Rays deal former Yankee Eovaldi to Red Sox

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees wound up not facing old pal Nate Eovaldi after all on Wednesday. But they’ll face him soon enough, and the stakes will be higher.

Eovaldi, a Yankee in 2015 and 2016 before undergoing a second Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in August 2016, went from the Rays to the Red Sox in a trade Wednesday — with Tampa Bay getting Boston left-hander Jalen Beeks in return. The 28-year-old Eovaldi, whom the Rays paid last year to rehabilitate, rebuilt his value nicely, posting a 4.26 ERA in 10 starts totaling 57 innings, striking out 53 and walking eight.

The Yankees and Red Sox face each other 10 more times this season.

“Those games are definitely exciting,” Eovaldi said in a news conference at Tropicana Field, where he had been scheduled to start for Tampa Bay. “The fans, it’s kind of one of those [in]describable feelings. The tensions are always high and it’s always really good games, good series.”

The hard-throwing righthander didn’t live up to the high expectations the Yankees held for him upon acquiring him from the Marlins in December 2014, yet he pitched adequately, and his rivalry outings exem- plify that. In six starts and one relief appearance as a Yankee against the Red Sox, Eovaldi posted a 4.45 ERA in 32 ¹/3 innings, striking out 17 and walking five. Now he’ll be tasked with taking on his former team, albeit with a considerably different roster than the guys he called teammates.

He thought he was taking on the Yankees on Wednesday morning when he showed up at the ballpark, only to get summoned by Rays manager Kevin Cash and told the news of his trade. An impending free agent with a $2 million salary and another $3.5 million attainable in incentives, Eovaldi was a slam dunk to be traded by the Rays, who trail the Red Sox and Yankees by a wide margin.

“Our division is so tough,” Eovaldi said. “The Red Sox and Yankees right now are at the top of it. It’s definitely exciting, and I’m excited to be part of it.”