Rays set to deal Myers to Padres in deal with Nats

Dec 18, 2014 - 2:22 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Wil Myers is reportedly heading from Tampa Bay to San Diego as part of an 11-player trade that also involves the Washington Nationals.

According to MLB.com, the Padres will acquire Myers, the 2013 American League Rookie of the Year, along with catcher Ryan Hanigan and minor league pitchers Gerardo Reyes and Jose Castillo from Tampa Bay. The Rays will receive catcher Rene Rivera, first baseman Jake Bauers and pitcher Burch Smith from the Padres, as well as outfielder Steven Souza and pitcher Travis Ott from Washington, while the Nationals will pick up pitcher Joe Ross and a player to be named later, said to be shortstop Trea Turner, from the Padres.

The deal is pending physicals.

Myers, who just turned 24 years old, is the centerpiece of the trade.

The Rays acquired Myers from Kansas City prior to the 2013 season in the deal that sent pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis to the Royals.

Myers, in 88 games as a rookie, batted .293, hit 13 homers and drove in 53 runs to help Tampa Bay to a wild card berth. A wrist injury slowed him down in 2014 when he played just 87 games and hit six homers with 35 RBI and batted only .222.

Hanigan hit just .218 in 84 games last season, his first in Tampa Bay after playing the first seven years of his career in Cincinnati. The 34-year-old veteran, who has played more than 100 games in a season just once, is a career. 256 hitter with 25 homers and 172 RBI in 558 games.

The Padres have been somewhat busy since the start of Winter Meetings last week, signing pitcher Brandon Morrow while adding outfielder Matt Kemp in a trade from the Dodgers. The Kemp deal has yet to be officially announced.

Tampa Bay has also undergone a major shakeup since the departures of head of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and manager Joe Maddon. Matt Silverman, Friedman's replacement, has traded pitchers Jeremy Hellickson and Joel Peralta, as well as outfielder Matt Joyce and infielder Sean Rodriguez.

The Rays, who also released veteran catcher Jose Molina, will hope Rivera can help behind the plate. The 31-year-old native of Puerto Rico played in a career-high 103 games last season with the Padres and batted .252 with 11 homers and 44 RBI.

Burch appeared in 10 games in 2013, including seven starts, and was 1-3 with a 6.44 ERA, but missed most of last year with a forearm injury, while Bauers played at Single-A in 2014. Ott was also a Class-A player last year in Washington's organization, while Souza could be the key piece for the Rays.

Souza was the International League's top player in 2014 for Washington's Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse, batting .350 with 18 homers and 75 RBI in just 96 games. The 25-year-old played in 21 games for the Nationals last year and hit two homers in 23 at-bats while also making a tremendous catch to preserve Jordan Zimmermann's no-hitter on the final day of the season.

The Nationals will pick up a former first-round pick in Ross, a 21-year-old right-hander who has not pitched above Double-A since he was chosen 25th overall in 2011.

Turner can't officially be traded until next June, as league rules mandate that a draft pick cannot be dealt until a full year after he was selected. He was the 13th overall pick last June and could be Washington's shortstop of the future with Ian Desmond set to be a free agent after next season.