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With McGee injured, Rays deal Joyce for Angels reliever

 
Jake McGee had arthroscopic surgery on Friday to remove "a big bone spur" that will sideline him at least into May. [WILL VRAGOVIC | Times]
Jake McGee had arthroscopic surgery on Friday to remove "a big bone spur" that will sideline him at least into May. [WILL VRAGOVIC | Times]
Published Dec. 17, 2014

ST. PETERSBURG — The discomfort that Rays closer Jake McGee felt in his left elbow last week turned out to be a real pain.

Enough that McGee had arthroscopic surgery Friday to remove "a big bone spur" that will sideline him at least into May. And enough for the Rays to proceed with a long-discussed trade of extraneous outfielder Matt Joyce — a Tampa native — to get a late-inning reliever to help fill the void, acquiring Kevin Jepsen from the Angels.

And they may have an even bigger trade in the works, talking about outfielder Wil Myers with the Padres in what could end up a three-team trade for top prospects, such as catcher Austin Hedges, with more than 10 players involved. The Padres are reportedly talking to other teams as well.

McGee, 28, said he had no issues until noticing while lifting weights during usual offseason workouts that he couldn't fully bend or straighten his arm and his elbow was swollen.

An MRI exam showed "a big loose body" had moved into the elbow joint — something McGee said could have happened at any time — and that surgery was needed.

"It was real disappointing," McGee said. "I didn't think anything was wrong. Everything felt pretty good, it just felt stiff."

McGee was coming off a tremendous 2014 season in which he took over the closer's role, posting a 1.89 ERA and converting 19 of 23 saves in a career-high workload of 71 1/3 innings over 73 games, firing a steady stream of fastballs that averaged 96.3 mph.

"I'm actually looking at it in a positive way that I'm very fortunate they caught it now and didn't catch it in April or May and then I would miss the whole season," McGee said. "So it's a little setback, but not a huge one like it could be."

The Rays say there won't be a specific timetable for McGee's return until gauging his recovery in spring training, but McGee — a veteran of Tommy John elbow surgery in 2008 — said he was told to plan on early May, or even late April. That's a shorter timeframe than Jeremy Hellickson's recovery from similar surgery last year, based primarily on a reliever needing less time on a rehab assignment.

With McGee out, the Rays are likely to share closing duties among several relievers — Jepsen, free agent signee Ernesto Frieri and returnees Grant Balfour and Brad Boxberger.

Jepsen, 30, doesn't have much closing experience but has been an effective middle reliever for the Angels. Last season he posted a career-low 2.63 ERA over a career-high 74 appearances, 65 of which were scoreless, and allowed only a .192 average, .167 to right-handers, attributing the success to making more use of scouting reports to game plan. He is projected to make $2.6 million in arbitration and is under Rays control through 2016.

Jepsen, an Angel his whole 13-year pro career, said he had heard rumors of a potential trade but was surprised to end up with the Rays, noting some irony that he grew up with McGee in Nevada and works out with him in the offseason.

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"It's still sinking in," he said. "Bummed to hear that he's going to miss the beginning part, but glad that I'm going to be able to play with him on the same team for the first time."

Joyce, 30, said he had expected to be traded since the end of the season but was still "a little surprised" to get official word, even more so since the Angels had not been among the rumored destinations.

While making the obligatory comments about being excited to join the Angels, and a lineup that includes Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, Joyce made it clear he will miss playing at home, having been acquired from Detroit for the 2009 season. In trading him, the Rays save his projected $4.9 million salary.

"Not a lot of players get a chance to play in their hometown for one year or even one game," Joyce said. "Looking back, I'm really grateful and thankful for the opportunity the Rays did give me. …

"I loved every minute of it. I loved the organization. I had a great time."

Contact Marc Topkin at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays.