The Rays Offseason is Definitely Underway
Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays made their first big splash of the offseason, trading RHP Nathan Karns, LHP CJ Riefenhauser and OF Boog Powell to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for SS Brad Miller, 1B/OF Logan Morrison and RHP Danny Farquhar. All three players the Rays parted ways with were integral parts of the Durham Bulls over the last two seasons. Here, we look back on their careers in Durham.
RHP Nathan Karns
Acquired in February of 2014 in a trade with Washington, Karns spent the entire 2014 regular season in Durham, going 9–9 with a 5.08 ERA. His 153 strikeouts were tied for the most in the league, and are the 2nd-most in a single season in Durham’s Triple-A history. In his lone postseason start that year, the righty tied a Bulls’ single game, Triple-A postseason record by striking out 12 Columbus Clippers as the team clinched a first-round victory at the DBAP.
LHP CJ Riefenhauser
Originally a 20th round pick by the Rays in 2010, Riefenhauser spent parts of the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons in the Bull City. Over those three seasons he appeared in 85 games, posting a solid 2.15 ERA, and allowing just 80 hits in 113.0 innings. After getting his first taste of the Bigs in 2014 with two stints, the southpaw opened 2015 with Durham but made four separate stints with the Rays this past season.
OF Boog Powell
Picked up by Tampa Bay prior to the 2015 season in the trade that sent Ben Zobrist to Oakland, Powell opened the season with Double-A Montgomery before he was promoted to Durham in late June. He reached base safely in 50 of the 56 games he played with the Bulls, and hit a combined .295 with a combined .385 OBP between the two levels. Plus, he gave us catches like this:
and this
and this
Good luck fellas.