Rays Rumors

Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

By Darragh McDonald | July 14, 2025 at 4:15pm CDT

The sale of the Rays seems to be coming to fruition. A report from Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic says that a sale has been agreed to in principle which would see the club be sold from current owner Stuart Sternberg to a group led by Patrick Zalupski. The deal is worth about $1.7 billion and is expected to be completed as soon as September. The report adds that Zalupski plans to keep the club in the Tampa area, with a preference for Tampa proper over St. Petersburg. The sale would need to be approved by 75% of MLB owners in order to become official.

It was reported about a month ago that Sternberg was in “advanced talks” to sell the team to Zalupski’s group. Shortly after that reporting emerged, Marc Topkin and Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times spoke to hedge fund founder Trip Miller, who spoke of his desire to get involved in the bidding. It’s unclear if there was ever any chance of Miller’s group outpacing Zalupski’s, but it now seems basically confirmed that Zalupski’s group will be taking over.

As of a year ago, it seemed like Sternberg was going to stick around for a long time. He purchased the club in 2004 for $200MM. Since then, he has been trying to find a long-term home for the club so that the Rays could move on from Tropicana Field, which has long been viewed as insufficient and outdated for the major leagues.

Various proposals were floated over the years, including a creative plan which would have seen the franchise split its home games between Florida and Montreal. That was nixed but the Rays eventually put a plan in place to build a new stadium on the Tropicana Field site. Under that plan, the Rays would stay at The Trop through 2027 but would open the new facility in 2028. They had agreements in place with the city of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and private investors for the $1.2 billion project.

That entire plan was thrown off the rails in October when Hurricane Milton swept through the area, doing significant damage to The Trop, particularly the roof. The Trop became unplayable for 2025 and the new stadium plan got delayed. Elections in October changed the composition of local government bodies, with the new paradigm less amenable to the Rays. The club made arrangements to play the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner field in Tampa. That seemed to not sit well with some Pinellas County officials, as Steinbrenner Field is in Hillsborough County.

The relationship between Sternberg and local officials seemed to sour, as he claimed the delays would lead to massive cost overruns. It was reported in March that the Rays would not be moving forward with the planned deal. That was shortly after it had been reported that league officials had been pressuring Sternberg to sell.

Now it seems the transition process is making quick progress and Zalupski’s group could be at the helm a couple of months from now. That’s notable timing, as there are key things to be worked out regarding the future of the franchise. It’s still unclear if the The Trop will be playable in time for the 2026 season. There’s also the usual baseball matters of payroll and things of that nature. And of course, new plans will need to be developed for a future stadium.

As mentioned, the report from The Athletic says Zalupski’s preference would be for the club to be in Tampa proper, as opposed to St. Petersburg. That is something that will have to be negotiated with local officials and private investors. If the club can chart a course towards a move into Tampa, there would be logic to that. It has been suggested by many that The Trop’s location isn’t highly accessible, which has contributed to the club’s poor attendance figures over the years, despite generally fielding competitive teams. A move to Tampa could help in that regard, though previous attempts to get the club into Tampa have not been successful.

Zalupski is the CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a publicly traded, Jacksonville-based developer that has built more than 31,000 homes across ten states. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.4 billion, while his company’s valuation rests at $3.4 billion.

The timeline for the Rays will also have consequences across the league. Commissioner Rob Manfred has long insisted that expansion wouldn’t be a realistic possibility until the Athletics and Rays found new stadiums. The A’s are currently playing in West Sacramento but are expected to start playing in their new Las Vegas stadium by the 2028 season. If that plan progresses on schedule and the Rays get a new stadium plan in the works, then expansion will become a more realistic possibility.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Alcantara, Cabrera, Fried, Gil, Garcia, Rodriguez

By Mark Polishuk | July 13, 2025 at 10:59pm CDT

A ten-game winning streak has launched the Red Sox back into the playoff race, and all but confirmed that the club will be looking to buy before the trade deadline. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has stated that the Sox are looking at pitching options, and MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam opines that the Red Sox would likely prefer controllable pitchers in particular, so this new hurler could help support the club’s talent core for more than just the remainder of 2025. However, as of two days ago, McAdam noted that Boston hadn’t yet spoken with the Marlins about two controllable potential trade candidates — Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera.

