Rays just put pressure on Yankees with underrated Tarik Skubal trade pivot

While the Tampa Bay Rays were in the running to make a bombshell acquisition as one of the favorites to land Tarik Skubal, they ultimately decided not to make a serious play for the pricey rental. Landing Skubal might have required parting with super prospect Theo Gillen, and that was just a bridge too far. But fret not! Tampa isn't sitting around and instead swung a deal with the New York Mets for Freddy Peralta.

Peralta is a buy-low rental with some serious upside. The former Milwaukee Brewer has struggled to the tune of a 4.99 ERA this season, but there is reason to believe he can turn it around outside of the disaster zone that is the Mets clubhouse.

With a 3.83 xERA combined with some bad luck indicators like a 68.4% left-on-base rate and a .313 BABIP (his career average is .271), should things stabilize, the Rays just acquired a top-of-the-rotation arm for three prospects from the underbelly of their farm.

The move signals that the club is serious about putting some distance between itself and the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the AL East chase. Best of all, the package going back to the Mets includes Aiden Hill, Emilien Pitre, and Gary Gill Hill, all of whom rank 15th or lower in the Rays' system.

The Rays add Freddy Peralta while the Yankees struggle to fill needs

The Rays' rotation ranks just behind the Yankees, coming in fifth in the majors with a 3.51 ERA. Getting Peralta back on track should bolster that even further, and his addition also provides some much-needed insurance with Shane McClanahan on the IL and Drew Rasmussen's history of fragility.

The Yankees, meanwhile, are struggling to find ways to fill their needs. The market appears to be drying up as the limited number of sellers makes things difficult, and the market for rentals is scarce. It appears that most of the clubs that were thought to have controllable players to deal are pulling them off the market.

With a gaping hole at catcher, a void on the left side of their infield, and two of their three starting outfielders, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, on the shelf, the Yankees have had enormous trouble scoring runs of late, and it doesn't look like things will get any easier for them any time soon.

Peralta's addition gives Tampa another high-end arm to throw at its chief rival in future matchups, further exacerbating its offensive woes.

This might not be the knock-out blow that landing Skubal would've been, but it's certainly a gut punch to the Yankees, and one that didn't cost the Rays all that much in terms of precious future assets. The AL East now looks to be the Rays' for the taking.

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