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Latest On Rays’ Roster Plans

By Mark Polishuk | March 23, 2024 at 6:15pm CDT

6:15pm: Topkin adds that each of Uwasawa, Brantly, and Smith have upward mobility clauses in their contracts rather than traditional opt outs, meaning that each can request to be made available to the other 29 clubs, at which point if a club agrees to give a given player an active roster spot the Rays will have the choice between adding the player to their 40-man roster or trading him to the interested team. Per Topkin, Brantly, Uwasawa and Smith have all told the Rays that they wish to use their assignment clauses.

10:57am: The Rays reassigned right-handers Naoyuki Uwasawa, Burch Smith, and Joe Record, catchers Francisco Mejia and Rob Brantly, and outfielder Jake Mangum to their minor league camp on Friday.  Manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that while none of the six players would be making the Opening Day roster, the Rays were hoping the entire group would remain as minor league depth.

Uwasawa, Smith, and Brantly have some say in their futures, as each of the trio can opt out of their minor league contracts if they aren’t included on the big league roster.  Erasmo Ramirez is another veteran in camp on a minors deal, yet Topkin reports that Ramirez will report to Triple-A and pass on exercising his opt-out clause.

Uwasawa is perhaps the most interesting name in the group, as the 30-year-old is making the jump to MLB after nine seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.  The righty signed a split contract with the Rays that will pay him $2.5MM in the majors and $225K for his time in the minors, as well as a $25K signing bonus and $1MM worth of incentive clauses that would start to kick in if Uwasawa pitched at least 70 big league innings this season.

Though Uwasawa was offered guaranteed contracts by other MLB teams, he chose Tampa Bay “because the success and the rich history of pitching development really intrigued me,” as the right-hander said in a statement at the time of his signing.  It isn’t yet clear if Uwasawa will now stay with the Rays, as he told Topkin (X link) that he would be speaking with his agent to weigh options, including opting out if another team is willing to give him a clearer shot at pitching in the bigs.

Uwasawa didn’t help his case for a roster spot by posting a 13.03 ERA over four appearances and 9 2/3 innings in Spring Training, though he looked a lot sharper in his most recent Grapefruit League outing — he held the Orioles to one run on four hits and a walk over four innings on March 15.  As both Topkin and Cash noted, some adjustment time was inevitable for Uwasawa in his first exposure to the North American style of baseball.

With Brantly and Mejia now cut, it essentially finalizes Alex Jackson’s expected role as the Rays’ backup catcher behind Rene Pinto.  The catching position has long been both a revolving door and a question mark for the Rays, and Topkin feels another backstop might still be added if the Rays like another name who might become available as rival teams also shed players from their spring rosters.

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Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Burch Smith Erasmo Ramirez Francisco Mejia Jake Mangum Naoyuki Uwasawa Rob Brantly

Royals Release Sandy Leon
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Rockies Outright Sam Hilliard
View Comments (35)
Post a Comment

35 Comments

  1. fishco

    1 year ago

    Rays Up!

    2
    Reply
    • briar-patch thatcher

      1 year ago

      Where’s the World Series again?

      Reply
      • StPeteStingRays

        1 year ago

        St. Petersburg, Florida.

        3
        Reply
  2. MLB Top 100 Commenter

    1 year ago

    Alex Jackson is a Christmas baby. And every time he bats it is a present for the opposing pitcher. Rays are amazing, but I can’t see them getting action out of Jackson.

    6
    Reply
    • GOAT Closer Esteban Yan

      1 year ago

      Yeah, I’m hoping they pick up someone who doesn’t make another roster. Always a sad state of affairs at the catching position for the Rays.

      Reply
      • Rsox

        1 year ago

        Maybe they can bring old friend Curt Casali back?

        Reply
      • MLB Top 100 Commenter

        1 year ago

        Sandy Leon or Curt Casali?

        Reply
        • StPeteStingRays

          1 year ago

          Toby Hall or Moooolina…

          Reply
  3. Salzilla

    1 year ago

    Yanks, take a shot on Uwasawa! That last outing was promising.

    Reply
    • deej

      1 year ago

      He isn’t a major league pitcher.

      Reply
      • Salzilla

        1 year ago

        With his experience, he certainly is.

        Reply
  4. Druuu

    1 year ago

    Rob Brantly! The last player still active from the Miggy trade is Rob Brantly!

