Tampa Bay Rays: PTBNL in Tommy Pham Trade has .931 OPS in Minors

The Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres have officially finalized a trade from December that involved a player to be named later. That player has been named.

The Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres have officially completed the deal from earlier this offseason. Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth were sent to the Padres for Hunter Renfroe, Xavier Edwards, and a player that would later be named.

Today, that player was named. His name is Esteban Quiroz.

He is 28-years-old and has spent most of his career playing in the Mexican League. He spent some time with the Boston Red Sox in 2018 where he worked his way up to Double-A. Then, last season he made it to Triple-A with the San Diego Padres.

In only 306 Triple-A at-bats last season, Quiroz hit 25 doubles, 19 homers, 66 RBI and slashed .271/.384/.539.

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Over seven AAA-Mexican League seasons, Quiroz slashed .293/.402/451 and dominated in Double-A in 2018 with a 1.011 OPS in just 24 games.

He’s not on any top prospect lists, but he’s certainly got a history of production. He’s a nice player to add to the top minor league system in baseball.

The Rays also received MLB Pipeline’s 72nd ranked prospect in the deal, Xavier Edwards. At the time of the transaction, Edwards was rated as the Padres’ fourth-best prospect. Hunter Renfroe hit 33 homers last season while piling on 22 defensive-runs saved.

The only prospect the Padres received in the deal was a two-way player, Jake Cronenworth. Additionally, there have been a lot of questions this spring surrounding the health of Tommy Pham’s elbow.

Quiroz is another nice addition to the top farm system in all the land. He appears to be a 27-year-old infielder who carries some good wood, just waiting for an opportunity to prove himself in the Major Leagues. Whether he finds that opportunity with the Rays or ultimately another team remains to be seen.