The Rays are among the teams with interest in Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, and they’re also one of the teams still bidding on star NPB outfielder Seiya Suzuki. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal hears the same, adding that Tampa Bay has also spoken to Oakland about right-hander Frankie Montas.
Either of the two bats listed would represent large-scale expenditures, at least by the Rays’ generally modest standards. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $9.5MM salary for Chapman this season, and he’d be eligible for arbitration one final time next offseason before reaching the open market upon conclusion of the 2023 season. Suzuki, meanwhile, is drawing interest from a wide field of teams and figures to command a weighty multi-year deal himself.
The 28-year-old Chapman’s offensive production has taken a nosedive in recent years after a pair of MVP-caliber seasons in 2018-19. Since Opening Day 2020, Chapman has managed a .215/.306/.431 batting line, still showing good power (.216 ISO, 37 homers in 774 plate appearances) but with an alarming jump from a 22.8% strikeout rate to a 33.1% mark. Chapman’s 2020 season was cut short by hip surgery, though, and it’s possible that the injury which led to that operation and the lingering aftereffects have hampered him at the dish.
Where Chapman hasn’t missed a beat is with the glove. A two-time Platinum Glove winner and three-time Gold Glover at the hot corner, Chapman is widely regarded as one of the best defensive players in the sport. His 78 Defensive Runs Saved since debuting in 2017 are the third-most in baseball, at any position, trailing only Mookie Betts (81) and Andrelton Simmons (79). Chapman ranks third in MLB in Ultimate Zone Rating during that time as well, trailing that same pair. Meanwhile, Statcast ranks him 10th among all big leaguers with 49 Outs Above Average in that same time.
As for Suzuki, he’s been posted by the Hiroshima Carp and will head to the Majors in the midst of his prime, at age 27. Suzuki is generally regarded as one of the best players in Japan at the moment, if not the best overall. He turned in a mammoth .317/.433/.636 batting line with 38 home runs, 26 doubles and nine steals in 533 plate appearances this past season in NPB, all while walking 87 times against 88 strikeouts (16.3% vs. 16.5%). This was far from a one-year fluke; dating back to 2018, Suzuki’s right-handed bat has produced a dominant .319/.435/.592 slash line with 121 home runs, 115 doubles and four triples in 2179 plate appearances.
Rays fans may be a bit skeptical after seeing their team’s two-year, $12MM investment in Yoshi Tsutsugo quickly go south. However, Suzuki is younger and far more highly regarded as a player than Tsutsugo was at the time of his own free-agent foray. Even in NPB, Tsutsugo came with considerable strikeout concerns and minimal defensive value. The variance in opinions seems likely to be reflected in the size of contract Suzuki ultimately commands. Prior to Suzuki’s formal posting, multiple team evaluators told MLBTR that Suzuki could be an everyday corner outfielder in the big leagues. One particularly bullish evaluator called Suzuki the best player to come out of Japan since Shohei Ohtani (not a direct comparison between the two, to be clear).
Looking to Montas, he’d give the Rays a big-time arm to plug into a rotation that looks heavily reliant on younger talent. Tampa Bay is hoping for a bounceback from Ryan Yarbrough and better health from offseason signee Corey Kluber, but the group beyond that pairing consists of Yonny Chirinos (returning from Tommy John surgery), Shane McClanahan, Luis Patino, Drew Rasmussen and Shane Baz. It’s an undeniably talented collection of starters, but Montas would provide some more stability and arguably more upside than some of those current options.
The 28-year-old (29 next week) just wrapped up a 2021 season that saw him post a career-high 187 frames with a 3.37 ERA, a 26.6% strikeout rate and a 7.3% walk rate. Projected by Swartz to earn $5.8MM next season, Montas is controlled through 2023 and is one of many players the rebuilding A’s are open to moving. He missed the second half of the 2019 season while serving an 80-game PED suspension and struggled in his 2020 return, but last year’s standout showing netted Montas a sixth-place finish in American League Cy Young voting. Unlike Chapman and Suzuki, his current salary is a bit more in the Rays’ general wheelhouse.
