The Tampa Bay Rays are 49-33 on the season which has them in second place in the A.L. East, 2 games behind the Yankees. The Rays are only 1/2 a game ahead of the Red Sox for the A.L. Wildcard right now. The Wildcard is not the goal so with that in mind the Rays will likely be on the hunt for a difference maker at the trade deadline. The Rays really need a big bat to help the offense and I think that’s the #1 need. I would target either Prince Fielder or Adam LaRoche. Fiedler would cost the Rays a lot but he would give the team a legit cleanup hitter to bat behind Evan Longoria. Adam LaRoche would likely cost a lot less in terms of players and he always has a strong second half of the season. I also think either Luke Scott or Jose Guillen would make sense if the Rays want to go that route. I hear whispers that the Rays are on the fringe of talking about Cliff Lee. The Mariners are said to be very interested in B.J. Upton. If the Rays could move Upton while getting a pitcher the caliber of Cliff Lee that would be a no brainer to me. While I don’t think the Rays need another starting pitcher you have to listen when Cliff Lee is getting talked about. The Rays also need a second lefty in the bullpen but they might have fixed that need with the recent signing of Brian Shouse. It will be interesting to see how many chips the Rays push to the middle of the table.

The Rays have signed 41-year old lefty reliever Brian Shouse to a minor league deal. They then immediately placed Shouse on the 15-day disabled list as he has a knee sprain. When he feels a little better he will go on a rehab assignment. Shouse pitched in 45 games (0 starts) for the Rays last season and he was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He has now pitched in 467 games (0 starts) in his 10 years in the majors and he is 13-10 with 6 saves, a 3.72 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. This was a good move for the Rays as Shouse will give them a 2nd lefty out of the pen when he gets healthy.