The Rays and the Twins curated an engaging one-on-one exchange in the deadline. Minnesota deal setter Griffin Jax Young open pitcher to Tampa Bay Taj Mahal Bradley.
Jax, 30, is one of the amazing five relief workers the twins have traded in the past two days. He follows Jhoan Duran,,,,, Brock Stewart,,,,, Danny Coulombe and Louis Varland Go out. Minnesota demolished one of the best bullpens in the game. Of course, this won’t even solve their biggest deal of the day.
Jax is a third-round draft pick from the Air Force and has developed into a high-end reliefist. This year’s 4.50 ERA may not reflect that, but he missed the Bat’s elite rate. Jax hit 36.4% of opponent batsmen while running a 19.5% swing strike rate. In both categories, he comfortably ranks the top ten rescuers in Major League Baseball. Jax posted very similar base numbers in 72 games a year ago. Last season’s era reflected this dominance as he got his hands on 2.03 points in 71 innings.
Opponent batsmen averaged 0.389 against Jax. This is the highest level for any pitcher in at least 40 innings in the MLB. Jax has allowed 300 BABIPs in each of the past three seasons. The season’s mark is a clear outlier, and the team continues to see him as a weapon behind the bullpen. Jax is able to run fastballs on average to 97 mph, but his two best products are his sweeping and variations. This is a mixture of plus three lines.
Jax joins Pete Fairbanks,,,,, Brian Baker and Garrett Cleavinger Toward the back of the Tampa Bay bullpen remodel. He may be in the setting role in front of Fairbanks for the rest of the season. Although this seems to be a huge interest, Rays choose not to trade their deals. Fairbanks may once again be the subject of trade chat during the offseason. If Tampa Bay pulled a trade at the time, then Jax would have a good chance of entering the ninth inning.
The Rays controlled JAX for two seasons. His salary in the first arbitration year was 2.365 mm. Duran prevented him from making many savings in Minnesota, which would build his arbitration income. Next season, he may get a salary in the 4-5mm range and in the last set of the entire process, he may get a salary between 6-8mm. Tampa Bay crossed the line between buying and selling this summer, but they didn’t give up hope of deleting three deficits in the wildcard picture. Even if they don’t make the playoffs, they will have a few more seasons of JAX.
It was fascinating, and the ray was willing to move on from Bradley. The 6’2-inch outlook is the highest prospect for the past three seasons. He never really put everything together, making ERA 4.11 or higher in every season. Home run was the biggest culprit in the first two years, but he missed the bat with the added average control of the league. In 2025, this is a different story. Bradley’s strikeout rate dropped to 20.2% as he was getting less and less swing. He improved his Earth rate and controlled the long ball, but his 4.61 ERA in 21 starts were in line with his career mark.
In the All-Star Game, the rays were reportedly open to Bradley. It seems obvious that he lost favor when they chose him last week after giving up four runs last week without escaping the second inning against the White Sox. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’ll trade him with everything he can, but Bradley’s inconsistent results are getting more and more frustrated. Tampa Bay in Bradley and Zack Littellbut they brought the former rotation point to the right throw Joe Boyle. They replaced the latter by obtaining Adrian Houser From the White Sox.
Now coaxing Bradley, now landing on the twins. He thinks the rotation is back to Minnesota. He will be behind Joe Ryan,,,,, Zebby Matthews final Pablo López Among the starters. Minnesota also lands on talented rookie right-handed Mick Alber Philadelphia who returned from Duran. Apparently, they look forward to a 2026 season that could be new ownership and hope to pitch around the young start.
Bradley may not have the ongoing Major League Baseball (MLB) success, but it’s easy to see the appeal. Controllable start selling is the hardest asset to obtain. Bradley of Minnesota has been four seasons since this game. He has a four-stage mix led by a 96mph fastball, and the command begins. If the twins can marry the swing and turnover abilities he showed last season, Bradley will have a more valuable long-term asset than the relaxer, even as good as JAX.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that Rays is buying JAX. Dan Hayes of track and field returned to Bradley. Image courtesy of Lon Howedel and Jonathan Dyer, Imagn images.
