Three Landing Spots for Rays Closer After Recent Trade Prediction
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
With it appearing that the New York Yankees may run away with the AL East division championship, the rest of the teams in the division may need to start plan on being sellers at this season's trade deadline.
That includes the Tampa Bay Rays, who have been predicted by Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter as sellers, with their most likely trade piece being closer Pete Fairbanks. If the Rays do decide to move him, here are three potential landing spots.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 16: Pete Fairbanks #29 of the Tampa Bay Rays reacts after a strike out ends the game for the 8-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on June 16,...
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 16: Pete Fairbanks #29 of the Tampa Bay Rays reacts after a strike out ends the game for the 8-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on June 16, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. MoreAtlanta Braves
Atlanta has been one of the best stories in baseball over the last month, as it has scratched and clawed back to a .500 record after beginning the year 0-7. A bit of a weak spot still for the Braves is the bullpen.
Rasiel Iglesias is the current closer in Atlanta and he is having one of the worst seasons of his career. Iglesias has a 5.71 ERA and is 7-for-10 on save chances.
He's already allowed six home runs this season, two more than he allowed all of last season in 69 1/3 innings pitched. Making a move for Fairbanks would allow Iglesias to move to the 8th inning role and regain his confidence before what Atlanta hopes is a deep postseason run this season.
Chicago Cubs
Chicago has been one of the best teams in all of baseball this season, and if it had a halfway decent bullpen, it would be considered a true contender in the National League.
The offseason acquisition of Ryan Pressly has not worked out the way the Cubs had hoped it would. He has a 6.91 ERA and just seven strikeouts in 16 appearances and 14 1/3 innings pitched.
The acquisition of a closer feels like a much-needed move and Fairbanks could fill that need nicely and help improve a Chicago bullpen that ranks No. 28 in Wins Above Average from relief pitchers.
San Francisco Giants
San Francisco already has one of the best bullpens in the league and the addition of Fairbanks to that bullpen would make the Giants true competitors to the Padres and Dodgers in the NL West.
Fairbanks could join a bullpen that ranks third in Wins Above Average from relief pitchers and features both Camilio Doval (1.37 ERA, five saves) and Ryan Walker (seven saves).
It is unclear if San Francisco is looking for bullpen help and if they are, Fairbanks could be a viable option for a team hoping to win its first division title since 2021.
More MLB: How to Buy Boston Red Sox "Green Monster" 2025 City Connect Jerseys, Hats, Gear
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
2 hours ago
Teen girl testifies behind closed doors in Wander Franco trial in the Dominican Republic
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco appeared in court Thursday in the Dominican Republic in a sexual abuse case involving a teenage girl who testified behind closed doors. Prosecutors also privately disclosed audio and video related to the girl as evidence during the trial that began earlier this week. Franco's attorneys have argued that the evidence submitted by prosecutors has been manipulated and distorted. Little else was known about Thursday's proceedings because the press was not allowed in the courtroom for most of them. Franco, 24, faces charges of sexually abusing a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking. The girl was 14 years old. He was having an All-Star season in 2023 before officials in the Dominican Republic began investigating allegations that he had been in relationship with a minor and had paid her mother some $17,000 for consent. The girl's mother was charged with money laundering and is under house arrest. Franco, who was charged in July 2024 and is on supervised release, could face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty. He is currently on Major League Baseball's restricted list after initially being placed on administrative leave. The trial is expected to continue on Friday.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Incredible Mets misplay allows Dodgers to tie game in 4-run comeback
Blowing a four-run lead to the Los Angeles Dodgers was a bad enough time for the New York Mets on Thursday. The game-tying play made it even worse. With the Mets up 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, reliever Reed Garrett seemingly got a big out when Andy Pages hit an easy grounder right at third baseman Brett Baty. Dodgers catcher Will Smith had no choice but to make a break for home from third base, where he should have been tagged out. The Mets turned an easy out at home plate into a "Three Stooges" skit. (Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images) (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters) However, Baty spiked the throw to home and catcher Francisco Alvarez couldn't get a hold of it. As the ball bounced into the air and came down, Alvarez and Garrett collided into each other in a play worthy of a "Three Stooges" episode. Advertisement Had Alvarez not essentially set a basketball-style pick against Garrett after losing the ball, Smith still probably would have been out. Instead, he tied the game. It was the kind of play that harkened back to the days when the Mets inspired more mockery than fear as a large-market team. They're doing everything they can to shed that reputation under owner Steve Cohen, but plays like that can happen to any baseball team. The inning got worse three batters later when former Mets All-Star Michael Conforto punched an RBI single into the outfield for the go-ahead run. That single was Conforto's first hit with a runner in scoring position since March 31, the Dodgers' fifth game of the season. It was his first with two outs of the entire 2025 season, which hasn't quite gone according to plan after he signed a one-year, $17 million deal to join the reigning World Series champs. He entered Thursday slashing .167/.311/.270. Advertisement With the Dodgers suddenly leading, they brought in Tanner Scott, another new acquisition who has been struggling, for the ninth inning. He struck out two and allowed a single before ending the game on a Luisangel Acuña flyout. The Dodgers' win split the four-game series with the Mets and kept them in first place in the NL West at 38-25. In arguably the hardest stretch of their season — with series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, New York Yankees and Mets — they went 9-7 despite a heavily depleted pitching staff.
Hamilton Spectator
4 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Cardinals' Matthew Liberatore leaves start against Royals with fatigue issues
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore left the Cardinals' game Thursday night against Kansas City because of fatigue. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said the concern factor was not high. 'He said he felt good, just out of sync with his mechanics,' Marmol said. 'Wish we had a better answer, but it just wasn't coming out. But no injury, no pain, said he actually felt really good going into that game, and just wasn't synced up. So ran some tests on him during that game, once he came out, and everything came back looking pretty good.' Liberatore left with no outs in the fifth inning after throwing 71 pitches. His final pitch was a 73.8-mph, ball-four curveball to Maikel Garcia, who eventually scored on a single by Salvador Perez to cap the scoring in Kansas City's 7-5 victory in the second game of a day-night doubleheader. 'I wasn't concerned about pain or fatigue or anything,' Liberatore said. 'I was going to keep pitching until they ripped the ball out of my hands, which is, unfortunately, what ended up happening. But just kept trying to figure out how to make the adjustment and ran out of time.' Liberatore's fastball dipped from 96 mph at the start of the game to 89 in his final inning. 'Once he threw the one at 89, I mean, at that point we saw some cutters at 88 and the four seamer at 90-91, and then one dipped down 89, so I didn't want him over compensating,' Marmol said. Liberatore, the St. Louis starter in the nightcap of a day-night doubleheader, struggled in his second straight start. The 25-year-old left-hander allowed a season-high seven runs on eight hits in four-plus innings. Liberatore said he went through several tests after leaving the game, but had no imaging on his shoulder or arm. 'Everything probably has a hand in it,' Liberatore said. 'I think when you get out of sync, it's not as easy to maintain velocity, and you get fatigued quicker. I don't know if it was a fatigue and then out of sync issue first. I think that it was more of a mechanical out of sync that led to some fatigue.' In his last outing, Liberatore allowed five runs, four earned, in five innings in an 11-1 loss to the Rangers. Liberatore earned a starting role with the Cardinals out of spring training after spending the majority of last season working out of the bullpen. He has worked at least six innings in eight of his 12 starts and entered Thursday with a 2.42 ERA since April 13, which ranks seventh among National League starters. ___ AP MLB:
