Rays to promote Wil Myers to majors

The Tampa Bay Rays will promote outfielder Wil Myers to the majors on Tuesday, in a move first reported by Adam Berry of MLB.com. To make room for Myers, the team optioned Ryan Roberts to Triple-A Durham.

Myers, who was one of four players acquired from the Kansas City Royals in an offseason megadeal for James Shields and Wade Davis, was ranked the fourth best prospect in baseball entering the season by Baseball America. In 63 games on the season with Durham, he is hitting .283 with 14 HR and 57 RBI, but has been on an offensive tear as of late. In his last 32 games, Myers has hit .354 with 10 HR and 32 RBI, which "accelerated the conversation" about his promotion, as Rays' general manager Andrew Friedman told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. Friedman added that Myers will see significant playing time for the Rays, mostly in right field.

After a 2012 season in which he hit .314 with 37 HR and 109 RBI in 134 games split between Double-A Northern Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha, Myers was named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America. He was the subject of trade rumors throughout the winter, and scenarios included him possibly being traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Jon Lester. On December 10th, he was finally shipped to the Rays with prospects Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, and Patrick Leonard in exchange for Shields and Davis.

In five minor league seasons, Myers is a career .300 hitter with 78 HR and 316 RBI. He heads to the majors in hopes of carrying over the stellar offensive performance of his last two seasons.