Rays finalize Jose Caballero trade with Yankees and receive intriguing prospect

When the Tampa Bay Rays struck a trade with the rival New York Yankees at the trade deadline, it raised some eyebrows as it is rare for division foes to make in-season trades especially when both teams are still technically in contention. However, the Rays still sent Jose Caballero to the Yankees in exchange for prospect Everson Pereira and a player to be named later and the trade sort of faded from memory after that.

So far, the trade has not looked great for the Rays. Caballero hasn't be amazing with the Yankees, but he has been very serviceable especially with Anthony Volpe on the bench because he is hurt and sucking out loud. As for Pereira, Tampa Bay has given him 64 plate appearances in the majors, but the .449 OPS he has put up leaves a lot to be desired.

Thankfully, there was a player to be named later in the trade and that player has now been named. It was announced on Wednesday afternoon that the Yankees were sending Marshall Toole to the Rays to complete the Caballero trade.

Rays complete Jose Caballero trade by receiving Marshall Toole as the player to be named later

At surface level, getting a 2024 15th round pick out of Wofford College doesn't seem like much for Rays fans to get excited about. However, the Rays are as good as anyone at identifying talent that escapes the notice of other organizations and in the case of Toole, there seems to be a lot to like.

After a moderately successful pro debut in low-A in 2024 when he posted an .802 OPS in 69 plate appearances, Toole has kind of shown out at the same level this season. Across 372 plate appearances while seeing playing time at all three outfield positions, Toole has slashed .305/.406/.479 with 44 stolen bases. The power is average at best, but the strikeout and walk numbers are very encouraging and having a speedy outfielder who can hit a bit and play all three outfield positions is hard to be upset about.

Time will tell if Tampa Bay ended up doing well in this trade and the early returns on Pereira are not overly concerning. However, after a lengthy track record of winning trades thanks to turning seemingly innocuous throw-ins into real prospects, the odds that the Rays can salvage the Caballero trade just went up with the acquisition of Toole.

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