The Tampa Bay Rays have traded shortstop Willy Adames, but No. 1 prospect Wander Franco is not being called up. Not yet, at least.
Jeff Passan of ESPN was among those to report the Rays are sending Adames to the Milwaukee Brewers. Tampa Bay gets back relievers Drew Rasmussen and J.P. Feyereisen, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and others.
Shortstop Willy Adames has been traded from Tampa Bay to Milwaukee, source tells ESPN. Rays will be getting pitching back.
Door is open for Wander Franco. Or Taylor Walls. Or Vidal Brujan. Rays are loaded at shortstop at the Triple-A level.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 21, 2021
Rays getting J.P. Feyereisen, Drew Rasmussen from Rays for Willy Adames, source tells @TheAthletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 21, 2021
Passan later reported Rays right-hander Trevor Richards is also headed to Milwaukee along with Adames.
Right-hander Trevor Richards is going along with shortstop Willy Adames to the Brewers in exchange for relievers Drew Rasmussen and J.P. Feyereisen, sources tell ESPN. That's the full trade.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 21, 2021
There have been some in-season trades, but this is probably the most high-profile deal thus far. The craziest part about the deal is it immediately garnered more traction because of the Franco element.
The Rays minor leaguer has been the No. 1 prospect in baseball for the past couple seasons. His hit tool and athleticism are already drawing rave reviews, with many evaluators believing he can be a star. Plus, Franco only just turned 20 years old in March.
Tampa Bay elected to keep Franco at the alternate site in advance of the start of the Triple-A season earlier this month. He was thriving in 14 games at that level, hitting .283 with three homers and an .867 OPS.
However, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported the Rays are calling up 25-year-old shortstop Taylor Walls.
#Rays are calling up … Taylor Walls
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 21, 2021
Alas, Wander's debut will have to wait.
If and when the Rays decide to bring Franco to the majors, it will be one of the most highly-anticipated debuts ever, one that will probably rival Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s debut for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019.