The Red Sox traded hard-throwing righty Luis Guerrero to the Rays on Tuesday for 29-year-old infielder Tristan Gray.

Boston also designated first baseman Nathaniel Lowe for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Gray. Those moves have been announced. More roster moves are coming before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. deadline to protect eligible minor leaguers from next month’s Rule 5 draft. The Red Sox are expected to — at least — add right-handed pitching prospect David Sandlin to the 40-man roster and potentially more prospects. In addition to Lowe, righty Josh Winckowski will be designated for assignment, sources confirmed.

Gray, a 29-year-old left-handed hitter, appeared in 30 games for the Rays in 2025. He batted .231 with a .282 on-base percentage, .410 slugging percentage and .693 OPS, three homers and five doubles in 86 plate appearances.

He has appeared in 47 major league games since 2023, also playing for the Athletics and Marlins. He has made starts at all four infield positions but played mostly second base in 2025 at both Triple-A (226 ⅓ innings) and the majors (80). In his career in the minors, he has played mostly at shortstop but has spent a significant amount of time at the other three spots.

Gray was a 13th round pick of the Pirates in the 2017 draft after playing collegiately at Rice. He was never a top prospect but did post back-to-back seasons with 30 or more homers in 2022 and 2023 for the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in Durham. He just completed his second stint in Tampa Bay’s organization after being purchased from the White Sox in late July.

Gray will go on Boston’s 40-man roster and serve as a depth option in a utility role. The Red Sox also have David Hamilton, Nick Sogard and Nate Eaton on the roster as backup options who — as long as they’re still in the organization come spring training — may compete for jobs. Gray has a minor league option remaining after shuttling between Triple-A and the majors in 2025. Gray is considered a steady defender across the infield.

Guerrero, whose fastball averaged 96.5 mph in the majors last season, has a 2.63 ERA (8 earned runs in 27 ⅓ innings) in 22 games in the majors over the past two seasons but has struggled with walks. After spending much of the second half rehabbing from an elbow strain, Guerrero was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on November 6. The 25-year-old cleared waivers Nov. 13 and Boston outrighted him to Triple-A Worcester. He will not occupy a 40-man roster spot for the Rays like he would have if Tampa Bay had claimed him off waivers.

At last weeks’ general managers meetings in Las Vegas, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow praised Guerrero as the club took him off the 40-man roster.

“It’s tough because we’ve spent so much time building out (his) stuff and appreciating the impact that raw stuff can have on a bullpen,” Breslow said. “I still think that Guerrero has plenty of upside and plenty of outs to get.

“He worked incredibly hard to get himself to this point to become a big leaguer and there’s a ton of raw stuff. Great arm… When you get to a place where you are needing to DFA guys that you think have real stuff and the ability to get outs in the big leagues, I think it speaks to the depth that the organization has been able to amass.”

Lowe, a 30-year-old first baseman, appeared in 34 games for Boston in 2025 after signing a major league deal in mid-August. He earned $10.3 million on an arbitration deal he signed with the Nationals last year and was projected to earn a raise to the $13.5 million range in his second year of the arbitration process. That, of course, would be too steep for a player who hit .228 with 18 homers, 84 RBIs and a .689 OPS in 153 games split between Washington and Boston this season. He, like Winckowski, will be non-tendered (and will become a free agent) before Friday’s deadline to make such moves.

The Red Sox could be interested in retaining Lowe at a lower rate.

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