While there’s still plenty of time before the July 31 deadline for the Sox to inquire about either pitcher, the lack of interest to date might indicate that Breslow simply might have other pitchers on his target list. Alcantara’s past Cy Young Award-winning form makes him perhaps the summer’s likeliest trade candidate, yet the right-hander has struggled badly in his return from Tommy John surgery. Cabrera is arbitration-controlled through 2028 so the rebuilding Marlins might not see a reason to move him just yet, and certainly not for anything less than a massive trade return. Health is also a concern with Cabrera, as he left Friday’s start early due to elbow discomfort but might be able to avoid the injured list after a precautionary MRI came back clean.

Rays Reportedly Open To Offers On Taj Bradley

By Nick Deeds | July 13, 2025 at 11:35am CDT

The Rays are routinely one of the league’s most creative teams, and a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale this morning suggests that they figure to remain flexible this summer even after being aggressive to add right-hander Bryan Baker to their bullpen in a trade with the Orioles last week. Tampa currently boasts a 50-46 record and is just half a game out of the final AL Wild Card spot, but Nightengale suggests that isn’t going to stop them from listening to offers on young right-hander Taj Bradley.

On the surface, a contending club listening to offers on a starting pitcher who’s just 24 years old and remains under team control for four-and-a-half seasons would be hard to believe—even for a small-market club that frequently trades players well before free agency. The Rays aren’t a typical club, however. Tampa has never shied away from making controversial or surprising trades, as seen just last year when they shipped out third baseman Isaac Paredes with three-and-a-half years of team control remaining on his deal.

That’s one year less than Bradley currently has, but Paredes was a far more established player who had already made it to the All-Star game previously in his career. Bradley, by contrast, has largely pitched like a back-of-the-rotation starter in his career with a 4.70 ERA in 346 1/3 innings despite his status as a former top propsect. The right-hander has never posted even an average ERA+, having topped out at 97 last year, and while he entered 2025 with a tantalizing 27.3% strikeout rate during his time in the majors the whiffs have dropped off significantly this season to leave him striking out just 20.4% of his opponents.

All of that could make now a decent time for the Rays to listen to offers on the right-hander. He’d surely have more trade value in the offseason if he managed to put it all together and dominate down the stretch, but if Bradley’s performance doesn’t improve then his value will only drop from here as he gets older and further away from those high-strikeout seasons he opened his career with. Given the fact that virtually every contender is in need of starting pitching help at this point, if the Rays are one of the few teams willing to dangle a cost-controlled young starter with long-term team control it’s not hard to imagine them recouping significant value for both 2025 and the future by dealing Bradley now.

The Rays don’t exactly have a surplus of rotation depth, with no surefire starters waiting in the wings at Triple-A in the event of an injury or trade. With that being said, however, Tampa does have Shane McClanahan on a rehab assignment with an eye towards returning at some point in the second half. They’d be down an arm in the meantime if they dealt Bradley, but the club has been very comfortable with getting creative to piece together innings with multi-inning relievers and swing men in the past. Joe Boyle, Connor Seabold, and Joe Rock are all on the 40-man roster and could be tasked with handling some of the innings vacated by a hypothetical Bradley trade, to say nothing of non-roster pieces like Logan Workman.

If the Rays were to shop Bradley, there would surely be plenty of interest. The Padres and Astros stand out as surefire contenders who need starting pitching help this summer but may not have the budget to stomach the salary of a veteran player. Bradley could also be of interest to some clubs looking to sell. The Diamondbacks, Braves, Twins, Orioles, Nationals, and Guardians are all clubs that seem like potential or likely sellers this season with near-term postseason aspirations who could benefit from adding a controllable rotation piece like Bradley, and each has pieces that could surely improve the Rays if they decide to push in for the playoffs this year.

Rays Release Eloy Jimenez

By Anthony Franco | July 11, 2025 at 11:15pm CDT

The Rays released Eloy Jiménez from his minor league contract, reports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. Jiménez had been on the Triple-A injured list for the past 10 days.

