Rays trade Brandon Guyer to Indians for pair of minor leaguers
TAMPA BAY RAYS PRESS RELEASE
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired minor league outfielder Nathan Lukes (LOO-kis) and minor league right-handed pitcher Jhonleider Salinas (yo-LAHN-der) from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for outfielder Brandon Guyer.
Lukes, 22, is batting .299/.369/.444 (109-for-365) with 22 doubles, eight triples, five home runs and 33 RBI in 94 games this season between Class-A Lake County and Class-A Lynchburg. He hit .301/.375/.453 (103-for-342) in 89 games with Lake County and ranked among Midwest League leaders in slugging percentage (ninth), on-base plus slugging (.829, sixth), hits (10th), extra-base hits (34, 10th), triples (8, tied for second) and runs scored (54, ninth) at the time of his July 27 promotion to the Carolina League. The left-handed hitter ranks seventh among Indians minor leaguers in batting average. Lukes was selected by the Indians in the seventh round of the 2015 June Draft out of Cal State Sacramento and remains the program's all-time leader in hits (244).
Salinas, 20, has gone 3-2 with a 3.30 ERA (30-IP, 11-ER) and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings in nine games (four starts) with the Rookie-level Arizona League Indians this season. He ranks among AZL leaders in ERA (10th) and strikeouts (38, third). He was signed as a free agent out of Venezuela in 2015. Over parts of two minor league seasons, he is 5-4 with a 2.93 ERA (70.2-IP, 23-ER) in 23 appearances (13 starts).
Guyer, 30, is a career .255/.341/.396 (217-for-851) hitter over parts of five seasons, all with the Rays. This season, he has been hit by pitch a major-league-leading 23 times over 63 games, 55 starts (22-LF, 14-CF, 10-RF, 9-DH). He is one of five players in the majors with at least 10 starts at all three outfield positions, joining Gregor Blanco (Giants), Jarrod Dyson (Royals), Aaron Hicks (Yankees) and Trayce Thompson (Dodgers). He is a career .283/.384/.464 (113-for-399) hitter with 15 home runs vs. left-handed pitching and leads the American League with a .488 on-base percentage vs. lefties this season. He leaves the Rays as the franchise's career leader with 58 hit by pitches.
