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The Tampa Bay Rays have made three minor league signings.
Marc Topkin reports that the team has resigned former top prospect, left-handed pitcher Brendan McKay to a two year minor league deal. The team also signed catcher Nick Dini and right-handed pitcher Colten Brewer.
McKay was released by the Rays in November to clear space on the 40-man roster. He underwent Tommy John surgery in September, which will cause him to miss the entire 2023 season.
Drafted by the Rays with the 4th overall selection in the 2017 draft, McKay was coming off one of the most decorated collegiate careers a player can have, winning the highly coveted Golden Spikes award, which is given to the top amateur player in the country.
It’s been a struggle for McKay to stay healthy over his professional career thus far. Early on he battled oblique issues; he underwent shoulder surgery in 2020, and then suffered an elbow issue in 2021 that ultimately resulted in him undergoing thoracic outlet syndrome surgery following the season. While rehabbing this past August, McKay sustained the ligament tear that would result in him having Tommy John surgery.
Originally drafted as a two way player, the Rays and McKay have decided to forgo being an offensive player to allow McKay to focus solely on pitching. As a pitcher in the big leagues, McKay appeared in 13 games during the 2019 season, registering a 5.14 ERA and 4.03 FIP over 49 innings pitched.
Colten Brewer has big league experience over four seasons, beginning his career with the San Diego Padres in 2018 and then spending the 2019 through 2021 seasons with the Boston Red Sox (he appeared in just one game for Boston in 2021). Overall, Brewer has garnered a 5.04 ERA and 4.99 FIP with a 20.3 K% and 13.4 BB% over 81 games and 91 innings pitched. He spent the 2022 season with the Kansas City Royals Triple-A affiliate.
#Rays have signed former Red Sox reliever Colton Brewer to a minor league contract. He mostly works with a uniquely hard cutter as well as a curveball that gets huge downward movement.
— Rays Metrics (@RaysMetrics) December 16, 2022
Pitched for the Royals AAA team last season and posted a 4.76 ERA over 39.2 IP pic.twitter.com/0hT83zEQYY
Nick Dini made his big league debut in 2019 with the Kansas City Royals, playing in 20 games and registering a 62 wRC+. Since then, he has moved on from the Royals organization and played the 2022 season with the New York Mets Triple-A affiliate, hitting .232/.323/.446 with 11 HR over 201 plate appearances.
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