Athletics acquire LHP Springs in trade with Rays

The Athletics are acquiring left-hander Jeffrey Springs in a six-player trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, sources told ESPN, continuing their push toward contention and significant increase in their payroll as they head into their first season in Sacramento.

Springs and one other player will go to the A’s while right-handers Joe Boyle and Jacob Watters, first baseman Will Simpson and a Competitive Balance A round draft pick – somewhere in the late 30s – will go to the Rays, sources said.

Pushing its payroll into the $100 million range, the A’s acquired Springs – who is owed $10.5 million each of the next two seasons and has a $15 million club option for 2027 – on the heels of giving free agent Luis Severino a three-year, $67 million contract.

Springs, 32, broke out in 2022 with the Rays after bouncing from Texas to Boston to Tampa Bay. He looked primed for a big 2023 after signing an extension, only to tear the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow.

He returned from Tommy John surgery last season and in seven starts went 2-2 with a 3.27 ERA and 37 strikeouts against 11 walks in 33 innings. Springs will join Severino and J.P. Sears in a rotation that also could include left-hander Hogan Harris and right-handers Joey Estes, Mitch Spence, Osvaldo Bido or Luis Medina.

The A’s went 69-93 this year and with a core of designated hitter Brent Rooker, outfielders Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday, catcher Shea Langeliers, shortstop Jacob Wilson and first-base prospect Nick Kurtz, are positioning themselves to compete in a wide-open American League West division.

The 25-year-old Boyle is the lone player going to the Rays with major league experience. At 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, Boyle throws a 98-mph fastball and devastating slider that both grade as well-above-average pitches. Throughout his time with the A’s – and, before that, Cincinnati – controlling them was always the issue. In 47.2 innings this year between the rotation and bullpen, Boyle struck out 56 and walked 40 but allowed just four home runs.

Simpson, a 15th-round draft pick out of Washington in 2023, ascended to AA this year after hitting .270/.373/.480 with 16 home runs and 81 RBIs in 109 games at High-A. In addition to his time at first base, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Simpson dabbled at third base and played outfield in college.

Watters, taken in the fourth round out of West Virginia in 2022, split time between the rotation and bullpen in High-A this year. He went 6-3 with a 5.04 ERA, striking out 56 and walking 28 in 60.2 innings.

The Competitive Balance Round A pick is worth around $2.5 million in bonus-pool dollars for the Rays, who have their own competitive-balance pick two slots ahead of the one they acquired in the deal.