This was the second IL stint of the season for the former Silver Slugger award winner. Jiménez appeared in 40 games with Tampa Bay’s top affiliate. He hit .278/.335/.397 and only managed three home runs across 167 plate appearances. His 43.5% hard contact rate is a little above the MLB average but not close to the huge exit velocities he posted during his best seasons with the White Sox. Jiménez’s career has been a on a sharp decline since he hit .295 with 16 homers in 84 games for Chicago back in 2022.

After a league average offensive showing in ’23, Jiménez was batting .240/.297/.345 at last summer’s deadline. The Sox needed to eat some money to ship him to the Orioles. The change of scenery did not turn things around. Jiménez hit .232 with a .270 on-base percentage and one homer in 33 games with Baltimore. The O’s bought him out and he was limited to minor league offers over the winter. He’ll very likely need to settle for another minor league contract if he stays in affiliated ball. Speculatively, Jiménez could be a target for teams in a foreign league like NPB or the KBO as well.

Rays Place Brandon Lowe On Injured List

By Darragh McDonald | July 11, 2025 at 2:55pm CDT

The Rays announced today that infielder Brandon Lowe has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to left oblique tightness, retroactive to July 8th. Fellow infielder Curtis Mead was recalled as the corresponding move.

It’s possible that the move with Lowe is precautionary. The side issue has kept him out of the club’s past four games, which is why they were able to backdate this by the three-day maximum. With the All-Star break coming up, Lowe might only miss three more contests and could perhaps be back with the Rays by next weekend.

Nonetheless, it will be a situation to monitor for the rest of the month. Lowe is a strong performer but doesn’t have a great track record in terms of health. This is his eighth major league season but he has only once played in 110 games or more. He has avoided the IL so far this year, getting into 84 contests, but is now battling a tricky oblique issue.

He has been one of the better players for the Rays this year, with 19 home runs, a .272/.324/.487 slash line and 125 wRC+. He was selected to the All-Star team but will no longer be able to participate thanks to this injury.

The Rays are 50-44 and currently in possession of a Wild Card spot in the American League. In past years, they have often done a mix of buying and selling at the deadline. Even when in contention, they will sometimes trade a veteran player who is on the more expensive side and/or nearing free agency, while acquiring younger and cheaper players. MLBTR recently did a deep dive on the club’s potential deadline approach, examining the various paths the Rays could take.

Lowe is making $10.5MM this year, making him one of the more expensive players on the roster. His contract has an affordable $11.5M club option for next year with a $500K buyout. With the way the Rays operate, it’s possible they could look to move Lowe for younger players while simultaneously adding others for the stretch run.

That makes the Lowe injury all the more notable. On the one hand, it hurts the Rays in the short term, as they are going to be without one of their better players while in a tight playoff race. It’s also possible that the injury impacts whatever trade talks they will have in the coming weeks.

Ha-Seong Kim recently came off the IL and has taken over as the regular shortstop. That leaves Taylor Walls and José Caballero free to cover second for Lowe. Mead’s recall today gives them some extra depth in that department.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

By Steve Adams | July 10, 2025 at 10:01am CDT

The Rays are getting some bullpen help, acquiring right-handed reliever Bryan Baker from the Orioles in exchange for a 2025 Competitive Balance (Round A) draft selection, No. 37 overall. Both teams have announced the swap.

Baker adds a power arm with potent bat-missing ability to the Rays’ bullpen. The 30-year-old righty has pitched 38 1/3 innings for the Orioles this season and turned in a 3.52 ERA with an even more encouraging 32.5% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate. Baker sits 96.7 mph with his four-seamer, per Statcast, and he’s sporting a strong 13.1% swinging-strike rate on the season thanks in no small part to a changeup that’s graded out brilliantly thus far. Opponents are hitting just .154 and slugging a putrid .205 against Baker’s changeup.

This year’s numbers are skewed a bit by Baker’s outing just two days ago, when the Mets jumped him for four runs. He didn’t record an out and was tagged for a pair of home runs. Baker’s ERA ballooned from 2.58 all the way to its current 3.52 mark.

