The Tampa Bay Rays are one game above the .500 mark entering play on Tuesday, July 29. They are 2.5 games out of nabbing one of three American League Wild Card spots, but Tampa Bay needs help.

Nick Fortes, a DeLand native, will swap Sunshine State teams as the Tampa Bay Rays have acquired him from the Miami Marlins.

The Marlins are sending Nick Fortes to the Tampa Bay Rays, as first reported Monday by the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Miami is receiving outfielder prospect Matthew Etzel in return for Fortes, according to Fansided’s Robert Murray. Etzel is ranked as the Rays’ No. 28 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline.

A Jacksonville group led by billionaire Patrick Zalupski have agreed to buy the Rays for an estimated price of $1.7 billion, according to The Athletic. The deal is expected to be finalized by September after negotiations took place over the past weeks. The Rays' principal owner, Stu Sternberg, bought the franchise in 2004 for $200 million.

Keith Meister, MD, is set to perform elbow surgery on Manuel Rodríguez, a pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, on Aug. 8. The surgery is expected to repair Mr. Rodríguez’s flexor tendon in his right elbow.

With the trade deadline just days away, the Red Sox have been urged to swing a trade with the Rays for Yandy Diaz.

If they weren't before, the Cincinnati Reds are now officially rolling. The Reds ascended to a new high-water mark in 2025 − six games over .500 − as they completed a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays with a 2-1 win on July 27 at Great American Ball Park. It was also four consecutive wins for Cincinnati.

M ajor League Baseball's trade deadline is scheduled for next Thursday, which means teams have less than a week to get their midsummer shopping done. The moves have already started, as the Mariners recently acquired Josh Naylor from the Diamondbacks while the Yankees acquired Ryan McMahon in a trade with the Rockies .