The Rays announced they’ve signed left-hander Jeffrey Springs to a four-year contract extension. Springs, who’s represented by Ryan Ware of Alliance Sports Management, will be guaranteed $31MM over the course of the deal but there’s also incentives and a $15MM club option for 2027 with a $750K buyout. If Springs hits all the incentives and Cy Young award escalators and the club picks up the option, he’ll earn $65.75MM over five years.
The exact details of those incentives and escalators aren’t known. Springs will earn a salary of $4MM this year, $5.25MM next year, followed by $10.5MM in each of the following two seasons. Springs was set to reach free agency after 2024, so this could allow the Rays to secure him for three additional seasons, if they end up triggering that option.
Springs, 30, has had a unique baseball journey. A 30th round draft pick of the Rangers, he drew little fanfare from prospect evaluators in his first few professional seasons. Though he got some rotation work for a few years, the Rangers used him exclusively in relief in 2018 to good results. He tossed 56 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A that year. The 4.13 ERA might not seem very impressive, but it was surely inflated by a .438 batting average on balls in play. He kept his walks down to a reasonable 8.1% level while striking out an incredible 41.7% of batters faced. He got to make his MLB debut that year, throwing 32 innings over 18 appearances with a 3.38 ERA.
He took a step back in 2019, missing a few months with left biceps tendinitis and posting a 6.40 ERA. Texas designated him for assignment going into 2020 and then traded him to the Red Sox for Sam Travis. The change of scenery didn’t help Springs get back on track, as he posted a 7.08 ERA in the shortened 2020 campaign. He was designated for assignment again and then flipped to the Rays alongside Chris Mazza for prospects Ronaldo Hernández and Nick Sogard.
The move to Tampa appears to have been the one Springs needed, as his results have completely turned around since then. He registered a 3.43 ERA over 43 appearances in 2021, striking out 35.2% of batters faced while walking just 7.8% of them. In 2022, he started in the bullpen but the club began stretching him into a starter as the season went along. He responded well to the change, eventually throwing 135 1/3 innings with a 2.46 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 40.9% ground ball rate.
After a few years of floundering and struggling, it’s not a huge surprise that Springs would jump at the chance to lock in some life-changing money here. He reached arbitration for the first time going into 2022 but only made $947.5K, a slight bump over the $700K league minimum. He was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a jump to $3MM this year, though he and the club didn’t come to an agreement prior to the filing deadline earlier this month. He submitted a $3.55MM figure while the Rays filed at $2.7MM. Instead, he’ll make $4MM and lock in some eight-figure salaries for the future.
For the Rays, they clearly believe Springs is capable of continuing as an effective starter, though there’s some risk here. Springs had excellent results in 2022 but it’s still just one season, and it wasn’t even a full one. As mentioned, Springs began the year in the bullpen and wasn’t stretched out until the end of May. He also went on the injured list for a couple of weeks in July due to right lower leg tightness. Concerns aside, the Rays are confident enough in the lefty that they’re willing to take a gamble on him.
For a low-spending team like the Rays, extensions are an important part of having talent on the roster. Since they don’t usually shop at the top of the free agent market, they need to keep guys around by locking them up before they get closer to the open market and increase their earning power. In recent years, they’ve given extensions to players like Kevin Kiermaier, Blake Snell, Brandon Lowe, Wander Franco, Manuel Margot and Tyler Glasnow, with Springs now joining them on that list.
This won’t have a huge impact on the club’s 2023 payroll but will add some decent commitments to 2025 and 2026. The club now has three players locked into the former season with Franco and Zach Eflin on the books there, along with a club option for Lowe. In exchange for putting that money on the table, the Rays now have arguably the most rotation stability they’ve had in years. Recent seasons have seen them rely on bullpen games and openers to get through a season but they now have Springs, Glasnow, Eflin, Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan, with depth options like Yonny Chirinos, Luis Patiño and Josh Fleming. Most of that group are still in their pre-arbitration years, giving the club years of affordable control. None of them are slated for free agency after this year and Glasnow is now the only one set to hit the open market after 2024. The club also has one of the top pitching prospects in the sport in Taj Bradley, who finished last year at Triple-A and could make his debut this year.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported the deal and many of the details. Joel Sherman of the New York Post was the first with the year-to-year salary breakdown.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Woah my rays gave out a possible 100plus million this off season, WHAT WORLD IS THIS
I love this guy. He makes hitter look silly when he drops the bottom out of that change up. It’s beautiful to watch
I wanted him on the Yanks since 2021 off-season. great deal for the Rays.
jope – He is just another pitcher that Bloom failed miserably with, the Red Sox are clueless at bringing out the best in pitchers.
I am fully expecting the possibility that Darwinzon, Barnes, etc will also excel elsewhere.
