Rays reportedly set to trade Chris Archer to the Pirates

While Manny Machado was the best player on the trade market, his price was never going to break the bank due to the fact that he was a rental player. The types of players that were always going to come with a high price tag were going to be productive players with years of team control, in particular starting pitchers. Enter: Chris Archer.

Seemingly available forever, Chris Archer comes with a string of 3+ fWAR seasons and a very team friendly deal that includes two option years. Understandably, the Rays have continually asked for a king’s ransom for him. However, there was more noise than usual this trade deadline deal that the Rays might actually move him due to the high demand for him in a market that is starved for controllable starting pitching.

As it turns out, they did just that.

Archer has been a strong contributor for the Rays. He has a career 3.69 ERA and has posted a 4.31 ERA in the brutal AL East while striking out better than a batter an inning and keeping his walk rate below 3 per 9 innings pitched. He will be a boon for a Pirates team that swooped in the final hours of the trade deadline to snatch Archer away from the Braves and Brewers.

As for the return for the Rays, we don’t have a ton of details on who they would be getting back, but there is some rumors that Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow could be in the deal.