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Rays Send Message to Yankees With Freddy Peralta Trade
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Few picked the Toronto Blue Jays to make the World Series, let alone win the American League East, going into the 2025 MLB season. Not only did the Blue Jays win the pennant, they came within an inning of defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers for the championship.
The Tampa Bay Rays are eyeing an opportunity to go on a similar run.
With the New York Yankees reeling from injuries to Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton, the Tampa Bay Rays have an opening. They entered their series finale against the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 2 with a 3.5-game lead in the AL East.
The Yankees held a three-game lead over the Rays on the morning of June 29. Since then, Tampa Bay is 23-15, New York is 16-21, and both teams have been forced to watch the Boston Red Sox (29-8) creep up in the rear-view mirror.
The Rays missed out on Tarik Skubal, who was officially traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier in the day. But they quickly pivoted to Freddy Peralta, whom the New York Mets will reportedly send to Tampa Bay for three prospects.
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Peralta, a two-time All-Star, joins a deep Rays rotation led by Drew Rasmussen, Shane McClanahan and Nick Martinez. By moving him out of the New York pressure cooker, Peralta can ideally regain the form that allowed him to go 54-34 with a 3.30 ERA for the Brewers from 2021-25.
The Rays might not have needed Peralta to maintain their grip on the division lead. But the trade sends a message to the Yankees that they don't intend to let up, an aggressive maneuver for a small-market team that hasn't been to the World Series since 2020.
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The Rays historically have leaned heavily on their own farm system, rather than free agents, to keep the team in contention while maintaining one of baseball's smallest payrolls. Trading three prospects for a player who will be a free agent at the end of the season is a big deal in Tampa Bay.
The Dodgers’ acquisition of Skubal took the best rental starter off the trade market and made them the favorites to repeat as National League champions.
The American League looks much more wide open on paper. With one day to go before the trade deadline, the Rays intend to change that.
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