Revisiting the Best Trade in Tampa Bay Rays History

On July 31st, 2018, the Tampa Bay Rays struck a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates that sent starting pitcher Chris Archer to Pittsburg in exchange for Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows, and a PTBNL who would end up being Shane Baz.

Just take that in for a moment.

At the time of the deal, many around the league considered it to be a head-scratching move by the Pirates, but almost no one could have predicted just how much of a highway robbery it would become for the Rays' management. Meadows and Glasnow have not been what they were projected to be, and Baz was a very young prospect.

In the offseason leading up to the 2018 season, the Pirates had traded away young ace Gerrit Cole and former MVP Andrew McCutchen as the team approached a long rebuild. After a painful start to the season, the Pirates went on a tear in July and found themselves within striking distance of a playoff spot. Instead of continuing with the youth movement and seeing how the team could continue to develop over time. they instead made major noise and acquired Archer.

Archer has been a bit of a hot topic for a few seasons. Archer had come in 3rd place for Rookie of the Year in 2013, received Cy Young votes and an All-Star bid in 2015, and another All-Star nod in 2017. In 96 innings with the Rays in 2018 though, Archer's ERA was 4.31 and his K/9 had fallen significantly. Many pointed to his advanced analytics being more favorable to the Rays starter, but at some point, the traditional metrics matter too.

This was not a slam dunk move by any means at the moment by the Rays though. Some loved the value that the Rays received for Archer, but others questioned whether or not gaining two high-risk prospects and a PTBNL would be worth the risk.

Let's look at how this deal panned out for both the Pirates and the Rays.

Looking Back at the Pirates

There is no other way to say it, this deal for the Pirates was one of many catastrophic moves by the club in the late 2010s.

After trading away Gerrit Cole, who would go on to be one of the best pitchers in baseball, the Pirates gave away a well above-average bat in Austin Meadows, one of the most electrifying pitchers in the game in Tyler Glasnow, and perhaps the most valuable player in the deal, Shane Baz.

Upon landing with the Pirates, Archer would find himself with the club for just two seasons, going 6-12 with a 4.92 ERA and 1.40 WHIP over 172 innings of work. Not only did Archer not get back to his prime days with Tampa Bay, but he also regressed into one of the worst starters in baseball.

The Pittsburgh Pirates also found themselves regressing, finishing 82-79 in 2018 and then following to 69-93, 19-41, and 61-101 from 2019-2021. In the midst of what seems like a very long rebuild, the pieces they had traded away could have netted them much-needed prospects or could have played key roles in the retooling of the club.