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The Rays Are "Widely Expected" To Trade Tyler Glasnow This Offseason

The Tampa Bay Rays are back to their old ways once again. I find Glasnow to be one of the more interesting pitchers in Major League Baseball. I personally find him insanely overrated. The guy can rarely stay healthy, and while his stuff is nasty, the results are not as good as people believe. He pitched some good baseball for the Rays last year in 21 starts. He’s been a pretty terrible postseason pitcher, and he’s passed the age of 30 with a long history of injury issues. But he will be a free agent after next season, and if, by some miracle, you can get a full season of baseball out of this guy, he could stabilize a rotation. 

It really is such a shame that the Rays don’t spend any money and suck in the postseason because these are the moments in which they are the most dangerous. They always sell high with their star players, and it seems like they always acquire two relievers who throw 100 mph and put up sub-three ERAs. Even the trades that they don’t win rarely end up coming back to haunt them. It often seems like they have a leg up on whatever team they’re trading with (see the Austin Meadows for Isaac Paredes deal).

It’ll be interesting to see what teams will show the most interest in Glasnow. Because he only has one year left on his deal, you won’t have to trade many of your top prospects. I think it’s anyone’s guess who could acquire him at this point. Given how the Rays work, I feel like they are more likely to trade him to a National League team like they did with Blake Snell. Perhaps the San Diego Padres, who also acquired Snell after the 2020 season, would be in play here as a team that might want someone like Glasnow. I don’t know what their farm system looks like, but as I said, he only has one year left on this deal, and once the Rays acquire players, they seem to get the most out of them. 

Maybe it’s just bad luck, but it seems like the Rays haven’t been doing an excellent job of taking care of their starting pitchers. Glasnow still has top-tier stuff. This will be one of the more intriguing trades of the offseason because of that. I could see him going somewhere, staying healthy for an entire season, and being in the Cy Young race, or I could see him being a guy who only makes 15 starts and is a non-factor come October. He’s a difficult pitcher to get a gauge on, and for that reason, I feel like I would be very hesitant to pull the trigger on a trade.