Tampa Bay Rays News and Links: Chris Archer calls Rays moves “tough, perplexing”

In the late hours of this past Saturday night, the Tampa Bay Rays roster underwent a massive change as the team shockingly announced they had designated Corey Dickerson for assignment, and then a little while later they traded Jake Odorizzi to the Minnesota Twins for Jermaine Palacios.

The moves came as a shock, with Dickerson being the team’s lone All-Star in 2017 and the return for Odorizzi seeming pretty lackluster compared to what was anticipated.

With Dickerson being DFA’d, the Rays have 7 days to either release him or find a suitable trade partner.

Chris Archer spoke to the media about the trade of Odorizzi, acquisition of Cron, and says the team letting go of Corey Dickerson is “perplexing” and saying the team as a whole is now worse than they were before the trades

• Erik Neander, the Rays GM, sounded off on the moves and the reasoning behind them

• Jake Odorizzi bid farewell to the Rays organization

• Following the trade of Odorizzi, Kevin Cash announced the team would start out the season with a four-man rotation
• The return in the Odorizzi deal, Jermaine Palacios, has been slotted as the team’s 22nd best prospect on MLB Pipeline
• Neil Solondz continued to spotlight players in camp as he broke down Ian Gibaut, who is also a certified scuba instructor
• Solondz also got to know Kyle Bird, a former 35th round pick who received an invite to spring training
• Wilson Ramos was kidnapped in November in 2011, a harrowing experience that he touches back on with Marc Topkin
• Jaime Schultz’s arrival in the big leagues was delayed last season due to injuries, but now he is competing for the Opening Day roster
• Talking Chop looks into Corey Dickerson with the Atlanta Braves in search of an outfielder
• Erasmo Ramirez is an early casualty of the spring as he will miss at least two weeks with a lat strain
• Eric Hosmer finally signed, a massive eight year mega deal with the San Diego Padres