Looking At The Danny Jansen Trade From a Rays Perspective

The Tampa Bay Rays traded Catcher Danny Jansen to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Jadher Areinamo, the 21st-ranked prospect in the Brewers’ farm system. The Rays made a corresponding trade to fill Jansen’s absence, acquiring Catcher Nick Fortes. The two moves raise more questions than answers, specifically on the Rays’ side. Was this move really necessary, or do the Rays have a plan here? 

Danny Jansen Had a Mutual Option On His Deal

Danny Jansen didn’t have a spectacular year with the Rays by any means, but replacing him with Fortes is a puzzling move by the Rays. Jansen was on a one-year contract worth $8.5 million, but it included a mutual option for next season that would’ve been worth $12 million. Although Jansen has been three percent below the league average this season, his contract seemed pretty good value for a catcher who’s hit 11 bombs this season. 

Fortes, on the other hand, has been much worse offensively than Danny Jansen this season. Fortes has been 24 percent below the league average and is by far a worse hitter than Jansen, with two home runs this season. Statistically, the Rays just got much worse offensively at the catcher position with this trade. Defensively, Fortes is a much better framer and has a better pop time than Jansen, but that’s about it. 

The Move Just Doesn’t Make Sense 

The Rays are one game over .500 and pretty much out of the race for the division. Moving Jansen and acquiring Fortes doesn’t make them worse, except at the catcher position itself. But it doesn’t make them better either, leaving us to speculate on the reason they made the trade. Getting a top 25 prospect in the Brewers system for an average bat in Jansen should be considered a win, so maybe we can view Fortes as nothing but a replacement at this point. 

At the surface level, this trade doesn’t seem to elevate the Rays or bring them down too much. If the knowledge around the Rays was that the mutual option with Jansen wasn’t going to get picked up, then good on Tampa Bay for getting a top 25 prospect for him. If not, then this trade doesn’t make much sense.