Rays upgrade at catcher, get Liam Hicks from Miami for 3 minor-leaguers - Tampa Bay Times

DENVER — Rays officials felt pretty good about acquiring a veteran starter with a winning background in Freddy Peralta on Sunday.They went into the final hours before Monday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline hoping to make a few more moves to improve but not disrupt their American League-leading team at a workable cost in a tight and pricey market and felt even better — though somewhat exhausted — after adding slugging catcher Liam Hicks and veteran reliever Tyler Wells.“Honestly, not a whole lot of reflection yet. It has been a sleepless week-plus, just trying to understand this was a really difficult market because you had a lot of teams looking to get better,” baseball operations president Erik Neander said Monday night in a media Zoom call. “There was not that much out there. I think some of the prices themselves were an indication of that.”To get “a starter as accomplished as Freddy,” a left-handed hitter in Hicks who “really fits within kind of the DNA of this club that can get on base and hit” while playing catcher and potentially hitting cleanup, and a proven reliever in Wells who complements the current bullpen profile without giving up any of their elite prospects (and only one of their top 14 per mlb.com rankings) made the extensive effort rewarding.“To have have those things kind of come together at costs that were uncomfortable but we felt were appropriate given where this team is in the standings, we’re really pleased to have that,” Neander said.“All in all, feel like we recognized where our team was in the standings, the things we talked about. Our staff did a tremendous job. ... Was not sure we would accomplish as much as we did. I think there were times where we thought there was a real chance that we might just roll with what we have, and we were going to be OK with that. “This group itself does have the best record in the American League as is, but to be able to add to them I think the way we did, yeah, really, really satisfied with it,” Neander continued. “And when you make these kind of moves, now’s the time to enjoy them.”The Rays will get their first chance Tuesday, when Peralta, acquired from the Mets, starts against the Rockies and Hicks (Marlins) and Wells (Orioles) join the team. The Rays traded catcher Hunter Feduccia, who lost his job to Hicks, back to the Dodgers and picked up some Triple-A outfield depth in Jack Suwinski amid a series of other roster moves.“Excited for all the guys that are coming in, for sure,” manager Kevin Cash said. “I think they’re all going to help us.”Over 101 games this season, Hicks, 27, was hitting .282 with 14 homers, 62 RBIs and a .795 OPS. Also of note, he has more walks (40) than strikeouts (39).“Liam Hicks is a guy that, bat-to-ball skills, he’s done some really good things at the plate. And behind the plate for the Marlins,” Cash said. “Fortunate that we were able to get him.”Hicks cost the Rays three prospects — infielders Brayden Taylor (ranked 16th on mlb.com’s list of the top 30 Rays prospects) and Adrian Santana (27th), and pitcher Jacob Kisting (26th) — but they are excited about the opportunity to have power and production from the catcher’s spot, which has often been a struggle. Hicks will pair with the right-handed-hitting Nick Fortes, acquired from Miami at last year’s deadline.Plus, Hicks, in his second big-league season, could stick around for a while. He is under team control through 2030 and not eligible for arbitration (and the raises that come with it) until 2028.Neander said the Rays tried to get him several times before, most notably in the 2024 Rule 5 draft, but the Marlins had a higher pick and took him off Detroit’s roster. Hicks made his big-league debut last year with Miami.With the emergence this season of another lefty-hitting catcher, rookie Joe Mack, the Marlins, whose baseball operations president, Peter Bendix, is a former longtime Rays executive, was willing to make him available.“It’s a player we’ve liked for a while. Appreciate him,” Neander said before discussing in detail how well Hicks could fit in the cleanup spot behind their big three of Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda (a lefty) and Junior Caminero as a second lefty and ahead of the complementary hitters, who do much of their work in a small-ball way.“Liam, I think, almost is like the perfect piece to help kind of transition from the brand of baseball of the top three and the rest,” Neander said. “He can put a ball in play, it’s a great at-bat. He can work the ball around the field, but he can put a jolt in the ball as well.”He should be a definite upgrade over Feduccia, who was acquired from the Dodgers at last year’s deadline. Feduccia was hitting .234 with two homers, 12 RBIs and a .646 OPS and made a series of defensive misplays.Wells, 32, is also expected to play a key role. The 6-foot-8 right-hander, who has spent six seasons with the Orioles, missed much of 2024-25 due to elbow surgery but has worked as both a starter and a reliever.He seems to have found his place in the Orioles bullpen this season. Over 43 appearances covering 54 innings, Wells had a 2.67 ERA, 53 strikeouts compared to 13 walks and a 0.963 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched). He was 2-2 with four saves.Wells, who is making $2.445 million this season, will be arbitration-eligible again in 2027 and then can become a free agent in 2028. His appeal is his experience and his ability as a right-hander to get out lefties, who this season had a .168 average and .516 OPS against him, compared to righties (.250, .740).“(He) has done it in this division, has had success and does it a little bit differently than the group we have,” Neander said. “That was another part of the appeal to to someone like that. It just helps the whole group play out, and I think that was, you know, just something we circled.”Cash said he spoke with Rays adviser Brandon Hyde, who managed Wells in Baltimore, and got a good report. Rays closer Bryan Baker, a former Oriole, also spoke highly of Wells.“He’s put together a really solid season this year, so definitely will add to our bullpen,” Cash said.The Rays had to give up only one prospect to acquire Wells, though it was an interesting one — Triple-A starter Michael Forret. In part because Forret, their No. 8 prospect per mlb.com, was the highest ranked of the seven they gave up. But more so because Forret was acquired in December from the Orioles, part of the Rays’ impressive haul in the trade of Shane Baz. That included three prospects — catcher Caden Bodine and outfielders Slater de Brun and Austin Overn (minors) — and the No. 33 pick in this year’s draft, which the Rays used on prep shortstop Taj Marchand.Neander said he and Orioles counterpart Mike Elias shared a few jokes about it, but ultimately their relationship allowed for a frank discussion to make it work.Forret did well this season, starting with Double-A Montgomery and moving up to Triple-A Durham. He had a 7-2 record and 3.29 ERA in 19 starts overall.Taylor, 24, was the Rays’ first-round pick in 2023 out of TCU and got off to a good start in his pro career before struggling mightily at Double-A Montgomery in 2025. The lefty swinger rebounded strongly after returning to the Biscuits this season, hitting .284 with 17 homers, 56 RBIs and an .897 OPS.Kisting, a 23-year-old right-hander acquired in the November trade of reliever Eric Orze to Minnesota, was ranked 26th in the Rays system by mlb.com. He has had a dominant season at High-A Bowling Green, going 6-0 with a 1.67 ERA over 18 games (16 starts), striking out 96 over 86 innings while walking just 18. He was a 14th-round pick out of Bradley University by the Twins in 2024.Santana, 21, was drafted 31st overall by the Rays in 2023 out of Miami’s Doral Academy. He is still at the Class A level but doing well and ranked 27th among their prospects by mlb.com. In his second season with Bowling Green, he was hitting .316 with three homers, 23 RBIs, 23 steals and a career best .781 OPS.• • • to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.Every weekday, tune into our Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast to hear reporter Rick Stroud break down the biggest stories in Tampa Bay sports.Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on X and Facebook .