@judge, bro you need some new material. That is the second article you’ve used to rag on the Trop. At least our organization didn’t abandon the house Ruth built.
But to @Tom’s point, it has been nice to see them sign and lock up their pitching staff. I do wish they’d spread some of that money towards a lefty bat, but they may still pull off a trade before the season begins.
@goat, I think its just what history has shown. Even as a Yankee fan, I like seeing the Rays growing some and making signings when available. I love seeing 3 AL East teams make the wildcard, that is when it is NYY, TB, TOR or BAL 🙂
Again the fact Rays are a revenue sharing acceptor, its nice to see they atleast are signing players unlike other owners who likely pocket it like the A’s and Pirates.
I hope his pact includes a no trade clause, if not he’ll be a Ray till the trading deadline this season.
@capt it will be just before the raise to 10.5,
Does Jeffery Springs extend to Mickey Rivers?
Yes,and they both drain into Wade Boggs
Nyuck nyuck nyuck
Loving it! Springs was a stud last season. Hope he can keep it up with the new deal.
These are the stories where it is easy to care about their new deal that they have earned after a long journey. Whether a star gets $250M or $360M is one type of story, but the 30th round pick at age 30 that finally gets his life-changing deal of $31M guaranteed is pretty awesome. I hope that he earns every bonus…
I knew it! Bloom is still on the Ray’s payroll!
Lol, sure seems like it
Yeah this was a miss by Tampa
Same world where they outspent the St Louis Cardinals this off-season. (Attendance juggernaut St. Louis Cardinals).
Wow now all the Rays now need an extension, for that gorgeous stadium they play in.
Union deal got them off the hook for pocketing revenue sharing funds. On probation but the much needed regulation will hopefully keep the Rays, A’s, Pirates, and Marlins more honest when it comes to paying players and staff.
Yup. There it is. Well deserved, and savy on the part of the Rays. I love him this year for fantasy. A strikeout rate like that can make a guy big money
Does this portend an early spring or do we have to wait for Phil’s report?
Well deserved he played extremely well last year. Could be great 3-4 starter in this rotation
As a Jays fan I despise Jeffrey Springs. He is one of the leagues biggest secrets. Filthy is an understatement!
I am really interested to see if his body will hold up and get him 180+ innings. He converted to starter after being drafted as a probably reliever and spending most of his time there. Certainly looked awesome last year and had no problem getting into the 6th.
The thing is, that change up is so nasty, I think it would play for him as a reliever, also.
I think that is fair to speculate. One thing he has working for him is his stuff isn’t very demanding on his arm or elbow. He has a mid-velo fastball used to set up his changeup, so that seems like a sustainable combo.
Next up for extensions: Summers, Falls, and Winters.
Just checking: this is the guy that the Sox gave away, right?
Sogard and the catcher…Ronaldo.
Ronaldo has a shot this year, doesn’t he? Seems to be an open spot and he’s at a good age. Should get a look I’d be willing to bet
Yes, he wasn’t very good here
He became good as soon as he left. Real testament to the abilities of our coaching staff
It’s funny that this is the narrative today considering almost everyone blasted the Rays for “giving away” a prospect of Hernandez’s caliber at that time.
Mango – Can you be more specific please? Bloom has given away several guys.
Fever: Springs. Guy was complete trash in Boston, as soon as he left he remembered how to pitch
I like it but they will move him when rhe 10 million kick in
Good day for Rays fans!
He’ll be traded in two years when he starts making 10+ million dollars. They’ll replenish with prospects for a guy who’s salary won’t cause issues for 85% of the teams in the league.
The guy they trade this year is GlasNOW. Are they really going to lock him up after he re-establishes his rank of Ace? Are they really going to wait until teams interested would only have him for a year? They could wait and improve his worth but with only one year, is the payoff of waiting worth the risk of injury?
Unless they have decided to change their business model, it seems to make more sense to trade Tyler now. Especially with their offensive needs.
Even if they keep him all year they’ll offer him the QO (only if he has a great year), he’ll decline, and the comp pick will turn into solid gold. Everything comes up roses for the Rays.
Glasgow signed a 2 year extension, so no qualifying offer next year!
If he’s good, they’ll keep him at 10.5 mil. But the Rays will trade him the day before be becomes bad, like they always do.
The rays seem to have the secret sauce when it comes to pitching.
With Glasnow it was sticky stuff
Jimbo Jones, spot on. They turn black coal into diamonds. The only other teams that come close to the Rays when it comes being successful with pitching reclamation projects are the Dodgers and the Giants.
It will be interesting to see how Noah Syndergaard fares with the Dodgers this season. He had some success last year due to his pitching knowledge and mechanics. The combination of working with the Dodgers pitching coaches and his velocity returning 2 years removed from Tommy John surgery could portend a very successful season for Syndegard.
