The Rays are always trying to walk a fine line between prioritizing the present and the future. Currently, they have even more future uncertainty than usual, but that didn’t stop them from constantly tinkering with the roster. They made over a dozen trades, including three separate three-team deals, while also working the waiver wire and signing a few free agents.
Major League Signings
- LHP Steven Matz: Two years, $15MM
- RHP Nick Martinez: One year, $13MM (includes $4MM buyout on $20MM mutual option for 2027)
- OF Cedric Mullins: One year, $7MM (includes $500K buyout on $10MM mutual option for 2027)
- OF Jake Fraley: One year, $3MM
2026 spending: $30.5MM
Total spending: $38MM
Trades and Claims
- Acquired OF Ryan Vilade from Reds for cash considerations
- Traded RHP Joey Gerber to Mets for cash considerations
- Traded RHP Cole Wilcox to Mariners for cash considerations
- Claimed OF Jake Fraley from Braves (later non-tendered and re-signed)
- Traded OF Kameron Misner to Royals for cash considerations
- Acquired RHP Luis Guerrero from Red Sox for IF Tristan Gray
- Acquired RHP Jacob Kisting from Twins for RHP Eric Orze
- Acquired RHP Steven Wilson and RHP Yoendrys Gómez from White Sox for OF Everson Pereira and IF Tanner Murray
- Acquired RHP Tommy McCollum from Phillies for RHP Yoniel Curet
- Traded OF Tristan Peters to White Sox for cash considerations
- Claimed RHP Osvaldo Bido from Braves (later lost to Marlins via waivers)
- Acquired OF Slater de Brun, C Caden Bodine, RHP Michael Forret, OF Austin Overn and competitive balance round A draft pick from Orioles for RHP Shane Baz
- Acquired OF Jacob Melton and RHP Anderson Brito from Astros in three-team trade sending 2B Brandon Lowe, OF Jake Mangum and LHP Mason Montgomery to Pirates
- Acquired OF Justyn-Henry Malloy from Tigers for cash considerations
- Claimed IF Tsung-Che Cheng from Pirates (later lost to Mets via waivers)
- Acquired LHP Ken Waldichuk and IF Brett Wisely from Braves for cash considerations or a PTBNL (Waldichuk later lost to Nationals via waivers; Wisely traded back to Braves for cash)
- Acquired IF/OF Gavin Lux from Reds and RHP Chris Clark from Angels in three-team trade sending OF Josh Lowe to Angels
- Acquired IF Ben Williamson from Mariners in three-team trade sending OF Colton Ledbetter and competitive balance round B pick to Cardinals
- Acquired OF Víctor Mesa Jr. from Marlins for IF Angel Brachi
Option Decisions
- Team exercised $11.5MM option on 2B Brandon Lowe (later traded to Pirates)
- Team declined $11MM option on RHP Pete Fairbanks, opting for $1MM buyout
- Team exercised $2.45MM option on IF Taylor Walls (deal includes 2027 club option)
Notable Minor League Signings
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Adrian Houser, Joey Gerber, Cole Wilcox, Garrett Acton (waivers), Caleb Boushley, Alex Faedo (still unsigned), Stuart Fairchild, Kameron Misner, Nate Lavender, Bob Seymour (released to sign in NPB), Tristan Gray, Forrest Whitley (released to sign in NPB), Eric Orze, Everson Pereira, Christopher Morel (non-tendered), Alexander Alberto (Rule 5 draft), Yoniel Curet, Tristan Peters, Shane Baz, Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum, Mason Montgomery, Josh Lowe
The Rays generally run one of the lowest payrolls in the league. Despite that, they have found a decent amount of success over the years thanks to a strong player development system and an unsentimental approach to player retention. They usually strike a balance between fielding a strong big league team in the present while also keeping the future pipeline flowing.
It feels like the current moment in time is a bit more future-focused than usual. The Rays made the playoffs in five straight seasons from 2019 to 2023, but they dipped below .500 in the past two. At the 2025 trade deadline, they acted primarily as sellers. They picked up Adrian Houser and Griffin Jax but sent out Taj Bradley, Danny Jansen, Zack Littell and others.
