Rays deal Odorizzi to Twins for prospect
The Minnesota Twins acquired starter Jake Odorizzi from the Tampa Bay Rays last night in a trade for shortstop prospect Jermaine Palacios, securing some needed depth for their rotation.
Odorizzi went 10-8 with a 4.14 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 1431⁄3 innings over 28 starts. The right-hander pitched a career-best 1872⁄3 innings over 33 starts in 2016, posting a 3.69 ERA. He made his debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2012 before being dealt to Tam- pa Bay the next season.
Palacios finished last season, his fourth in the minors, in Single A.
With Odorizzi gone, the Rays rotation is shaping up to include Blake Snell, Nathan Eovaldi, Matt Andriese and Jake Faria behind Chris Archer. Promising prospects Brent Honeywell, Yonny Chirinos, Jose DeLeon and Ryan Yarbrough are longshots to make the Opening Day roster.
The Rays also acquired first baseman C.J. Cron from the Los Angeles Angels for a player to be named later and designated outfielder Corey Dickerson for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Dickerson was the American League’s starting designated hitter in last year’s All-Star Game.
• The Cleveland Indians signed free agent Rajai Davis to a minor league contract, bringing back the speedy outfielder who hit one of the biggest home runs in team history. He split last season between the Oakland Athletics and Red Sox.
Davis led the American League with 43 stolen bases for Cleveland in 2016. In Game 7 of the World Series, he hit a tying, two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning off Aroldis Chapman before the Indians lost in the 10th to the Chicago Cubs.
In 10 seasons, Davis has a .264 average and 394 steals. He stole 29 bases last year.
• Cincinnati Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett won his salary arbitration case, giving players a final 12-10 margin over clubs. Gennett was awarded a raise from $2,525,000 to $5.7 million, and the Reds offered $5.1 million.
Players finished with a winning record for the second time in three years, but only their fourth since 1996.