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(Note: I’m not sure this will be daily, but there’s certainly some, almost always empty, trade rumor each day.)
Ken Rosenthal says the Tampa Bay Rays are looking at Tony Watson.
#Pirates’ Watson is another reliever that #Rays are discussing, per sources. Deep list.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 17, 2017
The “deep list” part is key here. According to Mark Feisand:
Seen Rays linked to Wilson, Neshek, Watson. Source: Rays interested in "every reliever that has any slim chance or more of being available."
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 17, 2017
The Rays are also interested in, among others, current Tiger and former Pirate Justin Wilson. Wilson is having a much better year than Watson, with an xFIP of 3.29 to Watson’s 4.77, and a far higher K rate. Wilson is much cheaper (he’s making $2.7M this year to Watson’s $5.6M) and has another year of control remaining, unlike Watson. Of course, if the Pirates were willing to pick up most of Watson’s salary, that could make him a more realistic target for the Rays, as Wilson is sure to attract considerable interest. Anyway, it’s good to think that somebody is looking at Watson, even if it’s only because they’re looking at every reliever with a slim chance of being available.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are apparently looking at every possible third baseman, including Josh Harrison and David Freese. I can’t imagine they’d really be interested in Freese, especially after their experiences with Allen Craig and Pablo Sandoval. Harrison seems like a great fit for them, though, as he’s downright cheap, by their standards, and he’s very versatile. Once Rafael Devers is ready to take over at third, Harrison could easily slide into a utility role, which might be particularly attractive to the Sox given Dustin Pedroia’s periodic injury problems.