Tampa Bay Rays Acquire Pitcher Aaron Civale in Trade With Cleveland Guardians

The Rays had to part ways with first base prospect Kyle Manzardo in order to reel in another young, top-end starter in Civale.

The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to a trade with the Cleveland Guardians that will net them 28-year-old starting pitcher Aaron Civale, the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin first reported Monday. The Rays will be sending back first base prospect Kyle Manzardo as part of the deal.

Civale had been at the center of plenty of rumors in the leadup to Tuesday evening's MLB trade deadline, as he was one of the Guardians' most valuable assets. The right-hander is 5-2 with a 2.34 ERA and 1.039 WHIP through 13 starts in 2023, which has been a career year for the young hurler.

In his final appearance as a Guardian on Sunday, Civale tossed 6.0 scoreless innings in a win over the Chicago White Sox. Since returning from a two-month stint on the injured list with a left oblique strain, Civale owns a 2.24 ERA and 1.041 WHIP.

For his career, Civale is 29-23 with a 3.77 ERA and 1.144 WHIP.

Civale is only making $2.6 million in 2023, and he will remain under team control in both 2024 and 2025. In terms of under-30, low-cost, controllable pitchers, Civale was arguably the most sought-after arm on the market.

Tampa Bay already had All-Star Shane McClanahan spearheading its rotation to this point in the season, with Zach Eflin and Tyler Glasnow also posting ERAs under 3.70 and WHIPs under 1.120. However, the Rays fell out of first place in the AL East a few weeks back, and they now trail the Baltimore Orioles by 1.5 games.

Although they still have a 6.5-game cushion in the AL Wild Card race, the Rays are notably 7-16 in July. Tampa Bay is also 35-16 when one of McClanahan, Eflin or Glasnow start, compared to 29-28 when someone else toes the rubber.

The rotation with the lowest ERA in the American League just got even nastier.

Welcome, @AaronCivale! pic.twitter.com/kMsnL9WpI6

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 31, 2023

Manzardo was ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the Rays' farm system and the No. 37 overall prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. Since getting selected by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft, Manzardo has hit .291 with 35 home runs, 50 doubles, 127 RBI a .935 OPS in 179 minor league games.

The first baseman is expected to make his major league debut this season.

Prior to Monday's trade, the Guardians only had one first baseman among their top 30 prospects – Jhonkensy Noel, who ranked No. 14 and also plays third base and outfield.

Cleveland will be hard-pressed to secure an AL Wild Card spot this fall at 53-53, but the AL Central crown is still very much up for grabs. The Guardians trail the Minnesota Twins by just 0.5 games for first place, although they will be without ace Shane Bieber until September.

Recent trade acquisition Noah Syndergaard also just hit the 15-day injured list on Wednesday, leaving 24-year-old rookies Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen as Cleveland's top starters for the stretch run.

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