dp1:12pm: Adrian Santana and Jacob Kisting round out Miami’s return, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post.
1:00pm: The Marlins are trading catcher/first baseman Liam Hicks to the Rays, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Former first-round pick Brayden Taylor is part of a three-player package going to Miami, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic.
Hicks will hopefully be a long-term answer for Tampa Bay behind the plate. They’ve had trouble finding stability at the position, generally cycling through glove-first players over the past few years. That includes Nick Fortes, whom the Rays acquired from the Marlins at last summer’s deadline. Fortes had coincidentally been pushed off the Miami roster by Hicks’ emergence as a quality Rule 5 pick.
Tampa Bay has gotten decent work from Fortes, who is hitting .278/.319/.386 with four homers in 83 games. Backup catcher Hunter Feduccia hasn’t been as effective and could be pushed to Triple-A. It’s also not out of the question the Rays try to capitalize on a down catching market and flip one of Feduccia or Fortes elsewhere in the next four hours.
In any case, the 27-year-old Hicks should provide an offensive upgrade for a top-heavy Tampa Bay lineup. He’s hitting .282/.363/.432 with 14 home runs across 409 plate appearances. Hicks has walked at a solid 9.8% clip while striking out just 9.5% of the time, one of the lowest rates in MLB. He’s one of five hitters (min. 400 PAs) with more walks than strikeouts.
More to come.
