Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander recently held his end of season press conference, where he indicated that the club figures to prioritize improving behind the plate after an 80-82 season that saw them stave off elimination from postseason contention until the final week of September despite engaging in a major sell-off prior to the trade deadline. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relayed some of Neander’s comments from the end of season presser, where he discusses the decision to sell over the summer and the club’s future headed into 2025.
When discussing his decision to sell off key, controllable pieces like outfielder Randy Arozarena and third baseman Isaac Paredes at this summer’s trade deadline, Neander readily acknowledge the possibility that the club may have been able to cobble together enough extra wins to sneak into the postseason had they decided against selling. With that being said, Neander offered a major sign for optimism headed into the coming winter: After cutting more than a third of the club’s expected payroll commitments for 2025 off the books over the summer (with Topkin suggesting that $45MM in 2025 dollars came off the books prior to the deadline), the Rays now have a healthy amount of financial flexibility with which to operate this winter.
It’s a major change from just last offseason, when the club had to part ways with expensive veterans Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot in order to get payroll within the club’s small market budget. This winter, not only is a similar cost-cutting sell off not necessary, but Topkin suggests the club will have some room to make additions this winter. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Tampa’s 12-man arbitration class to make a combined $25.6MM in 2025. Even if Tampa retains each of those players and exercises Brandon Lowe’s $10.5MM club option for next year, RosterResource suggests that would leave them with just under $75MM on the books for next year. That’s $14MM below the club’s 2024 mark, $4MM below where the club ended up in 2023, and $11MM below their 2022 figure.
That should be more than enough payroll flexibility for the Rays to address their stated priority this winter of improving behind the plate. Ben Rortvedt figures to remain in place as a member of the catching tandem after a decent season where he posted a wRC+ of 87 while playing solid but unspectacular defense behind the plate. Finding a right-handed catcher to complement the lefty swinging Rortvedt, though Topkin cautions that the club is likely to focus on short-term solutions behind the plate given their belief in youngster Dom Keegan. The 24-year-old was selected by the Rays in the fourth round of the 2022 draft and since then has made it to Double-A, here he hit an impressive .285/.371/.435 in 104 games this year.
Topkin notes that with Keegan set to begin the 2025 campaign in Triple-A and the possibility of him emerging as an option behind the plate as soon as this season, Neander and his front office seemingly view Keegan as a potential long-term answer behind the plate. A good middle ground for the club could be pursuing an older catcher who might be more open to a one-year deal such as Elias Diaz or Kyle Higashioka. The addition of either player would provide the club with a solid platoon partner for Rortvedt while not blocking Keegan in the longer term.
Aside from upgrading behind the plate, Topkin adds that Neander plans to look for ways to address the club’s lackluster offense. The club’s 95 wRC+ was good for just 23rd in the majors this year, and their offensive flaws were further exposed by the fact that the team scored just 604 runs this year, less than any club except the historically bad White Sox. While that dearth of runs seems to suggest that the club ought to look to make significant changes to the offense, Neander actually suggested that he hopes the club can improve its offense internally.
There’s some logic to that, as offensive stalwart Yandy Diaz got off to a cold start in 2024 before heating up and rebounding with a strong second half, while Christopher Morel struggled badly in his first half-season of work away from Chicago after being dealt by the Cubs in the Paredes trade. More typical seasons from Diaz and Morel, as well as a strong first 162-game campaign from exciting youngster Junior Caminero, could boost the club’s offense in a hurry. Even so, however, it’s easy to imagine the club benefit a great deal from an external upgrade to the lineup at a position such as shortstop, where both Jose Caballero and Taylor Walls clocked in well below league average this year.
Stay Classy TB
Even with the draconian team salary limits I would REALLY have tried harder to keep Arozarena and Paredes but that ship has sailed.
I realize AL East might be the most competitive division top to bottom. TOR, BOS should be better next year. with BAL and NYY battling for the top.
I understood moving off of Arozarena, as he was becoming quite expensive and the return was starting to diminish relative to his price tag, but that Paredes-Morel swap made zero sense to me. No extra years of control, and even if Morel might be slightly cheaper, Paredes is a better known quantity at a more valuable position
To be honest it’s sad that a once proud franchise like the A’s are relocating when it should be that poverty Rays franchise that plays in a dump in front of 8k fans a game and the front office always ships off their best players to horde draft picks/prospects. Not very exciting.
*HOARD
Sorry for the spelling mistake I was busy rehearsing with my band The Rippers.
UncleJesse;
Do you know that they’re building a new state-of-the-art park?
Have mercy?
