The Rays acquired two players from the Cardinals in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore and 19-year-old GCL catcher Edgardo Rodriguez. The Rays will be receiving 31-year-old 1B/OF Jose Martinez and 24-year-old center field prospect Randy Arozarena from the Cardinals.
In addition to Martinez and Arozarena, the Rays and Cardinals are swapping Competitive Balance draft picks, with the Rays moving up from Round B (after the second round) to Round A (after the first round), a jump of nearly 30 picks.
Both pre-arbitration players will join the Rays with their own unique sets of skills, and we’ll start by looking at José Martínez.