FEB 22: This deal is official, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter), as if their deal with Collin McHugh. The Rays announced that Yonny Chirinos and Oliver Drake have been placed on the 60-day injured list to open up roster space for Roe and McHugh.
FEB 21: The Rays are in agreement on a contract with reliever Chaz Roe, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The 34-year-old returns to the Tampa Bay organization for a fifth consecutive season. It’s a one-year, major league contract, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The Apex Baseball client is guaranteed $1.15MM, per Topkin.
Roe has found a decent amount of success with the Rays over the past few years. Thanks to a wipeout slider he uses well over half the time, the right-hander has never had any trouble racking up punchouts. Over the past three seasons, Roe has pitched to a 3.74 ERA with a strong 27% strikeout rate. He has run into some trouble with walks but generally been a solid bullpen piece for manager Kevin Cash.
The Rays waived Roe off the 40-man roster after some concerning developments last season. Roe’s average fastball velocity was down a tick relative to past years, while he generated swings and misses at a career-worst 8.8% clip (against a league average 11.8% swinging strike rate for relievers). Most concerning, his season was cut short by elbow soreness after just 9.1 innings, as Roe didn’t pitch after August 19.
Nevertheless, the Rays are sufficiently satisfied Roe’s health woes are behind him at this point. The veteran threw in front of teams last weekend and apparently impressed Tampa Bay brass enough to bring him back into the fold with a guaranteed roster spot.
whippdyy dooooo
His player week nickname should be “caviar”
I wonder if he gets some in his contract. Probably not since its to expensive for the Rays lol
Was it too much to ask for you to pay attention in school for two minutes?? You’re welcome.
Nah.
Chaz “Sturgeon” Roe if we’re going to use “should”.
@Ducky Buckin Fent- please stop making fun of the 2021 World Series Champion Devil Rays. Or their delusional fans will have a complex. Have more faith, Lol!
Man, I’m not making fun of them…am I?
Also – for the record – I prefer Chaz “Paddlefish” Roe. For obvious reasons.
Delusional lol. Start thinking of excuses now, so when the Sting Rays pummel your team again you’ll be ready.
@StPeteStingRays- Devil Rays or Sting Rays or whatever your team is called, it doesn’t matter. Tampa Bay will definitely feel the sting of trading Blake Snell and not signing Charlie Morton. Your team is looking like a 3rd place club. Enjoy 2021.
Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep better. I’m sure it still STINGS to lose to a cheap team. Tell Chapman Brosseau says hello!
Make yourself available when the yankmees don’t beat the Rays, ok?
His slider is wicked nasty.
Underrated reliever with nasty stuff. Was hoping Phillies would get him.
He’s kind of a matchup guy, though.
Most of his appearances with the Ray’s have been for less than an inning.
Probably have to protect him a little bit. But if you can match him up right that slider – as fellas are saying – is simply absurd.
For Yankee fans: he gets more movement on it than Ottavino. It’s ridiculous.
Thx god he didn’t
Whiffle ball slider
meh
Rays are fooling themselves if they think their winning the AL East this season. Unless they think Chris Archer can be the ace he was like 5 years ago? They will likely finish 5-7 games over .500 for 3rd place in the division.
Rays are the defending AL champions, have a top farm system, and will have a slew of young pitching finally healthy this season. They will be just fine.
@Fred- good for them. Their definitely not winning the AL East this season. Good luck with that. The best farm system doesn’t mean your winning the division. Probably just means you have a great future, if you ever move out of Tampa.
Why do you keep saying they can’t compete in the AL East? They only lost Snell and Morton, who were both mediocre for most of the season last year, and they’ll replace them with young pitching Patino, McClanahan, Honeycutt, and McKay… at least one of those pitchers will breakout
@Fred- yeah maybe “you can break out to” lol
@Yank4Life yes they have to get out of Tampa. Imagine if that organization had money to spend? With that said I think they have a shot at the East. You never know with young pitching. If they’re close at the deadline they’ll go out and add an arm or two, probably guys on expiring deals.
@yank study more, post less. You may want to focus on contractions (hint hint)…
While you make some good points, you have to face the fact that at least for next season the Rays will not be as good as they were last season. They dumped Snell and Morton when they should have kept them both and really gone for it all in 2021. I know they have a small payroll and got a solid package for Snell, but Patino isn’t a guarantee to make it as a starter and more importantly, they lost their bona fide ace and replaced him with Michael Wacha and Collin McHugh. I think fans (both of the Rays and just MLB fans in general) are sick and tired of the perpetual rebuilding, and just want to see the Rays really go for it one of these seasons. I know I do.
