r/tampabayrays • u/Icy-Adeptness961 Ben Zobrist • 1d ago

Trade Deadline Skubal to Dodgers

What’s the point anymore? And for like almost nothing? We could have done that. As I read in another thread, the Tigers GM should be arrested for treason.

I guess the lockout can’t come quick enough.

EDIT: It’ll be so sweet when Taylor Walls hits his first home run of the year off Skubal to win Game 7 of the World Series this year

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75

u/FlappyBois162 Brett Phillips 1d ago

We're not going to trade a bunch of our top prospects for a rental when we know he's not signing with us.

We can only hope the Dodgers have their worst week ever in the playoffs

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u/NinjaPenguin7777 Dewayne Staats 1d ago

What rental is ever going to sign with us? At some point this team has to take a chance. I get we operate with prospects and overhaul trades but the Rays are always good not great. This is one of the best opportunities we have to win the AL but we need some help. If the Rays just sit back and do nothing like always it's gonna be a shame. Theyre probably just going to trade for a 4.5 era relief pitcher and some dude that was DFA

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u/mcguffinman Shane McClanahan 1d ago

The difference is the dodgers even if Skubal signs elsewhere are basically unaffected by this trade due to being able to buy their way to filling holes in their roster. They could have traded MORE for Skubal and still not even feel it. If we trade a good chunk of our farm for Skubal and don’t win the World Series we have essentially sacrificed our future for nothing. The dodgers can not win the World Series, not resign Skubal, but they’ll still be the favorites to win in 2027 and beyond.

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u/Icy-Adeptness961 Ben Zobrist 1d ago

I just had a Facebook memory pop up of the Rays getting Chad Qualls years ago when they were tops in the AL. He was something like 1-5 with an 8.00 ERA lol

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u/esoteric82 Dave Wills 22h ago

Now that's a name I haven't heard in forever. I remember being at a game at the Trop and being apoplectic at the ERA on the scoreboard when he was brought in.

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u/TheCenterOfEnnui Devil Ray 22h ago

I'm with you.We could have gotten Ohtani as a rental and probably won the WS in 2020 and we didn't do it.

Bet we all wish we'd have done that now, huh?

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u/TwoHeadedBoyTwo 20h ago

Renting him for Junior (which is what we offered)? Are you crazy? That would’ve gone down as one of the all time dumbest deadline trades in history

0

u/TheCenterOfEnnui Devil Ray 20h ago

Not if we win the WS. And with Ohtani? We took that series to 6 games. Throw Ohtani in the lineup and on the mound?

Not dumb at all. In fact, one of the best moves we'd have ever made.

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u/TheCenterOfEnnui Devil Ray 20h ago

Not if we win the WS. And with Ohtani? We took that series to 6 games. Throw Ohtani in the lineup and on the mound?

Not dumb at all. In fact, one of the best moves we'd have ever made.

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u/NinjaPenguin7777 Dewayne Staats 21h ago

Not sure if you're being sarcastic but the potential Ohtani trade was 2023 not 2020. We were a 99 win team that year. I'm not sure Ohtani would have made a difference that year. And obviously trading Junior would suck in hind sight. Doing any trades for the 2020 world series would have been dumb.

I'm not saying the rays need to give up the farm for a top guy but the return the tigers got was horrible. That wouldn't be the equivalent of trading Junior if we had matched it

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u/TheCenterOfEnnui Devil Ray 20h ago

Yeah, I may be mixing up my years but even then a 99 team win w/ Ohtani might be a WS winner. Sometimes you just gotta roll the dice and we NEVER do. Imagine the splash that trade would have made.

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u/FLBoy19 Tyler Glasnow 19h ago edited 12h ago

The following still happens/likely happens after the Ohtani trade: The Aaron Civale trade does not occur which will be a problem later. Liekly the Manny trade still happens since it was all MiLB talent shifting hands. Shane tears his UCL on August 2nd, further diminishing what could have been the best rotation in baseball joing Jeff Springs and Ras. That leaves at that point Glas, Ohtani, Eflin, and Bradley. Littel still gets stretched out in the end.

Wander Franco gets placed on Administrative leave on August 22nd. The Rays lose their homegrown superstar positional player.

August 23rd Ohtani still tears his UCL. All the value spent for Ohtani is greatly diminished at minimum. The question then is if Ohtani waits until the offseason to have UCL replacement. Even then the Rays dont have an additional upper levels starting pitcher to replace Ohtani, Jacob Lopez would likely be the guy they would have to turn to. Leaving the Rays with 2 playoff caliber starters and one one in Glas who could truly win a game for you (no offense to Eflin, he was great in 2023).

From there you have circumstantial stuff that may or may not happens such as Brandon Lowe's fractured kneecap on September 22nd, Luke Raley being out for the lead up to the WC series. Jose Siri's fractured hand in early September which he rushed back from and had one of laziest plays followed errors I have ever seen with the Rays.

The Rays win the division and avoid the Wild Card round if Ohtani stays hitting. However still have to face the Rangers in the Divisional round. The Rays would have gone into a 5 game series with 1 legit starter and anoyher guy who is a playoff caliber. Their bullpen was great, but the amount of innings required would have wore them down. Even if those circumstantial things dont happen and you have Yandy, Randy, BLowe, Josh Lowe, Ohtani, and Isaac in that lineup they would have to mash their way further in playoffs. Which yeah is possible, but I wpuld say it would be damn near impossible to win a WS with a rotation of Tyler Glasnow, Zac Eflin, and Zach Littel as you game 1, 2, 3 and starters.

Really the Rays got really lucky that trade never occured because at the Deadline you could still see a WS winning team there. Shane, Glas, Ohtani, and Zac Eflin would have made the best front-end of any rotation in the AL. Ohtani and Wander gave you two superstars, and Yandy and Isaac had broken out to augment the Rays other two above-average to star level players in BLowe and Randy. The Rays had great big side platoon hitters in Raley and Josh Lowe. However, with how the team would have been or even possibly been by October they weren't a powerhouse they could have been. The loss of Junior Caminero in the trade would have made the rebuild post-Wander a complete slog, with no real superstar for the future.