Rays trading Joey Wendle actually won’t help Yankees at all

This topic is a little bit misplaced and almost stale, but this is what the lockout does to you. One minute you’re lying in bed nearing a deep slumber, next minute a traumatic New York Yankees moment pops into your head and that’s it. You’re awake for the next two hours.

Some of the traumatic moments in 2021 came at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays, whom the Yankees finished 8-11 against. New York lost five of its first six of the season against Tampa and then suffered an embarrassing 14-0 loss right before the trade deadline.

In a year many thought the Rays would be getting worse, they won 100 games and still handled the Yanks. And here we are … approaching another year in which the Rays seem to be weaker.

Right before the lockout, they traded one of their best players in Joey Wendle, who played all over the infield defensively and was a pesky lefty bat that could do a little bit of it all.

But in classic Rays fashion, the Rays got what they needed out of Wendle … and poof, just like that, they’re done. He’s now a Miami Marlin, while Tampa will plug someone else into the system to get similar results.

The sad part is that many Yankees fans saw this as a win. Wendle was an All-Star in 2021 and was just as efficient back in 2018 as well as the shortened 2020. But looking deeper into the numbers, it just doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a monumental loss for the Rays … and they likely knew that.

Joey Wendle’s departure from the Rays doesn’t really help the Yankees

Just look at how bad he was at Tropicana Field. That’s for half of the team’s games! He’s a borderline major leaguer with that production!

And if we were to break these numbers down even further … his overall numbers (and especially road numbers) against the Yankees are terrible for his career.

• Wendle overall vs Yankees – .185 average with a .524 OPS, 3 homers and 14 RBI in 51 games
• Wendle at Yankee Stadium – .170 with a .494 OPS, two homers and nine RBI in 27 games

If a Joey Wendle plays against the Yankees, do you actually feel it? Seems like we don’t! And we would’ve never guessed his production against a team the Rays perpetually own was so unimpressive, but it just goes to show how Tampa really is a machine.

And the prospect the Rays got for Wendle, who they avoided paying $4 million to in 2022? Kameron Misner, who was a 2019 first-round pick. The versatile outfielder had a fairly impressive 2021 stint between High-A and Double-A and then had a power/on-base clinic at the Arizona Fall League.

It won’t be long before Misner’s giving the Rays production … until the Rays decide it’s enough. Almost everyone’s a version of Wendle in Tampa, which makes this philosophy so scary.

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