KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Rays traded struggling starter Aaron Civale to the Brewers on Wednesday morning, opening space to upgrade what could soon be a crowded rotation, saving money and adding a solid infield prospect in Gregory Barrios.
The Rays acquired Civale from Cleveland at last year’s trade deadline for first base prospect Kyle Manzardo. The 29-year-old right-hander has not performed well with Tampa Bay, going 4-9, 5.17 in 27 starts, completing six innings only four times.
The deal saves the Rays roughly half of Civale’s $4.9 million salary for this season and gets them off the hook for his arbitration-driven raise for 2025 to likely around $7 million, his last year before free agency.
It also creates an opening in the rotation, one that initially will be filled by Shane Baz, who has been pitching well at Triple-A Durham and is slated to start for the Rays in Civale’s place on Friday at Texas. By the end of July, the Rays also expect to have back lefty Jeffrey Springs, who is working his way through the final stages of his rehab from Tommy John surgery.
And the trade netted Barrios, a 20-year-old ranked the No. 21 prospect in the Milwaukee organization by MLB.com. Barrios will report to Bowling Green, the Rays’ High Class-A affiliate.
“We’re entering a period here where we have, in our opinion, more options, more healthy options, in a sense, than we do spots at the moment,” Rays baseball operations president Erik Neander said by phone. “I want to be very, very careful with that, because we know how quickly that can change. That’s part of why we brought Aaron in in the first place.
“But we felt that the opportunity to get a prospect that our scouts and analysts both really liked, that fits well into our system, was, when you’re looking at that, when you have someone like Shane Baz that I think developmentally for him to continue to grow and to develop, I think it’s important for him to have those opportunities in the big leagues, that combination put us in a position for this to be appealing.”
Barrios, a native of Venezuela, got a $1 million bonus to sign with the Brewers and has moved up a level each season since. He is hitting .325 this season at High-A Wisconsin with one homer, 34 RBIs and a .796 OPS. MLB.com’s scouting report describes his defense like this: “The 6-foot infielder moves like water at shortstop with a solid first step, sound instincts and impressive actions. He’s capable of making many throws from deep in the hole, and his fielding will likely fuel his rise.”
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Neander said there is a lot the Rays like about him.
“He’s a great defender of short, has great makeup, has great contact skill and at 20 years old think he’s got a chance to grow into enough power to be a solid regular,” Neander said.
After Civale’s unimpressive Rays debut last season, the team spin was that a deep data dive showed he wasn’t as bad in 10 starts for them as his 2-3, 5.36 basic numbers showed, nor was he as good in 13 starts for Cleveland as 5-2, 2.34 indicated.
Though he got off to a decent start for the Rays this year, going 2-1, 2.12 in his first three starts, Civale has struggled much of the season, including a four-start stretch where he failed to get to the fifth inning (and allowed 20 runs in 18 2/3 innings). He was 2-6, 5.07 this season, going 14 starts since his last win. The Rays are 5-12 in his starts this year.
“We recognize where the run prevention results have been and do believe he’s a better pitcher than that,” Neander said. “These things can happen over the course of 12 months. Just like the 12 months prior, I think was on the other side when it came to run prevention being even better than maybe it was.
“I think the truth is probably he’s the kind of pitcher that sits between his total results the last two years. You look at that and that’s a really good starting pitcher. And I think that’s what he is. So wish him nothing but the best and expect him to be that for Milwaukee.”
Veteran starter Zach Eflin said Civale will be missed.
“It’s never easy losing such a good player and person,” Eflin said. “He’s brought so much to this team, chemistry wise, leadership wise, talent wise. … I’m freaking sad, honestly. I love ‘Civ.’ Being with him the last year was just, it was a pleasure to play with him.”
Baz was scratched from his scheduled Tuesday start for Durham, initially to be available to provide depth for the big-league team with the potential for a doubleheader or heavy bullpen usage this week in Kansas City due to the forecast for rain. The Rays called up Justin Sterner on Wednesday to provide depth; Baz will be added to the roster Friday.
A spring oblique strain — from picking up a weight — delayed Baz’s return from September 2022 Tommy John surgery. And it led to him being optioned to Durham after completing his rehab assignment, as the Rays also wanted to limit his workload. He got better as he went, and in five June starts for the Bulls he was 3-0, 1.57, allowing 20 hits and 10 walks in 23 innings, but also striking out 35.
“He’s throwing the ball well, his results have been better,” manager Kevin Cash said. “So encouraged by that.”
Springs made his fifth rehab start for Durham on Wednesday, working four scoreless innings, with a 2.71 ERA through 13 1/3 innings. He is expected to remain with the Bulls at least until the July 15-18 All-Star break.
The Rays also have starter options at Durham with non-roster lefty Joe Rock, who is 4-3, 4.11 in 14 games since being acquired from Colorado; and lefty Tyler Alexander, who started the season in the Tampa Bay rotation, and is 0-3, 3.64 in five Triple-A outings.
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