Why the Rays could potentially use the services of this former Marlins outfielder

Bryan De La Cruz found out he was being traded from the Miami Marlins to the Pittsburgh Pirates while the Marlins were at Tropicana Field.

So why wouldn't the Dominican outfielder want to return to Tampa Bay for a season to see if he can get his career back on track and potentially get a bigger payday from another team next offseason?

The problem might not be De La Cruz wanting to come to Tampa, it might be more of a fit concern for the Rays.

There are a lot of problems with De La Cruz's profile in terms of the value he can provide.

He hasn't been a very good hitter since his fun first 2 seasons; in 2023 and 2024 he submitted a 90 and 77 wRC+ mark, respectively, a not-nearly-good-enough place to be for a corner outfielder.

If you add in his very lackluster defense, De La Cruz may, at best, be worth a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite.

In Miami, he failed to put together a one WAR season, and while positional adjustments may at times be overly harsh. However, it's hard to make that case here as De La Cruz was consistently a poor corner outfielder, earning a -8 Outs Above Average in over 1,000 innings in left field during his 2022 campaign.

The Dominican outfielder struggles to make plays in left or right field, but he has a great arm and it could be helped by playing at George Steinbrenner Field in 2025.

He also had an elite 2022 campaign in terms of hitting the ball hard, as he ranked at or near the top of the league in most quality of contract metrics. Since then, he's failed to recapture that magic.

He's also never been one to have a great approach at the plate, as his chase and whiff rates are higher than desired from someone not consistently hitting for a high slug.

Another unfortunate part of De La Cruz's game is his lack of true platoon splits versus lefties as he's virtually the same hitter regardless of who's on the mound, which means he wouldn't be a candidate to pair with Josh Lowe in the outfield.

Although, the Rays are a team void of many solid power threats outside of Junior Caminero, Brandon Lowe, Christopher Morel, and Josh Lowe (and the last 2 are a bit of a stretch).

De La Cruz's ability to hit the ball hard a couple seasons ago could be enticing enough for the Rays to give the former Marlin a shot at making the Opening Day roster.