Baker has had some home run troubles (1.88 HR/9), but he’s also seen a fluky 20% of the fly-balls he’s allowed turn into home runs — well north of the 11.4% league average and nearly triple his career mark entering the season. Metrics like xFIP (2.78) and SIERA (2.37) — which normalize HR/FB to account for potential small-sample spikes like this — feel Baker has been vastly better than his earned run average would indicate. The Rays, presumably, are confident that the home run troubles will prove anomalous while Baker maintains his ability to miss bats and limit free passes.

In parts of four seasons with the O’s, Baker has a 3.73 ERA over the course of 176 1/3 innings. He currently boasts career-best marks in strikeout rate, walk rate, fastball velocity, swinging-strike rate and opponents’ chase rate. On top of that, he’s not yet into his arbitration years, having only amassed two-plus years of service time prior to 2025. He’ll cross the three-year mark this season and be eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason. Tampa Bay can control him through the 2028 campaign.

Adding another reliever is typically a goal for all contending clubs, but it’s quite prudent for a Rays club that currently has Manuel Rodriguez (2.08 ERA in 30 1/3 innings) and Hunter Bigge (2.51 ERA dating back to last summer’s MLB debut) on the injured list at present. As noted just yesterday in our Trade Deadline Outlook on the Rays, Tampa Bay tends to prioritize under-the-radar pickups of just this sort of controllable reliever, as opposed to making plays for more obvious trade candidates with dwindling club control.

Baker has regularly worked in high-leverage spots for Baltimore this season. He’s tallied a pair of saves and 10 holds on the year already. He’ll now join a late-inning mix for the Rays, pairing with Garrett Cleavinger, Edwin Uceta and (once healthy) Rodriguez as a setup option for excellent closer Pete Fairbanks.

For the Orioles, they’ll add more firepower to what’s already a large draft pool. Draft picks awarded in Major League Baseball’s Competitive Balance lottery are the only picks eligible to be traded and may only be traded one time, so Baltimore will hang onto this pick and carry it into Sunday’s draft.

The Orioles, who gained compensatory picks at the end of the first round when Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander signed elsewhere after declining qualifying offers, now have four of the first 37 selections in this year’s draft. In addition to that pair of comp picks, Baltimore also has a pick in Competitive Balance Round B (between the second and third rounds of the draft). That gives them a staggering seven picks in the first 93 selections of this year’s draft and a massive bonus pool worth more than $19MM — the largest of any team in MLB.

The O’s are selling Baker at close to peak value, but they won’t get any short-term help that could impact the team this year or next. Baltimore is 10 games under .500 and seven back of a Wild Card spot in the American League, so it’s not necessarily a shock to see them begin to sell off some big league pieces for future value. The question is whether this will end up as a one-off for now, with the O’s staying the course until closer to the deadline in hopes of a late surge back into the Wild Card chase, or whether this is the beginning of a larger sale.

Presumably, if the O’s ultimately end up trading off a larger slate of veteran players, they’ll begin to prioritize young talent that’s closer to MLB readiness. The O’s have rental players like Cedric Mullins, Ryan O’Hearn, Seranthony Dominguez, Tomoyuki Sugano, Gregory Soto, Charlie Morton and Zach Eflin, plus older veterans with reasonably priced 2026 club options like Andrew Kittredge and Ramon Laureano. General manager Mike Elias could field offers on that group while still keeping the core of Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday and Grayson Rodriguez together in hopes of retooling for another run at contention in 2026. In that scenario, adding some young big leaguers or on-the-cusp prospects in Triple-A would be a sensible goal.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that Baker was being traded to the Rays. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the return.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Tampa Bay Rays

By Steve Adams | July 9, 2025 at 11:45pm CDT

The Rays are up next in MLBTR's team-by-team look at the upcoming trade deadline. Tampa Bay has weathered an uneven start to the season and emerged in the thick of the division race. The Rays are currently six games over .500, good for third place in the American League East but sole possession of the American League's second Wild Card spot. They're five games back of the division-leading Blue Jays.

