Headlines

  • Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.
  • Braves Designate Craig Kimbrel For Assignment
  • Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Braves Select Craig Kimbrel
  • Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox
  • White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2025
    • Free Agent Contest Leaderboard
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rays’ President Erik Neander Signed Five-Year Extension

By Anthony Franco | October 4, 2021 at 8:32pm CDT

Last month, the Rays announced they’d signed baseball operations leader Erik Neander to a multi-year contract extension that included a promotion from general manager to president of baseball operations. The team didn’t specify the contract’s exact length, but Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times now reports the extension tacked on an additional five seasons. Neander’s now locked up to run the club’s baseball operations through the 2026 campaign.

The Rays didn’t announce the deal until the first week of September, but Topkin adds the additional tidbit that it was actually agreed upon during the season’s first half. Going into the All-Star Break, the Rays sat half a game behind the Red Sox in the AL East standings. Tampa Bay went on a 47-25 tear in the season’s second half, though, coasting to a division title and their first 100-win season in franchise history. They’ve clinched home field advantage through the American League playoff field and will host the winner of tomorrow night’s Yankees – Red Sox Wild Card game in their Division Series.

That success has come in spite of one the game’s tightest player budgets. The Rays opened the season with a payroll just shy of $67MM, in the estimation of Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the fifth-lowest mark in the league. Neander and his staff have habitually managed to put together strong rosters in the face of those significant limitations, making it easy to see why owner Stuart Sternberg was anxious to keep him in the fold. Neander would certainly have drawn interest from other teams this offseason — the Mets have been connected to a handful of the sport’s highest-profile executives, in particular — which no doubt played into ownership’s decision to hammer out a long-term deal over the summer.

Share 0 Retweet 12 Send via email0

Tampa Bay Rays Erik Neander

Cardinals, Adam Wainwright Agree To Extension
Main
Angels’ GM Perry Minasian On Pitching Staff, Infield Plans
View Comments (45)
Post a Comment

45 Comments

  1. JeffreyChungus

    4 years ago

    Mets punching air rn

    12
    Reply
    • DarkSide830

      4 years ago

      I was about to say something in the order of “take another Mets target off the board” when I saw the headline.

      Reply
    • C-Daddy

      4 years ago

      Why would the Mets want a new PoBO? They just won the World Series.

      9
      Reply
    • Fever Pitch Guy

      4 years ago

      Wait a minute … all the Beane fanatics saying Oakland can’t win because they have the lowest payroll in baseball …. however …. both Seattle and Tampa Bay have lower payrolls!! One team that’s in the ALDS and another that was eliminated on the last day of the regular season!!

      2
      Reply
      • stymeedone

        4 years ago

        Oakland made it to the last week as well, before being eliminated.

        1
        Reply
    • driftcat28 2

      4 years ago

      Mets should’ve offered Bloom the job a few years back. Said it at the time that they were making a mistake not hiring him

      2
      Reply
  2. tstats

    4 years ago

    Longer than expected

    1
    Reply
  3. 99socalfrc

    4 years ago

    AJ Preller has an extension that lasts as long as Eric Neander.

    How is that even possible?

    5
    Reply
  4. LordD99

    4 years ago

    About as low a pressure PoBO job as you can find. No knock. He’s done a great job and he’s young enough to go run a major market team in five years if he wants to prove himself under the bright lights and expectations as Friedman has in L.A. and Bloom in Boston. Now he doesn’t have to worry about attracting fans to the ballpark, he doesn’t need to balance higher payroll commitments
    And fan expectations. His biggest decisions will be when to trade Lowe and Franco. Both will be traded; it’s just a question of when. It’s a bit freeing to be running baseball ops for the Rays. You really can’t screw up. Have a bad season? Blame it on the rich teams. So well? You’re declared a genius.

    5
    Reply
    • despicable_you

      4 years ago

      U sound like a coddled yankee fan who’s had his butt kicked by those boys from champa bay

      9
      Reply
      • LordD99

        4 years ago

        Nah. No coddling. Just a lifelong baseball fan who can see the bigger picture.

        1
        Reply
        • iverbure

          4 years ago

          More teams should operate like the Rays. Always operate with the thinking you need to trade one of your better players because it’s always better to trade them a year sooner than a year too late.

          5
          Reply
        • LordD99

          4 years ago

          I don’t disagree, but there is likely a happy middle. The Rays have done a poor job of expanding their fan base, which is bad for Tampa and MLB. Young fans really have no reason to emotionally invest in Lowe or Franco. They’ll be gone in short order. Spreadsheet baseball is great on the financial side, less so on the young fan side.

          12
          Reply
        • Biscuits

          4 years ago

          God I’m so sick of this sort of talk. You say that young Rays fans have no reason to emotionally invest in their team. I’m a young Rays fan. Are you? If not, then don’t act like you know what you’re talking about. There are many Rays fans. The reason for poor attendance is not a lack of fans, the TV ratings are just fine.

