Rays add reliever Griffin Jax, trade Taj Bradley among deadline deals

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Jul 31, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — The Tampa Bay Rays had a busy finish to Thursday’s trade deadline, headlined by the acquisition of hard-throwing reliever Griffin Jax and the decision to hang on to their key veteran players.

In deals reported just before and after the 6 p.m. ET deadline, the Rays:

— Acquired Jax from the Minnesota Twins for starter Taj Bradley, who last week was demoted to Triple-A.

— Acquired starter Adrian Houser from the Chicago White Sox for a package that includes infielder Curtis Mead.

— Traded infielder/outfielder Jose Caballero to the New York Yankees for outfielder Everson Pereira and a player to be named.

The Rays did not trade reliever Pete Fairbanks, designated hitter Yandy Diaz or second baseman Brandon Lowe.

Jax, 30, had a 4.50 ERA in 50 games for the Twins but also 72 strikeouts in 46 innings.

The Rays had a busy couple of days leading up to the deadline.

On Wednesday, they made two deals.

First, they sent starter Zack Littell, a free agent at the end of the season, to Cincinnati. The Rays got back two minor-league pitchers: left-hander Adam Serwinowski, the Reds’ No. 10 prospect per mlb.com; and righty Brian Van Belle.

The Rays then sent Serwinowski, plus reliever Paul Gervase (who had just been called back up) and catcher Ben Rortvedt (who was at Triple-A), to the Los Angeles Dodgers for catcher Hunter Feduccia, a 28-year-old with solid Triple-A numbers who is expected to join the big-league team soon.

That was after a pair of related deals on Monday.

The Rays sent starting catcher Danny Jansen to the Brewers for Class-A infield prospect Jadher Areinamo, then replaced Jansen by acquiring Nick Fortes from the Marlins for Double-A outfield prospect Matthew Etzel.

The Rays seem excited about Feduccia, who was playing at Triple-A for a third season, hitting .290 with nine homers, 52 RBIs and an .867 OPS from the left side in 79 games.

“I talked to him briefly (Wednesday) night. He was excited. We’re excited to get him,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Feels like he’s done a lot of things well in Triple-A, certainly with the bat. And we’ll see where that takes us.”

Rays outfielder Jonny DeLuca, who played several seasons with Feduccia in the Dodgers system, said he will do well in Tampa Bay.

“Really good player, better person. Good dude. Puts his head down, works really hard,” DeLuca said. “I was super excited when I saw that we got him.”

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