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Tampa Bay Rays Could Look at Trading Yandy Diaz Next, per Report
At 52-51 entering Friday's game, the Tampa Bay Rays have committed to retooling for the future. Tampa Bay traded Randy Arozarena to the Seattle Mariners for prospects late Thursday night, signaling their intention.
The Rays are 9.5 games back from the lead in the AL East and 4.0 games back from a wild card spot in the American League.
Next, they could look at trading Yandy Diaz, who can play first or third base and brings considerable offensive potential to the table. Mark Feinsand reports that the Rays are, "expected to listen on," Diaz. He also reports that sources have indicated the Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, or even the Mariners once more could be trade partners with Tampa.
Diaz is having a slight down year offensively this season with an OPS of .726, but has reached above the .800 OPS line four times in his eight-year career.
He's under contract in 2024 and 2025 and under team control through the end of the 2026 season.
The MLB trade deadline is on Tuesday.
Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.