Tampa Bay Rays' Reportedly Sought Logan Gilbert From Seattle Mariners Before Acquiring Aaron Civale at Trade Deadline

The Tampa Bay Rays traded for Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Aaron Civale on Monday and reportedly were interested in Seattle Mariners young pitcher Logan Gilbert.

The Tampa Bay Rays acquired another starting pitcher on Monday, getting right-hander Aaron Civale in a deal with the Cleveland Guardians.

Prior to doing that though, they apparently were interested in acquiring Logan Gilbert from the Seattle Mariners.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today put on Twitter:

The #Rays had been heavily scouting the #Mariners for one of their young starters before turning to the #Guardians’ Aaron Civale

The #Rays had been heavily scouting the #Mariners for one of their young starters before turning to the #Guardians’ Aaron Civale

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 31, 2023

He added Gilbert's name in a tweet just moments later:

The Cleveland #Guardians really needed a bat, and now have their first baseman in 2024 and through the decade in Kyle Manzardo. The #Rays badly needed another starter for the pennant race, and the #Mariners want to keep Logan Gilbert.

It's understandable why the Mariners want to keep Gilbert for multiple reasons. 

1) He's under team control for four more seasons.

2) The Mariners pitching is what carries them, they can't really afford to be dealing from that pitching core unless it gets them multiple impact bats.

3) The team is only 4.5 games back of a wild card spot right now. Even though they've dealt closer Paul Sewald, trading Gilbert would represent a different kind of sell-off and surrender for the season.

4) Gilbert is really good. The 26-year-old is 9-5 with a 3.83 ERA this year and has struck out 121 batters in 124.1 innings.

The Mariners will open up a series with the Boston Red Sox on Monday while the Rays open up a huge series with the New York Yankees.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by LIKING us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

You can also subscribe to "The Payoff Pitch" podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.