One of the relievers we told you to keep an eye on for the final week of the offseason is coming back to Tampa Bay, as right-hander Oliver Drake has reportedly signed a one-year deal to return to the Rays.
The deal was first reported by Marc Topkin of Tampa Bay Times.
#Rays in agreement with RHP Oliver Drake on major-league deal. Sidelined during ALDS w/flexor strain, expected to be ready around middle of this season. Was with #Rays in 2019-20.
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) February 17, 2021
Drake, who turned 34 in January, went 0-2 with a 5.73 earned run average in 11 appearances in 2020. He spent a month on the injured list, and was designated for assignment during the postseason. His breakout year came in 2019, when he went 5-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 50 games, become a vital cog in a bullpen that helped win 96 games and make the postseason for the first time in six years.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Drake, Tampa Bay has reportedly dealt reliever John Curtiss to the Miami Marlins in exchange for minor-league first baseman Evan Edwards. That trade was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Marlins acquiring RHP John Curtiss from Rays for 1B Evan Edwards, sources tell @TheAthletic. Edwards was a fourth-round pick out of NC State in 2019.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 17, 2021
Curtiss made 17 regular season appearances with the Rays in 2020, going 3-0 with a 1.80 earned run average, and had nine appearances in the postseason, going 1-0 with a 6.30 ERA.
Edwards, drafted in the fourth round in 2019 out of North Carolina State, split 2019 between Batavia (short season A) and Clinton (full season A), hitting .281/.357/.442 with nine home runs and 50 RBI in 73 games.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
