Minnesota Twins fans are about to see an entirely new group when their team kicks off a three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians on Friday. The list of players the front office offloaded leading up to the 2025 trade deadline is expensive. Last but not least of the bunch that's been rerouted is reliever Griffin Jax, who's reportedly headed to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Per Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Rays acquired Jax from the Twins in exchange for right-hander Taj Bradley. It's an eye-opening move for both sides, albeit for vastly different reasons. For Minnesota, this marks the beginning of a lengthy rebuild. However, the transaction is more puzzling and difficult to dissect from Tampa Bay's perspective, so let's discuss.
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MLB trade grades: Rays land Griffin Jax in surprising pitching exchange with rebuilding Twins
There was no urgency for the Twins to deal Jax; he's signed through 2027. They needed a respectable offer to consider sending him elsewhere, and the Rays ostensibly met their demands. Once a top pitching prospect, Bradley's an ideal reclamation project for Minnesota with upside worth chasing.
Tampa Bay recently optioned Bradley to Triple-A Durham after shopping him. In other words, the writing was on the wall, but now he gets a fresh start in Minnesota. The hard-throwing hurler has struggled with consistency and hasn't lived up to his lofty potential. Nonetheless, the Twins are betting that a change of scenery will do the trick.
Bradley, 24, was the top-ranked minor leaguer in the Rays' farm system and No. 20 in the MLB Pipeline's Top 100 in 2023. Not too long ago, he was widely touted as one of the league's up-and-coming hurlers. Sure, you can argue that the Twins won't unlock him if the pitching factory that is Tampa Bay couldn't. Nonetheless, Minnesota is rolling the dice on a talented young arm under club control through 2029, giving them ample time to aid his development.
The Rays landed one of baseball's premier relievers for Bradley, who was seemingly falling out of favor within the organization. Jax is a reliable late-inning option, though he'd probably have been better-suited to join a contender. Tampa Bay is trending in the opposite direction and drifting further away from the American League Wild Card race.
Perhaps the Rays are viewing Jax as a long-term replacement for closer Pete Fairbanks. The latter has a $7 million club option for 2026, so maybe they'll look to ship him off this offseason or at next year's deadline. Yet, if that's the case, Tampa Bay probably would've recouped more value by redirecting Fairbanks now rather than when he's an expiring salary.