Rays jump to pick up Forsythe

Thursday, January 23, 2014

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired infielder Logan Forsythe, pitcher Brad Boxberger and three minor-leaguers from the San Diego Padres in exchange for pitchers Alex Torres and Jesse Hahn.

Forsythe, a former Arkansas Razorbacks player, batted .214 with 6 home runs and 19 RBI last season while starting games at five different positions with the Padres. He hit .273 in a career-high 91 games the previous season.

“Once the shock got out of the way, it was excitement for me and my fiancee,” Forsythe told reporters during a conference call Tuesday. “We’re ready to go.”

Forsythe, 27, played in 75 games last season and was one of six major-leaguers to play four different positions while appearing in at least 10 games. The others were San Diego’s Alexi Amarista, Philadelphia’s Freddy Galvis, Detroit’s Don Kelly, Justin Turner of the New York Mets and Skip Schumaker of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That versatility was one of the main reasons the Rays were so interested in acquiring Forsythe, even though he has been slowed by injuries.

“[Forsythe] was a guy we had tried to acquire previously, and he was very high on our target list,” Andrew Friedman, the Rays’ executive vice president of baseball operations, told MLB.com.

Forsythe suffered a torn plantar fascia in his right foot during spring training in late March that ended up costing him two stints on the disabled list, the first one lasting 15 days and the second lasting 60 days. He said the foot injury was addressed at the end of last season, when doctors put his injured foot in a protective boot for three weeks, and Forsythe told reporters Tuesday that his foot has “felt great” since removing the boot.

“I’ve done therapy the past couple of months and just got slowly back into shape,” he told reporters. “The whole thing with the plantar kind of affected everything else, including my knees and hips. So when that feels good, everything else feels good.”

Boxberger, 25, split time between San Diego and Class AA Tucson in 2013, appearing in 18 games and compiling a 2.86 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 22 innings over five stints with the Padres.

Torres went 4-2 with a 1.71 ERA in 39 appearances with the Rays. The 26-year-old left-hander ranked third among American League relievers with a .159 opponents’ batting average.

Hahn, 24, went 2-1 with a 2.15 ERA in 19 starts at Class A Charlotte last season.

The Rays also received minor league pitchers Matt Andriese and Matt Lollis, as well as infielder Maxx Tissenbaum in the deal completed Wednesday.

Sports, Pages 17 on 01/23/2014