Thinking outside the box on this one. Rays are likely going to trade their last two established bats this Winter (Y.Diaz and B.Lowe) for payroll savings. With their stadium issue and no broadcast deal, the Rays are going to be hurting for money. So if the team isn’t going to contend, should they hold McClanny until he shows he’s fully recovered from TJS, or do a trade this Winter to avoid the risk of setbacks? Now here is where it gets interesting. Vargas and Hope are both far off high upside prospects and are healthy to my knowledge. No issue with them. The pitchers though… well, all 3 had elbow surgeries this year. Sheehan might pitch in the 2nd half of 2025 but Ryan and Hurt are most likely going to miss 2025, and with the Dodgers having 7 pitchers on the 60 day that they need to add back to the roster next week, this trade both provides the Dodgers with another Ace (and a cheap one at that) while also providing a net 2 player improvement to the 40 man. The Rays aren’t contending next year, and will be trading several players from their 40 man this Winter, so they can afford to take on 3 high upside pitchers who won’t pitch much or at all next year. By the time these pitchers return to pitching, the Rays will have traded away Ras and Springs and will have opening in the rotation.