3:09pm: Tampa Bay has placed catcher Adam Moore on the restricted list because of “improper documentation” with his passport, freeing up a 40-man spot, Topkin tweets. The Rays are in Canada through Wednesday for a series against the Blue Jays.
12:08pm: The Rays have promoted catcher Nick Ciuffo from Triple-A Durham and reinstated outfielder Mallex Smith from the 10-day disabled list, Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter links). The team will need to make a corresponding 40-man move to create room for Ciuffo.
A Ray since they used the 21st overall pick on him in 2013, Ciuffo currently ranks as their 25th-best prospect at MLB.com, which is especially complimentary of his defense. The 23-year-old’s so good behind the plate that he won’t need to hit much in order to become at least a major league backup, according to MLB.com. Ciuffo posted slightly below-average offensive numbers this year at Durham, where he hit .262/.301/.380 (90 wRC+) with five home runs in 236 plate appearances.
While Ciuffo looks promising on the field, he does come with some negative off-field history. Ciuffo has tested positive for a drug of abuse on two occasions, including last offseason. The latest occurrence led to a 50-game suspension which kept Ciuffo out of action for the first several weeks of the campaign. Now, Ciuffo may be in position to vie for a spot on next year’s Rays roster, given that their other options don’t inspire a ton of confidence.
Smith, barring a trade, has already clinched a prominent spot on the 2019 Rays. The 25-year-old had been dealing with a viral infection, one that required a short stay in a Tampa Bay hospital, but has otherwise enjoyed an excellent season. Smith has slashed .307/.377/.433 (126 wRC+) with 27 stolen bases and 3.1 fWAR over a career-high 426 PAs.
They will designate Adam Moore. I’ll bet
Mallex Smith, the greatest mariner of all time, I hope comes back to Seattle in a trade as he is one of the few that runs good, plays good CF defense, and can get on base. Highly doubtful though the Rays trade Smith though, even with Kiermaier, Pham, Meadows, Justin Williams, etc.
Too late about Williams….was traded to the Cards in the Pham deal. Once Meadows comes up….I would imagine Smith goes this winter.
I’m smart… now I remember Williams was traded.
I want AJ Pollock
Glad to see Mallex Smith back, he creates havoc with the other teams defense and leads our team in hitting-n-steals! (C) rookie Michael Perez was astounding before his injury, Wish Nick Ciuffo luck in his majors debut!
Mallex is definitely an exciting player to watch.
Mallex Smith is arguably one of my favorite outfielders to watch. Seriously would love the giants to go get him, possibly use their catching depth to get him considering the rays lack catching depth.
Oh ya I can just see Mallex and his fielding histrionics at AT&T….you’ll be screaming for his head after about 10 games. He’s gotten (slightly) better, but he’s an adventure anywhere in the OF. But he may very well be available.
Can’t be worse than Denard Span, and he could actually play left field instead of center. He’s got a decent arm and lots of speed to complement Duggar in center, Slater in right. I wish the giants would rebuild their infield like they are starting to do with their outfield, though.
Most of his caught stealings have been because he has a penchant for getting picked off. He actually owns the hat trick; been picked off first, second and third. And I can’t count the other baserunning blunders. Defensively, he takes the strangest routes to fly balls ever seen since Carl Crawford. You can only blame the dome for so long.
Now, that said, the tools are to dream on. I think the Giants are a good match; they tend to teach fundamentals and in-game skills as well as any organization, may be even the best (Harold Reynolds). And he SHOULD be available; the Rays have their share of interesting OF candidates for next year.
Rays could trade M. Smith but also with him they have 4 OFs (3 can play CF) & guys like Wendle, Buaers & Robertson that can play the corner sports in a pinch.
I see a INF or 2 getting moved this offseason (Cron, Choi, Duffy)
This offseason the Rays have options & that is a good position to be in.
Saying Smith is a CF is like…well…I’ll be polite. He isn’t. Besides, with Pham/KK/Meadows, along with those fill-ins you mentioned, OF isn’t the issue next year.
Tho their real IMPACT talent is on the lower levels (Hernandez, Brujan, Libertore, and wunderboy Franco) there’s still some interesting pieces above that (Sanchez, Solak, Fraley et al); it’s a very deep system. Not quite ready for prime-time yet, but will be in a couple of years.
You can be polite about your Mallex Smith defensive analysis, but according to DRS, UZR and Statcast, you’re wrong. DRS and UZR show him being an above average CF in each of his 3 MLB seasons. Statcast shows him being a slightly above average defensive OF over his career, where about 60% of his innings played have come in CF. Just because a player won’t win a GG at a certain position doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of handling said position at the MLB level.
Mallex is very serviceable in center and the Stats are only 1 way to analyze him. More important is he barrels up the ball better than anyone on a team of contact hitters! He also runs like the wind. Most people like me see a hot dog defensive player that has made costly errors in our past. This can be corrected with young players like him Though. he’ll never be Keirmayer but Keirmayer will never be Mallex with the bat! Glad they are both on the same team healthy!