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The Rays will send outfielder Todd Glaesmann to the Arizona Diamondbacks to complete the trade that brought Heath Bell and Ryan Hanigan to St. Petersburg, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
OF Todd Glaesmann is #Rays player going to #DBacks in Heath Bell trade, per @JonHeymanCBS. Was team's '12 minor league player of year
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) December 13, 2013
At the time of the trade, it was established that the PTBNL couldn't be traded at the time for an administrative reason, and clearly, that administrative reason was making sure he wasn't taken in yesterday's Rule 5 draft.
Entering 2013, Glaesmann ranked 18th on our writers' poll top 30 prospect list after a breakout 2012 season. Between Class A Bowling Green and Class A-Advanced Charlotte, he batted .285/336/.493 with 21 home runs, a 5.6% walk rate and 23.0% strikeout rate. He spent most of his team with Bowling Green in center field and most of it in right field with Charlotte.
In 2013 now with Double-A Montgomery, Glaesmann was not the same player. He batted .240/.289/.378 with just 11 homers, a 4.9% walk rate and 20.8% strikeout rate. He played corner outfield almost exclusively. He had a brief 20 plate appearance stint in the Arizona Fall League where he batted .105/.150/.158 with a 5.0% walk rate and 20.0% strikeout rate. Obviously that does not tell us much.
Baseball America's recap of the trade includes a brief video of Glaesmann. It notes that he's an athletic defender in the corner outfield with power potential. He'll probably be right back in the Southern League with Arizona's Double-A affiliate Mobile in 2014. The Rays also sent minor league reliever Justin Choate to Arizona in the trade.
The Rays originally drafted Glaesmann in the third round of the 2009 draft from Midway High School (TX). After failing to sign their first two picks, outfielder LeVon Washington (Cleveland) and infielder Kenny Diekroeger (Kansas City), they landed Glaesmann for an above slot deal of $930,000.
