The Tampa Bay Rays made a plethora of roster moves ahead of the reserve list deadline, adding five players to the 40-man Major League roster, completing two trades and designating infielder Matt Duffy for assignment.
Infielders Vidal Bruján, Lucius Fox and Kevin Padlo, infielder/right-handed pitcher Jake Cronenworth and catcher Ronaldo Hernández were added to the team’s 40-man roster. To clear room on the roster, relief pitcher Jose De Leon was sent to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for a player to be named later along with the move to DFA Duffy.
The team also completed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, swapping left-handed pitcher Cristopher Sánchez for infielder Curtis Mead. The moves give Tampa Bay protects several key minor league prospects ahead of the Dec. 11 Rule 5 draft.
Cronenworth, 25, was named Most Valuable Player for Triple-A Durham after batting .334 with 26 doubles, 10 home runs and 45 RBI last season. He also saw seven appearances on the mound as a pitcher allowing two earned runs. Bruján, ranked by MLB.com as the Rays’ No. 3 overall prospect, batted .277 with a organization-best 48 stolen bases between Class-A Charlotte and Double-A Montgomery.
Fox, 22, split the season between Montgomery and Durham, batting .221 with three home runs, 34 RBI and 39 stolen bases. Hernández, 22, was the organization’s No. 7 overall prospect according to MLB.com, that batted .265 with nine home runs and 60 RBI for the Stone Crabs. Padlo, 23, led all Rays minor leaguers with 21 home runs to go with 31 doubles and a .261 average between Montgomery and Durham.
The injury-plagued Duffy played only 199 games –including just 46 last season — with the Rays after being acquired from the San Francisco Giants in 2016. When he was healthy he was an effective contact hitter, batting .284. De León, 27, made just three relief appearances for the Rays this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018.
Mead, 19, hit .285 with 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 19 RBI in 44 games this season with the GCL Phillies.
