Rays acquire outfielder Raley from Dodgers

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Rays added to their Major League-ready outfield depth on Friday afternoon, swinging a trade with the Dodgers to acquire outfielder Luke Raley for Minor League reliever Tanner Dodson.

Raley, 27, made his Major League debut for the Dodgers last season. The left-handed hitter slashed .182/.250/.288 with two homers and 25 strikeouts in 72 plate appearances over 33 regular-season games, and struck out as a pinch-hitter in the National League Wild Card Game. He put together an excellent offensive season in Triple-A, however, slashing .294/.393/.570 with 19 homers in 72 games for Oklahoma City.

General manager Peter Bendix said the Rays had tried to acquire Raley several times over the last few years, and they were pleased to finally land him on Friday.

“He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, and he’s got a lot of power. We think he’s a pretty good defender in the outfield, [with] some experience at first base,” Bendix said. “Just the type of player [where] you can never have too much depth in that area.”

To make room for Raley on their 40-man roster, the Rays transferred right-hander Yonny Chirinos to the 60-day injured list. Chirinos had Tommy John surgery in August 2020 and suffered a setback last September, making him unlikely to return to the mound in the Majors until the second half of this season.

A seventh-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2016 Draft, Raley was sent to the Twins as part of the Brian Dozier deal at the 2018 Trade Deadline, and then sent back to Los Angeles alongside Brusdar Graterol for Kenta Maeda in February '20. Over parts of five Minor League seasons, Raley is a career .289/.367/.489 hitter with 65 home runs in 419 games. Raley is primarily a corner outfielder, although he has some Minor League experience in center field and at first base.

The Rays’ big league roster is already overstuffed with outfield options in Kevin Kiermaier, Randy Arozarena, Austin Meadows, Manuel Margot and Brett Phillips, plus MLB-ready outfield prospect Josh Lowe and the versatile Vidal Bruján. Acquiring Raley gives them some additional depth if they deal Kiermaier or Meadows, both considered trade candidates at the start of Spring Training, or just an optionable corner bat who could contribute if there are injuries in the outfield.

“You can never have too much depth. You can never have too many players that you think are good players,” Bendix said, reflecting an organizational philosophy that worked out quite well for the Rays last season. “Things always play out in an unexpected way, where you’re always happy that you have extra guys.”

The Rays selected Dodson in the second round of the 2018 Draft and used the outfielder/right-hander as a two-way player at the start of his professional career. But when Dodson gave up hitting last season with High-A Bowling Green, his performance on the mound took off. The 24-year-old put together a 2.50 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings for Bowling Green and made 13 appearances for Double-A Montgomery to finish the year.

“We liked Tanner a lot,” Bendix said. “Last year, [he] focused more on [being a] reliever. He’s got really big stuff out of the bullpen. Big fastball, good slider. ... You have to give up good players to get good players.”