The three-team deal that sent Josh Lowe to the Angels and Gavin Lux to the Rays over the winter was intriguing, if not season-altering. Los Angeles picked up an everyday outfielder to replace Taylor Ward, who was traded to the Orioles. Tampa Bay landed a Brandon Lowe replacement after sending the second baseman to Pittsburgh.
And then there’s Cincinnati. The Reds got off the $5.525MM owed to Lux in his final year of arbitration. They also picked up reliever Brock Burke from the Angels. It seemed like a fine bit of business, but not a move that would have a major impact on the season. The trade turned out to be a big win for Cincinnati, and pretty convincingly so.
Burke had a decent run with the Rangers after moving to the bullpen in 2022. He struggled in 2024 and was designated for assignment midway through the year. The Angels picked him up for the final six weeks of the season. Burke made the club in 2025 and put up a solid 3.36 ERA over 69 games. He had a year of team control remaining when he was sent to Cincinnati.
The 30-year-old Burke was tremendous in his lone season with the Reds. He delivered a 2.30 ERA across 74 1/3 innings. Burke’s 77 appearances led the National League. He was the club’s top left-handed option with Caleb Ferguson opening the year on the IL, and manager Terry Francona leaned on him early and often.
Burke’s season will mean more for him than it did for Cincinnati. He’s headed to free agency, where he has a solid chance to earn another big-league deal. That wasn’t a lock heading into the season. Burke landed in the “Specialists/Middle Relief” tier of our Lefty Relief Class preview.
It’s hard to choose who got less out of the trade between the other two teams. Technically, the Angels got more from a quantity perspective. Quality is a different question. Lowe hit .209 with a dozen homers and 10 steals. He finished with a career-worst 76 wRC+. A .546 OPS through the first two months of the season resulted in a demotion to the minors. He was slightly better upon returning at the end of June. Lowe is under team control for two more years.
It was a low-risk gamble for Los Angeles. The club moved on from a pending free agent reliever to acquire a former 20-homer, 30-steal outfielder. Lowe did the power/speed part pretty well, but not much else. His strikeout rate jumped back over 30% after he had trimmed it to a reasonable 25.1% in 2025. The Angels shielded Lowe from lefties, like the Rays did, and with good reason. He hit .176 with 20 strikeouts in 51 at-bats versus southpaws. Lowe was also a negative contributor by Defensive Runs Saved for the third straight year.
The Rays received precisely zero big-league production from their side of the deal. Lux went down with a shoulder injury in the spring. He had multiple setbacks during his recovery and never made it to the majors. Lux will head to free agency without donning a Rays jersey.
Tampa Bay obviously did just fine without Lux. They cruised to the AL East title. The club cobbled together the second base spot mostly through a platoon of Richie Palacios and Ben Williamson. The Rays ranked 24th in OPS at second base. The main contributions from Palacios and Williamson came with the glove. The duo compiled 5 DRS at the keystone.
Lux wasn’t the only player to head to Tampa Bay in the trade. The team also added right-hander Chris Clark from the Angels. Los Angeles took him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. Clark posted a 4.35 ERA in 27 appearances at Double-A this year. He reached Triple-A for the first time, but struggled to a 6.46 ERA over 15 1/3 innings. Clark did post a 30% strikeout rate in his six games with Durham. The 25-year-old will likely be in the Bulls’ bullpen again next season.
Photos courtesy of Frank Bowen IV of The Enquirer and Charles LeClaire, via Imagn Images
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