The Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners made the first big trade of the deadline season early Friday morning, shipping All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena to the Pacific Northwest in exchange for two prospects and a player to be named later. (You can read our full analysis of the trade by clicking here.) They then made the second big trade hours later, sending right-hander Zach Eflin to the Baltimore Orioles for three more players. On Sunday morning, they sent reliever Jason Adam to the Padres for three prospects and then flipped Isaac Paredes to the Cubs that afternoon. A day later, Amed Rosario was off to the Dodgers (again). Clearly, the Rays are here to sell -- at least to some extent -- ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline.
Tampa Bay's entrance into the market as a seller is an intriguing development. Although the Rays' run differential suggests they're worse than their record indicates, their roster has a number of intriguing trade candidates. With that in mind, here are some more Rays who teams are likely to be calling about ahead of the July 30 deadline. (Do note that this piece originally had Eflin at No. 1. We guess you can count that as a hit.)
1. 2B Brandon Lowe
Lowe's trade value is difficult to nail down. When he's healthy, he's almost always an above-average hitter with theoretical multi-positional value (though he's only played the keystone since 2023). The problem is that Lowe isn't often healthy for long. If he played in every single remaining game on the Rays' schedule, he would finish the year with 114 appearances -- and that would represent the second most of his career. Lowe's contract includes club options for the next two seasons. We suspect the Rays won't be the team making the call on at least the second of those two years.
2. RHP Zack Littell
Littell, one of last season's most pleasant surprises, hasn't had the same level of success this year. The Rays still might feel compelled to move him, though, because he's scheduled to become a free agent after the 2025 campaign. Littell lives in and around the zone and is highly adept at drawing chases with an arsenal led by his slider and splitter. (His four-seam fastball is now his third pitch.) He's always been hit harder than the average right-handed bear, and the degree of that hittability is the only thing holding him back from being a league-average starter. A team confident that he can find an answer for those woes down the stretch could envision him as a better investment than a rental arm.
3. 1B Yandy Díaz
Díaz, 33, come early August, has one guaranteed season remaining on his contract. He's still, by and large, the same player as always: he controls the strike zone; he hits the ball very hard, oftentimes into the turf; and he's a threat to record his first sub-.400 slugging percentage season since 2021. At some point between now and Isaac Xavier's debut, the Rays need to figure out what, if anything, they have in Curtis Mead. Moving Díaz at the deadline would give them an immediate reason to begin that process.
4. RHP Pete Fairbanks
It's been a tough year for Fairbanks (and his family) in ways that actually matter. If that's impacted his performance … well, yes, he's a human being and it's completely understandable. Still, we feel obligated to note that he's throwing softer (albeit still hard at 97.2 mph) and missing fewer bats, and that he's punching out fewer than a batter per inning for the first time in his career. Fairbanks, who is under contract through at least next season, has an established track record of being a top-flight reliever. We could see teams lining up for what they believe could be a buy-low opportunity.