Beyond the roster situation, there are plenty of other important factors at play. Due to hurricane damage, the team couldn’t play at Tropicana Field in 2025. They had to relocate to Steinbrenner Field, normally the home of the Tampa Tarpons, the Single-A affiliate of the Yankees. It’s also the spring training home for the Yankees, so it’s a decent facility, but it’s not huge. With the smaller capacity and the costs of moving for the year, the club’s finances were presumably not great last year.
The damage to The Trop also had domino effects. It scuttled a deal for a new stadium and ultimately contributed to the ouster of owner Stuart Sternberg. Late in 2025, Sternberg reached a deal to sell to a group led by real estate developer Patrick Zalupski. That deal didn’t become official until the end of the season.
The Rays appear to be on track to return to The Trop for the start of the 2026 campaign, but the plans beyond that are less certain. Their lease at that venue only runs through 2028. Zalupski and his group have plans to build a new stadium, as part of a mixed-use development, by the start of the 2029 season. However, it’s unclear if they can pull it off. They are hoping to get government funding to cover half the costs and it doesn’t appear they have strong support for that arrangement. Whispers of a potential move to Orlando can be heard from the corners, or sometimes the city is plainly evoked from a dais.
There’s also the Wander Franco situation lingering in the background. He is technically still owed millions through 2032 but hasn’t been paid in a while. Due to the sexual abuse allegations against him, Franco has been on the restricted list since 2024. It’s unlikely the Rays will have to pay him again, but the legal process is still playing out, so his contract is technically still on the books.
On top of all that, there’s the broadcast revenue situation. Like many clubs, the Rays have been hit hard by cord cutting. As of a few years ago, they were getting about $56MM annually from their regional sports network deal with Diamond Sports Group. That company, now known as Main Street Sports, appears to be circling the drain. The Rays were one of nine clubs to walk away from the company in January, and they’ll now be one of the teams letting MLB handle the broadcast side of things. That arrangement can help the club reach more fans via blackout-free local streaming but it leads to a worse revenue situation. Travis Sawchik of MLB.com says teams in this position only bring in about 50% of the previous RSN set-up.
Put it all together and it seems like the Rays aren’t as focused on near-term contention, but they never fully rebuild. Their 2025-26 offseason would somewhat resemble their 2025 trade deadline, as they leaned a bit more to the sell side but still looked to backfill what they sent out.
First up was the Pete Fairbanks decision. He had been a big part of the roster for many years but was in line for a big raise. He previously signed an extension with the Rays, a deal that paid him $3.67MM annually from 2023 to 2025. There was a $7MM club option for 2026, but Fairbanks through a series of escalators based on innings pitched and games finished, he pushed the option value up to $11MM — effectively triple what he was making before.
Despite the big jump, that still would have been a fair price for Fairbanks, but it seems the Rays didn’t want to pay it. They shopped around and seemed to get a bit of interest but not enough for them to pull the trigger on a deal. They bit the bullet and paid his $1MM buyout, sending him to free agency. He eventually secured a $13MM deal from the Marlins, so there was perhaps a bit of surplus value in his option, but not enough for any club to offer the Rays an enticing trade return in the first couple days of the offseason.
In the month of December, the buy/sell hybrid was on full display. Early in the month, they agreed to free agent deals with outfielder Cedric Mullins and left-hander Steven Matz. Shortly thereafter, they pulled off two big trades on the same day. On December 19th, they sent Shane Baz to the Orioles for four prospects and a draft pick. They also sent Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum and Mason Montgomery to the Pirates in a three-team trade, getting prospects Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito from the Astros in return.
The two trades were clearly made with an eye on the future. Baz is 26 years old, turning 27 this year, and still has three years of club control remaining. He could have been a key cog in the rotation for the next few years. Perhaps the Rays felt the package was too good to pass up. Three of the four prospects they received were generally considered to be in Baltimore’s top 10-15 prospects before the deal, and the Rays got a draft pick as well.
