Tampa Bay Rays Trade Rumors: Rays Have Inquired About Adeiny Hechavarria

According Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, the Tampa Bay Rays as well as the Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals have inquired about Marlins short stop, Adeiny Hechavarria. Ken Rosenthal also states that his sources also say the Rays have made inquiries into the Marlins short stop.

Hechavarria is currently rehabbing an oblique strained suffered towards the beginning of May. So far in 2017, he has only played in 20 games and hasn’t done very much over that limited time. Never one to be an offensive force at the plate, Hechavarria’s value comes from his fantastic defensive capabilities.

The starting middle-infielders for the Rays have in flux since the season’s inception as Matt Duffy’s foot can’t seem to heal and with no recent updates on Brad Miller’s injury, the Rays supposed starting infield has played a total of 42 games in 2017. In their place, Daniel Robertson and Tim Beckham have been a fine albeit flawed duo, with Robertson’s bat and Beckham’s glove being shaky at times.

Tim Beckham’s status is also a question now after sitting out the majority of the Rays past series with the Cincinnati Reds after being hit in the hand by an errant pitch.

With Daniel Robertson taking Brad Miller’s starting job at second base, the Rays had to look outside the organization for backup depth, having brought in Michael Martinez and Taylor Featherston, the former of which has already been designated for assignment.

If the Rays were to add Hechavarria, their infield defense will improve exponentially as Tim Beckham likely slides over to second, while Robertson resumes his utility role from the start of the season.

Hechavarria is currently in his 6th season in the majors, making his major league debut in 2012 with the Blue Jays and then was included in the huge 12 player deal between Toronto and Miami. Hechavarria has been the Marlins starting short stop since, not enjoying much success with the exception of his 3 WAR year in 2015.

He is owed just over $2M for the rest of the 2017 season and (if tendered) will enter his final year of arbitration in 2018 before becoming a free agent. According to Jeff Passan, the Marlins are expected to trade him over the next few days.