Headline: Erik Neander discusses offseason plan, Rays Payroll
Eric Neander on Rays payroll: “we are currently looking through all couch and seating in both clubhouses, luxury boxes and Stu’s office scrounging for loose change”…
Sternburg has money, people forget he offered Aaron Judge the same contract the Yankees gave him but Judge of course refused him. Said he couldn’t play for the Rays after viewing them for so long as an arch rival.
Also the highest bidder for Freddie freeman
Like I said yesterday, if they trade Lowe, Contreras would be a fit. It’s a short term term commitment at a position where offense is hard to come by. It’s a bigger salary commitment than they usually make, but they have the financial flexibility to make it work over the next three seasons. They should get some clarification on Wander Franco’s situation in the next 6-8 months as well.
As far as I know the Wander situation is already clear. The Rays don’t have to pay his salary anymore. Whatever happens with that should not affect the Rays cheap pockets … But they might want to trick fans into believing they are still on the hook and that’s why they won’t spend anymore.
You probably know better than me. I don’t remember hearing anything official on the subject, but I don’t follow the Rays on a daily basis.
The Rays record is acquire veteran catchers that are poor behind the plate and in a rut. They tend to bring them up to speed on handling pitchers, calling a game, and playing decent defense.
The thing is this, Don: If you look at the catchers they’ve brought in the past 5-7 years, they’ve all either had reasonable salaries or weren’t looking for a lot as a free agent.
The Rays are not “cheap”. That’s for baseball morons. Their owner made a fortune on Wall Street. He set up the organization to do the same thing: Seek undervalued commodities that are mismanaged (in this case, ballplayers). They buy low and bring them up to speed with their coaching staff. Use them for a period of time. When the players are pretty much fully valued and can command large salaries, they sell them high and get multiple undervalued young players they can work with.
Unless the Cardinals paid something like 75% of Contreras’ salary I doubt they’d bring him on….and his track record in working with coaches is pretty awful.
I 100 percent agree. But I actually think there’s some surplus value that could be unlocked in Contreras. I think the Rays could get their money’s worth and maybe more.
I know it doesn’t fit what they normally do, but they do occasionally make a surprise move.
It’s just an idea. I don’t actually expect them to do it.
Don – There is no surplus value in Contreras’ contract. It’s underwater by nearly 50%.
I disagree on the contract. No one has been a bigger critic of the Contreras contract than me. But the truth is, he has justified the contract with his bat. Even if he is nothing but a DH, his production justifies the contract. Yes, he was hurt much of this season, but that was mostly due to the freakish arm break. He hit very well before and after the injury.
You might be right. The trade value site BTV says otherwise though. I will say that a $17.5MM AAV doesn’t seem out of line for a player producing 2.5 fWAR per year. That’s still not something the Rays will be interested in 2026.
Rays in the Bay – Nothing has been decided with Franco. If he’s acquitted of the charges and can get a visa back into the US, the Rays will remain on the hook for the rest of his contract, whether they want him to be a Ray or not.
@mp2891 Even if acquitted by the DR courts, MLB will examine the evidence and rule as they operate with their own sets of rules and standards. It’s not a given that the Rays are obligated to keep paying him. The union will fight it, of course. But if he clearly violated his contract’s written rule of conduct, there isn’t much that they can do.
You might be right, but to my knowledge, no MLB contract has ever been voided without there being something like a guilty verdict that kept the player from being able to perform. Wander may suffer a suspension from MLB, but an outright voiding of his contract is unlikely if he’s acquited and able to get a visa based on historical precedent.
@mp2891 Agreed that it’s unprecedented but considering what Franco is facing trial for is also unprecedented for an once active player. If he’s acquitted, I don’t expect the union to put up a strong fight for him bc of the PR blowback. I have no dog in this fight. They’ll agree to either quickly agree to a settlement to void his deal, void it completely, or give him a very lengthy suspension. His MLB career is over either way. This is way more serious than Trevor Bauer’s ordeal and he’s been blackballed.
I appreciate the perspective, but I don’t think you’re right. If Franco is found not guilty of the acts he’s accused of, there is no chance the league will attempt to void his contract and banish him and if they did, the Players Association would go to war to fight for Franco. I’m a Rays fan and I would love for you to be correct, because I want nothing more to do with the guy. A “not guilty” verdict does not mean “innocent” and I cannot see Franco explaining away to my satisfaction all the evidence that has been publicly disclosed already. Franco has already been banned from playing for nearly 1.5 years already, so unfortunately, if he’s acquited, I suspect he will be reinstated immediately. .
@mp2891 You could be right. None of us have all the facts. We’ll see.
Don – If the Rays trade B.Lowe, it will not be to add a bigger contract. Plus, they value defense tremendously at catcher, and Contreras is not a good defender. No chance they add him. Maybe Herrera, but he’s not a very good defender either (but he does have 5 years of control and is currently prearb). The Rays are setting up perfectly to open their next window in 2026. With the loss of their broadcast deal, I expect them to trade a few more (maybe all) of their “big money” contracts this offseason to complete the rebuild.
