The Rays will field trade interest in Brandon Lowe this winter, writes Jeff Passan of ESPN. That’s to be expected with the All-Star second baseman one year from free agency. The Rays picked up an $11.5MM option, making him their second highest-paid player — narrowly behind the $12MM they’ll pay first baseman Yandy Díaz.
Trade speculation on Lowe is an annual offseason tradition. His salaries have escalated over the course of the extension he signed in Spring Training 2019. They’ve remained below market value for one of the better offensive middle infielders in the sport. That surely has led to a lot of trade interest over the years, but the Rays have valued Lowe highly enough to not bite on anything they’ve been offered thus far.
Lowe featured prominently on MLBTR’s list of the Top 40 Trade Candidates coming into the offseason. The 31-year-old is coming off another solid year. Lowe hit 31 home runs, the second most of his career and tying him with Jazz Chisholm Jr. for most by a second baseman. He hit .256/.307/.477 across 553 plate appearances. Lowe has had an above-average bat in every season of his career. He has topped 20 homers in three straight years and owns a .245/.315/.466 line in more than 1400 trips to the plate since the start of 2023.
The bat has been Lowe’s calling card throughout his career. That’s even more the case as he gets into his 30s. He’s a below-average runner and graded as the game’s worst defensive second baseman this year by Statcast’s Outs Above Average (-13). He was third from the bottom with a -14 mark by Defensive Runs Saved.
Lowe hasn’t had much defensive versatility throughout his career. He has a little bit of corner outfield experience and has picked up a few more first base innings over the past two seasons. The Rays have Díaz and Jonathan Aranda lined up for the majority of the playing time between first base and designated hitter. They might not feel great about Lowe’s glove at second base, but they’re lacking in upper level middle infield depth. Carson Williams and Taylor Walls could be one of the weakest offensive shortstop duos in MLB. Richie Palacios might be their best second base alternative on the MLB roster, and he’s more of a part-time player who missed most of 2025 to injury.
The Rays certainly don’t need to trade Lowe, but they’re not going to close themselves off to conversations on any player who is this close to free agency. There could be a decent amount of overlap between teams that are in on Lowe and those in conversations with the Cardinals about their lefty-hitting second baseman/outfielder, Brendan Donovan.
The Astros, Guardians, Royals and Dodgers have been linked to Donovan either this winter or at last summer’s deadline. The Angels would probably love to land a left-handed hitting middle infielder. The Cardinals will get more for Donovan — who’s cheaper, better defensively, and controllable for two seasons. Lowe would be an excellent fallback if the Rays finally pull the trigger on a trade.
So many teams I could see this being a good fit for, the Rays will do well in a trade.
Idk, dude can’t field and a below avg obp.
Lau not low, right?
The other dude Josh is low, not Lau?
Yes to both queries, Theo! And now I’m hungry for lau lau.
Thank goodness guy single handily beats the jays wonder who they’ll get to replace him as said killer
I bet it’s harder to find a trade partner than people think. He’s borderline unplayable at 2B now. Would take a team which doesn’t care about 2B defense, or is willing to move him to 1B (where his bat isn’t as attractive). He’s got some value, but not a ton. A little like Arraez, whom the Padres tried to trade for a full year or more.
Now this is a player the Angels should look into.
The Astros will look at either Brendan Donavan or Brandon Lowe. I’d rather Donavan
Cardinals trade Donovan for Lowe if the Rays throw in two high-tier pitching prospects.
The Rays have been trying to listen to offers for Lowe for years now, problem is there haven’t been any. And it continues to be so and will continue to be.