Report: Rays entertaining offers for Chris Archer
By Ted Fleming
The Los Angeles Dodgers appear to have inside track on talented righty and could turn trade into a blockbuster with another coveted Rays star going to the west coast, Evan Longoria.
When the season began, Chris Archer was the Tampa Bay Rays de facto No. 1 starter coming off a 12-13 record and 3.23 ERA in 2015. But a funny thing happened on the way to showing he deserved that title by having a miserable first half, and now he is being rumored to be on the trading block despite the front office saying it ain’t so.
According to Jayson Stark of ESPN, there odds are fairly high Archer will be sent packing and there is one team that appears to have an inside track – the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 70-percent probability he places on a deal getting done has some merit, not just because the right-hander would be a good fit in their rotation, Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman knows Archer very well. He acquired him in a huge eight-player deal with the Cubs in 2011 when he ran the Rays. It also doesn’t hurt that current Tampa Bay boss Matt Silverman studied under Friedman before inheriting his job.
Archer is exactly what Los Angeles wants, a young hurler who still has three years remaining on his six-year contract at a very reasonable cost. Tampa Bay may lose a pitcher who could blossom in a great environment, but they get to add a lot of pieces to a farm system that could use the help. After so many year of being a contending team, they weren’t getting the crème de la crème draft picks they were used to after so many years of cellar dwelling.
To be clear, if Archer is pried away from the Rays, Friedman will have to dig deep into his farm system to pay for him. The talk will probably begin with 19-year old southpaw Julio Urias (No. 2 prospect in the MLB Pipeline) and/or 23 year old righty Jose De Leon (No. 20), just for starters. Those rankings are not just for the Dodgers system, but MLB’s ranking for all prospects.
The Rays are on their way to their 11th season of 90 losses or more and there will be trades made. Should the Dodgers want to go all-in before the deadline with the Rays, do not be surprised if Friedman makes it a blockbuster going after third-baseman Evan Longoria as well. The question is, will Silverman and the Rays take the bait?
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