If it weren’t for the losses from the Covid virus this year, they might have just done this, BUT the small market clubs(TB, Oak, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati) didn’t receive any profit sharing this year due to the virus, and were already operating on much tighter financial budgets. They could have still went for it, but that made it a much tougher decision from a business standpoint.
Huh?
The pieces they added fit into their idea all based on the limited innings & games that were played in 2020.
By adding pitching depth (to fit their budget) they are also allowing their young pitchers to get some more minor league experience. They also give the Rays added pitching depth during this upcoming season (in case injuries pile up).
@fljay73- hey guy what’s their payroll or budget this year? Like $75 million? lol
Lol okay salty Yankee fan.
@VonPurpleHayes- salty? Who’s starting for the Devil Rays? No Snell, No Morton? No ace. Enjoy 3rd place in the AL East and enjoy being the 3rd best team in Florida. Time to move dude, and stop being delusional!
Stay mad that Brosseau hit a dinger off Chapman. I hope you know the Rays have a specialty for fixing pitchers. Must not be a longtime Yankee fan if you don’t know that. Last, the Yankees are having lots of faith in Kluber and Taillon who have been injury proned alot. Also focus on your own teams health and make sure Judge doesnt pull a hammy doing a jog.
@Yanks4Life I’m not a Rays fan. They haven’t been the Devil Rays since 2007 by the way. I’m just laughing at how you’re angrily posting about this in an article where they signed a reliever. Let’s wait out and see how the season goes. Yankees lost some quality pieces too. I could see the Rays winning the division again, although I think the Yankees will take it this year.
@Luc 2- Brosseau can hit more homers off Chappy this year. Your still not winning the division. You think Brosseau is going to the Hall Of Fame? Chappy is. Isn’t that what really matters? Don’t let the door hit you in the face on the way out.
@VonPurpleHayes- I’m not angry at all. I don’t really care who you root for. I’m just speaking reality and stating facts. Be glad your not a Devil Rays fan. I can call them whatever I want. Their a team that has never won a World Series. When they finally win one I’ll call them the Rays. They haven’t earned it yet. Not sure if the Yankees will take it this season. Maybe they get to the World Series? We’ll see.
Im not a Rays fan lol. Once again you have 3 pitchers that have had lots of injuries. A meh bullpen. A injury plagued lineup. Also no one will care that Chapman make the HOF, people will remember him as an elite closer but chokes in the playoffs. So don’t get knocked out early on the way out
@Luc 2- afraid to ask you who you root for? Why do you hold such a loser team in such high regard?
They are definitely going to need A LOT of luck with their rotation. They, also, need another “potentially” veteran big bat in the lineup. If I were them(understanding their financial restrictions), I would give Edwin Encarnacion a small guaranteed contract with incentives(heck, a minor league contract, with an invitation to big league camp, with incentives would, probably, work now). They have sniffed around him in the past offseason or two. What do they have to lose? If he sucks, they can cut him at no real lose. If he hits like he did in 2019, they have a 4 or 5 lineup hitter for dirt cheap even if he hits all his incentives, which they should hope he does.
I agree that they should take a flier on Edwin. See if he has anything left in the tank, should come very cheap. I remember a couple of off seasons ago the Rays were strongly interested in both him and Nelson Cruz. Supposedly they were quite close to signing Cruz, but their offer (shockingly!) was topped by the Twins, and the rest is history.
Have you seen your rotation?
Rays are going to finish ahead of the yanks this year. Rays owned the Yanks last year… OWNED them. Rays will have Randy Arozarena for a full season and they have like 8 or 9 legit starters if you include their MLB ready prospects. Yankees’ starting roster has more talent but Rays have better overall team thanks to their depth and thanks to Yanks getting injured every 5 minutes
Making fun of the Rays for signing someone.How many WS have the Yankees won in the last 10 year? a bit fate ZERO.salt yankee fan for sure
*they’re
Roe, Roe, Roe your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily right back to your old team.
@HBan22- Roe, Roe, Roe your boat to 3rd place in 2021! Who’s their ace? Michael Wacha? Lol
Who hurt you? Apparently the Rays…
@HBan22- you obviously got a great sense of humor. You are a funny guy.
this actually made me laugh out loud
No, Tyler Glasnow 🙂
Chaz Zone
Maybe Edwin Encarnacion can pitch for Tampa this season? Maybe he can be their new ace in 2021? smh
Dude why you hating. That makes no sense and your not funny. Stop talking until you deliver results
@Luc 2- not hating at all. Just speaking hard cold facts and reality. Your the one being so sensitive. It’s because you know that Tampa would be lucky this season if they can secure a Wild Card.
Thank you for your unbiased opinion. Now watch them Yanks spend THREE times the amount to win the division by a couple games and then tell me how they are so much better! Good thing they have the payroll for all those mistakes!
