Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow is in line to to be traded to the Dodgers, pending a contract extension with Los Angeles.
Julio Cortez | AP file photo
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays and Dodgers are in agreement on the trade to swap Tyler Glasnow, Manuel Margot and cash for pitcher Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny DeLuca with one catch — with Glasnow working out an extension with Los Angeles.
Per ESPN, the extension is expected to be agreed upon, which would allow the deal to be completed and finalized Friday. The Dodgers made the deal contingent on an extension with Glasnow as they otherwise would have had him for only one year; he would be a free agent after the 2024 season, for which he will make $25 million.
In trading Glasnow and Margot, the Rays will save about $33 million overall. They are sending the Dodgers$4 million to offset some of the $12 million due Margot, who has a $10 million salary for 2024, plus a $2 million buyout on a $12 million option for 2025.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was doing a live interview at Dodger Stadium with MLB Network on Thursday night following Shohei Ohtani’s introductory media conference when news of the agreement with the Rays, and the Glasnow extension contingency, broke.
“There’s nothing done yet,” Friedman said. “Unfortunately I can’t expound beyond that. There’s nothing done yet. But if you guys want to come back at some other point we can get into it more.”
Rays officials had no comment.
In acquiring Pepiot and DeLuca, the Rays add younger and less expensive players that they hope can grow into key performers and have control over them for considerably longer terms.
Pepiot, 26, debuted in 2022 and was slated for a spot in the Dodgers’ 2023 rotation, but was sidelined by an oblique strain late in spring training and didn’t get back to the majors until mid-August, going 2-1, 2.14 in eight games.
The 6-foot-3 right-hander has a 94- to 98-mph fastball, an improved slider and a changeup considered elite by some evaluators. He was ranked the Dodgers’ No. 5 prospect in 2022 and 2023 by Baseball America.
DeLuca, 25, moved from Double A to Triple A to the majors in 2023, totaling 19 homers and 59 homers in 97 games over the three stops. He is a right-handed hitter with enough speed and athleticism to play all three outfield positions, has a plus arm and was ranked the Dodgers’ No. 17 prospect by Baseball America in 2023.
Pepiot won’t be eligible for free agency until 2029, and DeLuca not until 2030.
Glasnow was 10-7, 3.53 in 21 starts for the Rays last season, striking out 162 in 120 innings. He missed the first two months due to an oblique strain sustained in spring training, after having returned in late September 2022 from August 2021 Tommy John surgery.
Injuries and inconsistency have been an issue for Glasnow throughout his career; he has a 30-27, 3.89 mark over parts of eight seasons with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh. Last season’s 120 innings and 21 starts were his most in the majors.
Glasnow got $5.35 million for 2023, roughly what he would have made in his final year of arbitration eligibility, then $25 million for 2024 in what would have been his first year of free agency. The $25 million would have been the most the Rays paid a player in any single season; Charlie Morton got $15 million in 2019 and 2020.
Margot, 29, has been with the Rays for four seasons, having been acquired in trade from San Diego in February 2020. He also has dealt with several injuries, including right elbow surgery last season and a right knee sprain in 2022.
He hit .264 last season with four homers, 38 RBIs and a .686 OPS over 99 games, evolving between injuries and performance into more of a fourth/fifth outfielder. The Rays signed him to an extension in April 2022.