Athletics Acquire Jeffrey Springs From Rays

The Athletics continued their offseason spending spree by making another addition to their starting rotation. This time, they’ve swung a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays in a five-player swap.

Jeffrey Springs is on his way to Sacramento, alongside fellow southpaw Jacob Lopez, in exchange for righties Joe Boyle and Jacob Watters as well as infielder Will Simpson and a Competitive Balance Round A pick in this year’s draft the team announced on Saturday afternoon.

Springs made his return from Tommy John in 2024 and in seven starts last season, the 32-year-old posted a 3.27 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP, a. 262 AVG against and 10.09 K/9. But in his last full season at the big league level in 2022 he was excellent, posting a 2.46 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 25 starts and 33 appearances in total.

Lopez made four appearances and one start for the Rays in 2024, but spent most of his time at Triple-A Durham where threw to a 4.26 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP, a .216 AVG against and 10.76 K/9.

Boyle is the most notable piece heading to the Rays, as the 25-year-old made made 13 appearances (10 starts) with the A’s in 2024. Though his mid-6.00s ERA in the majors and over-5.00 ERA in Triple-A in 2024 may look inflated, Boyle is only a year removed from making three starts at 1.69 ERA for the Athletics in 2023 with a 2.25 ERA in Triple-A after being acquired from Cincinnati.

Watters spent the majority of last season in High-A, where in 60.2 innings he threw to a 5.04 ERA. The 23-year-old fourth round draft pick is yet to really find his footing in pro-ball yet, with ERAs above 5.00 at every stop he’s made since his first full professional season in 2023.

Like Wattrers, Simpson also spent a majority of his 2024 campaign at the High-A level where split time between 1B and 3B, slashing .270/.373/.480 with 16 HR and 81 RBI in 474 plate appearances. And in his first taste of the upper minors in Double-A he hit to the tune of a .348 AVG and a .901 OPS in 76 plate appearances.

What are the A’s Getting in the Deal?

After signing Luis Severino to the largest contract in club history earlier this offseason, the A’s have added a solid number two option to back him up.

While some of his surface level stats looked inflated as he made his return from a lengthy IL stint, Springs has a crafty pitch mix that induced solid swing-and-miss stuff even when his fastball ranked in just the fourth percentile of big league arms in it’s velocity. He struck out hitters at a 26.1% clip, while getting them to chase 31.3% of the time and whiff 29.9% of the time.

And at his peak in 2022 those numbers were either similar or even better, as he posted a strikeout rate of 26.2%, a chase rate of 35.4% and a whiff rate of 29.6%.

More importantly for the A’s, Springs comes with a $10.5 million price tag over the next two seasons with a $15 million club option in 2027, as they continue into their efforts raise their payroll to avoid a grievance being filed by the MLBPA against them.

And in Lopez they get another arm with a handful of major league appearances and decently high strikeout upside to bolster their pitching depth.

What are the Rays Getting in the Deal?

By dealing Springs, the Rays address the issue of narrowing down their starting five, who before the deal looked a bit crowded with the return of ace Shane McClanahan expected in 2025.

But with their rotation facing considerable injury adversity in recent years, the acquisition of Boyle gives them depth with minor league options that can be inserted at the big league level when needed.

And with how good Tampa has been with developing pitching, Watters and his ground ball rates of over 50% and strikeout rates above 20% in the last two seasons adds some depth with a half-decent foundation to continue to mold.

And while the Rays don’t necessarily need more infield depth at the prospect level, adding a bat that’s hit at the rate Simpson has at every stop in his professional career so far (posting a wRC+ over 125 at every level) is never a bad option to have in your system.