The Rays have acquired left-hander Cody Reed from the Reds for righty Riley O’Brien, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic tweets. To make room for Reed, Tampa Bay placed newly acquired outfielder Brett Phillips on the COVID-19 injured list as he goes through intake protocols, the team announced. Meanwhile, O’Brien is now a member of the Reds’ 60-man player pool, per Rosecrans.
The Reds designated Reed for assignment earlier this week after he started 2020 with 9 1/3 innings of 10-hit, six-earned run ball with 10 strikeouts and eight walks. But the 27-year-old was effective for Cincinnati in 2018-19, and the AL East-leading Rays are in a position where they need to acquire pitching help in the wake of several injuries – including to notable bullpen arms in Nick Anderson, Jose Alvarado, Jalen Beeks, Oliver Drake, Andrew Kittredge, Colin Poche and Chaz Roe.
In the event Reed turns things around in a Rays uniform, he could be a multiyear piece for the club, as he’s not due to reach free agency until after 2024. However, Reed doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so he’ll have to stick on the Rays’ MLB roster or be subjected to the waiver wire.
The Reds are getting a promising farmhand in O’Brien, a 25-year-old who made his Double-A debut in 2019 and registered a 3.93 ERA/3.49 FIP with 9.44 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 45.7 percent groundball rate in 68 2/3 innings. Prior to the trade, O’Brien ranked as a top 25 Rays prospect at MLB.com (No. 20), Baseball America (24) and FanGraphs (24). MLB.com, the most bullish of those outlets, writes that O’Brien has the potential to amount to a mid-rotation starter or “a late-inning force,” depending on whether he’s able to improve his control.
Briffle2
Rays next great reliever
BrandonGregory74
If he can get his secondary pitches under control you may be right
mgomrjsurf
Know this isn’t the Pitcher Trade we waiting for Rays to make but at least a Trade like maybe Bauer could of been in it to and second one today and we had 2 yesterday.
bobtillman
Well, Yarborough just left tonite’s game with an issue….here we go….2020, the year of attrition….
Lovinmlb
If anybody has the depth it’s the rays.
StPeteStingRays
Groin tightness and NOT an arm injury. Thank goodness
Simple Simon
Just wondering, who benefits from the Players opting not to play?
Who loses?
Is there any fan benefit in game postponement?
StPeteStingRays
No fan benefit. Just virtue signaling by millionaires
lautrec
Yep. I really started not missing baseball when covid was the thing, and now with the virtue signaling I’m about to finally just cleanse myself of it altogether. It’s just goofy now.
pinstripes17
human rights isn’t virtue signaling you bigots
earmbrister
St Pete and Lau – you are signaling your lack of virtue. The majority of Americans are fed up with blacks being gunned down by law enforcement with little or no provocation, and with little or no consequence. Black athletes, like those on the Milwaukee Bucks, are saying ENOUGH. They’re not going to just “shut up and dribble”. This has reached crisis proportions, and it says a lot that we might lose professional sports not to Covid but to racial injustice. Real and significant change is long overdue.
…With Liberty and Justice For All.
Judge_Smails45
Reds seem to get a pretty good prospect in return. Might contribute this year
DarkSide830
O’Brien seems like a solid sleeper prospect
craigmiller13
Really liked Cody Reed in Cincy. Hope he gets it together and has a great career in Tampa.
fannclub6
Further proof there is not nearly enough talent to fill out 30 major league rosters. Let alone pitching talent
hiflew
Getting a top 30 prospect from a team in exchange for a guy you just DFA’d is pretty good. Nice move for the Reds, at least in currency terms.
angt222
Love how the Rays are constantly looking to catch that lightening in a bottle. Successful examples include, Carlos Peña, Rafael Soriano & Fernando Rodney.
Briffle2
I agree with you that Tampa has done a great job of finding talent out of scraps, but Soriano had some great seasons with Atlanta before he went to Tampa.
tonyinsingapore
Reds fan here – warning: Reed creates jams, he doesn’t get your team out of them. The type of reliever that will immediately go 2-0 or 3-0 on his first batter. The Reds couldn’t trust Reed in any type of leverage situation and he basically ran out of chances. Good luck !
kc38
You don’t think the rays have had their fair share of pitchers with that description? If I was a pitcher who was struggling I would be dying to go to Tampa. Their track record or fixing these types of players is unbelievable and their scouting department has to be the best in baseball. I’ve never trusted a front office as much as this one for any team
Peart of the game
Reed is a AAAA starting pitcher who should do well in Tampa Bay
Rich Hill’s Elbow
If the Rays can turn Drake and Roe into above league average relievers they can fix Reed.
dtdt
Did anyone else notice that Riley O’Brien was not on the Rays’ 60-man pool prior to yesterday? They simply added him yesterday prior to immediately trading him. That’s why I think that these 60-man adds are a red herring when you’re talking about trade bait. Teams simply want to get the player reps.