You’re right on every point. I thought about the TV deal as well. But this article claims they are prepared to “spend”. I’m just saying that Contreras fills the one need they identified in their press conference. As I said above, I don’t expect the Rays to do it. I do think the Rays COULD do it. Looking at both their long and short term payroll, they COULD afford Contreras if they wanted to. They employ defense-first players at several positions. Contreras is an excellent athlete who did improve defensively while in St. Louis and could make further improvements with a team known for improving catcher defense.
Again, this purely an idea. I’m not saying I expect it to happen. But Contreras would fill the Rays’ stated need and he COULD fit in their payroll. It does NOT fit their history, but they do surprising things sometimes.
Yeah, they could do it, but they won’t Pretty much all of the players received from their Deadline selloff are 2-3 years out and they have a bunch of top prospects graduating in the next 12-15 months (not just top prospects, but top 50 prospects). They are setting up for 2026 on, not 2025.. Whatever they say in their press conferences is just to maintain trade value for those they want to trade, and of course to keep whatever season ticket holders they have.
I can see that. But I also see that with a full complement of healthy starting pitchers in ’25, they could mount a serious challenge to a Yankees team that might not have Soto, an Orioles team that struggled down the stretch minus Burnes and Santander, and a Red Sox team seemingly unwilling to spend to improve. The Blue Jays are going to be bad. This could be a great year for the Rays to push the chips in. Again, just a theory.
You aren’t wrong there. The difference between the Yankees and Rays this year was Judge and Soto. Next year the difference will be less because the Rays will have a healthy rotation (and even less if the Yankees fail to retain Soto, which I personally suspect will be the case). I’d like to believe the Rays aren’t going to punt on 2025, but until I see actual evidence of the Rays spending money or trading for upgrades, I’m expecting them to sell this offseason.
they should get new owner and move to Nashville. They want to build another stadium on the same site. waste of money.
“Get a new owner”…..just how is that done? Owners aren’t like players. They’re not a commodity. Can’t fire, trade, DFA.
Erik and Stu do what they do best, just talk talk talk. And at the end of the day, they just hope for ‘rebound years’ from half the guys that shouldn’t be on a ML roster. They’ve been playing that tune the last few years and that got then nowhere except two embarrassing WC performances and a historically bad offense. Boy I hope Taylor Walls can reach . 220 this year! I hope Morel can play decent defense enough to use him every night. Time for Dylan Carson and Caballero to hit at least .250! Maybe Siri can also crack .245 this year.
It’s gonna be awful watching them next year if no new moves are made or additions added. I’m joking but the above numbers would actually be rebound years like Erik said.
Hit the nail on the head. $tu is a cheap SOB and doesn’t deserve to own a club. This team could’ve had at least 1 title if he would spend money to help the club and to retain players.
I guess the grass is always greener. I would be happy to watch the Cardinals roll out 80 million dollar payrolls if the roster was packed with young, versatile, athletes and high upside arms. I could deal with minimal offense in exchange for exciting defense, great base running, and lights out pitching. The front office has a plan that provides for consistently competitive teams. I’d take that all day over bad management, bloated payrolls, and mediocre results.
Indeed. But at the end of the day how many of these highly touted prospects make the jump to ML and continue to perform? Lowe is barely productive. Aranda has been hurt. The pitchers haven’t developed as hoped. They dominate minor league play but can’t perform when the Rays need them most. The only prospect that continued his performance after the minors is arrested in the DR. Junior is currently adapting so we’ll see what that brings. I also wanna say that the Rays block all these guys on the roster via average acquisitions (Carlson, Morel) and have no motivation to call up players they think are ‘not ready’ (aka don’t waste years of service time so we can control them a bit longer)
I know paying stupid money can be frustrating for other fanbases but I am still incredibly jealous of teams like the Cardinals or Orioles.
The orioles? They have the brightest young stars of the game and they still suck. 90% of fan bases would love to have Their team like the Rays. Our fans just take advantage
Not too dissimilar to the Rays in all honesty. Just a bit more willing to spend money now and trade prospects for impact players.
Not cheap. The Ray’s home game attendance is sad. I’ve been to a few. …. If you don’t make any money at the gate, it’s difficult to afford high priced players.
Not true. TV money is a thing and the Rays had a huge TV deal before Diamond Sports. Stu doesn’t want to spend any personal money on the team so he thrifts to keep a profit operating the team.
