The Rays found a right-handed hitting run producer in acquiring Jesus Aguilar from the Brewers on Wednesday for reliever Jake Faria.
Now they have to hope that Aguilar can find his 2018 form.
Aguilar, 29, hit 35 homers for the Brewers last year with a .274 average and an .890 OPS and made the All-Star team. He has not had nearly the impact this year, hitting .225 with eight homers and a .694 OPS.
Aguilar, who has been sharing time at first base with Eric Thames in Milwaukee, has been better of late, hitting .298 in July with three homers, eight RBIs and a .921 OPS. He will be arbitration eligible in 2020 and not eligible for free agency until 2023.
Faria, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Tuesday, has had an up-and-down season, spending most of the time at Triple-A Durham and converting from starter into a multi-inning relief role. He had four stints with the Rays, posting a 2.25 ERA in six games. He was 6-2, 4.07 in 23 games at Durham, with seven starts.
