Rays trade Adam to Padres for 3 prospects

ST. PETERSBURG -- After trading Randy Arozarena to Seattle and Zach Eflin to Baltimore on Friday, the Rays dealt away another key part of their team on Sunday morning. Tampa Bay traded high-leverage reliever Jason Adam to the Padres for three prospects, another move clearly focused on the future.

As difficult as it was to part with Adam, the Rays received a big haul of young talent in return: three of the Padres’ Top 12 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. The Rays announced the deal and reinstated starter Jeffrey Springs (who will start Tuesday against the Marlins) from the 60-day injured list about 20 minutes before the start of Sunday’s series finale, which the Rays came back to win, 2-1, on a bizarre eighth-inning rally.

TRADE DETAILS
Rays get: RHP Dylan Lesko (Padres’ No. 3 prospect), OF Homer Bush Jr. (Padres’ No. 8), C J.D. Gonzalez (No. 12)
Padres get: RHP Jason Adam

The move continued to reinforce the Rays’ farm system. The Rays had already added six prospects to their Top 30 list, according to MLB Pipeline, by trading Arozarena, Eflin and starter Aaron Civale: right-handers Brody Hopkins and Jackson Baumeister, outfielders Aidan Smith and Matthew Etzel, infielder Mac Horvath and shortstop Gregory Barrios.

And the return from San Diego, headlined by No. 76 overall prospect Lesko, might be the biggest one yet.

“This was an extremely tough morning saying goodbye to Jason, who has meant so much to our organization on and off the field,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said in a statement. “But we are very excited to see these three guys we obtained from San Diego grow in our system.”

Neander said the Rays “have had an eye on Lesko” since the 2022 Draft, when he went 15th overall out of high school. The 20-year-old has a high-end fastball and an even better changeup, although he’s struggled badly with his control since joining the professional ranks. Lesko was 1-9 with a 6.46 ERA, 79 strikeouts and 52 walks in 69 2/3 innings over 16 starts for High-A Fort Wayne.

The Rays also evaluated Bush and Gonzalez as amateurs, Neander said, and “can’t wait to see their best years ahead of them.” A fourth-round pick in 2023, the speedy center fielder Bush was hitting .272/.362/.347 with 43 steals in 86 games for Fort Wayne. Gonzalez, 18, offers some intrigue as a left-handed-hitting catcher with a strong arm, although he was hitting just .205 with a .552 OPS for Single-A Lake Elsinore.

After trading Arozarena and Eflin within about 17 hours on Friday, Neander described them as “a position-player anchor and a pitching anchor.” And Adam was certainly a bullpen anchor, highly popular within the clubhouse and undoubtedly Tampa Bay’s most consistent reliever this year, with a 2.49 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 47 innings over 47 appearances -- exactly the kind of pitcher the Padres were in pursuit of.

“Lot of big innings in any role,” manager Kevin Cash said. “It feels like every time he goes out and has a good season, he has a way of having a better one.”

Adam gives the Padres someone to build future bullpens around, a big reason for the Rays’ significant return. He’s making $2.7 million this season with two more arbitration-eligible years remaining before he can become a free agent after the 2026 season.

After bouncing around with the Royals, Blue Jays and Cubs in the first four years of his Major League career, Adam found a home in a high-leverage role with the Rays. He joined Tampa Bay on a split contract during Spring Training in 2022 and almost immediately emerged as a dominant late-inning reliever as the Rays helped him harness his electric stuff.

Adam was also beloved by his teammates, especially his fellow relievers, making Sunday a difficult day inside Tampa Bay’s clubhouse.

“He turned himself into something really good. You’ve got to give him credit for certainly understanding and taking ownership of his career,” Cash said. “What’s better, the pitcher or the person? We’re losing both. I know our clubhouse, they’ve been pretty crushed here as of late. This is going to really add to it.”

Cash deployed Adam in a variety of roles, asking him to escape high-leverage situations or pitch more than one inning or function as a traditional setup man and closer. Adam, who will turn 33 on Aug. 4, filled every role capably, allowing less than one baserunner per inning during his time with the Rays.