Ultimately, though, the payroll is going to be pivotal in determining just how big the Rays can go. Tampa Bay is currently projected for an $85.4MM Opening Day mark that would represent a new franchise record. That said, there have also been reports about possible trades of Kevin Kiermaier ($12MM salary), Austin Meadows (projected $4.3MM) and/or Tyler Glasnow (projected $5.8MM — any of which could alter the team’s immediate and 2023 financial outlooks. Glasnow, notably, is expected to miss most of the 2022 season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
“Rays fans may be a bit skeptical…”
All 12 of them.
You mean 10 of them. 2 of them just say they’re Rays fans, but only cuz they live in TB. They hate watching baseball though.
I’d rather be 1 of 12 than 1 of 1,000,000 bandwagon fans.
A’s fans agree
I would rather have my team’s stadium full and everyone going nuts with no danger of them moving to another city or getting contracted. Who cares if they’re bandwagon? Being annoyed that the thing you like is popular is what teenagers do.
Chapman would go from playing in front of 10,000 fans at home games to 9,000 fans. He wouldn’t notice the difference tbh.
U bite your tongue!
I see the Sting Rays are finally spending all their welfare checks that the Yankees have provided for them? Maybe, they can finally buy the ring that they lack?
Has it really gotten so bad for Yankee fans that they’ve become jealous of the Tampa Bay Rays? I guess when you’ve spent years now looking up at them it must lead to a sore neck.
therealryan
Has it really gotten so bad for Yankee fans that they’ve become jealous of the Tampa Bay Rays?
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Yup, that’s a poor take by some of the Yankee fans. And somewhat embarrassing to have one of their fans accuse the Rays of wanting to buy a ring.
As a RS fan, all I can do is tip my cap to them.
We’re a hockey town.
Also, you don’t happen to think being inaugurated during the steroid era, in a division where we were constantly trampled, coupled with previous poor ownership, and being surrounded by 15 other teams in a state known for snowbirds whose baseball allegiance has been set in stone through 3+ generations, has anything to do with it do you?
Or maybe the fact we were locked into a terrible stadium contract that’s in the hands of politicians.
I can go on.
Take your fan issues somewhere else. We all have them.
I’ll believe it when I see it concerning the Rays
Rays have gone bonkers lately.
Tampa is one team that has been quite on signing anyone
Quite what ?
Seems like some of these guys, like Freeman & Suzuki, are figuring, “might as well get a bidding war going”. Especially Freeman, since he’s not going back to Atlanta apparently. Can’t blame em, I guess.Otherwise they would’ve signed already. 2 days ago Freeman was down to Atlanta and LA. Now, it seems kinda wide open again.
I wonder where all of this extra payroll space is coming from in Tampa? They talked about adding Freddie Freeman too. I know their payroll commitments come way down next season but most of these moves would push the 2022 Tampa payroll over $100M which is unheard of. Did they get a new television deal or something?
The national tv contracts in total are increasing. They’ll get additional ad revenue from uniform patches. They’ll trade KK or other players to offset. I suspect they can comfortably operate a $100M payroll at this stage.
KK isn’t exactly in demand and the Rays are in the same position as the Padres with Meyers and Hosmer……so he still clogs up any Rays acquisition plans at this point unless ownership has decided to change the formula.
The difference is that KK is still a pretty good player, even at his price tag.. Myers is average, at best, and costs $21M. Hosmer is almost untradeable.
I’d make a modest wager that KK will have a higher WAR/$$$ over the next two years than Marte will for the Mets. I continue to have no idea why teams continue to under-value CF defense.
I agree Joe KK is tradable they aren’t getting much back for him but he certainly isn’t Hosmer or even Myers he still is elite defensively and he is a league average hitter he has value.
They’ve been pocketing revenue sharing. That team can easily have a $100 million payroll. You have to believe they are poor because they won’t show you the books.
