Just as it's easier to fire a manager than 26 players, it's easier to tweak a pitching staff than revamp the entire team defense. To some extent it's been a combination of both which has ailed the Rays this year but for now the move is to shake up the staff and we made three trades to that end.
First:
Until and unless we improved the defense, putting contact-pitcher Bob Riley out there every fifth game was trouble waiting to happen so he was going to be the odd man out of the rotation. It's a shame because Riley had 3 good seasons for us, going 47-22 and was good for 11.4 pitcher WAR. He was even good enough for 1.5 WAR this year as he kept the ball in the park and didn't walk anyone. But 137 hits in 94 innings was just too painful to watch. So in return we get a pretty good pitcher in Ravin, who's capable of starting but will bolster the pen for us in the short term, rated 60/55/65 as a reliever.
The next deal was the biggest:
With our lousy defense a bat-missing starter is essential and Bransington fits that bill, sporting 70 stuff to go with 60 movement and 55 control and is on pace for over 4 pitcher WAR this season. He cost us a decent pitching prospect in Moss, our supplemental first-round in 2048 who's recovering from a torn UCL. Moss has 55/55/55 potential so if he reaches it he's a 3rd/4th starter but obviously we can't wait on him.
To make room for Bransington on the staff, we made one last deal:
Morales had been good in his second stint with the club the last couple of seasons, going 11-0 out of the pen with ERAs of 2.30 and 2.50 but this year has been dreadful with a 7.36 ERA and 6 homers allowed in 29 IP, earning negative WAR. His stuff is still good and that combined with his track record brought us a couple of decent prospects in King, a lefty reliever who could eventually replace Morales (55/65/55 ratings), and Alba, an excellent defensive OF with good speed and 55/50 potential contact/power. We did have to throw in Dickens, but he's another sore-armed pitching prospect who's very borderline.
With all of these moves Melvin Delgado is going to the bullpen and Alec McInerney will continue to start as we return to a 5-man rotation. If McInerney doesn't pick it up those two could see their roles swapped.