Christopher Morel DFA’d amid flurry of Rays roster moves

TAMPA — The Rays added three talented prospects to their 40-man roster, made three trades to bolster their pitching depth at all levels and cut ties with Christopher Morel as they trimmed their surplus of outfielders amid a flurry of transactions involving 14 players on Tuesday night.

Hereâ€s a rundown of all their activity:

Added to the 40-man roster: C Dominic Keegan, INF Jadher Areinamo, RHP Alex Cook

Designated for assignment: OF Christopher Morel, OF Jake Fraley

Released: RHP Forrest Whitley

Trade: Acquired RHP Yoendrys Gómez and RHP Steven Wilson from the White Sox for INF/OF Tanner Murray and OF Everson Pereira

Trade: Acquired Minor League RHP Luis Guerrero from the Red Sox for INF Tristan Gray

Trade: Acquired Minor League RHP Jacob Kisting from the Twins for RHP Eric Orze

The biggest move was the Rays†decision to part with Morel, the headliner of their return for All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes in a 2024 Trade Deadline deal with the Cubs. Tampa Bay was intrigued by Morelâ€s powerful swing, athleticism and attitude, but he never rediscovered the home run stroke he showed with Chicago, and he wound up as a part-time outfielder by the end of this past season.

Morel slashed just .208/.277/.355 with 14 homers and a 33.3% strikeout rate while totaling minus-1.1 WAR per FanGraphs in 154 games with Tampa Bay.

With an already crowded outfield that needs improvement and with little interest in Morel on the trade market, the Rays removed him from their 40-man roster. The arbitration-eligible 26-year-old will likely be non-tendered on Friday, unless another club picks him up before then.

“Really just struggled to find consistency throughout his game. Through last year and then this year, just couldnâ€t access the power on a consistent enough basis to reach his potential,†president of baseball operations Erik Neander said. “Just got to a point where the playing time and the opportunity started to tighten up as last year went on and … [we] didnâ€t feel like the opportunity was going to be there looking ahead to next year.

“We just couldnâ€t establish the consistency that we were hoping would be there. It happens, but he gave us everything he had, and we appreciate that.â€

The outfield logjam also played a part in the call to designate the arbitration-eligible Fraley, whom the Rays claimed off waivers from the Braves on Nov. 6. Tampa Bay claimed Fraley knowing it already had plenty of outfield options, but if he is non-tendered Friday and becomes a free agent, the Rays could attempt to re-sign him depending on how that situation shakes out.

Facing Tuesdayâ€s deadline to protect eligible prospects from the Rule 5 Draft, the Rays selected Keegan (their No. 15 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline), Areinamo (No. 24) and Cook.

Keegan is an offensive-minded catcher who spent this past season with Triple-A Durham. Assistant general manager Kevin Ibach said Keeganâ€s catching has “come a long way†since he was taken in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt.

Acquired from the Brewers in July for catcher Danny Jansen and assigned to Double-A Montgomery to finish the season, Areinamo has an elite contact rate despite an unorthodox swing, and he has shown it with a .293/.349/.417 slash line in the Minors. The 21-year-old is likely a second baseman in the long term, but he has also played shortstop and third base.

Cook, 24, has pitched only 123 2/3 innings in the Minors and has only 13 Double-A outings to his name. Injuries slowed his ascent and reversed an attempt to move into a starting role, but he returned to the bullpen this year and showed an overpowering fastball-slider combination that Ibach said could “help the big league club sooner than later.â€

“All three of them have really good ingredients to be contributors very short term and long term for us, so excited to add those three to the stable,†Ibach said.

In the White Sox trade, the Rays dealt the out-of-options Pereira and a strong defensive player in Murray for Gómez, an out-of-options righty who took a leap forward in September and could compete for a starting/multi-inning role on their Opening Day staff; and Wilson, a more established reliever theyâ€ve attempted to acquire previously.

“Two arms that we’ve liked for quite some time,†Ibach said. “When both of those names came up in discussions, it was just a matter of figuring out how to best manufacture a deal that would allow us to land both.â€

Guerrero, 25, was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on Nov. 6 and cleared waivers, at which point he was sent outright to Triple-A, so he will report to Spring Training as a non-roster pitcher. Possessing a big arm with shaky control, Guerrero put together a 2.63 ERA with 19 strikeouts and 16 walks in 27 1/3 innings over 22 appearances for the Red Sox over the past two seasons.

Dealing Murray and the versatile Gray left Tampa Bay with only two shortstops on the 40-man roster: Taylor Walls and top prospect Carson Williams, the No. 50 overall prospect. Neander has suggested the club could add more competition to the mix this offseason.

A 14th-round pick in the 2024 Draft, Kisting debuted this past season and posted a 3.79 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings between Single-A and High-A. He has a four-pitch mix that Ibach said the Rays will “develop and fine tune†as they add another starting pitching prospect to their system.

The Rays added Whitley to their roster earlier this month to prevent him from reaching Minor League free agency, but he found a more lucrative opportunity to pitch in Japan that he wanted to pursue. The club was impressed by what the former top prospect did as a starter for Durham, but it granted his release and opened a spot on the 40-man roster.

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