Rays Acquire Liam Hicks From Marlins

After trading for one of the best starting pitchers on the block yesterday, Freddy Peralta, the Tampa Bay Rays have added one of the better hitting catchers in baseball this season, Liam Hicks, formerly of the Miami Marlins. Hicks has been a productive offensive backstop and brings plenty of stability behind the plate for the Rays.

This is a strong move for the Rays to bolster their incredibly effective lineup and brings another impressive hitter into the mix. The Marlins are selling high on their young catcher with the idea of rebuilding their prospect core with some of Tampa Bay’s young names.

Here’s a breakdown of the trade:

• Rays receive: C/DH Liam Hicks
• Marlins receive: INF Brayden Taylor, INF Adrian Santana, RHP Jacob Kisting

The Rays are cementing themselves as World Series contenders and trying to win their first division title since 2021. Now that they’ve acquired Hicks to bolster their offense and Peralta for their rotation, their team looks a lot more complete than it did a few days ago.

Miami has performed above expectations this season but is selling high on Hicks. Expect the Fish to sell off more pieces today.

Liam Hicks Fits the Rays’ Archetype

Liam Hicks has had a strong breakout season in 2026, ranking among the best catchers in baseball in many offensive metrics. His 119 wRC+ ranks sixth among qualified catchers, his 62 RBI are the third most, and his .363 OBP is the third best. Miami has really benefited from his bat this season, especially his month of May, in which he notched an .874 OPS with five home runs and 20 RBI.

Tampa Bay’s catchers this season have collectively hit .267/.320/.381 and have only driven in 38 runs. That is solid but unspectacular offensive production. The Rays were rumored to be in on multiple different catching options, and Hicks brings several years of team control with him. His consistency at the plate will complement the AL’s top team very well.

Hicks is one of six players to tally at least 60 RBI with fewer than 70 strikeouts this season, and he’s only struck out 39 times. There are also only four qualified hitters with a lower whiff rate than Hicks (10.9%), and he’s one of seven qualified hitters with a strikeout rate under 10%. The Rays, as a team, have the best strikeout rate in baseball at just 19.2% this season, and Hicks fits in perfectly with their team archetype.

Among hitters like Yandy Díaz, Junior Caminero, and Jonathan Aranda, who are always tough outs, Hicks is yet another difficult hitter for opposing pitchers to face. Expect the Rays to get even more Rays-y thanks to acquisitions like this.

The Marlins’ Return

Brayden Taylor

Miami is getting a very strong prospect in Brayden Taylor who has slashed .284/.384/.513 in 88 games at the Double-A level in the Rays’ system this season.

After a down year in 2025, where he registered just a 77 wRC+ (the only time he’s had a wRC+ below 110), it’s surged back up to a mark of 136 this season. He was the Rays’ first-round pick in the 2023 draft, so that brings at least some level of prestige with it.

Taylor brings a powerful bat and a strong baserunning threat to the Marlins’ system, and he might find himself playing games at the MLB level as soon as next season. The 24-year-old infielder’s .284 batting average is the fourth best among all Southern League hitters this season, and there’s only one other hitter with more home runs than Taylor (17) and at least 20 stolen bases, making him a multi-tool threat.

MLB.com has Taylor ranked as the Rays’ 16th-best prospect this year, and he’s not necessarily a marquee pickup for the Marlins, but he certainly has potential.

Taylor has consistently registered walk rates above the league average and has above-average power at the plate. His name isn’t up there with the most well-known prospects in baseball, but he’s a solid pickup for Miami.

Adrian Santana

Adrian Santana is an infielder with a different build than Taylor, in the sense that he doesn’t hit for power and seems more similar to Hicks and other Rays hitters than many others. In 51 games at the High-A level, Santana has slashed .316/.381/.400 with three home runs, 40 runs, and 23 stolen bases to go alongside a 108 wRC+.

At just 21 years of age, Santana certainly still has time to grow into himself in the minor leagues, and he profiles as a defense-first and strong-baserunning middle infielder that can find his way on base with great consistency. Miami’s acquisition of him isn’t necessarily going to benefit them in the short term, but he’ll be a strong asset for them to have over the coming years.

The Marlins aren’t going to be much of a threat this season, but Adrian is the latest addition to their prospect core that might bring them to that level in the near future.

Jacob Kisting

Jacob Kisting is a 23-year-old right-handed pitcher who hasn’t pitched past the High-A level yet in his career, but he’s performed very well there in 2026.

Over 18 games and 16 starts, Kisting has a 1.67 ERA in 86.0 innings with 96 strikeouts to just 18 walks. By the end of the season, he’ll likely find himself at least getting a taste of the Double-A level and hopefully will give the Marlins more depth to their minor league pitching staff.

Kisting is ranked by MLB.com as Tampa Bay’s No. 26 prospect, and he was a 14th-round pick in the 2024 draft. His ceiling is low, but his floor is relatively high.

While Kisting might not be on any radars as a marquee prospect, he could prove to be a solid arm in Miami’s system. He’s shown a strong ability to handle High-A hitters, and if he can continue this performance at the higher levels of MiLB, he’s a name we might hear on the Marlins’ roster over the next few seasons.

Closing Thoughts

First impressions of this trade might leave more people believing that the Rays came out on top over the Marlins, but only time will truly tell the winner. That result is reliant on multiple factors, one being Hicks continuing to be the offensive powerhouse he’s been in 2026 for the remainder of his time in Tampa, and another being that the prospects acquired by Miami can ascend through the levels of MiLB at a fast pace.

The Marlins have been an outstanding and intriguing team so far this year thanks to getting strong performances from underrated players, Hicks being one of them. However, they found it more pressing to move off Hicks while the time was right, perhaps believing that Joe Mack will hold down the catcher position for the foreseeable future.

Tampa Bay is making moves to acquire players who can be productive right now, to help them make a run to the World Series. Hicks has many more years of team control remaining, and the Rays could easily run away with the value in this trade if he can continue to produce like this.