Jadher

Areinamo

No real surprises among this batch of cuts for the Rays. Areinamo may have had an opportunity to open some eyes during Grapefruit League play, but he was shelved early on due to tightness in his right hamstring and is expected to miss “a bit” of time.

The 22-year-old was removed from Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury, and he will now head to see a doctor and get an MRI. Areinamo has dealt with hamstring injuries in the past, so this might wind up being a longer stint on the shelf than the middle infielder was hoping for.

The Rays are saying that his early exit was purely precautionary and the 22-year-old infielder should be considered day-to-day. Areinamo is coming off of an impressive offseason where he was named the Rookie of the Year in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. He’s expected to open the season at Double-A Montgomery.

Areinamo was shut down after just 36 games in the winter season, but that was more than enough time to impress. The 22-year-old hit .364/.420/.692 with 13 home runs, 43 RBI, and five steals. He was acquired from the Brewers at the deadline last year for Danny Jansen. This has the makings of a great return after Areinamo also impressed in 131 games split between High-A and Double-A last year.

Areinamo was playing about as well as anyone in the Venezuelan Winter League until Nov. 30, when he had to leave La Guaira to apply for an extended visa. That came through and he was set to rejoin the team today, but the Rays decided to deny permission for that to happen. The 22-year-old Areinamo was hitting .364/.420/.693 with 13 homers in 36 games for the Tiburones. He leads the circuit in OPS and was tops in homers when he departed, with only Balbino Fuenmayor having overtaken him since.

Areinanmo came over in a swap with the Brewers at the trade deadline and projects as a versatile utility infielder once he reaches the big leagues.

Areinamo is an intriguing pickup for the Rays, with his stock on the rise thanks to a breakout season at High-A Wisconsin, where he’s slashed .297/.355/.463 with 11 homers and 15 steals over 94 games. He makes an impressive amount of contact despite an unorthodox swing and offers enough defensive versatility to project as a potential utility option at the highest level in a few years.

The deal should be official at some point shortly. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal adds that the Rays are also on the verge of swinging an additional trade with the Marlins for veteran backstop Nick Fortes. He’ll split the catching duties in Tampa Bay with Matt Thaiss over the final two months. Meanwhile, Jansen provides Milwaukee with a reliable lefty-mashing option at catcher, allowing them to move William Contreras to DH with greater frequency down the home stretch.