It’s also possible they felt like selling high on Baz, in a sense. His 4.87 earned run average in 2025 was well below average, but it was easily his healthiest season. He was once one of the top pitching prospects in the sport but hasn’t been able to stay on the field due to injuries (including UCL surgery). Baz doubled his previous career highs in terms of both starts made and innings pitched. The Rays could hold him, hope for continued health and big gains in results — or cash him in now, when he was still something of an upside play. They cashed him in.
The Lowe trade was a classic and expected Rays move. Over the years, they have traded many core players just before they hit free agency. Since Lowe is slated for free agency after 2026, it wasn’t a shock to see him sent out the door.
Mangum and Montgomery were more controllable but perhaps not deemed core pieces. Mangum is a talented speed-and-defense outfielder with questionable offense. The Rays already have a few of those and seemingly felt Mangum was expendable. Montgomery is a reliever with exceptional stuff but significant control problems. Maybe he’ll click in Pittsburgh, but the Rays generally don’t have trouble finding good relievers. Parting with this group also netted Melton, who’s currently a top-100 prospect and could fill a long-term role in the outfield. He’s already made a brief (and rocky) MLB debut but hit .286/.389/.556 in Triple-A last season.
The Mullins signing effectively replaced some of the outfield depth lost by trading Mangum. The Rays had also flipped Kameron Misner, Everson Pereira and Tristan Peters in smaller deals earlier in the winter. Mullins is coming off a bit of a down year but was still a useful player, and his deal isn’t huge, as it essentially pays him like a second-year arbitration player.
Matz hasn’t been a full-time starter in a while but is coming off a good year of mostly relief work, as he posted a 3.05 ERA between the Cardinals and Red Sox. The Rays are going to try to stretch him back out, replacing some of the innings lost by trading Bradley and Baz, as well as Adrian Houser becoming a free agent.
The three-team Lowe trade left a hole at second base but the Rays addressed that in January… with another three-team Lowe trade. They sent Josh Lowe to the Angels in a swap that netted them Gavin Lux from the Reds. Lux was in a super utility role in 2025, playing the outfield more than the infield, but the Rays plan to plant him at the keystone. They believe the consistency will help him focus on getting the most out of his bat.
Josh Lowe seemed to have a breakout in 2023 but declined in the two seasons since, so the Rays are moving on as part of a larger outfield shake-up. Jake Fraley seems to have one spot. The Rays claimed him, non-tendered him and re-signed him in quick succession early in the offseason. Mullins will have a spot next to him. Chandler Simpson could have another. They also picked up Melton and could find space for him as the season rolls along. Smaller deals also netted Justyn-Henry Malloy, Ryan Vilade and Víctor Mesa Jr..
In February, the opportunity for yet another three-team trade came along. The Rays obviously cannot help themselves in this arena. Jon Becker of FanGraphs was among those to point out that the Rays have been involved in five of the past six three-team trades in MLB, the exception being the Tommy Edman/Erick Fedde/Miguel Vargas trade from 2024 involving the Dodgers, Cardinals and White Sox.
In Tampa’s third and final three-team trade of the winter, they were a minor player. The headliner was Brendan Donovan, who went from the Cardinals to the Mariners. The prospect talent went to St. Louis. But the Rays snuck in there to get infielder Ben Williamson from the Mariners while sending prospect Colton Ledbetter and a competitive balance round B draft pick (#72 overall) to the Cards.
Williamson hasn’t hit much but has received good grades for his third base defense. The Rays have Junior Caminero at the hot corner but his bat is better than his glove. Williamson could serve as a defensive replacement for him occasionally, and he has minor league experience at second and shortstop. He’ll give the Rays a right-handed bat who can provide some extra cover at those spots as well.
