The American League East race is only getting tougher.
The Rays have acquired catcher Liam Hicks in a trade with the Marlins on Monday, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed.
Right-handed pitcher Jacob Kisting and shortstops Adrian Santana and Brayden Taylor are heading back to Miami as the return, Heyman reported.
Kisting and Santana are the 26th and 27th prospects on the Rays’ top-30 list, according to MLB Pipeline.
Hicks, 27, is in the midst of a breakout campaign where he’s belted 14 home runs with 62 RBIs and a .282/.363/.432 slash line.
A left-handed swinger, Hicks has mashed righties this season with a .307 average and .876 OPS. All but one of his homers have come against right-handed pitching.
Nick Fortes (.705 OPS) and Hunter Feduccia (.646 OPS) have been the primary catchers for the Rays this season, so Hicks, even in just his second big league season, should provide the team more firepower from an offensive standpoint.
The Rays, 2 1/2 games up on the Yankees in the AL East, continue to be active this trade deadline after acquiring pitcher Freddy Peralta from the Mets on Sunday.
The Yankees, who have long sought an upgrade at catcher, have thus far not acquired one ahead of the 6 p.m. ET deadline. And on top of the Rays improving at the position, the Red Sox are also adding 2019 No. 1 pick Adley Rutschman to help their catching needs, Heyman reported.
Catchers Hunter Goodman (Rockies), Tyler Stephenson (Reds) and Ryan Jeffers (Twins) have not yet been moved, so, in theory, the Yankees could make a trade for one of those three players. However, the Twins have added pieces at the trade deadline, so it’s not clear if he will be on the move.
The Yankees did add a major bat to their lineup in the form of former Nationals infielder Luis Garcia Jr. over the weekend, but the Rays continue to make this division fight even tougher.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
