can't say I was totally blindsided, either. That's the nature of this game we play,” he said. “I think it's an honor to be wanted like this, and it's going to be an awesome opportunity.”

Civale left a Cleveland club that is one game under .500 but also just one game behind in the American League Central standings. Now, he’s joining a Rays team with the third-best record in the Majors and World Series championship aspirations.

Born and raised in Connecticut before attending Northeastern University in Boston, Civale said growing up as a Red Sox fan made him familiar with the intensity of the AL East competition. He’s eager to be a part of it now.

“I know it's one of the best divisions in baseball, so I'm excited to be involved in some great competition,” he said.

Civale said he’s only interacted with two of Tampa Bay’s players in the past: Yandy Díaz and Harold Ramírez. But he said with a laugh that he heard from “more people than I can probably recall over there” in the 24 hours after the deal went down. He is expected to join his new team in New York on Wednesday before making his Rays debut on Saturday afternoon in Detroit.

“Super excited. Been fortunate to be involved in a lot of playoff races and chases in my time in Cleveland, and it's been nothing but exciting baseball,” Civale said. “It's going to be great for the last few months of the season. It's going to be fun. Everyone there seems like they have the same goal, and I'm just going to do my best to try to fit in and join the club."