The Rays announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired righty Mason Englert from the Tigers in exchange for minor league lefty Drew Sommers. Tampa Bay opened a 40-man roster spot by transferring southpaw Nate Lavender to the 60-day IL. Englert was designated for assignment in Detroit last week.
Englert, 25, was with the Tigers for the past two years. A Rule 5 pick from the Rangers, he stuck on the roster through the 2023 season. Once the Tigers had full control over his rights for 2024, he was shuttled between Triple-A and the majors. Over those two campaigns, he tossed 77 2/3 innings for Detroit, allowing 5.45 earned runs per nine. His 16.5% strikeout rate was subpar but he limited walks to a 6.4% clip.
Those numbers aren’t mind-blowing, but Englert was better in the minors last year. He tossed 49 2/3 innings on the farm over 32 appearances with a 3.08 ERA, 33% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate. Prior to his Rule 5 selection, he tossed 199 1/3 minor league innings over 2021 and 2022 with a 3.93 ERA, 27.7% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate.
Englert is still fairly young and has a couple of options years remaining. The major league results haven’t been there yet but the minor league numbers seem to be intriguing enough that the Rays have brought him aboard. As a club that rotates pitchers through the roster fairly frequently, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Englert moves between Triple-A and the majors throughout the coming season.
Lavender, 25, was just taken in the most recent Rule 5 draft. He had Tommy John surgery in May and likely won’t be able to return until the second half. Today’s transfer officially rules him out of the first two months of the campaign.
Though the Tigers had to bump Englert off the roster, they are at least getting something in return. Sommers, 24, was an 11th-round selection of the Rays in 2022. In 2023, he tossed 43 Single-A innings with a 2.72 ERA, 34.7% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 53.3% ground ball rate. Last year, he got bumped up to High-A and tossed 54 innings with an ERA of 4.00, 27.9% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and massive 67.8% ground ball rate. He’s not considered a top prospect but will give the Tigers an intriguing lefty relief option to plug into their system.
Trading a young pitcher who hasn’t hit his full potential yet to the Rays. What could go wrong?
Yeah he’ll shave two runs off his ERA, and blow his arm out in the first 1.5 seasons.
Will they flip him for prospects before he blows his arm out?
Yeah, I think we all know this guy will kick ass for Tampa Bay. It always happens.
Tigers gave them Alex Faedo a few weeks ago too.last year Tyler Alexander was claimed off waivers and didn’t pitch well for Rays so not all players they get from us work out.we shall see about these recent 2
Fine with this. Englert was a rule 5 pick and never quite lived up to his promise. Would have been nice to keep him to see if he could eventually work it out, but needed the roster room . At least we got something for him.
I never quite got the selection of Englert. He seems like a AAAA player.
There’s a reason most teams pass on the Rule 5 draft.
If Tampa Bay wants your young pitcher, that’s probably a sign you should keep him.
I think the Tigers bested the Rays but, it will take some time to prove it.
So after paying $15MM to sign Cobb, today is the first day of camp. Guess who is injured and will be at least a month behind? Gotta be more thorough on those physicals! ( or just sign players that didn’t miss almost all of last year with a variety of injuries. )