Rays prospects and minor leagues 8/2: Rays acquire five prospects at Trade Deadline

The Rays acquired five minor-leaugers at the trade deadline yesterday between the Brandon Guyer, Steve Pearce, and Matt Moore trades. In the coming days, we should see each of them join the Rays minor league teams, with most likely to join Class-A Bowling Green in the Midwest League.

Brandon Guyer Trade

• RHP Jhonleider Salinas-20 years old in the Arizona League, monster 12.62 K/9 in 25.2 innings this year. Bounced between bullpen and rotation so far in his career. Likely headed for Appalachian League Princeton or GCL Rays.
• OF Nathan Lukes-Seventh round pick in 2015 for Cleveland. Posted .301/.375/.453 hitting split in 89 games for Class-A Lake County Captains. Promoted to Class-A Advanced less than a week ago. Solid defense and line-drive swing, fourth outfielder projection

Steve Pearce Trade

• C Jonah Heim-Switch-hitting catcher has struggled at the plate this year, batting just .220 in Carolina League action but has an impressive 10.2% walk rate. Scouts think he should be a solid reciever behind the plate with a plus arm to boot.

Matt Moore Trade

• SS Lucius Fox-Ranked No. 3 in the Giants system by Fangraphs, Fox has solid tools across the board besides power with plus to plus-plus speed. The $6 million Bahamas signee has struggled in his professional debut in Class-A ball, but he just turned 19 July 2. Fox should be a solid major-league shortstop with the tools to be even better.
• RHP Michael Santos-Santos was just put on a rehab assignment Sunday, after being on the disabled list since June 15. He looked solid in Class-A beforehand, fielding a 2.22 FIP through 58.2 innings. Santos has plenty of projection and coachability, with a mid-90s fastball and the potential for three average secondary pitches.
• The Rays also received infielder Matt Duffy, who was worth 4.9 fWAR for the Giants last year. He's struggled at the plate with a 88 wRC+ this year and is on the disabled list with an Achilles strain.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (51-59)

Durham was doomed by one inning a shutout 3-0 loss to the Norfolk Tides. Justin Marks took his team-highest tenth loss of the year after allowing a three-run third inning. Outside of that inning, Marks allowed just one hit and punched out five batters overall in seven innings of work. Taylor Motter, Casey Gillaspie, and Jaff Decker all doubled in separate innings, but the team went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position as they couldn't manage a single run.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (21-16)

While Montgomery temporarily held a two-run, it soon evaporated in a 4-3 loss to the Jackson Generals. Kean Wong drove on in a run on a single to open the scoring in the third, and Patrick Leonard smacked a RBI double in the next inning to put the Biscuits up 2-0. However, Chih-Wei Hu surrendered three runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth to flip Montgomery's two-run lead to a two-run deficit. Jake Bauers tripled and scored on another Leonard double to bring the Biscuits within one again, but they couldn't manage to tie the game.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (19-17)

Charlotte put up little resistance in a 4-1 loss to the Brevard County Manatees. Greg Harris took his sixth loss with the Stone Crabs after allowing three runs - two earned - on five hits and two walks in five innings. Jon Perrin of the Manatees threw a complete game, allowing just one run to Charlotte on a solo home run from Alec Sole. The Stone Crabs could only piece together three hits overall against Perrin.

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (23-13)

Bowling Green turned on the offense in an 11-6 win over the Dayton Dragons. Manny Sanchez broke open the game early with a three-run home run in the second as the Hot Rods put four on the board early. Sanchez led the team with three RBIs, while Brett Sullivan and Peter Maris each drove in two. The offense helped Eduar Lopez pick up his third win with Bowling Green after his promotion from Hudson Valley, even though he allowed four runs. Tim Ingram earned his fourth save by getting the last out of the game after Elias Torres allowed a run and left the bases loaded in the ninth.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (25-17)

Hudson Valley collected 13 hits in an impressive 5-1 win over the Batavia Muckdogs. Travis Ott continued his dominance of the New-York Penn League this year, going six shutout innings while allowing just two hits. Ott now has four wins on the year and his ERA now sits at just 0.25. Jake Fraley led the offense with four hits and Angel Perez collected a double and a triple. Perez, Nathaniel Lowe, Jim Haley, and Bill Pujols all drove in a run, and Jonathan Popadics scored on a wild pitch to round out Hudson Valley's scoring.

Rookie Princeton Rays (20-17)

The long ball buried Princeton in their 6-1 loss to the Elizabethon Twins. Ethan Clark kept the Twins off the board through his first five innings, but he allowed two home runs in the top of the sixth to take his second loss of the season. Austin Sweet and Alex Estrella each gave up another home run, with Sweet allowing three runs in total. Jean Ramirez put the Rays on the board late with a solo shot, but by then it was far too late.

