The Tampa Bay Rays, Anaheim Angels and Cincinnati Reds made an interesting three-team trade that saw former Rangers pitcher Brock Burke go from Anaheim to Cincinnati, Chris Clark from Anaheim to Tampa, Gavin Lux from Cincinnati to Tampa, and Josh Lowe from Tampa to Anaheim.
From Anaheim’s perspective, this move fits in with what they’ve been doing all offseason — acquiring players who have had bad years but have been successful in the past in hopes of recapturing past glory. Lowe, a left-handed hitting right fielder who turns 28 next month and is the younger brother of former Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, is having a great season for the Rays in 2023, slashing .292/.335/.500 in 501 plate appearances, going 32 for 35 on the bases and posting 3.7 bWAR.
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However, in the past two seasons, Luo has not reached this level. In 2024-25, he posted a .230/.292/.378 slash line with a 0.8 bWAR in 822 plate appearances, although he still excelled on the basepaths (43 in 48 stolen base attempts). He struggled especially against left-handed pitchers, taking 459 at-bats in 2025 and 547 at-bats in 2024.
So, at this point, Lowe appears to be a borderline platoon outfielder. However, he is in his first year of arbitration eligibility and will be under team control through 2028. If the Angels can get him to hit again like he did in 2023, they’ll have a pretty good player for quite some time.
The price for angels is quite small. Burke, a 29-year-old lefty, was originally acquired by the Rangers from Tampa in another three-team trade seven years ago. Burke ended up being a surprisingly good member of the Rangers bullpen in 2022 after his career was derailed by shoulder issues. However, he regressed in 2023 and was waived in early 2024 after a 9.22 ERA in 13 innings. He was waived by the Angels and has been a useful reliever in center field for the Angels ever since, posting a 3.40 ERA in 82 innings in 90 games.
Both Burke and Lux are free agents after 2026, so from a team control perspective, the Reds won’t gain or lose anything in this exchange. Lux was once a consensus top-10 prospect in MLB in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ system, and his presence was part of the reason the Dodgers were willing to let Corey Seager go. However, Lux missed all of 2023 due to injury. After returning in 2024, he split time between second base and shortstop, slashing .251/.320/.383.
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The Reds traded Lux last offseason for outfielder Mike Sirota and a competitive balance pick, a trade that worked out well for Los Angeles as Sirota is now their #3 prospect (per BA) after an OPS of over 1,000, while splitting the 2025 season between Low-A and High-A, and they used Arkansas outfielder Charles Davalan Davalan, their #6 pick according to BA.
Lux posted a decent OBP but didn’t hit for much power in 2025, slashing .269/.350/.374 with five home runs in 503 plate appearances while splitting time between DH, left field and second base. The Reds had apparently seen enough and traded him for Bullock.
This doesn’t look like a really exciting return for the Rays. Lux gives them a loaded multi-positional player, which we know they like, but they only got him for one year. Clark, a 2023 fifth-round pick from Harvard, has not made the BA Angels’ top 30 list the past two seasons.