As the trade between the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres involving outfielder Wil Myers gets closer to being agreed upon, it's believed the Rays will use some of the pieces they acquire from the Padres to land another outfielder.
According to sources, the Rays and Padres are getting closer to a trade that would send Myers to San Diego and a load of prospects to Tampa Bay. It appears as if the Padres have moved on from attempting to acquire outfielder Justin Upton from the Atlanta Braves and instead will send the Rays some young talent. In turn, it's believed Tampa Bay will execute another trade shortly after the one with the Padres is finalized.
FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes the Rays are "working on a multitude of things with a lot of moving parts," which has speculation brewing about the involvement of other teams. It was initially believed the Seattle Mariners were joining in on the trade to make it a three-team deal, but as the discussions progress in the latter stages, it doesn't look like that will be the case. The Washington Nationals could now be involved, but it would be in a separate deal with the Rays once Myers is dealt, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.
Rosenthal also notes if that were to occur, a name to look out for is outfielder Steven Souza Jr. This comes as no surprise since the Rays will be in need of an outfielder since they sent Matt Joyce to the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday and are close to sending Myers to the West Coast as well. In 2014, Souza spent 96 games at Triple-A Syracuse, during which he slashed .350/.432/.590 with 18 home runs, 75 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. He added 21 games with the Nationals and only had 23 at-bats, but he showed defensive prowess in the outfield (especially when he made a diving grab with two outs in the ninth inning to save Jordan Zimmermann's no-hitter against the Marlins).
If the Rays are receiving five pieces in the deal for Myers, it's pretty indicative they will move some of them (or even some of their own) to acquire an MLB-ready outfielder. It was noted earlier this year that Tampa may also deal outfielder Desmond Jennings since he's due for a raise in his first year of arbitration eligibility, so we'll be keeping an eye on that.
