The Tampa Bay Rays made two separate deals Friday afternoon, as they traded outfielder Luke Raley to the Seattle Mariners, then dealt reliever Andrew Kittredge to the St. Louis Cardinals. In exchange, they received a pair of young hitters: infielder Jose Caballero from the Mariners, and outfielder Richie Palacios from St. Louis.
Caballero made his debut with the Mariners on April 15, 2023, and played in 104 games in his rookie season. He finished with a slash line of .221/.343/.320 with four homers, 26 RBI and 26 stolen bases in 29 attempts. The 27-year-old from Panama was originally a 7th round pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2017 Draft.
Meanwhile, Palacios, a third-round pick in 2018 out of Towson University, got to the big leagues with Cleveland in 2022 before being designated for assignment by the Guardians and sold to the Cardinals in 2023. In 32 games with St. Louis, he hit .258/.307/.516 with six homers and 16 RBI.
Raley, hit .249 (89-for-357) with 23 doubles, three triples, 19 home runs and 49 RBI in 118 games for the Rays last season. He missed the final 11 games of the year with a neck strain. Kittredge made his return from Tommy John surgery in 2023, going 2-0 with a 3.09 earned run average in 14 relief appearances.
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.
