Rays trade Emilio Pagan to Padres for Manuel Margot, prospect

The Tampa Bay Rays traded reliever Emilio Pagan to the San Diego Padres for center fielder Manuel Margot and catcher/outfielder prospect Logan Driscoll, the teams announced Saturday.

The Rays boasted one of the deepest bullpens in baseball, and now the same can be said of the Padres, who add Pagan to a group that includes Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Craig Stammen,Matt Strahmand Andres Munoz.

Pagan, 28, posted a 2.31 ERA across 70 innings for the Rays last season. He led the team's vaunted bullpen in saves (20) and strikeouts (96) and posted career highs in WHIP (0.81) and opponent average (.179).

The Padres lost some outfielder depth in the deal with Margot, who was part of trade talks all winter, including ones for Mookie Betts, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The 24-year-old slashed .234/.304/.387 and hit 12 home runs in 441 plate appearances last year. He ranked second among National League center fielders in fielding percentage (.992).

Driscoll, 22, was a second-round pick out of George Mason in 2019.