          I mean wow, we just won the division the year after making it to Game 6 and you question the emotional commitment of the fans? Wow.

          5
          Reply
        • yourcommentlol2

          4 years ago

          Yourcommentlol2

          Reply
      • eephus11

        4 years ago

        Very interesting argument to run with. Probably a case in which the answer lies directly in the middle. I would love a salary floor in MLB so that teams are more likely to spend on keeping their fan favorites around longer. On the other hand, and call be old, but I firmly believe that the front end cost of consuming sports needs to be checked and along with it the money that is dumped on the players. No question people with all world skill should be highly compensated but it is getting out of hand. There is no going back but there is simply too much waste on the payroll side and the owners aren’t exactly taking losses as they waste it, yet I hear people constantly complaining about spending $500 plus to watch one game and take their family for the traditional experience.

        Reply
    • Cam

      4 years ago

      There’s nothing low pressure about expectations of reaching the World Series each year, using the lowest payroll in the league and zero in-season financial flexibility. The Rays have been incredibly successful for long enough now that it’s expected – anything less is a significant failure.

      He’s under huge pressure.

      1
      Reply
    • StudWinfield

      4 years ago

      I agree that Lowe and Franco are not going to be career Rays but I see this as a mandate for Neander to get the most out of the Franco era. If a professional legacy means anything to him the time is now. They have both for the next 5 years even without extending Franco. I think we’ll see a much more aggressive TB in terms of roster construction and spending.

      Reply
    • bobtillman

      4 years ago

      Lord99: Perfect comment. Win 100 games ,draw 1M fans; lose 100 games, draw 1M fans. You’re 100% correct; much less pressure.

      Reply
      • stymeedone

        4 years ago

        Win 100 games, get support for new stadium. Lose 100 games, don’t get support for stadium. No pressure.

        Reply
        • bobtillman

          4 years ago

          New stadium? C’est si bon!!!!!!

          Really, I’ll give Stuie credit for being the most innovative owner in the sport. The split franchise idea is absolutely brilliant, not for the stadiums, but for being able to tap into two of the best TV markets in North America. Nobody thinks Pierre in Montreal won’t be watching the games during the first half (Tampa) of the season. It would be a complete windfall for a franchise that needs one.

          But until then, the Rays are an operation where the surgery is a success, but the patient dies.

          Reply
  5. Dorothy_Mantooth

    4 years ago

    Best contract in baseball. What a well run organization. Such a shame they have such a crappy stadium; imagine if they could average 30K+ fans per night? Their payroll would double!

    3
    Reply
    • kc38

      4 years ago

      Stadium isn’t crappy… is it the absolute most advanced with technology? No. But far from crappy, sewers backing up into the dugout is crappy. They’ve actually put a lot of money into the trop each year to make it newer and nicer. And no Florida resident would ever wanna sit outside to watch baseball in this weather

      5
      Reply
      • Bart Harley Jarvis

        4 years ago

        That’s all well and good, but they’re essentially putting lipstick on a pig. The place was an unattractive, poorly designed concrete dump from Day One.
        First place teams, especially those that went to the previous year’s World Series, should probably do better than 28th in attendance (ahead of only Miami and Oakland). If it’s not entirely a stadium issue, then it’s some combination of poor stadium, bad traffic, and apathetic/never-developed fan base.

        1
        Reply
  6. Central Valley

    4 years ago

    The Giants ownership need to seriously consider extending Farhan Zaidi to a similar type of a extension. GM Scott Harris too.

    2
    Reply
    • despicable_you

      4 years ago

      Enough with all this Zaidy love, he basically has a nursing home on the field. Even Farhan thought this was a .500 team!

      1
      Reply
      • Noel1982

        4 years ago

        They have a top 10 system in all publications and are the biggest market team that’s the furthest away from the tax so they can spend big ! They will be better next year worth win 100 again but they will be able to compete with dodgers again and will probably be better then Padres again next season ! even after Padres make some huge trades ( where ai will leak to insiders they can’t believe how little they had to give up for so and so ) that don’t actually make the Padres better !

        Reply
        • DonOsbourne

          4 years ago

          No knock on the Giants or their front office, but that’s a lot of projection. As they say “that’s why they play the games”. Let’s get this season over before we start handing out trophies for next year,

          1
          Reply
        • bucketbrew35

          4 years ago

          They’re going to have to. Isn’t Webb their only SP who isn’t a free agent at seasons end?

          Reply
  7. aragon

    4 years ago

    angels need his #2 as a pobo!

    2
    Reply
    • SoCalADRL

      4 years ago

      The angels aren’t smart enough to do that

      1
      Reply
  8. Yankee Clipper

    4 years ago

    Robo calls just went to all the Yankees administrators from Hal, providing notice of emergency meeting.

    Reply
  9. WarkMohlers

    4 years ago

    Have the Rays ever extended a FO for this long or even close to this long?

