5:20 PM: Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes that the trade between the Phillies and Rays could be for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
5:11 PM: Mike Vasil wasn’t with the Phillies for long. Soon after the Phillies selected the right-hander from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft, they turned around and flipped him to the Rays for cash considerations. Both teams have confirmed the deal.
Once a promising draft prospect in high school, Vasil suffered an injury in his senior year. He ended up withdrawing himself from the 2018 draft and attended the University of Virginia instead. Unfortunately, his stock plummeted after a rough few years in college. The Mets ultimately took him in the eighth round of the 2021 draft. To make matters worse, his struggles have only continued in affiliated ball. Over 43 starts at Triple-A across the past two seasons, he has pitched to a 5.78 ERA and 5.42 FIP.
Nevertheless, the Rays evidently saw something they liked in the soon-to-be 25-year-old. Entering the 2024 season, The Athletic’s Keith Law described Vasil as “a league-average starter at his peak with the potential to eat some innings.” Similarly, the staff at Baseball America considered him “a high-probability starter who might fit at no. 4 or 5 in a rotation.” Of course, both of those observations came before his rough 2024 season (6.04 ERA, 5.75 FIP in 134 IP at Triple-A). Still, Vasil’s selection in the Rule 5 draft suggests the Rays see him as an arm that could eat major league innings in 2025. What’s more, the Rays are known to enjoy tinkering with pitchers’ arsenals, and Vasil’s wide array of pitches seems to have made him a particularly appealing target. According to Baseball Savant, Vasil threw six different pitches in 2024: a sinker, cutter, four-seam fastball, changeup, sweeper, and curveball.
Rays assistant GM Kevin Ibach praised Vasil’s versatility, telling Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, “There are a lot of different ways he can impact a 26-man roster, more so than just a traditional reliever.”
It’s possible the Rays and Phillies tentatively agreed to this swap before the draft. Then again, if the Phillies hadn’t picked Vasil, the Rays could have scooped him up themselves in the second round. The vast majority of teams pass in round two; this year, only the Braves made a second-round selection. Regardless, the Rays are presumably better able to imagine giving Vasil significant innings to pitch in 2025. As a Rule 5 pick, he needs to stay on his new team’s 40-man roster (or the 60-day IL) all season. Otherwise, he has to be placed on waivers, and if he clears waivers, he must be offered back to his original club (the Mets).
If Vasil thrives in a Rays uniform, he wouldn’t be their first Rule 5 trade success. Two years ago, the Rays acquired Kevin Kelly from the Rockies for cash considerations shortly after Colorado selected him in the Rule 5 draft. Kelly has been one of Tampa Bay’s top relievers over the past two seasons, pitching to a 2.88 ERA and 3.34 SIERA in 125 appearances.
One of these days I’d like tomsee a rule 5 pick traded back to the original team lol. Not given back but after or during the draft traded back to the team he was taken from.
That would be funny
Mike Vasil. To the Rays today
Nate Lavender. To the Rays today
Eric Orze To the Rays (in the Siri deal) on November 19.
What do the Rays see in Met pitching prospects?
Talent they can develop.
@Harrison – In 1988, the Braves drafted their own player with the top pick. There was some “clerical error” and they didn’t protect Ben Rivera. So they took him with the #1 overall pick.
The Red Sox had done that years before ( 1987) in the minor league segment of the Rule 5 draft, with Pawtucket (AAA) taking OF John Roberts from their New Britain (AA) roster when talk at the Winter Meetings the night before the R5 draft was that another team was going to nab Roberts the next day.
One day he will become a great toilet scrubber.
CFS – unless you played at the MLB level, you should never make such a statement about a guy that will be showing up to a ML spring training camp with a legit shot at making a team in 9 weeks.
Don’t bother. He’s busy wiping away the bacon grease from his fingers as he prepares his rebuttal to ya.
Taking him awhile, must not be done with his 2nd burger.
Mmm. Sounds like you made it to the show. Good to know that your opinion holds some weight.
