'We can't let now beat us later': Rays reflect on trades

ST. PETERSBURG -- The goodbyes did not come easily for the Rays on Friday.

There were emotional hugs and handshakes with Randy Arozarena on the tarmac at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport early Friday morning, not long after the team arrived home from a series victory in Toronto. There was the sudden news of Zach Eflin's departure about 90 minutes before Friday night’s series-opening 3-2 loss against the Reds at Tropicana Field.

And there was Arozarena himself, sitting with his family in the left-field seats that used to be called “Randy Land” in his honor. Before he joined his new team, he wanted one last look at his old one.

The Rays made a pair of difficult decisions on a very long day for president of baseball operations Erik Neander and the rest of the team. They dealt a fan-favorite postseason hero in Arozarena and Eflin, a leader in their clubhouse and rotation, for five prospects -- all drafted just a year ago -- and one player to be named later who aren’t likely to make an impact on their Major League club in the near future.

“I'm very excited about the players that we're going to be getting back,” Neander said. “As much as it hurts to lose Randy and Zach and what they've meant to us, that hurt should speak to the excitement we have for the returns coming back, because it would take only something that we were really excited about to make these kinds of moves.”

TRADE DETAILS
Rays receive: OF Aidan Smith (No. 12 among Rays' Top 30 prospects), RHP Brody Hopkins (No. 6), player to be named later
Mariners receive: OF Randy Arozarena

TRADE DETAILS
Rays receive: INF/OF Mac Horvath (No. 18), RHP Jackson Baumeister (No. 13), OF Matthew Etzel
Orioles receive: RHP Zach Eflin, cash considerations (Eflin’s $1 million assignment bonus)

The Rays played themselves into this position, falling back to .500 on Friday for the 25th time despite a recent hot streak in which they’ve lost just one of their last 10 series. After they walked off the field after Friday’s 10-inning defeat, they were 9 1/2 games behind the division-leading Orioles and now sit five games out of the third American League Wild Card spot.

In the clubhouse, players knew that potentially put their front office in a position to focus on the future ahead of Tuesday’s Trade Deadline. But they were still “shocked,” said second baseman Brandon Lowe, when they learned the highly popular Arozarena had been traded. And starter Zack Littell said seeing Eflin walk out the door felt “probably even worse than you thought it was going to.”

“I think everybody kind of understands it's part of the game, and everybody also understands where we're at,” Littell said. “We dug ourselves in this hole. I think we've done a great job trying to get out of it, but all we can do is keep fighting on that.”

The Rays’ ultimate goal is to win a World Series. They believe the best path is reaching the postseason as often as possible. They’ve done so each of the last five years and hoped that streak would reach six, but this Trade Deadline season presented opportunities to strengthen their chances in the future.

In other words, the Rays would rather risk a one-year absence than a five-year playoff drought like the one they endured from 2014-18. They felt like they couldn’t risk doubling down on their long odds to reach the postseason this year.

“We'd love to throw everything we have into keeping this thing alive for this year. That's really important,” Neander said. “But we can't let now beat us later.”

So when the Rays found there was significant interest in Arozarena and Eflin, with the Mariners and Orioles offering returns that reached their standard, they went for it.

Out went two of Tampa Bay’s highest-paid players, both under club control for next year, and in came a group of talented but unproven prospects.

None of them are close to the Majors. Neander said the Rays prioritized the best overall deals rather than accepting lesser returns just because they included Major League-ready players. Both moves could pay huge dividends down the road, but they removed two fixtures from the current club.

“It's hard. It's a position-player anchor and a pitching anchor. We are a worse team today than we were 24 hours ago by way of them not being here. That's not something that we can shy away from,” Neander said. “But you're doing this because you believe it's in the best interest of the organization, and what we will lose this year is something that, by doing this, puts us in a much better position to win over a longer duration.”

The moves will create opportunities for other players. Rehabbing lefty Jeffrey Springs will rejoin the rotation, taking Eflin’s spot. Richie Palacios and Jonny DeLuca will get more playing time in left field, Arozarena’s old position.

And the Rays don’t intend to roll over and punt on the rest of this season despite two clear “seller” moves.

“Look, we are on the outside looking in, but that doesn't rule us out,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We've got to continue to play good baseball.”