The Rays selected Lavender with the eighth pick in the Rule 5 draft Wednesday, JJ Cooper of Baseball America reports.
The Rays lost righty reliever Evan Reifert to the Nationals earlier in the Rule 5 draft, and they responded by poaching lefty reliever Lavender from the Mets. Lavender had the internal brace procedure in May of 2024, and the Rays will likely maximize his recovery and rehab time before activating him from the injured list sometime this summer. He's heading into his age-25 season and has a career 3.35 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 76:30 K:BB in 51 innings (40 appearances) at Triple-A.
