Jeremy Hellickson has been with the Tampa Bay Rays since he was a 23-year-old in 2010. He won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2011, but he's regressed ever since, and now the Rays are looking to trade him. Might the Arizona Diamondbacks be interested in the right-hander?
Since his rookie campaign in 2011 (13-10 record with a 2.95 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 29 starts), Hellickson has seen his ERA and WHIP increase in each season that followed. In 2012 he was 10-11 with a 3.10 ERA and 1.25 WHIP; in 2013 he was 12-10 with a 5.17 ERA and 1.35 WHIP; and in 2014, after missing the first half of the season because of elbow surgery, he posted a 1-5 record with a 4.52 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in just 13 starts. He's now arbitration eligible and the Rays are looking to ship him out of town.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported earlier today that Hellickson is likely to be traded to a team in the National League, which means the Arizona Diamondbacks could be the top contender, among others. The Rays are ridding players who will contribute to a rise in their payroll after suffering their first losing season since 2007. They've watched president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and manager Joe Maddon depart to new teams this offseason and are now working on rounding off their solid young roster.
The Diamondbacks may be willing to take a chance on Hellickson after the team posted a 4.26 ERA in 2014 (26th in the MLB), with a 4.44 ERA among their starters (27th). They had bad luck with their starting rotation this year, beginning with a season-ending elbow injury to promising young starter Patrick Corbin, who didn't play a single game in 2014. Bronson Arroyo soon followed and also underwent Tommy John surgery. The team then traded Brandon McCarthy, who had a 3-10 record with a 5.01 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in Arizona, to the New York Yankees only to watch him go 7-5 with a 2.89 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 14 starts. He's now a coveted free agent.
Arizona was also expecting pitching prospect Archie Bradley to contribute at some point in 2014, but an elbow injury in April derailed his chances of joining the D-Backs' roster at some point in the season. He came back to start in the minors in June, but struggled a bit and wasn't on track to make an appearance in the majors. All of these occurrences make an interesting case for Hellickson, who provides a low-risk high-reward scenario. The Rays simply don't need him because they have Alex Cobb, Matt Moore, Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi and Drew Smyly expected to comprise their starting rotation in 2015.
Arizona has an abundance of shortstops and made it known that catcher Miguel Montero is on the trading block. Tampa Bay isn't in need of a shortstop and Montero's salary is much too high for Tampa Bay's budget, so maybe team president Matt Silverman will do his best Andrew Friedman and scour Arizona's farm system and find a hidden gem.
But it's probable other teams are interested in taking a chance on Hellickson, so the Diamondbacks are not the only potential trade partner.
