Tampa Bay Rays Acquire Top-Flight Prospects in Deal For Reliever

The Tampa Bay Rays have traded reliever Jason Adam to the San Diego Padres in a haul for multiple well-regarded prospects. Here's the latest.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jason Adam (47) throws a pitch against the Cleveland Guardians in the ninth inning at Tropicana Field on July 12. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Rays continued their sell-off before the trade deadline on Sunday morning, trading reliever Jason Adam to the San Diego Padres for a package of well-regarded prospects.

Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post on social media:

Jason Adam from Rays to the Padres for Dylan Lesko, Homer Bush Jr. and JD Gonzalez

Jason Adam from Rays to the Padres for Dylan Lesko, Homer Bush Jr. and JD Gonzalez

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 28, 2024

First off, this is another big move for the Rays, who had previously dealt away Aaron Civale, Randy Arozarena and Zach Eflin. While the Rays always deal with financial issues, to see them trade away Adam, a reliever with multiple years of team control left, is surprising. The 32-year-old Adam was 4-2 with a 2.49 ERA this season for Tampa. He's under control through 2026.

Adam is in the seventh year of his big league career with the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs and Rays. He's 16-11 lifetime with a 3.07 ERA. He's got 24 career saves and will help the Padres in their quest for the playoffs again this season.

According to MLB.com, Lesko was the third-ranked prospect in the Padres system. Bush Jr. was eighth and Gonzalez was 12th.

The following comes from a portion of the MLB.com prospect profile on Lesko:

The best news of all for Lesko and the Padres – his stuff bounced back nicely to its outstanding pre-TJ levels in his return to the mound. He sits 92-96 mph with his fastball, touching 98, and makes the offering play even better with impressive carry up in the zone. That’s not even his best pitch. That remains his low-80s changeup with tremendous separation off the heater and movement that gets some silly swings, earning it consistent plus-plus grades. (Lefties hit just .186 with a 38.8 percent K rate off Lesko in 2023 as a result.) His mid-70s curveball flashes plus with 12-to-6 movement and promising spin rates but is still developing consistency.

The Rays enter play on Sunday at 53-52 on the season. They will play the Reds on Sunday.

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