ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With baseball’s lowest payroll, the Tampa Bay Rays cannot afford to make many mistakes and still win. But they have weathered a few blunders, including the trade of Felipe Vazquez — now the star closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates — when he was in Class A in 2014.

“Guys like Jose Alvarado and Diego Castillo, they had some ‘now’ body to them,” said Mitch Lukevics, the Rays’ farm director, referring to the team’s current late-inning tandem. “But Felipe was the opposite. Felipe was like 140 pounds soaking wet. It took him a little longer to develop and grow and get some strength. But look at him now.”

The Rays traded Vazquez to the Washington Nationals in a deal for starter Nathan Karns, but Vazquez’s voice could still be heard the other day in Tampa’s clubhouse — from the cellphone of Alvarado.

Alvarado had overwhelmed the Yankees for a save the night before, and Vazquez responded by texting his friend a short video of himself watching the Rays’ broadcast and narrating Alvarado’s highlights. Alvarado smiled as he played it.