Rays could trade for Yankees infield prospect to solve their shortstop problem

It can be a frustrating refrain to hear "until Carson Williams arrives" over and over, but the Rays' plans for the shortstop position are centered around him not because he's some run-of-the-mill top prospect.

No, he should immediately be one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball, and as long as he can be an average hitter, combined with his potentially solid base running contributions, he could be one of the best shortstops in baseball.

But "until Carson Williams arrives," the Rays have to figure out who's playing short. While Walls and Caballero are the most likely options for the Rays in 2025, there are still some fun external trade options to explore that won't cost the Rays big money, and could give them an excuse to deal some of their more high-priced talent.

If that sounds familiar, it's because it's common practice in Tampa Bay, especially with the stadium uncertainty and whatever unexpected costs might come with playing away from the Trop for 2025 and potentially beyond.

So why not deal with the team whose spring training facility the Rays will be using as their regular season home for 2025?

Enter Oswald Peraza; the former top-50 prospect has fallen a bit out of favor in New York due to the emergence of Anthony Volpe as the shortstop of the future and Jazz Chisolm hopefully cementing as either the everyday second or third baseman for 2025.

Peraza can play around the infield at short, third, or second, and in limited appearances in the majors at all 3 positions he was perfectly average.

Luckily, one of the strengths of Peraza's prospect profile was his glove at short, so given more run in the majors at the position his high athletic ability and great instincts should shine through.

The Yankees don't have the spot available to give Peraza that run, but the Rays sure do, and they have a few talented but "expensive" players the Yankees could certainly use to try to shore up their bullpen or lineup for what they hope will be another successful campaign in in the Soto-Judge era.

Whether it's Pete Fairbanks, Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe, Zack Littell, or some combination of the four, the Rays have major-league talent that they'd be willing to part with to reduce payroll, and the Yankees have the major-league-ready prospects to make it worth it for the Rays.

No one fits the needs of the Rays more than Peraza while not having the Yankees feel like they're sacrificing much of their future due to Volpe being the future at the shortstop position.

Peraza came up as a power over bat hitter and a speedy slick-fielding infielder, giving the Rays some potential much-needed thump to a lineup that was pretty light in that category across the board in 2024, but especially at the shortstop position.

The Rays had the 5th least production in offense at the shortstop position last season and were bottom-3 in slugging percentage.

Peraza is unproven, but he can't be that much worse offensively than the current options the Rays have, and his defense has the potential to still be quite good, even compared to the elite Taylor Walls, as Peraza was given a 60 grade in fielding by FanGraphs.

His consistently high strikeout rates throughout the minors is a concern, and his 50 potential in-game power still has yet to show regardless of level. Still, no prospect is perfect and the Rays have been known to take chances on post-hype prospects, especially if it means saving a buck.

Plus, with Peraza's versatility, he could shift over to second base when Williams arrives, or if he truly plays well enough he can be dangled in another trade to flip for even more value from another team.