*Photo from Bleacher Report*
It appears as if those constant trade rumors may have some strength to them this time. Tampa Bay Rays OF Kevin Kiermaier revealed that he was told by Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander that the team was receiving phone calls on a trade for Kiermaier before the lockout began in early December.
As things stand right now, Kiermaier is the longest tenured member of the Rays organization, and has been the subject of trade rumors for the last few years. Kiermaier did note that it was unlikely a trade was going to get anywhere near done before the lockout, but he was very aware that things could change pretty quickly.
Kiermaier said to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that "I couldn't believe that Joey Wendle got traded. Then I'm like, 'Well, if he got traded and this article is saying the discussions are heating up, I'm for sure getting traded now.'"
That trade with Wendle, who was sent to the Miami Marlins for outfield prospect Kameron Misner, had talks begin on November 30, with the lockout going into effect on December 2. That trade was quickly finalized, with the news going out that the trade was official one day later, on December 1.
In his career, all with the Rays, Kiermaier has a lifetime .249 batting average and .720 OPS, hitting 75 home runs to go along with 294 RBI's and 106 stolen bases in 851 games. In 4 seasons of playoff baseball, Kiermaier has a .220 batting average and .703 OPS, with 4 home runs plus 11 RBI's in 29 playoff games.
The 2022 season is the second to last year of Kiermaier's 6 year, $53 million contract he signed with the Rays prior to the beginning of the 2017 season. The platinum glove center fielder is owed $14.7 million at minimum the next two seasons, with the potential to earn as much as $25.2 million thanks to incentives.
Kiermaier also offered his thoughts on what will happen at the end of the lockout, saying that "If and when the lockout gets lifted, I think the 24-72 hours after that are going to be absolutely nuts for baseball in general. And I'm over here wondering myself what's going to happen. So, wild times right now."
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