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Reaction to Tampa Bay Rays trade for Zunino

By Austin Reimann
ANAHEIM, CA - JULY 27: Mike Zunino #3 of the Seattle Mariners hits a solo home run in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on July 27, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - JULY 27: Mike Zunino #3 of the Seattle Mariners hits a solo home run in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on July 27, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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ST PETERSBURG, FL – SEPTEMBER 28: Mallex Smith #0 of the Tampa Bay Rays runs after hitting a triple in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 28, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
ST PETERSBURG, FL – SEPTEMBER 28: Mallex Smith #0 of the Tampa Bay Rays runs after hitting a triple in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 28, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

Mallex Smith: 

What are the Rays losing?

This one stings, Mallex was one of my favorite players to watch take the field everyday for the Rays in 2018, but I understand the move. Essentially, the Rays will lose one of their best players in 2018. They will lose the Mallex Effect on the base paths and they will lose a fan favorite.

On a separate note, they also lose the log jam that existed in the outfield.

Numbers:

Mallex Career 6.2 bWAR: .277 AVG/ .346 OBP/ .384 SLG/ 101 OPS+

Mallex 2018 3.5 bWAR: .296 AVG/ .376 OBP/ 40 SB/ 115 OPS+

Contract Situation:

Mallex, like Heredia will become arbitration eligible in next season and won’t become a free agent until 2023.  Mallex just missed gaining Super Two Status by a few games in 2018, which would have allowed him to become a free agent a year earlier.

Next. Breaking: Rays trade for Zunino. dark

What this means:

The Rays lose a valuable piece of the 2018 team that won 90 games. They need to alleviate the log jam in the outfield and they did so by trading Mallex away. They lost a controllable talented outfielder who can cover some ground in the outfield and on the base paths.

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