    This was agreed first half, so I doubt they were very concerned with the Mets poaching talent. This team is one that probably makes the MLBPA furious with its roster adjustments, “starters”, bullpen usage because they don’t blatantly delay service clocks (that I recall). Neander knows the system now, so extend him well through the next negotiation. They will find ways to maximize player contributions while minimizing their salaries in the next contract

    And I don’t dislike the rays, quite the opposite. They are managing to compete with teams that have their payroll 2X over or more. I just don’t like this trend if arbitration continues as is.

    5
    Reply
    • stymeedone

      4 years ago

      Do you really think they don’t pay attention to what teams might be looking for new executives? Tampa is probably the most poached front office in MLB! That would be like not paying attention to what players from other teams will be free agents. Fans may not know the “players” in the front offices, but you better believe the teams do!

      2
      Reply
      • WarkMohlers

        4 years ago

        I didn’t say “don’t pay attention”, I said “doubt they were very concerned” which are two very different things. Impending labor negotiations are probably a more pressing issue and you want to keep the person working on them in the org for at least a little while. This deal does that while stops poaching (secondary effect) The Mets were a first place team when this deal was done, not the Mets in September.

        Reply
  10. Noel1982

    4 years ago

    He’s way more responsible for building these rays then chaim bloom ! Doesn’t really matter now chaim is doing his own thang. Now

    2
    Reply
    • WarkMohlers

      4 years ago

      How so? What makes him more responsible?

      Edit: not arguing just genuinely curious

      Reply
      • Noel1982

        4 years ago

        Neander is the top executive giving chaim the credit for building the rays when he didn’t is like giving farhan and not Friedman the credit for turning dodgers Into what they are , farhan and chaim where gms but second in command without full authority! They both have it now and they both have playoff teams with improved farm systems to boot!

        Reply
        • WarkMohlers

          4 years ago

          How so? Just give a me freaking link or something. Bloom greatly expanded the analytics department that Tampa is known for, so I would like to know more about what Neander did. I’m not saying any of them did more than the other

          Reply
        • WarkMohlers

          4 years ago

          Everything I have seen suggested they were cooperative in GM duties. Obviously, recent articles suggest Bloom is proficient in player development and analytics because he was a recent hire. But, I think they are both responsible and this is just them giving bloom the lions share.

          Reply
  11. AshamedMethGoat

    4 years ago

    Lol Mets

    1
    Reply
  12. Tom the ray fan

    4 years ago

    Sorry Mets and maybe even Yankees for that matter

    Reply
  13. hyraxwithaflamethrower

    4 years ago

    Not a Rays fan, but very well deserved. I’m envious of how smart their FO and coaching staff are.

    1
    Reply
  14. advplee

    4 years ago

    This post is exactly why there should not be a salary floor in Major League baseball. Tampa Bay has a low payroll but with good running they win a lot of games. They went to game 6 of the World Series last year and this year they had 100 wins the most in the American League. Why should they be forced to spend more money when they can operate their franchise very well on a lot less?

    2
    Reply
  15. SportsFan0000

    4 years ago

    In theory, the floor would be to discourage teams from “intentionally tanking” for 5-7 years to reload their farms with top talent like the: Orioles, Rangers and others.

    Perhaps, letting teams trade draft picks, like in other sports leagues, may shorten rebuilds and lessen the tendency for teams to tank for draft picks?!

    1
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Braves Designate Craig Kimbrel For Assignment

    Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Braves Select Craig Kimbrel

    Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox

    White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel

    Sign Up For Trade Rumors Front Office Now And Lock In Savings!

    Pablo Lopez To Miss Multiple Months With Teres Major Strain

    MLB To Propose Automatic Ball-Strike Challenge System For 2026

    Giants Designate LaMonte Wade Jr., Sign Dominic Smith

    Reds Sign Wade Miley, Place Hunter Greene On Injured List

    Padres Interested In Jarren Duran

    Royals Promote Jac Caglianone

    Mariners Promote Cole Young, Activate Bryce Miller

    2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: May Edition

    Evan Phillips To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    AJ Smith-Shawver Diagnosed With Torn UCL

    Reds Trade Alexis Díaz To Dodgers

    Rockies Sign Orlando Arcia

    Ronel Blanco To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Recent

    The Opener: Phillies, Wade, Perez, Dodgers, Padres

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Blue Jays Notes: Scherzer, Varsho, Francis

    Pirates Reportedly Receiving Interest In Isiah Kiner-Falefa

    Angels Sign Ben Gamel To Minor League Deal

    Blue Jays Recall Spencer Turnbull For Season Debut

    Orioles Notes: Westburg, Mullins, O’Neill

    Tigers Notes: Vierling, Olson, Urquidy, Boyd

    Twins Place Zebby Matthews On 15-Day IL, Reinstate Danny Coulombe

    Yankees Claim CJ Alexander

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Nolan Arenado Rumors
    • Dylan Cease Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Marcus Stroman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2024-25 Offseason Outlook Series
    • 2025 Arbitration Projections
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version