The Tampa Bay Rays sure went against their business model in this deal, actually trading for a frontline player, in shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, during the second half of the season. They didn’t give up much, a couple of unranked minor leaguers not in the organization’s top 30 prospects during Spring Training 2017. What they did give up was money, which is something in short supply in the Rays’ front office. They took on Hechavarria’s $4 million contract, which means they owe him around half that for the rest of this season.
The team business model always showed that if the Rays had a need during the season, that need would have to come from the minor leagues. They couldn’t afford to buy an expensive player at the trade deadline, like the Yankees or Red Sox or the other big market clubs.
Another set of numbers also skewed this deal. The Rays firmly believe in sabermetrics, perhaps more so than any other major league team. Former GM Andrew Friedman was a huge numbers guy, and Manager Joe Maddon bought into his system, often referring to “the boys in the lab” when referring to player evaluation. Those “boys in the lab” included Eric Neander and Chaim Bloom, whose work was fiercely protected and shielded by Friedman. They are now running the front office show.
If you go by the numbers crunchers, Adeiny Hechavarria didn’t add up. His WAR (wins above replacement) wasn’t good. And, other traditional categories, like wRC+ and wOBA, also didn’t favor Hechavarria.
Traditionalists dislike this kind of talk, and maybe that line of thinking won out on this deal. Everybody knows Hechavarria is a top defensive shortstop, twice a Gold Glove finalist. He’s also a so-so hitter with a .256 career batting average and 15 career homers.
This year, the Rays are strong offensively in their daily lineup, but weak at shortstop. And that is the previous shortstop Tim Beckham in a nutshell. He’s hitting well, like most of the Rays’ lineup, but makes questionable plays at short. So, on the surface, it looks like any Rays fan could make this trade.
Now at the halfway point of the season, the Rays are in the playoff hunt with a strong wild card position. But their defensive weakness at short is hurting their chances and also hurting their pitching staff, both starters and the suffering bullpen.
So, find a solid defensive shortstop in Adeiny Hechavarria, keep Beckham’s bat in the lineup but put him in a less crucial defensive position at second base. And all it cost them was two minor leaguers and $2 million.. which for a frontline player in the majors, is relatively cheap.
What it also does, is further clutter the future of the shortstop position for the Rays. No one in the organization knows when Matt Duffy will be ready to play… and wouldn’t that make the Matt Moore trade a disaster if Duffy is never ready to play? Top SS prospect Willy Adames is close to being ready for the majors, maybe next year.
So, for now… the second half of the 2017 season.. this looks like a smart move by the Rays. And they did it the old-fashioned way.. trading to fill a weakness, trading from strength, and throwing in a couple of million dollars. Easy, isn’t it? Read more by Dave Wirth and connect to local sports events on our Sports Page. (Cover photo from Wikimedia Commons)