While most clubs tend to pick a buy or sell lane, the Rays are always open to a bit of a mixed-bag approach. They're constantly working to walk the line between rebuilding and contending and are never afraid to trade from the major league roster. President of baseball operations Erik Neander and his staff will be looking to add to the roster ahead of what looks like a very likely playoff run, but the Rays will probably still get some calls on some of their pricey veterans with dwindling levels of club control.

Record: 49-43 (57.3% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)

Other series entries: Rockies, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins, Athletics, Orioles, White Sox, Nationals, Cubs

Buy Mode

Potential needs: Outfield, catcher, right-handed bat, another reliever

It's always tough to identify exact needs on a well-rounded club. That's the Rays in 2025, but the outfield has been a revolving door of less-than-ideal options. Kameron Misner has seen the most plate appearances of any Ray in the outfield this year, and he's batted .214/.274/.347 in 216 plate appearances there. He faded badly after a hot start and was optioned to Triple-A Durham in late June.

Each of Jake Mangum, Josh Lowe, Christopher Morel and Chandler Simpson has received between 166 and 206 plate appearances in the outfield. Mangum and Morel have hit well but done so with the help of plenty of good fortune on batted balls. Simpson is getting his second look in the majors and using his speed and elite contact skills to produce solid offense. He could lead the majors in stolen bases but has 20-grade power (on the 20-80 scale), a well below-average walk rate and shaky defense in center. Lowe was terrific in 2023, pedestrian in 2024, and is somewhere in between in 2025.

The Rays have enough outfield options that they could mix-and-match for the rest of the season, playing the hot hand and rotating outfielders based on matchups they deem favorable. It's a tactic we've seen before from manager Kevin Cash (at various places on the roster), but some more stability and more power, in particular, might be welcome. Rays outfielders have been about league-average offensively on the whole, but they're benefiting from a .339 average on balls in play and rank 27th in the majors with a .121 isolated power mark (slugging percentage minus batting average). Only the Guardians and Royals have received fewer home runs from their outfield than the Rays' total of 21.

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Rays Notes: Rasmussen, Boyle, Lowe, Kim

By Mark Polishuk | July 6, 2025 at 11:35pm CDT

Drew Rasmussen was the starting pitcher in Sunday’s 7-5 Rays win over the Twins, but Rasmussen only tossed two innings before turning things over to Joe Boyle, who was called up from Triple-A before the game. Boyle allowed just one unearned run over five innings of work, and he has yet to allow any earned runs over 10 MLB innings this season.

The quick hook for Rasmussen wasn’t for any health reason, but rather the debut of a strategy the Rays will be deploying over the next few weeks. As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times explains, Rasmussen has now thrown 89 1/3 innings this season, putting him on track to far exceed the 150-inning limit the Rays set for the right-hander since he missed most of the 2023-24 seasons due to an internal brace surgery. Since he also underwent two Tommy John surgeries before even beginning his pro career, the Rays naturally wanted to be careful in managing Rasmussen’s workload in the aftermath of yet another major elbow procedure.

Since Rasmussen has delivered a 2.82 ERA this year, Tampa wants to make sure the right-hander will still have something for later in the season and into October, as the 49-41 Rays are in position for a playoff berth. The team’s answer is to use Rasmussen as essentially an opener over his next few starts, with Boyle acting as a piggyback pitcher.

Rasmussen is happy with the plan, as “it lets us get the Joe Boyle experience, which is electric. And then also allows me to just stay on routine as well as limit some of the innings for this year. When they brought the idea to me a couple days ago, it was something I’m on board with, obviously, because I think they are always looking out for my best interest.”

Tampa Bay’s rotation of Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz, Taj Bradley, and Zack Littell has been both effective and incredibly durable. The quintet have combined to start all but one of the Rays’ games this season — the lone exception was Boyle’s only other MLB outing of 2025, a spot start on April 13. As a result, Boyle has had trouble working his way onto the roster, despite a 1.85 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate, and 10.6% walk rate over 73 Triple-A frames.

