Cardinals Trade Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to Rays to Complete Deal for Rays' Matt Liberatore
By Jerry Trotta
On Thursday, a trade between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Rays was completed, though the final terms of the deal weren't originally disclosed.
At the time, all we knew was that the Cards would be receiving Tampa's heralded pitching prospect Matt Liberatore. Flash forward a few hours later, however, and MLB insider Jeff Passan has just reported the return packages for both clubs.
St. Louis will reportedly offload outfielders Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena as well as a post-first round compensation draft pick to the Rays, who, in turn, will cough up Liberatore, a "low-level catching prospect," and a post-second round compensation pick.
The St. Louis Cardinals are trading OF Jose Martinez, OF Randy Arozarena and a Compensation A pick (after 1st round) to the Tampa Bay Rays for LHP prospect Matt Liberatore, a low-level catching prospect and Compensation B pick (post-2nd), sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 10, 2020
The 20-year-old left hander was drafted No.16 overall by Tampa Bay in the 2018 MLB Draft, and had success pitching in Single-A in 2019, compiling a 3.10 ERA across 78.1 innings.
Don't, however, sleep on the Rays acquisitions. Tampa was desperate for OF help and they managed to poach a slugger in Martinez that demolishes left-handed pitching. Further, Arozarena is flexible in terms of his ability to produce anywhere in a lineup, and the organization received significant draft capital.
While Matt Liberatore is a very highly touted prospect, one NL evaluator likes this deal for the Rays: They get a bat in Martinez that kills LHP, a guy in Arozarena who has hit everywhere and move up about 40 spots in the draft. Called it "an excellent move for a win-now team."
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 10, 2020
We'll call this transaction a win-win for both clubs.