REPORT: The Rays are "looking at" former Houston Astros Ace Dallas Keuchel, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman on his recent podcast!
Tyler Glasnow has been having a great year for Tampa Bay but is now going to be out 4-6 weeks after he suffered a mild right forearm strain over the weekend against the New York Yankees,
The Rays' lead in the AL East is 0.5 games, so replacing Glasnow with a proven veteran makes sense. The debate will be whether they should try to upgrade their pitching staff sooner rather than later or wait to sign Keuchel until after the 2019 MLB draft.
Fast Forward about 5 minutes into the Podcast for the Rays/Keuchel part...
Keuchel's contract demands are also a huge hurdle. The lefty told Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown he's not willing to take a discount in order to sign with a team:
"Why succumb to teams that think you're needy and you’re willing to accept a lesser offer than your market value? It's all relative. If you're at work and you're killing your job, nine to five every day, and you get another offer that's less, why would you accept that offer?
"This is not a me thing. This is for the greater good of baseball. This is for principle."
Keuchelto the Rays makes sense in theory, but the two sides must get across a ton of issues first.
Oh and then there's this MLB Draft issue...
Should Tampa Bay add Dallas? Ronnie & TKras reacted this morning...