The Rays are acquiring outfielder Ryan Vilade from the Reds, according to a team announcement. Tampa is sending cash considerations to Cincinnati in exchange for Vilade’s services.
Vilade, 27 in February, joins the Rays following a season where he split time between the Cardinals and Reds organizations. He signed a minor league deal with St. Louis all the way back in December, and began the year in the minor leagues. Vilade hit well enough to get called up to the big league roster in late May, though he appeared in just seven games before being designated for assignment by the Cards in the middle of June. He was plucked off waivers by the Reds shortly thereafter, though they optioned him to Triple-A and he spent the majority of the rest of the season with the club’s Louisville affiliate and made just one appearance in Cincinnati.
Overall, Vilade went just 1-for-13 with two walks and five strikeouts in his taste of big league action this year. That more or less tracks with his limited cameos as a member of the Tigers and Rockies over the years, and he’ll join the Rays with a career .141/.200/.188 slash line across 71 plate appearances in the big leagues. His Triple-A numbers do suggest there might be more to Vilade than meets the eye, however. Between Louisville and the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate in Memphis, Vilade slashed a robust .290/.378/.511 in 113 games this year. He hit 29 doubles, 4 triples, and 17 homers in that time with 11 steals in 13 attempts, and struck out just 19.3% of the time. It’s an impressive profile, though on some level that’s to be expected of a 27-year-old outfielder hitting at Triple-A.
Even so, a small market team like the Rays could certainly benefit from taking a flier on Vilade. Tampa is in clear need of outfield help after a disappointing 2025 season where they had the fifth-worst outfield in baseball by wRC+ with a figure of just 85. That’s 15% worse than league average, and if the Rays don’t have the budget to make adding a big bat to the outfield a priority this winter, then it’s possible they could simply look to take fliers on players like Vilade who have succeeded in the minors but not yet gotten significant run in the big leagues. That sort of player isn’t quite as valuable for the Reds, who have Gavin Lux, TJ Friedl, Noelvi Marte, Spencer Steer, and Will Benson as potential outfield contributors on the roster with both Friedl and Marte as likely average or better regulars next year.