It’s a bit surprising that the Rays gave up a prospect and a pick to get a guy who seems like a utility player, but there’s also a logic to it. Ledbetter is a nice prospect but seems to be decent at most things without a standout tool. He may end up being a bench/depth piece somewhat similar to Williamson, as an outfielder, but not for a few years.
As for the pick, the Rays have shown a willingness to flip those for big leaguers, even if they’re not stars. They traded a pick last year for Bryan Baker, a good reliever but not an elite closer. “We’re drafting players, and the goal is to turn them into big leaguers,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said to Adam Berry of MLB.com at the time of the Baker trade. “And this draft pick turned into a big leaguer very quickly.”
The Orioles used that pick they received for Baker to draft Slater de Brun … whom the Rays then acquired in the Baz deal. Tampa Bay also received a higher pick (#33 overall) in that trade, then flipped a competitive balance round B pick to the Cards in the Williamson/Donovan trade. In a sense, it’s emblematic of their overall approach. Buy here, sell there.
They capped off their winter with another free agent signing, getting Nick Martinez on a one-year deal worth $13MM. Martinez has been baseball’s preeminent swingman in recent years. Over the past four years, he has made 61 starts and 131 relief appearances, posting a 3.67 ERA in that time. He has been better as a reliever but serviceable as a starter. The Rays will begin the season using him in the rotation.
At the end of all the wheeling and dealing, the Rays go into 2026 with a rotation of unknowns. They subtracted Bradley and Baz in the past year but added Matz and Martinez. Ryan Pepiot is probably the guy with the least risk. Shane McClanahan has ace-caliber stuff and should be back after missing the past two seasons due to injury. Drew Rasmussen was healthy in 2025 but has a lengthy injury history. Martinez and Matz should have spots but could get pushed to the bullpen if other guys step up. Yoendrys Gómez, Ian Seymour, Joe Boyle, and Jesse Scholtens are all on the 40-man roster. Brody Hopkins is one of the club’s top prospects and he could push for a debut in 2026.
On the position player side of things, the Rays sent out a number of outfielders but also brought in a bunch. At second base, they subtracted Lowe and replaced him with Lux. In the process of all their moves, they added a lot of talent to the system, though whether they made the 2026 team better is debatable. Both the Projected Standings at FanGraphs and the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus project the Rays to finish last in a strong American League East.
Ultimately, it feels like a transition period for the franchise. The roster wasn’t bad but also wasn’t good enough in the past two years. They have a new owner and an uncertain future in terms of their stadium. The Franco deal may or may not come off the books at some point. Their broadcast revenue is up in the air. It’s a lot of uncertainty, but the front office seemed to operate in classic Rays fashion this offseason.
How would you grade the Rays' offseason?
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
A merger with the Marlins should happen. One team. The Florida (whatever) could be a powerhouse
120 man roster? Why not?
I like the idea. The Raylins.
It’s funny that Florida can’t field a large MLB fanbase, both because of the large Latino community and the fact that the state is growing in population (particularly among older folks who presumably have more money to spend to go to games).
FL is the land of transplants, though that has to be changing somewhat. I think half the state is Yankee and Mets fans.
Good point
They are hoping for Rays of sunshine.
They’d probably be a better team (certainly a better offense) if they did nothing this offseason and kept Lowe, Lowe, Mangnum, and Fairbanks.
Oh yeah, Baz and Montgomery too.
This is the Rays, though. They have to make a zillion billion trades dumping core players, trades that’ll only make sense in 3-4 years when they’re really good again.
Maybe, and perhaps some of the core pieces in the Baz trade will prove me wrong. However, the trades the last two years don’t seem to be doing what you’re describing. We are getting back are either low minors players that are basically the equivalent of a pile of scratch off tickets and former top prospect Melton (who also still could be good, so we’ll see).
Also, the best trades they used to make weren’t players that were years away, but getting back players that were already MLB-ready and helped retool the roster. Look at the previous core of players they picked up via trade–Yandy, Arozarena, Paredes, Glasnow, and Pepiot. None of those were 3-4 years away, they were MLB-level talent.
