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Rays Rumors: Kyle Farnsworth, B.J. Upton Trades

The Rays aren't necessarily sellers this year, but they do have some more costly pieces that they're reportedly interested in moving. We'll keep an eye on all of the Rays rumors today, and offer you the latest here.

  • Closer Kyle Farnsworth is among the players that Tampa is willing to trade, according to ESPN's Buster Olney. Farnsworth, 35, is actually having a really strong year for the Rays, with a 1.99 ERA and 19 saves through his first 44 appearances. His peripheral numbers back up the strong performance, too, as improved command has allowed him to post a 2.71 FIP. The veteran reliever also has a $3.3 million club option on his deal for next season, so any team that acquires him would be receiving two potential years of service.
  • According to a report from Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of FOX Sports from yesterday, B.J. Upton is emerging as a legitimate alternative to Carlos Beltran on the trade market in the eyes of some teams. Although Upton can't match Beltran's offensive ability, he's a far superior defender and base-runner that's under control for an extra year; toss in his sheer potential for improvement, and it's not surprising that some teams may prefer to acquire the younger Upton. One GM told Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan that Beltran is the far superior option for winning this season, though, compared to Upton.
  • Also, for those who may have missed it before, The Process Report, a fantastic Rays blog started up a year ago by R.J. Anderson, Tommy Rancel, Heath Baywood, Ian Malinowski and MLBDD's own Chris St. John, shut its doors a couple weeks ago. Although many of those guys will still have a presence somewhere else on the Internet, it's surely disappointing to see such a quality site go down.