Owner is getting sued from the minority owners for disclosing funds. He’s trying to get rid of some of the money now to not look as guilty
They’ll probably just open another box of very good pitchers. Just add water….once they trade for Chapman. So don’t worry about who they give up for him.
Sooner or later the worm will turn for the Rays also….their economical formula will at some point produce clunkers….just a matter of time….and as far as pitching is concerned, most of them in that box of pitchers you mentioned have come from other organizations so its not just automatic as you infer.
Basically, you would need to have your head examined actually signing with the Rays. You know you will never be getting a no trade clause in your contract. And you know you for sure, you will get traded the minute you have success with the franchise. Nothing like security.
The Rays are coming off of basically their 4th straight 90 win season and have the most wins in the AL over the past 3 years and 2nd most in MLB. They have a young core with their best players under team control for multiple seasons. They also have a top 5 farm system and last year had the best minor league system in MLB history. One day they’ll fall but I wouldn’t be holding my breath waiting for it to happen anytime soon.
This isn’t luck at all, you’re just describing the best run organization in the game. Nobody cares Where the pitchers come from whether it’s the draft or trades… it’s the point the Rays know how to find players and scouting and development isn’t lucky
Please trade Vidal Brujan! The guy needs a full-time opportunity, and God knows the A’s have playing time available everywhere.
I believe there’s a good chance he gets traded in that scenario. I just don’t see a fit for Chapman. Maybe a 3-team trade incoming
Brujan will get a full time opportunity this year one way or another.
Despite the team’s perennial success, any FA has to be skittish about signing there because they’re all about roster churn no matter who you are or what you’ve done. Who wants to sign a deal in TB for 4 or 5 years when you know they’re gonna start shopping you after year 2 regardless of your performance?
To me, the lower dollar amount would be more of a deterrent. Players do still have the right to negotiate for limited no-trade clauses or an escalator if they are traded.
There are plenty of productive way to turn that to your favor.
Create a mutual option that kicks in to a player option on trade (Donaldson), or an assignment (Donaldson $2M), or an opt-out that kicks in upon a trade.
Because you know you’re gonna compete literally every single year
I think this is very overblown. Look back at any team from 5 years ago and even the richest teams only have 5 or 6 players still with them.
I wonder if the Rays seemingly being more open to spend (I’ll believe it when I actually see it) has more to do with wanting to take advantage of an extremely talented young core’s window or with gathering evidence when the union sues them for pocketing too much revenue sharing money. “No, Your Honor, look at these rich new contracts we just signed. We were just gathering talent before this and didn’t want to spend big until we knew we’d be contenders.”
100% they have a pretty clear payroll after this year and locking up Franco helped a ton. They see a special window and they know they have to strike
I want A’s owner, John Fisher, to go skydiving without a parachute today
Woah lol
Come now, you can be more creative than that.
I want him to go cliff-diving without the water.
I want him to go deep-sea diving without the oxygen tank.
I want him to do his best Mario impersonation: banging his head against bricks before jumping nuts-first into a flagpole.
Rays are at a bout 80 million for next year and that will go down 20 million if they move KK/Meadows, Diaz. Yarbrough this winter. Next year they have only 15 million guaranteed on the books with only 4/5 players arb players set to make no more than 10 million each (if they kept them). There are no long, getting expensive type contracts they need to worry about for the next 3 years. (except Lowe for 8 million in ’24.
The Pirates ☠️ need a first baseman
Throw out some cash. Nutting
It doesn’t have to be a lot of cash, just some
Stockpiling all that revenue sharing money, time to spend it
Ahem, Pittsburgh!
Just how many teams are there on Suzuki’s short list..?
What seems to be the contract talk about Suzuki,,,,,I read something like 5 yrs/$83M….. I would think there would more more teams all over this guy….I have not read one thing about him that sounds bad. He is only 27…….very good Power…. OB% .402…. BA avg .310….SLG% .541….. etc etc…. I understand those are not MLB numbers……But still he just sounds so solid in all facets….WHYYYYYYY wouldn’t the Yankees be interested in him.?? Plus great fielder and great arm