I won five bucks off a scratch ticket the other day, so stranger things have happened.
They are drafting further out players right now because they aren’t a playoff team. It makes sense to get more players in trade (and hopefully higher ceiling types) who will join the team when their next window has opened than adding guys to a 70ish win 2026 team right before a lengthy lockout (when guys on the 40 man won’t be able to play/practice, but guys not on the 40 man will continue their careers as usual).
The thing is you’re looking for immediate results and not the longer term big picture. The trades made for prospects in the last couple of years aren’t going to start showing results until 2028, and they really won’t crest until the subsequent years after that. This just how things go for them. The A’s were the same way for over 2 decades until Fisher f’d it up with the big move. 3-4 years of contending, fire sale, 3-4 years to rebuild, another 3-4 years contending. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
The thing is, you are acting like every low minors prospect are guaranteed to hit in three years when that just isn’t how it works. You are being way too optimistic about this haul when the vast majority of them haven’t touched AA. You said they’ve done this a “zillion billion” times and that “this is just how things go for them” when that just isn’t true. They used to trade better for players with shorter windows to the majors, which is why they made the playoffs for so many years in a row and didn’t have to, as you say, rebuild for 3-4 years.
And your best example, the A’s, haven’t made the playoffs yet in this current window. There are plenty of examples of teams in recent years that tore down and failed to rebuild (White Sox, Nationals, Rockies, Marlins). Tear downs are not a lather, rinse, and repeat process because of the volitality of low minors prospects. Just look at how many of the Rays prospects last year (e.g., Tre Morgan, Xavier Isaac) dropped on the prospect rankings.
There are risks either way. The Rays traded Paredes, a perennially very good/consistent player, for a mix of far off prospects and Morel, the type of player you are advocating for. Morel had great underlying stats and analytics always loved him. I hated the trade because I thought Morel was a sham. His underlying stats had existed for years and he had never had that breakout every analytics follower believed was just around the corner. He was a huge bust with the Rays and worse yet, a major lost opportunity (guys like Paredes are very valuable). Fortunately, the far off prospects look pretty good. Bigge could develop into a high leverage reliever. His 2025 was derailed by some minor injuries and then getting hit in the face by a line drive foul ball hit into the Rays dugout. He didn’t return after that, but he’s fully healed now and expected to make the OD roster. Then there’s T.Johnson, who was without a doubt the Rays best pitching prospect last year. Prospect evaluators are torn on his future, with some seeing just a 2 pitch repertoire and others understanding that a pitcher can have multiple variations of the same pitch that results in a wider arsenal. I come down on the side of the latter, because he was just too good last year to be a 2 pitch pitcher. He showed #1-2 ceiling potential while pitching 110 IP in AA. So yeah, not every far off player is going to work out, but the Rays have assembled a very deep Farm filled with an array of guys with high ceilings, high floors, and everything in between. And with a lockout fast approaching, it also makes sense to focus on guys in trade whose development won’t be affected by the lockout (ie: guys not on the 40 man when it begins).
Yeah, the Paredes trade was a disaster, especially considering the Cubs were able to get Tucker out of the trade, which shows that the Rays asked for way too little. That’s why I have little faith that these trades will work out even in the long run.
The Rays just seen to be getting worse and worse at assessing the talent they trade for. 5-6 years ago, the type of trades they used to make kept their competitive window open a lot longer than it should have been. They also seem to be getting worse at developing talent. A lot of their top tier prospects struggled last year and have fallen off of the cliff in the prospect rankings. The ones that still look good are so far off that who knows if they’ll make it. I never trust low minor prospect hype until they can at least show they got something in AA.
In theory, yes, it makes sense to punt on this year due to the competitive nature of the division, but I just don’t trust them to get good returns on their trades anymore. I will be very happy if I’m proven wrong.
