How did the Blue Jays’ AL East rivals fare at the trade deadline?

Tampa Bay Rays

For the Tampa Bay Rays, they haven’t been known in the past to make huge splashes at the trade deadline, but this year, it appears they have made a semi-big one out of desperation with their depleted starting pitching staff. The Rays acquired the services of Aaron Civale from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for one of their top prospects in all of baseball in Kyle Manzardo, currently ranked 37th on the MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list.

The Rays’ starting rotation has been plagued by injuries throughout the season, with both Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen even being gone for the year due to season-ending injuries, so it made the acquisition of Civale a no-brainer. For 2023, Civale is 5-2 with a 2.34 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, giving up only 20 earned runs with 22 walks and 58 strikeouts in 77 innings pitched in 13 games started. However, they had to sacrifice one of their top hitting prospects in Manzardo, who could potentially be a hitting star when he reaches the majors in the near future.

The Rays also made a couple of minor, negligible trade transactions by dealing away RHP Luis Patino to the White Sox for cash considerations, as well as RHP Josh Roberson to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for RHP Adrian Sampson, RHP Manny Rodriguez and international pool money.

Potential impact on the Jays: Moderate– With starting pitching depth also a bit of a concern for the Jays, they didn’t manage to get anything done to address the issue, while their rivals Rays grabbed a good one to bolster their starting rotation for the playoff run, making the task to catch the powerful Rays that much harder now. The Jays better hope that one of Manoah or Ryu can provide the same impact that Civale will with the Rays down the stretch.