ST. PETERSBURG -- An hour and a half before Friday night’s non-tender deadline, the Rays traded utility man Vidal Bruján and reliever Calvin Faucher to the Marlins for 17-year-old infield prospect Erick Lara, recently drafted right-hander Andrew Lindsey and a player to be named.

“Players that have some good ingredients,” Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said of Lara and Lindsey. “Excited to bring them in and see what happens.”

Fittingly, this was the first trade executed by Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, who had been the Rays’ general manager before heading south to lead Miami’s front office. The idea of Neander and Bendix hammering out a deal after more than a decade working together would make for a fun story, but Rays vice president of player personnel Kevin Ibach and Marlins assistant GM Dan Greenlee actually put the trade together.

“I'm sure there's a lot of people over there with the Rays that won a bet that the first trade would be with the Rays,” Bendix joked with reporters in Miami.

Bruján, 25, was a highly regarded prospect, ranking among MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 overall for three consecutive seasons, but he struggled in the Majors for the Rays. The speedy infielder/outfielder hit just .157/.218/.221 in 272 plate appearances over the past three years and was out of Minor League options, leaving him without a clear fit moving forward.

The Rays have plenty of depth in the infield, where Bruján has spent most of his career, even with Wander Franco’s future uncertain and Taylor Walls recovering from offseason hip surgery. Rookie Osleivis Basabe filled in for Franco and Walls when they were unavailable down the stretch this past season. 

“A bit of a squeeze. Not the way that we thought it would turn out, once upon a time, but I think just a fresh start, fresh opportunity for Bru -- given his abilities and talent -- should be a good thing for him,” Neander said. “Wish him the best.”

The Rays designated Faucher for assignment on Tuesday, when they added infielder Austin Shenton and pitching prospect Yoniel Curet to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Tampa Bay officials often raved about the 28-year-old right-hander’s stuff, believing it would translate to success, but he posted a 6.32 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP in 47 innings over 39 outings for the Rays the past two years.

The Rays now have one open spot on their 40-man roster, as they tendered contracts to all of their eligible players before Friday’s deadline. They’ll still consider trades to shrink their sizable class of arbitration-eligible players, but the group presented no obvious non-tender candidates.

“We have a lot of players in their arbitration years, but all players we appreciate. And frankly, all easy decisions to tender them and continue forward,” Neander said.

Lara, signed out of the Dominican Republic in January, hit .305/.416/.445 with 32 RBIs over 34 games in his professional debut with the Marlins’ rookie-level Dominican Summer League affiliate. Lara played 28 games at shortstop, four at second base and two as the designated hitter.

The acquisition of Lara is particularly notable given the Rays’ recent success in plucking little-known prospects from other clubs’ Complex League affiliates and helping them take off. That was the route they took to acquire No. 3 prospect Curtis Mead from the Phillies, top prospect Junior Caminero from the Guardians and most recently, No. 14 prospect Santiago Suarez from the Marlins last year.

“He made a nice impression. He performed really well down there this summer,” Neander said of Lara. “A lot of signs that are encouraging when you look at offensive potential. We’ll see what happens. A long way to go, but like the basic, raw ingredients that exist with him.”

Lindsey, who was the Marlins’ No. 16 prospect, was selected in the fifth round of this year’s Draft out of Tennessee. The 24-year-old made two starts for Miami’s rookie-level Florida Complex League affiliate this year.

“Good arm, power arm, somebody that has the raw ingredients to ascend to the upper levels and potentially to the big leagues one day,” Neander said. “A player we liked in college and felt like it was somebody that was a good person to target in a deal like this, and they were open to it.”