Noah pitched with guile and intelligence as a pitcher. If the velocity returns, I can see him helping the Dodgers defeat the Mets in the playoffs, if the Mets get lucky and make it back to the playoffs.
I would love to see Thor get 2 Victories against the Mets in the playoffs.
It’s going to be much tougher for the Mets to repeat. I can visualize both Verlander and Scherzer showing signs of declining health due to age. I don’t know how they can compete against the likes of the Phillies, the Braves, and the Marlins pitching staff without getting starts from Verlander and Scherzer on a consistent basis.
You should really be more worried about the Angels and what they’ll do when Ohtani signs with the Mets next offseason. Enjoy him in LA while it lasts.
The Mets, Yankees, and Dodgers fans are going to look at each other funny when he signs with Seattle…or stays where he is.
If he wanted to go to those franchises, he would have when anyone could have signed him from Japan.
Indians now Guardians.
You don’t want to extend springs too far. They’ll lose their shape.
That joke made me recoil.
Rays like a good Spring sale.
He’s ready to spring into action
Rays are ready to spring into 3rd place
found my log in just to mute captainjudge and the degrom texas ranger. if only he was half the commentor his “imposter” was he wouldn’t be as needy for attention. pathetic trolls.
Traded for Sam Travis….. Sam grew up in suburbs of Chicago and went to St Michael school in Orland Park… ( my church) never knew of him till member told me of him when seeing me always wearing Redsox gear or Hs gear of daughter( a walking bill board for both) I followed Sam thru minor leagues and was jacked when he got the call… was in lineup when I went to see Redsox vs White Sox… he doubled and stole. A base!!! A former 2nd round pick of Redsox is now out of baseball sort of as he plays for Long Island ducks… but hey he made it… congrats to Jeffrey… I’m following you because of that….
Springs was not very good in Texas or Boston. The Tampa Bay Rays pitching clinic fixed him.
It is nice to see the Rays actually keep a player for once
One of my Fantasy Baseball surprise pick ups, last season!!!
Of all the guys for the Rays to extend over the years, they picked the journeyman that had a career year? Their money I guess, but not what I would do.
It’s 31 million dollars, if he flounders their isn’t much risk and it won’t be devastating for a market even as small as the rays.
They DFA’d CJ Cron when he was making 4 million after a good year. They DFA’d Corey Dickerson after an All Star season when he was due $6 million. 31 million is HUGE to them.
It’s not HUGE to them at all. They gave Franco 192 million dollars they gave Zack eflin 10 million a year. They cut those guys because they are a dime a dozen, Cron is your run of the mill slightly above average 1st baseman who is horrible defensively, they had plenty of outfield talent and didn’t need to pay Corey Dickerson, they were also not in a huge contention window back then either. Also if I remember correctly after the DFA he got traded to the pirates. The rays will spend the money, as long as it isn’t ridiculous, on players that fit the mold of what they are trying to accomplish. Any team can afford a 8 million AAV
Could follow up this article with another as to when he will be traded. Because he will never play out the contract with the Rays.
Yea but those extensions allow the Rays to squeeze out extra trade value if they do trade them.
Springs was the 888th draft pick the year he signed. I wonder if a Jason Adam extension is next. I would love to see the Rays stretch him out as a starter with his Springs’ like command and three plus pitches that were all equally used. Rays eliminated his curveball that he used to throw 31% of the time.
Adam? Not with his injury history.
Jason Adam only has 2+ years of service time. They already have his rights for 4 more years & he’s 31 years old.
An extension for him doesn’t make sense. Springs was only controllable for this year and next . I’m
I think it depends if the Rays see him as a reliever or as a starter. Have to see him as a reliever now unlike Springs who showed out as a starter. If he did stretch into a successful starter in 2023 (especially maintaining performance late into the season), then I think Rays would have a strong incentive to buy out his arb years and grab an FA year + an option.
At 30! What a story!
People question the Rays methods when they stick to their “process” but the results bear them out.
Springs is a perfect example:
They made him a starter, the team goes 16-8 in those games. Not once did they let him finish 3rd time thru the order. I was at the Toronto double-header. He gave up three hits, two walks in six shut-out innings. He looked …comfortable and got he “win”. I checked: 23 batters faced. Didn’t matter, done! They extended him because they like what they got and he fits the game-plan.
Good for Springs. I always was intrigued however never thought he could overcome his home run issues. It does provide more anecdotal evidence why I love to follow Rays pitchers. Polishing turds into gems is one cool thing they do!
Look forward to seeing a strong Rays rotation this year. Can’t wait to see Springs carve up the Yankees and Jays this year. Could see at least 2 no-hitters he throws against those weak offences.
Arson will be up there flailing away at Springs’ offerings. If he’s not injured yet.
Can’t imagine what this staff would be like if Honeywell, Mckay and Baz didn’t get hurt.
How did the Rangers let him get away?