The Tampa Bay Rays have been one of the most disappointing teams of the season, with a 48-48 record and a -63 run differential.
We are talking about one of the best and most consistent organizations of the last decade, with numerous postseason berths and even a World Series appearance in 2020.
The Rays, however, are very smart and will be able to recognize if they are truly out of the race.
This appears to be the case: they are 10 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East lead and 5.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot.
With a half to play, it’s not an insurmountable deficit, but it’s really tough with so many teams ahead of them.
Perhaps they should sell some of their really valuable assets.
With that in mind, MLB insider Jon Morosi is reporting a couple of players that the team would be open to negotiating ahead of the July 30 trade deadline.
Arozarena, Diaz, and Paredes are arguably the best offensive players on the Rays roster.
If they flip them all, they could enter a brief “retooling” process for one or two years, but they would probably add lots of interesting prospects to feed their already solid farm.
Arozarena is having a subpar season with a .671 OPS, but he is capable of taking over a playoff series.
Paredes has 15 home runs and 50 RBI, and Diaz is sporting a .726 OPS with 21 doubles.
Rumors also have second baseman Brandon Lowe as a potential trade piece.
Could we be witnessing a fire sale by Tampa Bay?