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MLB Trade Rumors: Rays shopping closer Jake McGee

By Kyle Franzoni

Jun 3, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Jake McGee (57) pitches against the Los Angeles Angels during the seventh inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 3, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Jake McGee (57) pitches against the Los Angeles Angels during the seventh inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Tampa Bay Rays see the closer market is thriving and it looks like they intend to get a piece by shopping Jake McGee.

Trade talk revolving around closers has become a heavy theme of the MLB offseason and dominated recent conversations at the MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville. But while there seems to be no shortage of available closers on the trade market, that hasn’t stopped teams from dangling their late-inning arms to see what kind of return package is available.

The Tampa Bay Rays became the latest players in the trade market to start shopping a closer, making Jake McGee available to would-be buyers, per Jon Morosi of Fox Sports.

The trade of Craig Kimbrel to the Boston Red Sox set a precent for trade packages for top closers and it has made a lot of teams interested in getting a piece of the pie. With the collapse of the Aroldis Chapman trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers, many teams are clambering to get arms into the mix to fill the void and perhaps find a similar return from would be suitors.

In Jake McGee, the Rays are dangling a closer that is significantly less accomplished than Chapman or Kimbrel. In parts of six seasons with the Rays, McGee has tallied just 26 saves. However, his fastball touches 100 MPH at times, and he features a career 11-1 K/9 ratio over 259.2 innings of work.

While McGee doesn’t have the stats to stand up to Kimbrel and Chapman, he has another marketable quality that will nonetheless drum up interest; controllability. The trade of Ken Giles from Philadelphia to Houston that netted the Phillies young starters Vincent Velasquez and Brett Oberholtzer, along with minor league outfielder Derek Fisher and right-hander Thomas Eschelman has set another high-bar even for the most inexperienced of relievers.

That said, McGee is a full four years older than Giles, but he could be seen as an excellent fallback option for the Dodgers after they walked away from the Chapman deal. Additionally, teams like the Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, and others still looking for a closer could put together a solid package as well.

While McGee is not guaranteed to move at this time, it at least behooves the Rays to see what is out there. If they do trade him, Tampa could then turn to Brad Boxberger as their closer next season.

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