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Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic dropped a surprising note that the Rays lone lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger is evidently drawing strong trade interest this week, in sourcing likely derived from a couple teams pushing for the acquisition.
In a vacuum, this is totally something the old Rays would do, as Cleavinger is a short-arm reliever making $2.4 million with yet another pay increase coming next season in his final year of arbitration. Short of paying for a lights out closer, the Rays usually build their bullpen in a cave with some scraps, and Cleavinger has eight saves since his 2020 major league debut.
The modern Rays, at lease of the last couple seasons, wait and see how the season will go before removing any key pieces. The logic would go: If there’s a 20% chance this team is competitive for the playoffs, you see if you’re in that 1/5 chance before moving on from your best relievers.
Rosenthal doesn’t throw his weight around lightly, and given that this rumor is here at all, it would seem to indicate the Rays also think they have enough left handed support to part with a fireman southpaw and that the team didn’t give a hard no upon inquiry.
If the Rays acquiesce, it could indicate that 40-man left-handed starters Ian Seymour and Joe Rock might start getting more swing-man assignments or time in the bullpen to maximize their value on the roster. In camp the Rays will also have journeyman LHP Cam Booser, who I’m willing to bet already had a strong shot to make the Rays roster this Spring.
Cleavinger sported a 2.35 ERA last season over 61.1 IP, his second consecutive season of sixty innings thrown, with a 33.7% strikeout rate (96th percentile in MLB) with a 36.0% whiff rate (97th percentile) and 7.4% walk rate (63rd percentile).