The Los Angeles Angels completed an outfielder-for-relief pitcher trade swap on Tuesday, acquired OF Matt Joyce from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for right-handed reliever Kevin Jepsen, per several sources.
Per Aaron Gleeman of NBC's Hardball Talk, "Tampa Bay was said to be shopping Joyce a month ago because he’s due for a raise to around $5 million via arbitration and will be a free agent next winter."
While the 30-year-old Joyce has seen an overall decline in his production recently, he is still a very solid outfield bat who has a .783 career OPS and his death on right-handed pitching.
Jepsen, on the other hand, is projected to make around $2.5 million via arbitration following a 2014 season where he threw 65 innings with a 2.63 ERA and 75/23 K/BB ratio.
His control has been troublesome at points throughout his career, but he projects to be a late-inning option in Tampa Bay due to the impressive stuff that he still brings to the table.
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