Rays cut RHP Cole Wilcox, five others, acquire UTIL Ryan Vilade from Cincinnati

The Rays announced a flurry of roster moves this afternoon, and added a utility player from the Reds Triple-A roster. Let’s get into it:

The Tampa Bay Rays have made the following roster moves:- Reinstated RHP Alex Faedo and OF Stuart Fairchild from the 60-day IL and designated them for assignment.- Designated RHP Garrett Acton, RHP Caleb Boushley, RHP Joey Gerber and RHP Cole Wilcox for assignment.- Reinstated RHP Hunter Bigge, OF Jonny DeLuca, LHP Shane McClanahan and RHP Manuel Rodríguez from the 60-day IL.

Let’s take those in reverse order. First up is the return to the 40-man roster of injured players Bigge (shoulder/face), DeLuca (shoulder) McClanahan (nerve), Rodriguez (elbow). All four should be viewed as part of the Rays long range plans, and worthy of the 40-man roster spot.

In corresponding moves, four players were straight designated in RHP Garrett Acton, RHP Caleb Boushley, RHP Joey Gerber and RHP Cole Wilcox for assignment.

Among them Wilcox is the most notable name, having been originally acquired alongside Luis Patiño, Francisco Mejía and Blake Hunt in the miserable trade that sent Blake Snell to the Padres. Wilcox required Tommy John surgery in September 2021 and struggled to return, so the Rays converted him to relief in 2025. At the tail end of the season, the Rays gave Wilcox one inning to pitch on September 19th, picking up one strikeout and allowing seven runs to the Boston Red Sox.

Nevertheless, Wilcox was ranked in the Top-10 prospects at MLB Pipeline, so his departure is a bit of a surprise.

Finally, the Rays also reinstated and released RHP Alex Faedo, who was injured in Spring Training and never made his way to the starting roster, and OF Stuart Fairchild, who was acquired as a defensive replacement for the Rays outfield; however, he was injured during warmups prior to his first game with the team.

Rays acquire INF/OF Ryan Vilade

Primarily an outfielder, Vilade has hopped around four major league teams without much success at the highest level. In 71 career PA across four franchises he has a 9 wRC+, but was bopping in Triple-A, including a 134 wRC+ with 17 HR and 11 SB over 461 PA across two teams. The Rays acquired him for cash considerations.

As a right handed hitter, if the season were to start today, he would need to compete with the reinstated DeLuca, as well as Christopher Morel and Everson Pereira, but the Rays should expect more moves either way.

The Rays 40-man roster is now full, which means the team still needs to re-instate the following players on the injured list: LHP Nate Lavender, RHP Brian Van Belle, SS Taylor Walls.