23-year old righty Jake Odorizzi or 24-year old righty Chris Archer will likely be summoned from AAA-ball next Monday to replace David Price in the starting rotation.  Odorizzi was one of the prizes the Rays got from the Royals in the James Shields’ deal over the winter.  He has pitched in 8 games (all starts) for the Rays in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 4-0 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.  He got his first taste of the majors for the Royals in 2012, when he started 2 games in which he was 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP.  Odorizzi came into this season as the Rays’ #5 prospect according to Baseball America.  Archer has started 7 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 4-2 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP.  He got his first taste of the majors in 2012 for the Rays, working in 6 games (4 starts) in which he was 1-3 with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.  Archer came into this season as the Rays’ #4 prospect according to Baseball America.  Both of these guys have big time arms and either of them should be able to help the Rays replace David Price until he’s ready to return to action.

The Rays have signed 29-year old righty reliever Cory Wade to a minor league deal.  Wade pitched in 10 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Cubs and he was 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA and a 2.19 WHIP.  Wade has pitched in 161 games (0 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 11-6 with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP.  Wade could get a shot with the Rays later this year if he looks good in AAA-ball.

The Tampa Bay Rays have designated 33-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Shelley Duncan for assignment.  Duncan played in 20 games for the Rays this year and he was 10 for 55 (.182 avg, .606 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs.  Duncan has now played in 330 games in his first seven years in the majors and he is 200 for 885 (.226 avg, .724 OPS) with 117 runs scored, 43 homers, 144 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  The Rays have activated 34-year old lefty swinging DH/OF/1B Luke Scott off the D.L. to replace Duncan on the active roster.  Scott played in 5 games in A-ball on a rehab assignment and he was 4 for 18 (.222 avg, .541 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs.  Scott played in 96 games for the Rays last year and he was 72 for 314 (.229 avg, .724 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 14 homers, 55 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  The Rays hope that Scott can stay healthy and give them some juice from the left side of the plate.

UPDATE:  (5/4/2013) - Shelley Duncan has accepted an outright assignment to AAA.  He will likely get another chance for the Rays at some point in 2013.

The Rays have acquired 26-year old lefty reliever Jeff Beliveau from the Texas Rangers for cash considerations.  Beliveau pitched in 1 game out of the pen in AAA-ball for the Rangers this year and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.50 WHIP.  He pitched in 22 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last year in his first taste of the majors and he was 1-0 with a 4.58 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP.  He also pitched in 37 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year in which he was 4-5 with a 3.89 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP.  Beliveau will start out in AAA-ball for the Rays.

The Rays have acquired 26-year old righty swinging catcher Juan Apodaca from the Texas Rangers for cash considerations.  Apodaca played in 83 games in AA+AAA-ball for the Cubs last year and he was 62 for 213 (.291 avg, .806 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 2 homers, 29 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  He has now played in 505 games in his first 8 years in the minors and he is 410 of 1,634 (.251 avg, .705 OPS) with 189 runs scored, 39 homers, 204 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.  He will likely back up Chris Gimenez at catcher in AAA-ball for the Rays in 2013.

The Rays have designated 28-year old righty swinging catcher Robinson Chirinos for assignment.  Chirinos played in 9 games in spring training for the Rays and he was 2 for 9 (.222 avg, .750 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs.  He missed all of the 2012 season due to a nasty concussion.  Chirinos played in 20 games in 2011 for the Rays in his only taste of the majors and he was 12 for 55 (.218 avg, .592 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs.  This isn’t much of a loss moving forward for the Rays.

UPDATE:  (4/8/2013) - The Rays have dealt Robinson Chirinos to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later.

UPDATE II:  (4/23/2013) - The Rays have gotten cash considerations from the Rangers to complete this deal.

The Rays have designated 28-year old lefty swinging C/OF Stephen Vogt for assignment.  Vogt played in 16 games for the Rays in spring training and he was 8 for 27 (.296 avg, .815 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 4 RBIs.  He got his first taste of the majors last year for the Rays and he was overmatched.  He played in 18 games for the Rays last year and he was 0 for 25 (.000 avg, .074 OPS).  He also played in 94 games in AAA-ball for the Rays last year and he was 95 of 349 (.272 avg, .774 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 9 homers, 43 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Rays moving forward.

UPDATE:  (4/6/2013) - The Rays have dealt Stephen Vogt to the A’s for either a player to be named later or cash.

UPDATE:  (4/23/2013) - The Rays have gotten cash considerations for Vogt to complete this deal.

The Rays have acquired 25-year old righty reliever Steve Geltz from the Angels for 30-year old righty reliever Dane De La Rosa.  Geltz came into this season as the Angels’ #26 prospect according to Baseball America.  He pitched in 2 games (0 starts) in his first taste of the majors for the Angels last year and he was 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA and a 2.50 WHIP.  He also pitched in 46 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Angels last year and he was 3-1 with 11 saves, a 3.05 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP.  Geltz has now pitched in 171 games (0 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 19-6 with 13 saves, a 3.69 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  De La Rosa pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the Rays last year and he was 0-0 with a 12.60 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP.  He pitched in 12 games (0 starts) in his two years with the Rays and he was 0-0 with a 10.95 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP.  I like this deal quite a bit for the Rays as I think Geltz has a higher upside than De La Rosa does.

The Rays have released 24-year old righty starting pitcher Nick Barnese.  Barnese pitched in 14 games (13 starts) in Rookie+AA-ball last year and he was 4-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.  He pitched in 96 games (93 starts) in his six years in the minors for the Rays and he was 31-23 with a 3.37 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.  This isn’t much of a loss moving forward for the Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired 24-year old righty swinging catcher from the Tigers for the right to keep 23-year old lefty starter Kyle Lobstein, who was a Rule 5 Pick over the winter.  Casali came into this season as the Tigers’ #23 rated prospect according to Baseball America.  He played in 94 games in A-ball last year for the Tigers and he was 89 for 330 (.270 avg, .792 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 9 homers, 43 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  Casali has now played in 129 games in his first two years in the minors and he is 116 of 441 (.263 avg, .787 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 12 homers, 59 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  Lobstein pitched in 27 games (all starts) in AA-ball for the Rays last year and he was 8-7 with a 4.06 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP.  This was a good move for the Rays as they are pretty weak at catcher in the organization right now.