Rays, Mariners Agree On Six-Player Deal

And so the off-season has begun and for the Tampa Bay Rays, it begins as with a bang as they make a trade on Thursday night with the Seattle Mariners in a six-player deal.

Looking for a jolt to their offense for the 2016 season, the Rays acquired SS Brad Miller, 1B/OF Logan Morrison and right-handed relief pitcher Danny Farquhar.  In the deal the Mariners get right hander Nate Karns, left hander C.J. Riefenhauser and OF Boog Powell.

Miller, 26, made his debut in 2013 and in three seasons with the Mariners he batted .248, with 29 home runs and 118 RBI’s.  He enjoyed his best season so far in the majors in 2015, as he batted .258, with 11 home runs and 46 RBI’s.

Morrison, 28, made his major league debut with the Florida Marlins in 2010 and enjoyed his breakout season in 2011, when belted 23 home runs and drove in 72 RBI’s. He was traded to the Mariners in 2013 for Carter Capps. This past season, he batted .225, with 17 home runs, and drove in 54 runs.

Farquhar, 28, made his MLB debut in 2011 with the Toronto Blue jays and pitched in just their games. He returned to the majors in 2013, after being traded the Seattle mariners and saved 16 games. In three seasons with the mariners, he posted a 4-12 record, with a 3.85 ERA, and 208 strike outs in 177.2 reliefe innings.

“We feel even better about the talent that we’ll have on the infield next year,” Matt Silverman, Rays president of baseball operations tells MLB.com. “We feel better about our lineup versus right-handed pitching, especially. And feel better about the general balance of our roster.”

As for the mariners end of deal, RHP Karns, 27, made his debut with the Washington Nationals in 2013. In the spring of 2014, he was traded to the Rays in a four player deal. In 2015 as a starter, he was 7-5, a 3.67 ERA, and 145 strike outs in 147 innings.

Riefenhauser, 25, made his debut with the Rays in 2014 and appeared in seven games in relief. In 2015, he posted a 1-0 record, with a 5.52 ERA, and 7 strike outs in 14.2 innings, appearing in 17 games.

Powell, 22, was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the 20th round of the 2012 MLB draft. Prior to the 2015 season, he was involved in a trade that sent Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar to Oakland in exchange for Powell’s services and catcher John Jaso. This past season, combined between AA/AAA he batted .385, with three home runs and 40 RBI’s in 444 at bats.

David Conde

David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.