LOL your dumb. I have found a bunch of idiots on this site. Edwin will knock out Chapman in the post. Why does every Yankee fan think they’re so good. There so salty from last year. Tampa is a WC team because they know hoe to have good players unlike the Yankees who ruin everyone like Judge and Stanton. They even ruin Severino. Rays have a good team
@stymeedone- your obviously not making any sense. The Yankees are under the luxury tax in 2021. Sounds like you got to start blaming other teams that go over the luxury tax. Especially if baseball starts having a salary cap in 2022.
Sorry if the numbers aren’t precise enough. Tampa Bay payroll: $75 MM, NYY payroll: $210 MM. Close enough to THREE TIMES for most people. My point is if NYY is so much better, it shouldn’t take an extra $135MM to catch up to Tampa Bay. I never mentioned the CBT at all. Until the next season unfolds, everything is speculation for 2021. Sounds more like you’re the confused one. Take a look at the standings from 2020 and tell me which team did better.
If you have to say you’re laying it like it is, you’re probably not laying it like it is. They lost Charlie Morton and Blake Snell as their two biggest pieces, but they have a top tier farm system, will get a full year of Randy next year and overall kept most of their core line up pieces from 2020. This is the team that still won 90 games in 2018 even though at one point they only had 2 starting pitchers and were using openers like every other day for a month. You can’t count these guys out.
you’re obviously threatened that a team with 1/4 of the yanks payroll is going to OWN them again
@RaysFanTL- seriously I won’t be hearing from you later in the season, when or if your Rays go flat. When you lose pieces like Snell and Morton what do you expect to happen? Smh. The Rays really owe it to you, and the rest of their fanbase to move out of TB so they can compete with the Yankees and the BlueJays in the AL East for years to come.
Yankees Fans think that the Rays signing veterans who can be fixed by a good pitching coach is stupid but if they sign very injured pitchers who were once good to a team who makes pitchers bad (Gerrit Cole didn’t have such a good 2020 and I blame the NYY pitching coach staff) then it’s the greatest move in all of MLB history.
I’ve always wondered what it was like to be a diehard Rays fan. It’s one thing to be another team’s fan and appreciate what the Rays do from a distance but there has to be some conflict there. On one hand, you better not buy any player merchandise or get too attached. On the other, you win a lot more than most of baseball.
I suppose it would have to depend on the time of year. It’s great in season when they’re winning, but must stink when your latest favorite player that you’ve convinced yourself they’d never trade is shipped off. Rinse and repeat.
It hurts until you realize that when you trade away a Pham you go and trade for an Arozarena. But it always hurts until the right time comes.
@brandons-3 You pretty much summed it up.. Its awesome to win and stay competitive against boston & NY but it hurts losing fan favorites seemingly every year. The owner Stu Sternberg literally runs the team like a hedge fund, always buying low and selling high. If we could just get a new stadium in downtown Tampa and get out of St Pete the franchise would be totally different. The TB Lightning sold out every game before covid hit
@ajrodz1335- seriously Tyler Glasnow? Who do you want starting in a Game 7 Cole or Glasnow? Thanks for the laugh.
Glasnow with the Rays bullpen over Cole and Chapman any day.
Cole beat the Rays in 2019 but once again another Yankee ruined so he lost to them in a big moment
@Luc 2- the Devil Rays are lucky to even sniff at the playoffs in 2021. Since your NOT even a fan then why do you care so much? We’ll see what happens.
Nah your what we call a disgrace to their franchise Once again you did not defend yourself. You know the Yankees ruin every player they get
@Luc 2- can’t tell you how much I disagree with you. The Yankees just need Taillon or Kluber to be a #2 or #3 this season. If that is the case, the best team in NY will coast in the AL East. Tampa needs another starter to come up big this season if you think that will be Chris Archer, then you have a lot more issues then previously thought. Best chance is for Tampa to get a Wild Card which is possible, and have one of their top pitching prospects step up like Patino or Honeywell. If not they definitely look like a 3rd place team in the AL East. Watch out 4 them Jays.
The Yankees can’t fix Kluber or Taillon, they broke Cole in less than a year.
I agree that Yanks win division but why are you making the Rays look like a crap team. They are solid and can fin ways to win. Chris Archer just needs to be decent and go 5 thats why they aren’t going after expensive players. Jays don’t have enough pitching IMO
@Luc 2- I never said the Rays were crap. I believe they are better then the Phillies in the NL. Tampa is either a 2nd or 3rd place team in the AL East. I said like about 7-10 games over .500. Probably the best young bullpen in baseball. The loss of Snell and Morton will be just too much to overcome. If they signed Jake Odorizzi it would help them a great deal to make the playoffs as a wildcard.