I agree with a lot of this. The Rays have had a pretty significant brain-drain in the front office and it shows. Whether you’re focused on trade returns, free agent signings, or draft picks (and subsequent development), the results haven’t been as good as they used to be. Some of it is injuries though, and those are hard to avoid at times. Some of it is keeping players past the ideal time to trade them because the Rays were in a competitive window. Some of it is an insane draft strategy of not drafting pitchers before the 5th round and overly focusing on no-bat defense only players in early rounds. However…, I really like the Rays pitching prospects right now, and if they play their cards right, we could see the Rays use the excess SPs to quickly fill in holes they have on the position player side. In a best case scenario, we end 2026 with (1) Roch or Emerson drafted in the #2 spot of the draft and draft best available players the rest of the way (which the Rays rarely do because they want to be seen as the smartest guys in the room). McClanny pitches like he used to and we flip him (and Ras, Matz, Martinez, Cleavinger, Diaz, Mullins, Fraley, Lux, and Walls) for a haul, (3) Wander Franco’s overall situation with the Rays gets fully resolved (regardless of how the trial goes), (4) the Rays line up financing for their stadium before summer and actually break ground over the summer, and (5) JC gets extended. That’s a tall order, but it would make for an ideal situation coming out of the lockout in 2028.
Lowe, Lowe, Mangnum, and Fairbanks sounds like a law firm.
D.
Easy F. Patchwork rotation signings, having 6-8 AAAA quality outfielders, letting Fairbanks go for nothing, dealing Baz, dealing Brandon Lowe for nothing and throwing in Mangum and Montgomery for the hell if it, and getting rid of Josh Lowe, the one proven outfielder when healthy. I don’t care what prospects they got for Baz and the Lowe’s! Remember getting Patino and Mejia for Snell? Morel for Paredes? They also did absolutely nothing at Catcher. Sell the team (again)!!
What’s crazy is they didn’t even save any money doing all these moves. It would at least make sense if they’re just dumping salary, but they must genuinely think these are good moves.
Another way to look at it would be to think the Rays have assembled a bunch of assets they can flip at the deadline for additional prospects.
You’ll be eating crow by 2030.
I agree with you if you’re only focusing on the 2026 season. The Rays are more focused on their next window of contention, which probably doesn’t open until 2028.
Come on Anderson Brito and Jacob Melton are really good.
Melton didn’t look great last year at the show, although it was a small sample size. I find it kind of alarming that the Astros gave up on him when they are desperate for outfield help.
They thought Cole was more MLB ready I guess. But MLB Pipeline’s latest projections don’t make the trade look better, but if Burrows is really good, I’ll be fine.
We’ll see. I’m not sold on either. Melton, because his minor league career was overall kind of bad, except for a brief breakout in AAA last year. Brito, because I just can’t see a guy weighing 150 pounds standing up to the rigors of a full season.
On paper this team looks to have 5th place on lock, but I credit the management here that can take them higher.
The management (Cash and front office) has been overrated the past few years. A lot of non-developing players and poor trades. They are definitely coming in last this year. That’s as guaranteed as death and taxes.
Having seen Ben Williamson up close last season, I think the Rays got a potential gem. He’s got a really good glove, and he hit ok for his first half season in the bigs. He needs to add some more pop though. I predict he’ll be a solid regular and put up good numbers for the Rays.
These cheapskates are probably going to put on a pretty bad show this season.
The Rays are a team you can never really count out but this roster resembles more of the Hal McRae/Lou Piniella Devil Rays days than it does the scrappy underdog competitive Rays we’ve seen over the last decade and a half
Man, seeing all the context lined up like that reminds me just how bad the Rays situation is right now. With all that, they’ve had a decent offseason. I think what would make my own grade higher is if they had extended Junior Caminero.
It’s not bad. There’s a reason they don’t release the books. Rays (and any teams’) ownership has the resources to sign top of the line free agents and extend Caminero and keep guys instead of trading them a year past free agency. They just choose to screw the fans over and let the only chance they will ever have for a title be a fluke season where everything (pitching and hitting and a few dumpster dives Turing into all stars) magically lines up at once and the front runners all have injuries before the playoffs. They are going to let Caminero go right after the city raises taxes to get that fancy new stadium. Rays ownership are as bad as Pittsburgh and Oaklands and Colorado’s.
