Another team in the American League East made a trade, and no, it wasn’t the Boston Red Sox.
Just a few days after the New York Yankees went out and acquired an outfielder — one Red Sox fans know well — the Tampa Bay Rays followed suit on Saturday by trading for Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. In the deal, the Rays sent catcher Christian Cerda to the Diamondbacks, per Passan.
While Peralta isn’t exactly a household name, especially after playing for the lowly Diamondbacks for all nine seasons of his big-league career, the 34-year-old is a reliable hitter who should fit in well with the Rays. The left-hander hitter is batting .248 with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs this season.
Peralta will look to give the Rays a boost with Tampa Bay dealing with a couple of injuries at the moment to star Wander Franco and Harold Ramirez.
Obtaining Peralta was an aggressive move by the Rays as they look to at least maintain their playoff position. Tampa Bay, who owns a 54-47 record heading into Saturday, currently sits tied with the Seattle Mariners for the second wild card spot in the AL.
Peralta was never officially linked to the Red Sox, but was viewed as someone who could provide an upgrade for Boston’s outfield.
With the Major League Baseball trade deadline on Aug. 2 almost here, two AL East teams have already cashed in on the trade market. And surely, this puts pressure on other contending teams in the division — whether the Red Sox are in that category is debatable — to go out and add to their squads as well.
