Tampa Bay Rays sign RHP Stetson Allie to a minor league deal

The Tampa Bay Rays have reportedly signed RHP Stetson Allie to a minor league deal with an invitation to the big league camp per a tweet from the player’s agent.

Stetson Allie is a fascinating player as he was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second round of the 2010 draft. He was a two way player as Baseball America touted his abilities both on the mound and at the plate, even stating that he had some of the best raw power in the draft.

Entering the 2011 season, Baseball America ranked Allie as the 79th best prospect in the game.

Over the Summer, Allie made his professional debut, but only as a pitcher, showing a severe lack of command. The next summer, he was rarely used on the mound, but did register 101 wRC+ over 173 plate appearances. Eventually, Allie abandoned mound due to his severe lack of command as his appearances on the mound much resembled the scene in Major League when Ricky Vaughn is warming up and takes the head off of the player cutout that had been positioned at the plate.

As a hitter, Allie found success as he showcased his raw power, slugging 21 homeruns over 132 games in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Despite some success at the plate, Allie would stagnate at the Double-A level, eventually leading to another attempt at pitching. He found his way to the Los Agenels Dodgers and during the 2017 season, he was back on the mound.

Command was still an issue, but he showcased an improved ability to find the zone and started racking up strikeouts. He finished the 2019 season with the Dodgers Triple-A team, tossing 32 innings and compiling a 24.5 K% and 19.0 BB%.

During the pandemic afflicted 2020 season, Allie signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox. However, it’s unclear if he was among the players to be invited to play at their alternate training site during the season.

Allie possesses a fastball that can reach triple digits at time with several secondary pitches that as of now, flash below average. The Rays will look to see if they can harness his command while also improving those secondary pitches to potentially give them another weapon to use out of the bullpen.