The Rays have acquired infielder Willy Aybar from the Braves, bringing aboard a utility infielder who could play third base if Evan Longoria doesn’t break camp with the major-league team. Aybar, who turns 25 in March, missed all of last season with an injury and off-the-field issues. More details on Aybar can be found in this story from today’s Tribune.

Tampa Bay also gets minor-league infielder Chase Fontaine, the Braves’ second-round pick in the 2006 draft, in the deal. Left-hander Jeff Ridgway is headed to Atlanta and would seem to have a decent shot of making the Braves’ bullpen. The same could not have been said about Ridgway’s chances to make the Rays’ Opening Day roster.

Aybar certainly appears to be the best player in the deal. Andrew Friedman said the Rays thoroughly investigated the substance-abuse problems that led to some bizarre behavior by Aybar last year.

“We did a lot of due diligence into his problems from last year,” said Friedman. “While we recognize it’s a risk, obviously we felt like it was a risk worth taking. We’ve seen him play a lot in the Dominican and we’ve talked to a lot of people who have been affiliated with him throughout his career and are around him now and we feel like the upside is definitely worth it.”

Friedman said Aybar wouldn’t necessarily be the everyday third baseman to start the season should Longoria not make the cut, but it would appear the only other choices would be Joel Guzman or Ben Zobrist. Aybar has seen a significant amount of time at second base in his career and likely would be Aki Iwamura’s primary backup there. The Rays also plan to play him at first base, right field and left field in spring training.

“In the event of an injury here or there, with his positional flexibility, we feel like we’re going to be more adequately covered than we’ve been in the past,” said Friedman. “If we’re fortunate enough to stay healthy, we’ve got a great bat off the bench or someone to come in and start against a tough right-handed pitcher.”

As for the lefty situation in the Rays’ bullpen, the situation is essentially the same as it was before the deal (Ridgway wasn’t real high on the radar). You’ve got Kurt Birkins and possibly J.P. Howell depending on how the rotation race shakes out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Rays add another southpaw contender before spring training begins.

“It’s still an area we would like to address,” said Friedman.

Finally, Friedman said he is still optimistic the Rays will be able to sign Scott Kazmir and Carlos Pena before tomorrow’s noon deadline.

“I think things are getting extremely pointed right now and obviously the clock is ticking,” he said. “Both sides recognize that and I think response time has certainly picked up in the last couple of hours and it’s going to be a busy night of trying to get our last two cases resolved.”