Rays trade Austin Meadows to Tigers free spot for Josh

Rays trade Austin Meadows to Tigers, free spot for Josh Lowe

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PORT CHARLOTTE — After months of talks, the Rays found a trade for Austin Meadows Monday night, sending the left-handed hitting outfielder/designated hitter to the Tigers.

The official return is one Rays hopes will pay dividends going forward, infielder Isaac Paredes, a 23-year-old with an intriguing offensive profile who will move to Triple-A, and a competitive balance pick around the number 70 in the June draft.

But there seems to be a more immediate effect as the trade opens a spot for multi-talented top outfielder Josh Lowe on the opening day list.

Trade converged quickly over the last few days, with Meadows’ departure from Sunday’s show caused some mild dismay due to tightness in both quads until he reported on Monday that he was feeling better.

The 24-year-old Lowe did just about everything he could at Triple-A last year, notching a .291 with 22 homers, 78 RBIs, 26 steals and a .916 OPS while winning the team’s MVP honor, and quickly appointed to the team in September majors.

When he voted Lowe out of the minors last week, manager Kevin Cash basically said it was only because the Rays didn’t have a place for him.

“We’re returning…a group of positional players who have accomplished a lot themselves and feel good about rolling with this group,” Cash said. “Definitely respect everything Josh has done. And I really respect how he behaved at camp. It’s not easy coming in here and wondering what ifs and all that stuff. He’s been a pro all along. He’s a very confident kid and it shows. And he should be.”

Paredes is a right-handed infielder who has played with the Tigers for the past two seasons, hitting .215s with two homers and 11 RBIs. He spent most of 2021 at Triple-A, hitting .265 with 11 homers, 42 RBI and .847 OPS in 72 games, with more walks (56) than strikeouts (47).

He’s considered a solid defender at second and third base and a hitter who offers more attacking profile than some of their other defensively-oriented young infielders like Taylor Walls and Vidal Brujan. With a high contact and walking rate, Paredes (puh-RAY-dehs) is somewhat similar in style to Yandy Diaz and may be a future replacement.

Paredes, a native of Mexico, was originally signed by the Cubs in July 2015 and then switched to the Tigers, where he worked his way into Baseball America’s top 100 prospect lists for the 2019 and 20 seasons. He will start the season at Durham but looks likely to join the Rays at some point this season.

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Going into the offseason and emerging from the lockout, the Rays were in talks about trading Meadows or midfielder Kevin Kiermaier to clarify salary and allow more flexibility in their outfield options.

Trading Kiermaier would have saved the Rays significantly more money (he has a team-high salary of $12 million plus a $2.5 million buyout for a 2023 option), but would have taken away what they considered valuable Consider well – a player who can significantly influence games regularly with exceptional defensive skills.

Much more of an offensive player during his three full seasons, Meadows, 26, made significant contributions — 33 home runs as team leader in 2019 (when he made the American League All-Star Team) and a team-high 106 RBIs last season.

But given his defensive deficits, he would likely get much of his playing time this season at DH. The Rays may have seen an advantage in trading him sooner rather than later.

Also, Meadows will earn $4 million this season and potentially more than $15 million in his additional two seasons of arbitration.

Heading to Detroit, Meadows will have a chance to play with his younger brother Parker, a promising outfielder in the Tigers system. After the deal was announced, Parker Meadows tweeted, “What just happened…”

Meadows was acquired by Pittsburgh in July 2018 as part of the move in one of the Rays’ most one-sided trades. They also got Tyler Glasnow, who became their top starter, and promising pitcher Shane Baz, who made an impressive debut last season, in exchange for Chris Archer.

Erik Neander, president of Rays Baseball Operations, is expected to speak on the trade Tuesday morning.

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