    1
    Reply
    • Tigers3232

      1 year ago

      I believe Bratly was part of trade for Anibal Sanchez

      3
      Reply
    • Rsox

      1 year ago

      Brantly, Tim Fedorowicz,Ryan Lavarnway. Journeyman backup Catchers can last forever if they are willing to stay in the minors

      1
      Reply
  5. Johnny utah

    1 year ago

    Here’s a roster plan for the rays:

    Stop destroying your pitchers

    6
    Reply
    • solaris602

      1 year ago

      Well, Pepiot is a china doll, so we’ll see how long they can collaborate to keep him off the IL. Good luck with that.

      1
      Reply
  6. EasternLeagueVeteran

    1 year ago

    Can either Mark Polischuk or Marc Topkin give a status on Nick Meyer, former Mets farmhand, 6 year Minor League free agent signing and Catcher/First Baseman still playing MLB spring games with the Rays? No mention of him in this article and he has had a great spring with the bat. He has that multiple position capability K Cash likes. Will he stick? Just curious.

    1
    Reply
  7. melfman1

    1 year ago

    Wouldn’t be shocked if Yanks deal Rortvedt to the Rays for a minor leaguer. They need to either add him to the 26 man or expose him to waivers. They probably would rather get a lottery pick in return rather than lose him for nothing. I can’t see him beating out Wells for the second catcher position this spring.

    Reply
    • brickhaus

      1 year ago

      Why would anyone want him? Minor league depth?

      Reply
    • Salzilla

      1 year ago

      Rortvedt for Uwasawa. Make it so.

      Reply
    • ctbronx7

      1 year ago

      Yankees are more likely to trade Austin Wells or Ben Rice — but not to the Rays.

      Remember, Cashclown lives Rortvedt. And so does Gerrit Cole.

      Reply
      • ctbronx7

        1 year ago

        *loves Rortvedt.

        Reply
      • deej

        1 year ago

        Learn to spell my man. Your disses are not very effective if you can’t even spell them.

        1
        Reply
  8. Jeff Zanghi

    1 year ago

    Optioning Uwasawa seems risky after his outing vs BAL… unless they really don’t think he’s ML-ready or feel strongly he’ll stick around… a guy who took their deal over guaranteed contracts can’t be too thrilled about the situation now — though it’s also incredibly possible they said like “give it 2-3 weeks to get acclimated and you’ll be up if performing or whatever. though based on the comments about talking to his agent it would seem less likely to be the case.

    2
    Reply
    • DonOsbourne

      1 year ago

      But if he signed with the Rays because of their ability to develop pitchers, surely he didn’t believe that development occurs overnight. It seems totally reasonable for the team to want him to take some time in the minors to get acclimated.

      1
      Reply
      • deej

        1 year ago

        The only thing the Rays seem to develop these days are injuries.

        Reply
    • GOAT Closer Esteban Yan

      1 year ago

      Hopefully he sticks around with the Rays in Durham because it won’t be long before one of their starters goes down with an injury and he gets his shot.

      Reply
  9. This one belongs to the Reds

    1 year ago

    “We will actually have a roster. Thank you.”

    1
    Reply
  10. Lfgm85

    1 year ago

    Shame mangum doesn’t have more versatility, he could have easily had been called up a few times with nym or Miami last year but hitting for average is gonna end up making this guy a 32 yr old career minor leaguer by the time a ton of injuries gets him onto a 40 man somewhere to even be available for a double header or neutral site game

    Reply
    • mdnathan

      1 year ago

      while i totally agree with you, i have a friend who has a theory… “he must have b.o.”

      Reply
  11. Mercenary.Freddie.Freeman

    1 year ago

    I think this will be a rough year for the Rays. They seem to get a lot of magic out of their players but their top player is stuck in legal troubles and the rest of the roster leaves slot to be desired.

    3
    Reply
    • Mercenary.Freddie.Freeman

      1 year ago

      ^^^ a lot ^^^

      Reply
      • Canuckleball

        1 year ago

        Nothing wrong with desiring slots, although I prefer roulette myself

        Reply
  12. brucenewton

    1 year ago

    How many NYY win on Tampa’s payroll?

    1
    Reply
    • deej

      1 year ago

      Was this English?

      Reply

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