Tampa Bay Rays Trade RHP Joey Krehbiel for Cash Considerations

The trade deadline season is just above the horizon, and the stove is starting to heat up as the Rays issued a trade to the Kansas City Royals.

The Tampa Bay Rays have sent right-handed pitcher Joey Krehbiel to the Royals in exchange for cash considerations.

The 32-year-old right-hander is not on the Rays' 40-man roster and has been pitching for their Triple-A affiliate, the Durham Bulls, all of 2025, since signing a minor league deal to join the club back in January.

Krehbiel's time in Durham has not been a pretty sight to behold as he currently holds a 6.11 ERA in 35 innings pitched this year. He has also accumulated a 1.61 WHIP during that time.

If you want to talk positively about Krehbiel's time in Durham, he has posted a 6.1% walk rate and 20.6% strikeout rate. He has also posted a FIP of 3.99 and a xFIP of 3.96 to pair along with that.

In his MLB career, Krehbiel has a 3.65 ERA across 74 innings pitched and a WHIP of 1.19. He has most recently pitched for the Baltimore Orioles throughout the 2022-2023 season, but has not seen a big league mound since.

Krehbiel has a wide variety of pitches in his arsenal, which includes a four-seam fastball, changeup, cutter, and sinker. His pitches not only allow him to pitch with more depth, but also the vast differences in speed of his pitches also help as well.

Since Krehbiel is not active on the Rays' 40-man roster, there is no need for Tampa Bay to make a corresponding move for someone to replace Krehbiel.