Just a couple years after sending James Shields and Wade Davis to the Kansas City Royals in a package for Wil Myers, it appears that the Tampa Bay Rays may be looking to move Myers for some top prospects.
Fox Sports insider Ken Rosenthal reports that Tampa Bay is in discussions with the San Diego Padres to send Myers out west. The baseball scribe then suggests that some of the Padres top prospects would land in Tampa Bay if this deal were to go through.
This report is pretty surprising, especially considering Myers has been seen as a major part of the Rays future and projects to be an All-Star in the not-so-distant future. The 24-year-old third baseman hit just .222 with six homers and 35 RBI in a disappointing 2014 campaign. This came on the heels of him earning AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2013 with a .293 average and .831 OPS.
Despite those struggles, Myers is still regarded as one of the top young players in the game.
Always in the mode of rebuilding their farm system, the Rays could conceivably net a ton of top prospects in exchange for Myers.
Back in February, Baseball Prospectus ranked San Diego’s farm system 11th among all Major League Baseball franchises. This is obviously an indication that it would have the prospects to send to Tampa in a deal.
It stands to reason that one of Austin Hedges (catcher) or Matt Wisler (starting pitcher), two of San Diego’s top prospects, would be sent to the Rays in a potential deal.
For the Padres, this is yet another indication that they are looking to contend in 2015 and into the future. The team added former Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Matt Kemp in a deal earlier in the offseason.
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