Phillies trade RHP Edgar Garcia to Rays for PTBNL

The Phillies have traded RHP Edgar Garcia to the Rays

With less than two weeks to go until the August 31 trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies have made their first move.

On Tuesday, the club announced that it has traded right-handed relief pitcher Edgar Garcia to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for a player to be named later (PTBNL), as first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber.

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In a corresponding move, the Rays designated infielder Daniel Robertson for assignment. Robertson, 26, had not yet appeared this season with the Rays; in 236 career games from 2017-19, the California, native slashed .231/.340/.352 with 32 doubles, 16 home runs, and 72 RBI.

The 23-year-old, Dominican Republic native had previously been designated for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot for top Phillies hitting prospect Alec Bohm. Garcia had not made an appearance at the MLB level in 2020; last season as a rookie in red pinstripes, he went 2-0 with a 5.77 ERA, 45-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.641 WHIP spanning 37 appearances and 39 innings.

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It is not yet known which player the Phillies will receive from the Rays in return for Garcia. As Lauber noted, players who are not among those on a team’s 60-man player pool must be considered a “player to be named” in any trade made during the shortened 2020 season.

“There’s a decent chance, then, that Phillies/Rays have identified the return for Garcia but can’t reveal it yet,” Lauber added.

Garcia will report to the Rays’ alternate training site in Port Charlotte.

Seventeen games into the shortened 60-game slate, the Phillies sit at 8-9 and will begin a two-game road set opposite the American League East-worst Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

This trade is surely one of at least a few for general manager Matt Klentak ahead of the August 31 deadline.