Rays get prospect haul after trades of Adam (Padres) and Paredes (Cubs)

ST. PETERSBURG -- After trading Randy Arozarena to Seattle and Zach Eflin to Baltimore on Friday, the Rays dealt away two more key players on Sunday.

First, Tampa Bay traded high-leverage reliever Jason Adam to the Padres for three highly regarded prospects about 20 minutes before the start of Sunday’s series finale against the Reds at Tropicana Field.

Then, shortly after the Rays came back to win, 2-1, on a bizarre eighth-inning rally, word surfaced that they were sending All-Star infielder Isaac Paredes to the Cubs for Christopher Morel and a pair of pitching prospects, their fourth major trade in the past three days.

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

TRADE DETAILS
Rays receive: INF/OF Christopher Morel, RHP Hunter Bigge (Cubs’ No. 29 prospect), RHP Ty Johnson
Cubs receive: INF Isaac Paredes

• Here are the prospects the Rays dealt for at the Deadline

Perhaps ironically, the Rays swung these significant deals to fortify their future on a day they improved to two games above .500 (54-52) for the first time since May 20, putting them within three games of an American League Wild Card spot. But their direction is clear: They’re prioritizing the coming years without totally giving up on the present season.

“It's a little bit of a tightrope act, so to speak, to try to stay in this thing and give these guys a chance … but also making sure we do what we need to do to maintain our competitiveness in the future,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said Sunday night. “Do I wish that we won more games sooner? Absolutely. Our players feel the exact same way.

“But this is the reality of where we are, and [we've] got to find a way to make the most of it now and later.”

The Paredes deal will have the most immediate impact. Morel will take Paredes’ spot on the active roster, and Neander said Bigge “has a chance to be really helpful in our Major League bullpen,” although when that takes place might depend on what else they do before Tuesday’s Trade Deadline.

The Rays have been enamored with Morel for a while, as Neander said they previously attempted to acquire him “many times over.”

Morel is the same age as Paredes, 25, albeit with one more season of club control. He’s having a down year at the plate, batting just .199 with a .675 OPS due in part to some poor batted-ball luck, but he has also shown legitimate power, slugging 60 home runs in 323 big league games for the Cubs since 2022.

“It’s the bat speed. It’s the power in every direction, the ability to hit the ball really hard that’s his offensive calling card,” Neander said.

Morel seems likely to strike out more than Paredes, which means it’s more important he hit the ball over the fence to provide value, but the Rays liked the rest of Morel’s profile as well.

He’s a versatile defender, with experience around the infield and in the outfield, although the Rays would like to eventually solidify one spot for him. Morel has spent most of his time at third base this season, but Neander said Morel is probably “most proficient” at second.

Reading between the lines, that would leave third base available for top prospect Junior Caminero, whenever he’s deemed ready to return to the Majors.

“Christopher Morel is a player that we are really high on,” Neander said. “It’s a power bat, live body that has experienced some tough luck with his batted balls this year. You see a lot of life under the hood. A little more positional versatility. … Can fit us in an assortment of different ways as we go forward.”

A 12th-round pick out of Harvard in the 2019 Draft, Bigge debuted on July 9 and made three more appearances out of the Cubs’ bullpen before returning to Triple-A Iowa. The 26-year-old reliever was dominant in Triple-A, allowing only three hits and six walks while striking out 20 in 13 1/3 innings.

The first deal, on the other hand, continued to reinforce the Rays’ farm system. They 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.

They added three more in the Adam trade: Lesko (MLB Pipeline’s No. 76 overall prospect), Bush and Gonzalez.

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 figured it would take time for Lesko to shake off some rust after Tommy John surgery and still project him as a mid-rotation or front-end starter. They added another potential starting pitching prospect in the Paredes deal in Johnson, a 15th-round pick in the 2023 Draft who had put together a 3.54 ERA with 81 strikeouts in 61 innings over 18 appearances, including 10 starts, between Single-A and High-A.

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 .551 OPS for Single-A Lake Elsinore.

But those acquisitions came at a significant cost.

Paredes was a mainstay in Tampa Bay’s lineup, pulling 67 homers in three years with the Rays and transforming into an All-Star this season. Paredes is making $3.4 million this year with three more years of arbitration eligibility remaining before he reaches free agency after the 2027 season.

While most of the Rays’ activity to this point has yielded long-term potential, they believe Morel and Bigge could help them immediately. That was intentional when they considered dealing a controllable All-Star like Paredes.

“It was important to identify a deal for players we really liked and believed that their best was going to be right ahead of them and that could impact our Major League club,” Neander said.

Meanwhile, Adam was an anchor in the bullpen, highly popular within the clubhouse and undoubtedly Tampa Bay’s most consistent reliever this year. Manager Kevin Cash said the clubhouse was crushed to lose the pitcher and the person, and Adam was just as emotional to leave the Rays.

“I love the Rays. Everyone here changed the trajectory of my career. I’m incredibly thankful,” Adam said Sunday before leaving Tropicana Field.