The Toronto Blue Jays weren’t the only team busy making transactions over the weekend. The division rival Tampa Bay Rays, who started their sell-off at the beginning of July, were also wheeling and dealing and have been among the most active teams leading up to Tuesday’s 6:00 p.m. ET trade deadline.

Despite being just 3.0 games out of the Wild Card, the Rays sent third baseman Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs.

The Blue Jays won’t be sad to see Paredes leave the division — especially on the heels of Randy Arozarena’s also leaving for the Seattle Mariners.

However, the AL East rival’s return for Paredes includes another guy who could turn out to be a thorn in the Blue Jays’ side.

The Rays acquired slugging third baseman Christopher Morel and prospects Ty Johnson and Hunter Bigge in the deal announced Sunday.

Since joining the Rays in 2022, Paredes has liked Toronto pitching. He only hit .221 against the Blue Jays, but slugged .467 with a .796 OPS, smashing eight home missiles, six doubles and driving in 23 runs in his 35 games versus his division foe. He concluded his time in Tampa with a .345 wOBA and 129 wRC+ in games versus the Blue Jays.

While the Blue Jays don’t need to worry about Paredes anymore, Morel might turn out to be just as scary, especially against Toronto’s uncertain future starting rotation. Now in his third MLB season, Morel has showed serious power, although surrounding significant slumps.

Despite going through some troubles this season, batting .199/.302/.373, he still has 18 home runs on the year and can also chip in on the basepaths with seven steals.

The Rays must be depending on the 25-year-old getting back to his 2023 form, when he slashed .247/.313/.508 with 26 round-trippers in 107 games for the Cubs.

Morel is in the 97th percentile for bat speed. His other underlying power measures are down this season, but in 2023 he achieved a 91st-percentile average exit velocity, a 95th-percentile barrel rate and a 92nd-percentile hard-hit rate. There’s plenty of power in his bat when he’s going properly.

Morel has played only six career games against the Blue Jays, accumulating three hits including a home run at Rogers Centre.

Luckily, the Blue Jays don’t see the Rays again until September, so Morel won’t be an immediate problem. The main worry is that he’s under team control until he becomes a free agency following the 2028 season.

With another four-plus years in a Rays uniform, he’ll be around in the AL East for a long. Hopefully, he doesn’t annoy the Blue Jays too much.