The surging Tampa Bay Rays have grabbed themselves a big bat for the stretch run.

Tampa Bay acquired first baseman Lucas Duda on Thursday from the New York Mets in exchange for right-handed pitcher Drew Smith, the teams announced.

The Rays announced Duda will join the team at Yankee Stadium on Friday. To create a 40-man roster spot for him, outfielder Shane Peterson was designated for assignment.

Duda has hit .246/.347/.532 with 17 homers and 21 doubles over 75 games for the Mets in 2017, despite missing several weeks with an elbow injury at the beginning of the season. He's set to become a free agent at year's end.

The 31-year-old has spent his entire eight-year career with the Mets, and his 125 home runs with the club rank seventh in franchise history.

"(Lucas was a) tremendous part of this team for a long time, and we wish him all the best and thank him for everything he's done here in New York," Mets manager Terry Collins said, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Duda: "I was very proud to be a New York Met and I am going to be very proud to be a Tampa Bay Ray." — Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) July 27, 2017

Once Duda arrives in Tampa Bay, it's likely he'll be used as the team's primary designated hitter given Logan Morrison's presence at first base. Duda's bat would then allow All-Star Corey Dickerson to move to the outfield on a full-time basis. The Rays have been down a few bats of late with Kevin Kiermaier still on the disabled list, and Colby Rasmus unlikely to return to the club after stepping away for personal reasons earlier this month.

The Mets, meanwhile, will have outfielder Jay Bruce serve as Duda's first-base replacement for the time being, beginning Thursday night in San Diego. A promotion of first-base prospect Dominic Smith, their No. 2-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is not imminent, per DiComo.

Smith was ranked the Rays' No. 30 prospect by MLB Pipeline despite only joining their farm system in April after being acquired from Detroit. The 23-year-old has a 2.60 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 40 strikeouts with nine walks in 31 outings across three levels.

He had been pitching for the Rays' Triple-A affiliate after starting 2017 in the Florida State League. The Mets are assigning Smith to Double-A Binghamton, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

The Duda trade completed a busy day for the Rays, who also acquired left-hander Dan Jennings from the White Sox earlier in the afternoon.