Athletics and Rays announce multi-player deal that will feature southpaw jeffrey springs and Jacob Lopez Heading to West Sacramento. In return, Rays will get right-hander Joe Boylethe Athletics’ pick in the Competitive Balance Round A of the 2025 draft, and two right-handed minor leaguers Jacob Waters and first baseman/outfielder. will simpson.
Given the depth of the Rays’ rotation options, Springs is viewed as a logical trade candidate this winter as he enters the four-year, $310,000 extension he signed with Tampa in January 2023 The more expensive part of the contract.
The Rays only had 49 innings with Springs over the first two years despite a 2.39 ERA and a $9.25MM extension. Springs, who underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2023 that sidelined him for much of the past two seasons, returned to the mound last July and pitched in seven starts and two. He posted a 3.27 ERA in 33 innings before being shut down due to fatigue in early September. It’s hard to get a ton of data from a small sample size, but Springs still has an above-average strikeout and walk rate and would likely have had better bottom-line results without a .330 BABIP.
Before the injury, Springs appeared to be another success story in Tampa Bay’s pitching development system. Springs, a 30th-round pick of the Rangers in the 2015 draft, showed only flashes of brilliance in his first three seasons in the MLB, with Texas and Boston. He had a 5.42 ERA in 84 2/3 innings. Springs, who was traded from the Red Sox to the Rays in a relatively low-profile deal in February 2021, played 44 2/3 bullpen innings with an ERA for Tampa in the 2021 season. At 3.43, he subsequently achieved better results and became a starter in 2022. (5.6% walk rate), Springs appears to have finally avoided the home run woes that have plagued him for much of his career.
Springs cashed in on his big season with a life-changing contract extension, but a lengthy injury layoff left him as the odd man out in the Rays rotation. Sean McClanahan, Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley, Sean Baz, Zach Littleand Drew Rasmussen Everyone is lining up to start a business in 2025, not to mention the other young entrepreneurs who may emerge from Tampa’s ever-loaded farm system. As Springs’ value continues to rise, many believe the Rays will move his salary to a team in need of pitching and with room to spare.
If the idea that the Athletics are a “team with spare cap space” is still surprising, the 32-year-old Springs is now the second time the Athletics have splurged on their rotation this winter, Already signed before Luis Severino A three-year contract worth $67. Adding Springs to his contract brings the Athletics one step closer to the minimum $105MM luxury tax number needed to remain eligible as a revenue-sharing team and avoid the players’ union’s displeasure. RosterResource estimates that the Athletics’ current tax bill, assuming the deal is completed, is approximately $88.55MM.
Despite the ulterior motives, trading Springs would also be a solid baseball move for an Athletics team in need of rotation help. Severino and Springs are significant upgrades to a rotation that struggled last season, with the newcomers now the top two in the starting five, which includes Chase Sears, Mickey Spenceand Joey Estes.
More pitching action can’t be ruled out, as the Athletics still have a long way to go before hitting that $105 figure. Still, it won’t be easy for the Athletics to convince free agents to pitch in West Sacramento’s minor league fields, so it’s tempting for the Athletics to trade players (perhaps on unwanted contracts) long-term. Since then it seems like a more logical move to simultaneously increase salary and strengthen the roster.
Lopez shouldn’t be left out of the Athletics’ 2025 pitching staff, as the left-hander has logged 22 2/3 MLB innings with the Rays over the past two seasons. Lopez, who was drafted by the Giants in the 26th round of the 2018 draft, missed all of 2022 while recovering from Tommy John surgery but has an ERA in 337 2/3 career minor league innings. The rate is 2.99. That included a 3.54 ERA, a 27% strikeout rate and a 12.87% walk rate in 168 innings of Triple-A ball, with Lopez starting 37 of 39 games for the Rays’ top unit.
Despite his lack of speed, Lopez was able to miss a fair number of at-bats, although that ability hasn’t been on display during his brief major league career. Lopez might have gotten more major league attention had he just been on a team without Tampa Bay’s pitching depth, and now this trade provides Lopez with a new opportunity. Lopez, who turns 27 in March, is expected to make his fifth start of training camp but will likely start the year in Class 3A, where he will be one of the starting depth options in the event of injuries to rotation players. one.
The addition of a Comp-A draft pick is particularly interesting when it comes to the final stages of the Rays trade, which could be indicative of league-wide interest in Springs’ services. The Competitive Balance Round is a bonus round in the draft that awards draft picks to the bottom 10 teams in market size and revenue, based on a formula that the league considers revenue, winning percentage and market score. CBR picks are the only picks eligible for trade, and while these types of trades tend to be rare, we’ve seen these picks involved in some notable trades over the years. The Comp-A round occurs before the start of the second round, and while the exact position of the traded picks has yet to be determined, last year’s Comp-A pick was No. 34-39 in the 2024 draft order.
Dealing with a pick like this is no small feat for a team, especially when building through the draft is especially important for a low-spending team like the Athletics. Still, gaining control of the Springs for at least two years is clearly worth it, as with the club option, the Athletics can spend their three years in Sacramento before their planned new stadium in Las Vegas is ready of the entire term.
As for the rest of the trade package, Boyle brings a major league-ready roster to the Rays pitching staff. Boyle debuted in 2023 with a 1.69 ERA in three starts and 16 innings. Last season, he had a 6.42 ERA in 47 2/3 innings due to a back strain. The injury sidelined him for about a month, spending most of the year in 3A competition.
The 25-year-old is a prototypical hard-pitch pitcher (average fastball velocity in the majors is 97.7 mph) but has been unable to harness his abilities as Boyle’s walk totals have shrunk between the minor leagues and 2024. Great to attend the show. Fixing those control issues will determine whether Boyle sticks in the majors as a reliever or back-end starter, and given the Rays’ history of fixing pitching, no one will if Boyle ends up finding a fix in Tampa. It’s amazing that Springs and so many other pitchers have done this over the years. Boyle has two minor league options remaining, giving the Rays more flexibility in using him as a prospect, bouncing back and forth between Triple-A and active players.
Back in April, Baseball America ranked Simpson No. 16 in the Athletics’ top 30 prospects, while MLB Pipeline ranked Simpson No. 28 in its evaluation of the team’s system. Simpson, a 15th-round pick in the 2023 draft, has crushed minor league pitching in his two pro seasons and played 18 games in 2024 at the Double-A level. Scouts like his “analytical skills” and think Simpson can still unlock more as he explores more ways to improve his hitting. Defensively, Pipeline favors Simpson as a serviceable first baseman or corner outfielder, while Baseball America favors his glove work.
Waters, a 2022 fourth-round pick by the A’s, has a 5.86 ERA, 21.9% strikeout rate and 13.73% walk rate in 152 career games. Although Waters skipped Double-A last season and got one appearance in Triple-A ball, nearly all of that experience was at the High-A level. Waters’ numbers have been significantly better after games as a starter and reliever, so this could be the 23-year-old’s ultimate career path.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan (multiple links) reported the deal and all the players and draft picks except Lopez, whose involvement was not disclosed until after the deal was officially announced.
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