MLB Trade Deadline: Rays acquire RHP’s Nick Anderson, Trevor Richards from the Miami Marlins for OF Jesus Sanchez, RHP Ryne Stanek

At the close of the MLB Trade Deadline, the Tampa Bay Rays have finally acquired the pitching help they’ve needed in right-handed reliever Nick Anderson and right-handed starter Trevor Richards from the Miami Marlins.

R.J. Anderson named Nick Anderson as a possible trade piece several weeks ago, with this evaluation:

At one point, Nick Anderson was a middling pitcher in the Frontier League. Now, he’s an attractive trade candidate whose best days could be ahead of him. Anderson has a high-quality breaking ball that he could probably stand to throw more, as well as a rising mid-to-upper-90s heater. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher, which is a tenuous thing to be in a league with a juiced ball. But Anderson has good stuff and his peripherals suggest he’s better than his 93 ERA+ indicates.

The 28 year old Anderson has had an unusual path to the majors. First drafted in 2012 in the 32nd round, he did not sign. He would later sign with the Twins as a free agent in 2015. He was traded into the Marlins organization in 2018, and debuted in Miami this year.

Anderson’s 3.92 ERA looks better when you consider his 2.72 FIP. As this is his first year in the majors, he will be playing on a rookie contract for some time to come. The Rays will be likely to up his secondaries to bring out his best stuff upon his arrival.

Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Trevor Richards has been part of Miami’s starting rotation. In his second MLB season, the 26 year old righty has a 4.42 ERA.

In exchange the Rays will send “The Opener” Ryne Stanek and minor league outfielder Jesus Sanchez.

Sanchez had been one of the Rays top prospects and among the top prospects in all of baseball. At the time of the trade, Sanchez was hitting .206/.282/.317 with 1 HR over 71 plate appearances in Triple-A. In their latest update, Baseball America ranked Sanchez as the 48th best prospect in baseball.

A bang-or-bust type of prospect, Sanchez was previously connected to trade attempts by the Rays in the off-season, namely in their pursuit of Paul Goldschmidt.

The popular Stanek found his niche with the Rays as the ‘opener,’ thriving in the role over the past year. He’s 29 games for the Rays this season and has appeared in a total 41 games registering a 3.40 ERA / 3.75 FIP over 55 ²⁄₃ innings pitched.

There’s more to come from the Rays so stay tuned.