That I agree with you with. They are built for the post IMO with their bullpen. I see a WC if they work their magic again
The Rays have an iffy rotation (if you can call what they do a “rotation”) , and they’re depending on their bullpen to replicate a superb 2020; lottsa luck with that. They’re have no offense, and the defense probably trails only the O’s in ability, but this is the AL East, where you can roll the ball through most infields.
That said, the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts in Tampa, and it’s not like the Yanks/Jays are the Dodgers/Padres. They’re in the hunt, although the lack of Revenue Sharing limits what they can do at the deadline (unless a rich uncle comes and takes Keirmier or Tstsugo off their hands).
And yes, the rotation is iffy. Glassnow is just as likely to be in AAA at the All Star Break than be at the game; question marks everywhere else. Curiously, their best starter is probably Yarborough; at least they know what they’re getting with him.
How the heck are Fansided writers getting these scoops lately? Can you actually get press credentials with them? If so, I am regretting turning down their offer. Turning in 3 articles a week for nothing more than to see my name on a website didn’t interest me very much.
I find it amusing how many non- Ray fans have more faith in Tampa then their actual fans do.
@Yank4Life. Cold Hard Fact, Last 10 years World Series appearance Rays 1(with bottom 3 payroll) Yanks ZERO(with top 3 payroll. Rays are such a horribly run org that the Dodgers, Stros & Sox poached their front office. That the Twins, Blue Jays & Cubs/Angels hired their mgrs. Keep convincing yourself the Rays suck, it’s your annual mantra, and we rejoice in your comments. We may not agree in everything the Rays do, yes it’s frustrating at times, but it’s all calculated to win. We trade Snell, the sky is falling, didn’t we trade Archer a couple years ago, how did that work out, most do. We sell a year too early instead of too late to restock for years to come Openers & shifts, they’re nuts, hmmm how many teams adopted, even your Yanks(just not to the same degree of success, rinse, repeat). We signed 10 veteran pitching reclamation projects this year, a few will work out & we’ll trade a few & reload the farm for the next wave. Rays will pitch tandem 3 inning stints this year & then open the stable. Other teams will adopt next year. We love being Yanks die hard fans biggest topic of conversation, Keep convincing yourself…..
@raysway-Starting to sound like YOU to to are a veteran reclamation project, maybe it’s time for you to come out of the stable this year and get some sunlight for a change? How many Championships do your Devil Rays have: Zero. Sounds like a great organization!
Rinse, Repeat…… I’ll be laughing all season & seasons to come, keep em coming.
@raysway- lol. Ok let’s see what happens this year in 2021. I feel if the Rays move out of Tampa they’ll be able to spend more money and compete with teams like the Yankees. They really owe to their diehard fans to move. They definitely have the best farm system in baseball, there’s no denying that. But unfortunately those guys aren’t likely going to stay in TB. They will be traded way before they ever see arbitration.
As I start understanding fans better. I start seeing guys like diehard Indians fan @hockeyjohn just wanting his Indians to win all the time. Nothing is wrong with that. I definitely have a new found respect for fans like that. You gotta stick with your team till the end. It definitely says something in regards to your character when you do this. Got to just hold your head ^ high and just continue to root for your team even when times are really bad. I was a Yankee fan in the 80’s suffering all the time. It took so many years for them to get better. Then look what happened in the mid 90’s, what they became. So it was definitely worth it to be patient.
I hear what you’re saying, but patience? Yankees never had to wait long for anything. The Yankees longest gap in between championships was like 18 years. 1978-1996. That’s not exactly a long wait. We’re in their second longest gap now. Going on 12 years. It’s not hard being a Yankees fan. Essentially if you’re a Yankee fan from any generation who lived to at least the age of 18 you’ve seen a championship, and that really shows how good the organization has been throughout its history. People like to say “Oh it’s easy with all the money they spend,” but that’s not necessarily true either. It’s about spending wisely and developing internal talent as well.
Do you remember why Yanks had the late great dynasty in 90’s? George got suspended for 2 years in 90 and couldn’t trade Bernie & the Core 4. Jeter, Petite, Posada & Rivera & then they sprinkled in a few pieces. Circa 2021, Wander & Rays farm is MLB primed, add additional reinforcements in 2nd half with Honey & McKay to current group. The depth at every position is incredible. We were light @1B & C, what did they do this off-season with under the radar trades. I know we hold prospects for 5/6 years & reload, but Rays will be competitive for most of 2020’s at a min payroll.
I love being a Rays fan. Just watching competent, calculated moves every offseason never gets old.
Roe is a SLEEPER RP. Just signing him for our Yankees matchups alone for facing Judge/Stanton is worth it.