Rays face tricky Taylor Walls problem with shortstop trade interest

Rays face tricky Taylor Walls problem with shortstop trade interest originally appeared on The Sporting News .

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The Tampa Bay Rays are sitting over the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in first place in the AL East this season, and very well could be major buyers by the trade deadline.

They've been linked to Tarik Skubal this summer, but the Rays might also seek out help at a different spot: shortstop. They've already been linked to a few, most recently Zach Neto of the Los Angeles Angels .

But, as Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic highlighted, the Rays have one problem amid their shortstop interest: Taylor Walls and his elite defense.

Rays have a Taylor Walls problem in trade pursuit of shortstop help

"Shortstop is one of the positions the Tampa Bay Rays could upgrade, with the Los Angeles Angels' Zach Neto among their potential targets, according to Fansided's Robert Murray," Sammon and Rosenthal write. "The Rays, though, place a premium on up-the-middle defense. And Taylor Walls, since his debut in 2021, leads all shortstops by a wide margin in defensive runs saved."

This defensive issue for the Rays is a real problem, as the Rays might not be able to land the kind of shortstop upgrade they want if they have to sacrifice their defensive production from that position.

The prerequisite for the Rays to land a new shortstop at the MLB trade deadline, beyond simply being a good hitter, will be high-quality defense.

Neto, for example, is not a good fielder, with -9 Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant. That's a real issue for the Rays, as it'd be a significant downgrade defensively.

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Walls has -2 OAA this season, but he's still an overall better fielder than Neto. He's also better than CJ Abrams (-12 OAA) and Jeremy Pena (-3 OAA) among potential trade targets.

There is one player who is potentially available for trade, is controllable, and is a fantastic hitter with good defense, who would make a ton of sense for Tampa Bay. That player is with another Florida team, in Miami Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez.

He has a positive five OAA this season, and with an MLB-best .328 batting average, he'd be a significant upgrade offensively over Walls as well. Plus, he's under control through 2029 and won't cost much money overall.

This defensive issue for the Rays is a real problem, as Tampa Bay might not be able to turn to many trade options if they don't want to sacrifice their defensive upgrade with Walls.

More MLB news:

Yankees are ‘ leading candidate ’ to trade for Twins ’ Ryan Jeffers

Giants willing to trade Heliot Ramos in big news for many MLB clubs

Padres likely not to trade Mason Miller amid latest update

Tigers expected to trade Tarik Skubal but still try to contend without him

Mets ‘ desperate ’ to trade Luis Robert Jr. after trade failure

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