I dunno, maybe if fans actually showed up when they’re winning they might keep some of their good players.
The location is the problem, not so much the record in my opinion.
Studies have shown that 90% of a teams ticket sales come from within a 50 mile radius of the stadium. The Trop is located near the Gulf of Mexico, so a good chunk of that radius is in water. Fish can’t come to games. They already have that strike against them. They are also near Tampa, where the Yankee$ have their spring training complex. The Yankee$ won’t move their spring training home unless the Rays pay out the butt, so you have tons of Yankee$ fans in Rays territory. To add to the complexity, all of these retirees move to Florida, so most of the population has allegiances to other teams. That last part I don’t know how to fix. I really think if they move to a more central area like Orlando, they could draw people from Tampa, Orlando, and as far north as Daytona. They would get tourists that go to Disney for the day and are looking for something to do in the evening. Perhaps if they just gamble and sign some big names to long deals or extend guys like Junior and McClanahan, there will be some familiarity and they can at least draw in the younger or teenage fans. I still went to a few Rays games a year from 1998-2006 when I lived in Lakeland. I was 15 in ‘98, and I knew they sucked. I just loved baseball, and although I was born in MI and am a Tigers fan, the Rays were the first MLB team near me. I didn’t care about there record, I just wanted to watch the game and get some autographs. I feel like unless a team is a national brand like the Yankees or Dodgers, you will always have fair weather fans. The record doesn’t get better if you trade away Snell, Glasnow, Arozarena, etc just seasons after a World Series trip that was 2 wins short of a title. I don’t have the perfect answer to attendance, but moving closer to Orlando is a good start.
I can’t agree with this viewpoint. Yes, the Rays turn a profit and pay their owners a dividend each year, but I don’t begrudge sports owners from receiving a return on their investment. Spending will increase when revenue increases.
The three players that they received Lux,Mullins, and Fraley aren’t too much of strikeout pigs, so good job for Tampa gaining those batters
Nothing to see here folks, just your run of the mill dumpster divin garbage. Should be enough though to keep the coo coo birds in the cellar. 🤣
I gave the Rays an A.
I think they could have saved some money on Nick Martinez and Cedric Mullins but both give them an opportunity to win games and its good to see that they are making an effort to compete during a season that is mostly about rebuilding the team.
Martinez and Matz in the 4/5 will get them innings. McClanahan, Rasmussen and Pepiot is a nice group at the top and has potential to be very good if McLanahan can return to form. Joe Boyle and Yoendry Gomez are likely the next two up.
Joe Rock and Ian Seymour could be big contributors to the bullpen. A trio of lefties in Clevinger, Rock and Seymour who can all ring it up. Cam Booser is a nice depth option in the LHRP department. They have good depth with RHRP and a strong closer in Griffin Jax.
They are going to have to manufacture runs, they will need Chandler Simpson and Carson Williams in the lineup, but they could potentially click, there isn’t much roster “conflict” — this is a group that could meld and play some good baseball. If they stay healthy, if Tre Morgan and/or Xavier Issac can add some power off the bench, the Rays have potential to surprise.
They also added a number of good prospects in trade. Slater De Brun and Cadine Bodine are both 1st round picks and damn if the Rays could only hit in a catcher. Anderson Brito, Chris Clark and Michael Forrett are three good pitchers to work with.
In a year that they decided to tear it down and rebuild, they traded the right players away in Lowe, Lowe and Baz, added some good prospects in return, spent some money to remain competitive and put a good product on the field. While the Rays are mostly a consensus pick to finish last in the AL East, I’d say that this is a group that is sparked by their underdog status. I think they still have an outside lane to a wild card birth this season and will be playing competitive baseball into July.
I’m still hoping Keegan can be the solution to catcher.
None of the moves make sense now, but they will in 2029-2030.
