Ruben Cardenas Is Acquired by Phillies From Rays.

At 2:03 p.m., the Rays officially announced that they had dealt Cardenas to the Phillies in exchange for cash.

12:56 p.m.: Kiley McDaniel of ESPN on X writes that the Phillies have acquired minor league corner outfielder Ruben Cardenas from the Rays. Cardenas won’t need a roster space with Philadelphia because he wasn’t included in Tampa’s 40-man roster. Although the Rays have no idea what they will get in exchange, minor league trades of this size sometimes include cash considerations moving both ways.

The Rays acquired the 26-year-old Cardenas after he was selected by Cleveland in the sixth round of the 2018 MLB Draft. He was traded to Tampa along with international bonus pool space prior to the 2019 deadline, while Christian Arroyo and Hunter Wood went the opposite way.

Since then, he has been moving up the minor league ladder while averaging a decent number of strikeouts along with some power. He divided 2021 between High-A and Double-A, hitting 441 plate appearances with 25 home runs, but he also walked just 5.4% of the time and struck out 26.1% of the time.

In 2022, he advanced to Triple-A and played in 82 games there. He increased his walk rate to 10.1% and hit 16 home runs, but he also struck out 29.2% of the time and slashed.208/.289/.440 with an 89 wRC+. With 22 home runs in 132 games, an 11.3% walk rate, a 26.4% strikeout rate, a.269/.358/.475 hitting line, and a 108 wRC+, he made modest progress last year after returning to Triple-A.

He has reduced his strikeout percentage to 21% while back in Triple-A in 2024, but he has only walked 5.9% of the time. With 11 home runs in just 49 games this year, he has demonstrated his continued power, as evidenced by his.281/.346/.530 line and 121 wRC+. Cardenas has never been a highly anticipated prospect, but FanGraphs did name him as an honorable mention among the Rays’ prospects for 2022 and 2023.
Cardenas will give the Phillies some extra depth in the outfield without taking up a spot on the roster, even if they are tied with the Yankees for the best record in MLB. On the other hand, the Rays’ outfield is made up of Josh Lowe, Richie Palacios, Jose Siri, Jonny DeLuca, Harold Ramírez, and Randy Arozarena. Additionally, infielder Taylor Walls has started a rehabilitation assignment and may shortly return to the team, which may force Amed Rosario to play on grass or turf. Instead of sending Cardenas to Tampa, where he would have likely struggled to get playing time, they moved him to Philadelphia for a small financial benefit.