Rays Trade Emilio Pagan to Padres for Manuel Margot and a Prospect
Pitchers and Catchers report this week but that won’t stop teams from trying to upgrade their rosters. The Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres have made another deal. This certainly is not the MLB trade that the world was expecting to be made today.
The Rays are sending reliever Emilio Pagan to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Manuel Margot and C/OF prospect Logan Driscoll.
The Padres
The Padres have made it very clear they are playing for the present. Acquiring Pagan solidifies that case. Pagan’s 20 saves were tops for the Rays bullpen and he will now be paired with Kirby Yates to close out victories for the Padres. Trading away Margot also opens the door for previously acquired Trent Grisham to take over in center field. If he fails to takeover, Wil Myers has experience patrolling center field.
The Rays
The Rays were looking for outfield depth and have found a fourth outfielder with the Margot acquisition. More importantly, the Rays needed someone who can man center field when Kevin Kiermaier needs a day off, slumps, or finds himself on the IL. A place he has had no problem finding most of his career.
Margot hit 12 home runs and stole 20 bases in 2019. The Rays will certainly look for the 25-year-old to continue displaying his power & speed combination.
The Rays have plenty of arms able to replace the hole Pagan now leaves. They will rely on the trio of Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo, and Jose Alvarado to hold down the back end of games.
The Rays also get C/OF prospect, Logan Driscoll, in the deal.
Deal Wrapped Up
As previously stated, this isn’t the first trade the Padres and Rays have done this offseason. Just two months ago Tommy Pham and Hunter Renfroe were traded (along with prospects) for each other. A trade that showed the Padres urgency to win in 2020 and the Rays willingness to put themselves in great position on the business side of baseball.
While all of baseball is still waiting on the MLB trade that was agreed to this past week to be made official the Rays and Padres continue to make improvements to their teams.