Another thing to mention is that in addition to the location and stadium issues, the team itself does not attempt to connect to the locals and build a fanbase. Lightning and Bucs manage to fill seats, but the Rays can’t. The reason is that those teams connect to the locals, spend money, and have had success winning it all. They have better social media teams and better outreach programs. The Rays don’t do anything beyond the bare minimum to sell tickets. They don’t even post losses on their social media pages because they’re afraid of backlash! Yes it costs money, but you gotta spend money to make money and Stu doesn’t do that. They don’t care about attendance at the Trop.
There are lightning banners all over the area around the stadium. You can’t tell you are near the Rays park until you are about 50 feet from the entrance.
Compare that to Washington or Pittsburgh, where the teams are smaller market, but have fans in the ballpark and in the case of Washington, they won a title. I went to games in those cities, and about a mile from the parks you saw team banners. There were tables in the street with vendors selling team swag and food. It might do wonders for the fan experience if $tu kept some players for more than 3 seasons. They could sell jerseys at tables like in Pitt and Wash, and people might have some team pride. Maybe they would get a sellout in a game that’s not against the Yankee$ or a playoff game.
Someday Cash will understand that Walls cost them far more with the pitiful bat than he adds with the glove. He’s a defensive replacement who should never see the plate in a crucial AB.
Rays in the Bay – I understand your frustration, but the Rays were totally screwed this year. They lost 4 very good starting pitchers before the season began and their 6-10 Win SS. Not many teams can win under those circumstances. They then traded their 130 wRC+ LF/1B for a stopgap at SS because (1) Walls sucks, and (2) Walls missed 1/2 the year with a hip injury from last year. That made them even worse. They were never going to really compete this year. Sadly, they won’t compete next year either. They have too many top prospects knocking on the door to go out and improve on the players you listed. So we wait until 2026 for C.Williams (SS), X.Isaac and T.Morgan (1B/DH), B.Taylor (2B), C.Simpson (CF) and others. It is what it is…
I’ll be excited in 3 years but next year is gonna be awful. A waste of potential from the pitchers side of things. We have so many analytics guys measuring performance and yet we will still allow Walls and Morel to play big minutes.
They just don’t care about offense… At all. But when you put so much pressure on the pitching to win games, it will always backfire because of the injury risks associated with said strategy. Offenses are a bit more stable if you pay for it. You usually know what you’re gonna get.
They’ll dump Siri on some poorly ran team thinking they’ll unlock him only for him to continue to be bootyjuice, while shipping off a controllable reliver who’ll finish with a 33% strikeout rate.
I’m sure hoping that’s the case. Siri is very good defensively and serviceable… Just not a starter. Even KK, with his weaknesses, was a better version of Siri.
I hope they do dump Siri!
Why not let caminero play at SS? He isn’t even that big compared to Gunnar or Elly
Morel at 3rd, caminero at short, Lowe at 2nd, and yandy at 1st would be really good unless I don’t know something regarding juniors defense
It’s not JC’s defense that’s the problem. JC is still learning to play 3B but he should be well above average there in time. That’s his long term home with C.Williams (an elite defender at SS) a year away. The problem with your infield is everyone else. Morel is atrocious in the field. I don’t know where the Rays will try to hide him, but the infield looks like the worst place. Lowe has so many injury issues that they played him a lot at 1B/DH this year just to keep him on the field. He can still handle 2B when healthy, but he’s rarely healthy. I won’t be surprised if he’s traded this offseason. Yandy is almost certainly getting traded. They tried to trade him at the deadline. If he stays a Ray, he’s almost certainly playing DH more than 50% of the time next year. His defense was never good and it’s gotten pretty bad of late (which is also why B.Lowe played so much 1B this year).
I imagine Morel will be the new DH. They trust Yandy to play 1st but don’t trust Morel to play anything
Maybe. That seems like his best “position” but the Rays also have Aranda, Shenton and B.Seymour (plus B.Lowe and Y.Diaz at the moment) who might be best suited for DH.
I wonder if the Rays would do a Curtis Mead trade for Eric Haase of the Brewers. Haase would be a perfect player at catcher. He is a good candidate to break out. Nice offense and very nice defensive catcher. Should’ve been Conteras partner behind the plate but Sanchez was unfortunately signed for 9 million. Haase ready for someone to give him a starting time and will shine.
Mead torpedoed his trade value so the Rays will probably wait and hope he can improve a bit more before trading him.
Anything is possible. I would love to see a Mead trade before the Rays squander all his trade value. They clearly don’t like him (and for what it’s worth, he’s better against LHP than guys like Carlson who were brought in at the deadline to face LHP).
With all that “extra” local cable money disappearing next season, free agents (indeed, all players) should be afraid. Very, very afraid…..
Big problem for the Rays. The local TV deal will be pretty weak although their TV ratings are quite a bit better than their in house attendance.
I think that this guy’s writing is actually getting worse. Kind of a Flowers for Algernon thing perhaps?