They’re at least spending to stay competitive. It would be easy for them to justify tanking in the ALE for ’26.
I get they weren’t in their park and lost money, and they did spend some, but their offseason just felt strange. They needed innings so I get bringing in starters but Matz is an odd choice. The offense looks more top heavy than ever before. They tend to do things right but they are losing some of the magic and I feel like it’s a hard road out of the cellar.
It’s just not their time right now. Blue Jays are spending every dollar they have to hopefully win game 7. Yankees are the Yankees. Red Sox just built a top 5 pitching staff and added a good 1B, all without dumping from their position player group. They really only lost Bregman and Refsnyder, but Durbin and Contreras are just as good overall. Baltimore is trying to bounce back with their young core.
It would be nice, for once, if the Rays actually tried going for it and at least spent like a middle market team but with 4 other teams all getting better too it just makes sense to enter a rebuild. They’ll spend the next couple of years developing and trading their way back into the playoffs. This is what they do.
You’re right in that they likely have to pivot because they can’t spend like drunken sailors. Even the Orioles went nuts this offseason. Gonna need to work some more magic I suppose.
There are some interesting takes in this comment section, and I’m happy to see there was really only one trollish comment. Good job MLBTR readers.
I believe the Rays are in the final year of their rebuild. They don’t tear it all down in one year like some teams. Rather, they do it piecemeal over 2-3 years and this is year 3. This year is set up perfectly in my opinion. They have assembled a rotation that could be really good, but with a lockout in 2027 and a AAA club bursting with top pitching talent, I expect 3-4 of the SPs to get moved at the Deadline for potentially jaw dropping returns. Same goes for the Pen. Unfortunately, the Rays will really struggle offensively in 2026 and that will keep them from the playoffs, but with most of their free agents signing 1 year deals, they may net some decent returns for the likes of Lux, Fraley and Mullins, plus Diaz (who has a vesting option for 2027), at the Deadline. The Rays aren’t making the playoffs in 2026, but they should hopefully be competitive in most games and are set up for a great Deadline. 2026 is a transition year, but I think the future looks bright for the Rays.
I sure hope so. I’d love to finally get a Rays title in 2028.
A 2028 title is probably asking too much, particularly if 2027 is a lost year, but I do believe the Rays next window will be opening by then. Rays might be a very very young team though. For example, if you assume the Rays are very frugal in promoting top prospects this year to the 40 man (because guys on the 40 man will accrue service time in a lockout year and won’t be able to play in the minors in 2027, which could affect their development), then I could see the Rays needing to trade or find spots for the following pitchers in 2028 (all of whom would have 6 years of control, beginning in 2028) – Hopkins, T.Johnson, Nichols, Suarez, Brito, Baumeister, Suarez, Forret, and GGH. That’s a lot of pitching talent, and that’s before you factor in acquisitions from Deadline trades this year and holdovers from the current roster (e.g., Pep, Boyle and Seymour).
Youth movement in 2026? I don’t think so. Rays traded for or signed the following guys who will likely make the team: Matz (34) Martinez (35), S.Wilson (31), Mullins (31), Fraley (30), Lux (28), Vilade (27), Y.Gomez (26), Malloy (26) and Williamson (25). That’s a pretty even mix of ages, with the younger guys more likely to be AAA/MLB depth than the older guys who will all be starters. The older guys also replaced younger guys by and large (e.g., Matz and Martinez replaced Baz and Bradley). The real youth movement comes in 2027/28.
Also, if I’m right, the Rays will be trading away a lot more than Yandy this year. McClanny and Ras probably fit in the current iteration of Rays teams, and they are almost guaranteed to be traded at the deadline. The 2026 rentals and anyone whose control runs out before 2028 will also probably be dangled in trade (Matz, Martinez, Fraley, Mullins, Lux, Jax, Cleavinger, etc…). Rays are going to have a busy trade deadline.
Amen to the Walls comment!
LOL… I don’t even think about him when it comes to the roster/trades, but yeah, he shouldn’t be a Ray for that much longer.