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Ryan Pepiot Reveals Where He Was When Dodgers Traded Him to Rays

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Dodgers
By Matt Levine | Last updated 1/20/24

Former Dodgers right-hander Ryan Pepiot always seemed like part of the long-term plan in the starting rotation. But his lack of playing time in the playoffs this past season felt like there was a change in that narrative.

Pepiot ended up being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays along with outfielder Jonny Deluca for right-hander Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot. This move went down after the team introduced two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, but it had been in the works for days.

All players know that at the end of the day, it's a business. But it's still interesting to see their point of view for when a trade goes down. Pepiot appeared on MLB Network Radio and gave his thoughts on the deal.

He was out with some former Dodgers teammates when he got the call that it had happened.

“Me, James Outman, Yency Almonte, Alex Vesia, Justin Bruihl, a few other guys that I’ve played with the past few years. And we were all there with our wives and girlfriends and stuff. It was a fun little night.”

“I sit down at dinner... and immediately the phone rings.”@ryanpepiot2 on getting traded to Tampa, as he prepares to join the #Rays rotation. @RaysBaseball pic.twitter.com/7qtcIt0aNf
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) January 16, 2024

The trade had been rumored for a few days, but it finally became officially early evening. He said it was right as the group was sitting down to eat at a Mexican restaurant.

“But it was immediately sit down — I was waiting for the call all day, that Friday — sit down for dinner, everybody gets our drinks, sit down and immediately phone rings.”

Pepiot said that the Dodgers kept him in the loop with the entire process, helping to ease the shock when it finally happened.

“I’m hopping in an out of phone calls. But it was an exciting night. Kind of knew it was happening, the Dodgers had kept me in the loop for the past couple days prior to that.”

While the Dodgers will miss Pepiot's production, he will have a bigger role in Tampa Bay. Los Angeles has a lot of young, talented prospects waiting in the wings, so there was no guarantee of anything for his playing time,

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Dodgers and was syndicated with permission.

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