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This was a trade not of talent but of fit: the M’s gave up some late-innings punch to buy flexibility, as the team struggles to weed the Tacoma Rainiers out of its major-league rotation.

Ramirez returns not a different pitcher, per se, but the best version of that former self: a versatile, four-pitch wormburner-type who can work the sixth inning and also maybe the first five.

When the prodigal swingman left Seattle on the eve of the 2015 season, he was seen as a regrettable roster casualty, the perfect shuttle candidate tragically out of options. John EshlemanĪcquired RHP Erasmo Ramirez from Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for RHP Steve Cishek. He brings no speed and only average defense at first base, so I see a strong-side platoon role as long as he maintains his best skill: plate discipline. That Gillaspie has demonstrated an ability to make adjustments bodes will for him, and he’ll prove 2014 me wrong by contributing in the majors. I’m not a fan of Gillaspie’s right-handed swing, and while he’s hung in at Triple-A, he doesn’t get the bat through the zone quick enough for consistent contact for me to see it playing well at the big-league level. Despite his adjustments, he still struggles with good velocity, but is at his best going opposite field and hoping to find a gap, pulling softer and inner stuff. He’s shortened his stroke, allowing him to find his power when he’s in fastball counts, which is often, since his patience at the plate is what got him here (career 12 percent walk rate). But he’s done well making his game work and performed well up until this season in Triple-A Durham. A switch-hitter, my thought then was that his left-handed swing was too long and the first-base offensively threshold was too high for him to live up to his first-round selection. I first saw Gillespie soon after the 2014 draft, for a few games in the NYPL. Subscribe to Baseball Prospectus IN THIS ISSUEĪcquired 1B-S Casey Gillaspie from Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for LHP Dan Jennings.