Under The Knife 7/19/23

Cre-Ray-tive Idea

While I was on radio with the guys from KTGR Columbia, we talked about the theory that when the going gets weird in baseball, it’s usually the Rays that are involved. The Rays do things differently and it usually works. The idea that a team who really doesn’t have a shot to sign Shohei Ohtani might go out and trade for him as a rental goes against most of baseball, but that’s what the Rays do! $12m isn’t going to stop them if it gets them deep into the playoffs and you have to think adding Ohtani would be a big positive.

So what would they give up? The team has three guys in the top 100 and two of them (Junior Caminero and Curtis Mead) functionally play the same position with Caminero one level back. The Rays could work with it if both come up, but trading one away would make sense too. They aren’t as thick with pitchers either, but there’s a collection of guys at Double-A Montgomery who they could lose one of and not worry too much.

But what if the Rays got a little creative here? They have five guys at various stages of return from elbow surgery. Shane Baz is the best of them, but all of the others (Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen, Andrew Kittredge, and Josh Fleming) are likely the three or four starter for the Angels sometime in 2024 and beyond, and all are under control for several years. Is that not functionally a better return for the Angels?

So how about an offer of two players. A Top 100 prospect and a real, if injured, major league pitcher that is also under team control for several years. Is that enough for Ohtani? I don’t know, maybe they add in a third player or a fourth to make it look like bulk, but it’s possible, especially if teams like the Dodgers and Yankees don’t get in and create the bidding war Arte Moreno is anticipating.

With that idea, let’s get on to the injuries:

JOSH FLEMING, P TBR (inflamed elbow)
ANDREW KITTREDGE, RP TBR (sprained elbow/rehab)

Speaking of the Rays and their cadre of injured-elbow pitchers, two could be coming back to bolster their staff soon. Andrew Kittredge is going to be the first back, as his rehab is ongoing. He started in the complex and is moving to Triple-A Durham to continue. So far, things have gone well but Kittredge is going to extend more and see better hitters now. There’s an open question of just how far out they’ll have Kittredge go since he’s a reliever, so the question is more one of how well he pitches and recovers than extending out his pitch count much. He could be back in the Tampa pen by next week.

Josh Fleming is a bit further off, but not much. His elbow issue is a bit cloudier than a simple Tommy John, with a cartilage issue inside the elbow that was problematic but not surgical. He’ll slot in where Kittredge just left at the complex league, but again, the Rays will have to make a decision about how far to extend Fleming. There’s thought that Fleming will be a swingman or follow an opener, so he wouldn’t need as many pitches at the ready. That could mean he’s back in just a couple weeks, inside July, giving Kevin Cash more options in a rotation that’s been shorthanded all year.

LA DODGERS PITCHING STAFF