Rookie GCL Rays (13-20)

The game got away from the GCL Rays late in their 6-2 loss to the GCL Twins. Joshua Lowe gave the Rays a brief lead with a solo home run in the top of the fourth, but Easton McGee let the Twins tie the game back up in the bottom of the inning. McGee wound up with a no decision as the loss fell on Matt Vogel, who gave the Twins five runs in the seventh while recording just one out. Jonathon Arrowood gave the Rays a glimmer of hope with a RBI single in the ninth, putting runners on the corners with two outs. However, Deion Tansel lined out  to put any chance of a Rays comeback to rest.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

Notable Performances

Triple-A

UT Taylor Motter: 1-for-4, 2B (11), K
1B Casey Gillaspie: 1-for-3, 2B (4), BB
OF Jaff Decker: 1-for-4, 2B (13), SB (17)
OF Johnny Field: 1-for-3, K, SB (1)

LHP Justin Marks: L (4-10), 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
RHP Parker Markel: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Double-A

2B Kean Wong: 1-for-4, RBI (40), K
1B/OF Jake Bauers: 2-for-2, 2 R, 3B (1), 2 BB
1B/3B Patrick Leonard: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI (30)
OF Granden Goetzman: 1-for-4, 2B (11), 2 K

RHP Jeff Ames: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Kyle Winkler: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Jaye Chapman: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Class-A Advanced

IF Alec Sole: 1-for-3, R, HR (5), RBI (36)

LHP Jose Alvardo: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
RHP Diego Castilla: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Class-A

C Brett Sullivan: 1-for-5, 2 RBI (63), 2 K
C David Rodriguez: 1-for-4, 2 R, 2B (13), BB, 2 K
1B Kewby Meyer: 2-for-5, 2 R
OF Manny Sanchez: 1-for-3, 3 R, HR (11), 3 RBI (26), BB
SS Peter Maris: 3-for-4, R, 2B (6), 3B (3), 2 RBI (27), BB
OF David Olmedo-Barrera: 1-for-2, R, BB

Short-Season

OF Jake Fraley: 4-for-5, 2 R
OF Garret Whitley: 1-for-5, 2B (4), K
1B Nathaniel Lowe: 1-for-4, RBI (24), BB, K
3B Jim Haley: 1-for-4, RBI (11)
2B Miles Mastrobuoni: 2-for-5, 2B (3)
IF Jonathan Popadics: 2-for-4, 2 R
OF Angel Perez: 2-for-4, R, 2B (8), 3B (5), RBI (12)

LHP Travis Ott: W (4-0), 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
LHP Porter Clayton: H (1), 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Rookie (Princeton)

OF Oscar Rojas: 2-for-4, 2B (6)
1B Bobby Melley: 1-for-3, BB
C Jean Ramirez: 2-for-4, R, HR (1), RBI (4), K

Rookie (GCL)

3B Joshua Lowe: 2-for-3, 2 R, HR (2), RBI (15), BB, K
OF Jose Tonton: 1-for-2, BB, K
1B Jonathon Arrowood: 1-for-4, RBI (12)

RHP Easton McGee: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
RHP Luis Nunez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
LHP Kevin Williams: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Today's probables (All probables courtesy milb.com)

Durham @ Norfolk 7:05 PM ET (milb.tv, radio stream)
Jaime Schultz (5-4, 3.33) v. Joe Gunkel (6-9, 4.03)

Montgomery v. Jackson 8:05 PM ET (milb.tv, radio stream)
Brent Honeywell (1-0, 1.21) v. Andrew Moore (6-1, 3.17)

Charlotte is off

Bowling Green @ Dayton 7:00 PM ET (milb.tv, radio stream)
Michael Velasquez (5-7, 5.18) v. Austin Orewiler (2-9, 3.53)

Hudson Valley @ Batavia 7:05 PM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. Sam Perez (0-1, 5.60)

Princeton @ Elizabethon 7:00 PM ET (radio stream)
TBA v. Tyler Wells (1-1, 4.19)

GCL Rays v. GCL Twins 12:00 PM ET

Scouting the opposition

Norfolk Tides (Baltimore)
44-65, 4th (Last) in IL South
Offense: 377 R (14th-Last) .678 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 3.66 ERA (9th) 1.33 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: 1B Trey Mancini (8), RHP Mike Wright (10), OF Dariel Alvarez (13), 1B/OF Christian Walker (14), RHP Oliver Drake (21), LHP Ariel Miranda (23), OF Mike Yastrzemski (25)

Jackson Generals (Seattle)
20-15, 2nd in SL North
Offense: 481 R (3rd) .734 OPS (1st)
Pitching: 3.45 ERA (3rd) 1.29 WHIP (4th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Edwin Diaz (2), OF Tyler O’Neill (4), OF Guillermo Heredia (7), RHP Andrew Moore (8), 1B D.J. Peterson (10), LHP Ryan Yarbrough (14), RHP Paul Blackburn (19), RHP Dan Altavilla (24), OF Ian Miller (31)

9-34, 6th (Last) in NYPL Pinckney
Offense: 150 R (12th) .565 OPS (14th-Last)
Pitching: 5.13 ERA (14th) 1.53 WHIP (14th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Isaiah White (8), RHP Jordan Holloway (10), OF Garvis Lara (16), OF Jhonny Santos (28), RHP Sam Perez (5th Round Pick), RHP Remey Reed (6th Round Pick)

Elizabethton Twins
19-19, 3rd in AL West
Offense: 187 R (T-3rd) .748 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 4.79 ERA (10th-Last) 1.52 WHIP (10th)
Top 30 Prospects: 1B Lewin Diaz (21), 3B Travis Blankenhorn (26), 1B Amaurys Minier (30), OF Alex Kiriloff, RHP Griffin Jax

GCL Twins
17-16, 3rd in GCL South
Offense: 114 R (14th) .597 OPS (16th)
Pitching: 2.67 ERA (3rd) 1.14 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Huascar Ynoa (25), SS Jose Miranda, OF Akil Baddoo