How each Rays acquisition has fared

Checking in on the 15 players the Rays acquired before the trade deadline

During the month of July, the Tampa Bay Rays completely altered the landscape of the team as they traded away several members of their core roster and overhauled their farm system, bringing in multiple prospects.

The Rays still have one player that have yet to receive from the trades as the Player to be named has yet to be named from the Mariners in the Randy Arozarena trade.

However, we can still review the 15 other players that the Rays acquired prior to the 2024 trade deadline.

Below is a quick summary of each trade and how each player performed since joining the Rays organization.

July 3rd: Traded Aaron Civale to the Milwaukee Brewers for Gregory Barrios

Gregory Barrios
A+: .240/.310/.286 | 0 HR | 18 SB | 14.6 K% | 8.6 BB% | 77 wRC+ | 198 PA

July 26th: Traded Randy Arozarena to the Seattle Mariners for Brody Hopkins, Aidan Smith, and a Player to be Named Later

• Brody Hopkins
  A+: 3.45 ERA | 3.17 FIP | 29.0 K% | 9.9 BB% | .184 AVG | 11.5 WHIFF% | 31 ¹⁄₃ IP
• Aidan Smith
  A: .306/.395/.486 | 2 HR | 13 SB | 18.6 K% | 14.0 BB% | 155 wRC+ | 86 PA

July 26th: Traded Zach Eflin to the Baltimore Orioles for Jackson Baumeister, Mac Horvath, and Matthew Etzel

• Jackson Baumeister
  A+: 1.24 ERA | 1.59 FIP | 41.9 K% | 4.8 BB% | .121 AVG | 14.8 WHIFF% | 29 IP
• Mac Horvath
  A+: .221/.291/.381 | 4 HR | 9 SB | 34.6 K% | 8.7 BB% | 91 wRC+ | 127 PA
• Matthew Etzel
  AA: .232/.300/.392 | 5 HR | 4 SB | 35.0 K% | 7.9 BB% | 105 wRC+ | 140 PA

July 28th: Traded Isac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs for Christopher Morel, Hunter Bigge, and Ty Johnson

• Christopher Morel
  MLB: .195/.260/.305 | 3 HR | 1 SB | 30.8 K% | 7.1 BB% | 63 wRC+ | 169 PA | -0.6 fWAR
• Hunter Bigge
  AAA: 5.40 ERA | 5.97 FIP | 55.2 K% | 10.3 BB% | .192 AVG | 18.5 WHIFF% | 6 ²⁄₃ IP
  MLB: 1.50 ERA | 3.33 FIP | 31.3 K% | 4.2 BB% | .239 AVG | 17.6 WHIFF% | 12 IP | 0.2 fWAR
• Ty Johnson
  A+: 0.78 ERA | 0.95 FIP | 46.4 K% | 4.8 BB% | .128 AVG | 19.3 WHIFF% | 23 IP

July 28th: Traded Jason Adam to the San Diego Padres for Homer Bush Jr., J.D. Gonzalez, and Dylan Lesko

• Dylan Lesko
  A+: 9.42 ERA | 7.67 FIP | 28.4 K% | 31.1 BB% | .163 AVG | 12.7 WHIFF% | 14 ¹⁄₃ IP
• Homer Bush Jr.
  A+: .272/.367/.408 | 2 HR | 14 SB | 23.1 K% | 10.7 BB% | 124 wRC+ | 121 PA
• J.D. Gonzalez
  A: .074/.148/.136 | 1 HR | 1 SB | 44.9 K% | 7.9 BB% | -8 wRC+ | 89 PA

July 29th: Traded Amed Rosario to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Michael Flynn

• Michael Flynn
  AAA: 6.35 ERA | 2.51 FIP | 32.1 K% | 14.3 BB% | .250 AVG | 13.2 WHIFF% | 5 ²⁄₃ IP

July 30th: Traded Tyler Zuber to the New York Mets for Paul Gervase

• Paul Gervase
  AA: 3.57 ERA | 1.95 FIP | 44.9 K% | 4.3 BB% | .169 AVG | 16.7 WHIFF% | 17 ²⁄₃ IP

July 30th: Traded Shawn Armstrong to the St Louis Cardinals for Dylan Carlson

• Dylan Carlson
  MLB: .200/.288/.305 | 3 HR | 2 SB | 28.8 K% | 8.5 BB% | 77 wRC+ | 118 PA | -0.3 fWAR

Dylan Lesko has produced the most lackluster of results thus far as the command issues that plagued him with San Diego achieved a new level with the Rays. However, the Rays may have struck gold with a trio of other arms they brought in as Jackson Baumeister, Ty Johnson, and Brody Hopkins all dominated down the stretch. Paul Gervase is another arm to watch as the 6’10” righty carved up hitters in Double-A.

Homer Bush Jr is doing his part to make the Jason Adam trade look stomachable; unfortunately for as good as Bush Jr. was, J.D. Gonzalez was just as bad. The 2024 season was Bush’s first as a professional and he will continue to be a developmental project for the Rays.

Aidan Smith enjoyed the best time in the Rays system of any position player brought it as he excelled in Single-A and then received a brief cameo in High-A while Bowling Green played in the playoffs.

Having covered each player’s brief tenure with the Rays now, which player are you most excited to watch in 2025?