He is a scrub. Get over trying to act like you are knowledgeable about it.
Guys like this are on the shuttle until forgotten. Turning up in some beer league swatting softballs.
It’s the Rays, he will be CY Young
So if he doesn’t stick for a year, who does he go back to?
The team he was drafted from. The acquiring team acquires him with the same terms.
Does he go back to Phillies first then the Mets? Or does the trade stop the Phillies attachment to him fully?
Phil’s traded what they had so they don’t get anything but the cash they got for him. Mets get him back.
thats a good Q
my assumption is mets
since he never spent time on phils 40 man roster
It’s weird then cause the Phillies will come out with money or ptbnl at the rays expense
they had leverage there with a higher pick than the rays. the timing of the trade makes it seem like the phillies thought another team might be interested, the rays on their end wanted vasil, and either the phillies shopped him or the rays called and they negotiated until both sides were happy with the associated risks.
@another – As everyone noted to the original team. But you can trade the player to yet another team for the same conditions (stay on the roster).
I heard Simon Hampton is popping off though
Phils just set a new record for the shortest Vasilectomy.
A whale of a comment, if a little bit seedy.
Takes balls… and strikes… to make that pun!
Poor fella, cut too soon.
why wouldnt tampa just trade cash/PTBNL for vasil while he was with the mets? what was the point of waiting for another tm to grab him in the rule5 draft?
Maybe the Mets wouldn’t do it? Maybe TB don’t think about it until it was too late? I can’t imagine every team having the ability to know everything about every other teams farm system.
Likely his availability in Rule 5 caused the research to start.
Just my guess.
Maybe the terms are more favorable with the Phillies. Maybe the “cash” part for the Mets was $1 million (I’m making up a big round number) but the Phillies would let him go for $500,000. Also not sure if this played into anything but the Rays already took Nate Lavender from the Mets in the R5. Not sure how it works but I don’t think you can take two players, especially from the same team (someone fact-check me on this please).
rct
technically rays did take 2 players from mets
bc if neither of them work out, they both return to the mets
Ah, good point.
@RCT – You can take multiple players from the same team. In 1988, the Braves took both Matt Stark & Geronimo Berroa from the Blue Jays.
In that same draft, Braves took their own player with #1 pick and the Jays lost 5 guys
@fernando
speaking of drafts in the late 80s
i think it was 1989, maybe 1990, montreal expos had 6 first round draft picks (the standard rule 4 draft)
i guess the rules back then stated that tms received multiple 1st rd picks if a FA is signed by another team . thats gotta be a record for most 1st rd picks by 1 tm
@Johncoltrane – I think teams got a pick for every player they lost. Looking at Wikipedia there was a record 101 rounds that year. Crazy!
@Fernando P and johncoltrane: thanks for the info and the history lesson! Quite an interesting era for drafts.
So now Philly has a couple extra thousand dollars to spend in free agency!
Cry, whine, cry. What a baby. Go find your safe space where everyone agrees with all of the things you believe in.
I didn’t say anything about Republicans or Democrats. I’m saying you’re being a gigantic tantrum-throwing baby because a site that you visit has a different opinion than yours about something.
You could’ve just left
Oh my gosh what big edgy boy you are! Here have an e-cookie and the pat on the head you’re so desperately craving lol.
you could also ignore all sports since they are owned and run by billionaires and even just watching them or reading about them you are increasing their billions.
Stop typing.
Wish Bohm and Brandon Marsh are next
Dumbrowski is still delusional my friend.
That’s Hall of Famer Dombrowski
Kind of surprised Vasil generated that much interest. He was once among their top pitching prospects, although their pitching in the minors was quite weak at the time. He’s been dreadful recently and his stock has really fallen.
Dodgers were gonna take him.
I think you need to step out of your basement and breathe some fresh air.
As a Yankee fan it’s really going to be annoying to see this dude throw 100 innings of sub 3 ERA ball next year.