Tampa Bay’s Jeremy Hellickson is drawing a huge amount of interest in trade talks, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman—and any general manager who isn’t calling Tampa Bay’s Andrew Friedman to try and acquire him, frankly, shouldn’t be a general manager.
Hellickson, 25, made 31 starts for the Rays in 2012, going 10-11 with a 3.14 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 124 strikeouts over 177 innings of work.
Winner of the 2011 AL Rookie of the Year award and a Gold Glove recipient in 2012, Hellickson has a career mark of 27-21 to go along with an impressive 3.06 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in just over 400 innings—with the bulk of those innings coming in AL East play.
He’s also under team control through the 2017 season.
So why would the Rays be looking to move someone with considerable upside who has yet to reach his prime?
Two words: Scott Boras.
Hellickson is represented by the mega-agent, and Tampa Bay knows that reaching any sort of long-term deal with him is virtually impossible.
Moving him now would bring back a substantial return for the Rays, primarily a middle-of-the-order bat to pair alongside 3B Evan Longoria.
Let’s take a look at five teams who not only have the hitting prospects that Tampa Bay would covet, but who would benefit greatly by adding Hellickson to their rotations.