Acquired from the A’s as part of the Jeffrey Springs trade back in December, Boyle appears to be the latest pitcher to find a new level of performance after joining the Rays organization. Boyle always had a ton of velocity and racked up plenty of strikeouts, but it seems like he has now lessened the control problems that plagued his time in the Athletics farm system. His emergence gives Tampa Bay yet another pitching weapon to bedevil opposing batters, and it will be interesting to see how Boyle is deployed beyond the end of this piggybacking experiment with Rasmussen.

Sunday’s game wasn’t without its concerns for the Rays, as Brandon Lowe left in the bottom of the third inning due to soreness in his left side. Lowe downplayed the seriousness of the situation when speaking with Topkin and other reporters after the game, saying that the removal “feels very precautionary, as it’s a little sore. Let’s just get off of it for a little bit and let it rest up.”

Lowe missed over a month of the 2024 season dealing with a right oblique strain, so he is no stranger to side injuries. Even if this latest issue costs Lowe a game or two, that is vastly preferable to another long-term absence, as injuries have plagued Lowe over the last three seasons. Lowe has stayed healthy and productive in 2025, and his .272/.324/.487 slash line and 19 home runs in 343 plate appearances earned the second baseman a spot on his second All-Star team.

In other infield news, Ha-Seong Kim made his Rays debut on July 3, but that remains his lone appearance due to a cramp in his right calf. It doesn’t seem like the injury is too serious, as Kim took part in most normal baseball activities prior to Sunday’s game. Kim is only just back in action after his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery cost him over half of the 2025 campaign, so it makes sense that the Rays don’t want to push him too soon.

Rays Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minor League Contract

By Mark Polishuk | July 6, 2025 at 5:11pm CDT

The Rays have signed right-hander Peter Strzelecki to a minor league deal, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes reports. Strzelecki was just released from a previous minors contract with the Pirates earlier this week, and he’ll now try for a fresh start with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in Durham.

It has been a rough season for Strzelecki, who battled some injuries and posted a 9.90 ERA over 20 innings and 16 appearances for Triple-A Indianapolis. The righty’s walk rate ballooned to 11.8% and his strikeout rate was only 14.7%, which is far below the solid K% numbers Strzelecki has posted throughout the rest of his minor league career.

That was enough for Pittsburgh to part ways with the 30-year-old, and it marks the third straight year Strzelecki has struggled against Triple-A batters. Interestingly, he has posted much more respectable numbers during his time in the Show, with a 3.44 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 8.4% walk rate in 83 2/3 innings with the Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Guardians from 2022-24. Cleveland dealt Strzelecki to the Pirates in advance of last year’s non-tender deadline, as his lack of minor league options makes him a trickier player to keep on a big league roster.

The Rays will take a look at Strzelecki and see if he can be the latest in a long line of pitchers revived by Tampa Bay’s player development factory. Should he get the call to the majors, Strzelecki will be in familiar territory, as he played college ball at the University of South Florida.

Rays Outright Forrest Whitley

By Anthony Franco | July 3, 2025 at 10:14pm CDT

The Rays announced that right-hander Forrest Whitley was outrighted to Triple-A Durham. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times first reported the move. Whitley, once the sport’s top pitching prospect, went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment over the weekend.

It was the second DFA of the season for the former first-round pick. The Astros had carried Whitley on their 40-man roster for years as he battled injuries and struggled to find the strike zone. They finally pulled the plug in mid-June, flipping him to the Rays after taking him off the 40-man roster. Whitley continued to struggle in his brief run in Kevin Cash’s bullpen. He surrendered 10 runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and a pair of walks in 4 2/3 innings.

The 6’7″ righty still has a power arsenal led by a 96 MPH fastball. Yet he has given up 18 earned runs in 15 1/3 major league innings over the past two seasons. His 8% swinging strike rate is well below-average. Whitley managed a 1.89 ERA across 33 1/3 Triple-A frames as recently as last season, but he’s out of minor league options. A claiming team would have needed to carry him on the MLB roster.

Whitley had never been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of MLB service time. He must accept the assignment and report to Durham. The Rays’ player development staff will have a few months to try to get him on track. He would qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if Tampa Bay doesn’t select him back onto the MLB roster before then.

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