Rays Claim Jake Fraley; DFA Kameron Misner, Bob Seymour

The Rays claimed outfielder Jake Fraley off waivers from the Braves, according to an announcement from Atlanta. The Braves evidently weren’t planning to tender him an arbitration contract and put him on waivers this week.

Tampa Bay also confirmed their previously reported option decisions involving Brandon Lowe, Pete Fairbanks and Taylor Walls. They added Forrest Whitley to the 40-man roster to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency while designating four players for assignment: first baseman Bob Seymour, pitchers Brian Van Belle and Nate Lavender, and outfielder Kameron Misner. Meanwhile, three players who DFA’d earlier this week — Caleb Boushley, Alex Faedo and Stuart Fairchild — cleared waivers and are electing minor league free agency.

Atlanta had claimed Fraley off waivers from the Reds in August. The lefty-hitting outfielder collected seven hits in 23 at-bats but suffered a season-ending oblique strain in the middle of September. Atlanta was well out of contention by that point, so the claim was largely about getting an early look to see if they wanted to retain Fraley in arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.6MM salary if he’s tendered a contract for his last year of club control.

Fraley was a second-round pick by Tampa Bay back in 2016. They traded him to Seattle before he made his big league debut. Fraley has played parts of seven seasons in the majors, mostly with the Mariners and Reds, and is a career .261/.344/.432 hitter against right-handed pitching. He’s limited to the corners, where he’s a league average defender. This doesn’t guarantee he’ll stick with the Rays, who have a couple weeks to decide whether they want to tender him a contract. They could try to negotiate a deal lower than his projected salary before November 20 if they see him as a borderline non-tender candidate.

Whitley gets back onto the roster after being waived in early July. The former Houston first-round pick gave up 10 runs (eight earned) over five major league appearances with Tampa Bay. He has surrendered 22 runs in 15 1/3 career big league frames. Something appeared to click in Triple-A after the Rays demoted him, however. Whitley fired 55 1/3 innings of 2.60 ERA ball while striking out 30.4% of opponents with their top affiliate in Durham. He would’ve been a free agent if the Rays didn’t reselect his contract tonight. He’s out of options and could be on the roster bubble again next spring, but this suggests the Rays are open to the possibility of carrying him on the MLB roster.

The shuffling required a handful of cuts. Misner, 27, was a former supplemental first-round pick who has shown big physical tools with too much swing-and-miss. He has fanned in 34.1% of his career plate appearances and is a .203/.260/.325 hitter over 232 trips to the plate. Seymour, also 27, had a huge .263/.327/.553 showing with 30 homers in Durham. That got him an MLB opportunity at the end of the year, but the lefty batter struggled to a .205/.253/.282 line over his first 26 major league games.

Van Belle and Lavender were relatively new additions to the pitching staff who didn’t make much of an impact because of injury. Van Belle came over from the Reds in the Zack Littell trade. The 29-year-old made his first four MLB appearances before suffering a season-ending elbow injury.

Lavender was a Rule 5 pick out of the Mets’ system who never pitched with the Rays. He was rehabbing from an elbow procedure at the time he was taken in the Rule 5 and apparently didn’t progress as hoped. He collected a year of major league salary, though he surely wishes he’d had an opportunity to carve out a longer big league role. He’ll be placed on waivers and offered back to the Mets if he goes unclaimed.