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Rays Deal Jackson To Tigers For OF Joyce

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: December 11, 2008

Updated: 12/11/2008 12:33 am

LAS VEGAS - The Rays remain in the market for an established slugger, but they made a preliminary move to shore up their offense Wednesday night.

Tampa Bay acquired outfielder Matt Joyce, an Armwood High product, from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for 14-game winner Edwin Jackson as both teams dealt from an area of strength to address a need.

Joyce will slot in with Gabe Gross and Fernando Perez in the Rays' right field mix with the expectation that the 24-year-old with considerable power potential could play a bigger role in the future.

To get him, the Rays parted with Jackson, whose remarkable turnaround from 2007 to 2008 mirrored that of the team. Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said the 25-year-old would move into Detroit's injury-wracked rotation, and Jackson's departure could clear the way for David Price to move into the Rays' starting five, though Andrew Friedman wouldn't commit to that just yet.

The two general managers said they had been discussing trade possibilities since the first day of the winter meetings, including some potential three-way deals. One of them reportedly included the Mariners and would have sent closer J.J. Putz to Detroit. That didn't work out, though, and Putz ultimately was dealt to the Mets early Wednesday morning in a 12-player deal that also included the Indians.

Finally, the Rays and Tigers decided to keep it simple and trade straight-up.

"It's just really a situation where with them, they're so deep with their pitching, and we matched up," Dombrowski said. "We didn't want to trade Matt Joyce; we like Matt Joyce. But we do have depth in the outfield."

Joyce split 2008 between Detroit and Triple-A Toledo. He burst on the scene with the Tigers, hitting five homers in his first 36 at-bats, and ended up with a total of 12 longballs in 92 games. He is currently playing winter ball in Mexico, and is hitting .291 with eight homers and 25 RBIs in 30 games for Mexicali.

Acquiring Joyce, who can play any outfield position and is considered an above-average defender, likely will make it easier for the Rays to focus on a player more suited to serve as a designated hitter as they troll the free-agent market.

Two of the players they have met with this week, Jason Giambi and Milton Bradley, would fit into that category. Others on the market such as Adam Dunn could also slot in there, and Friedman made it clear the Rays are still on the prowl.

"It certainly doesn't take us out of the running for a DH/right fielder-type," said Friedman, "but [getting Joyce] does give us great depth in the event that we're not able to acquire one."

Though Friedman said the Rays didn't enter the winter looking to move any of their pitchers, that's what every team he talked to about a trade wanted. It seemed likely all along the Rays would move either Jackson or Andy Sonnanstine, and they ended up hanging onto perhaps the more versatile of the pair.

Still, Jackson's ceiling remains high. At 25, he's coming off a 14-11 season that followed a miserable 5-15 campaign. If he can continue throw in the mid-to-upper 90s and refine his strike-throwing – one area of improvement specifically mentioned by Dombrowski – he has the potential to get even better.

Reached late Wednesday night on his cell phone, Jackson was upbeat about his new start.

"It's not a bad team by far, regardless of the standings last year," Jackson said. "Everybody knows Detroit is a powerhouse team. They can hit, they can play defense – it's a great team to go to."

As for leaving the Rays, that's just the way it goes, he said.

"We had a long, fun season together," Jackson said. "It's a great group of guys and everybody there was comfortable in the clubhouse, but it's a business, and that's part of the game.

"Sometimes things happen where you have to go play with another team, and I know it's a great group of guys [in Detroit] and hopefully I can go in there and contribute, put up same kind of performance I put up last year."

Joyce, who spent three years at Florida Southern after graduating from Armwood, was the Tigers' 12th-round pick in the 2005 draft. The Riverview resident wasn't available for comment immediately after the trade was announced. He was on the field for Mexicali, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in a 4-3 loss to Navojoa.

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