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Offseason In Review: Tampa Bay Rays

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The Rays made some notable trades and signings this offseason but so much focus was on the stadium drama, as hurricanes blew in and threw the entire trajectory of the franchise off course.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $21.5MM
Total spending: $37.5MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Notable Losses

The Rays played their final game of the 2024 season on September 29. A 3-1 loss to the Red Sox sealed a losing record of 80-82. It was a relative disappointment, the club's first time under .500 since 2017. In typical Rays fashion, they made the most of it. At the deadline, they traded away some players who were getting more expensive and closer to free agency, such as Zach Eflin, Randy Arozarena, Isaac Paredes and Jason Adam.

Going into the winter, there was some decent stuff in place for the future. The long-term payroll was fairly clean and the farm system was in healthy shape. The big league roster seemed to be in decent position to bounce back in 2025, thanks in large part to the return of several pitchers who were injured in 2024.

The club also had a deal in place with local government agencies to fund a new stadium. The plan was to play at Tropicana Field through 2027, with the Trop to be knocked down and replaced by a new ballpark/commercial real estate complex by 2028.

But barely a week later, the whole stadium situation plan was altered. In late September and early October, Hurricanes Helene and Milton both passed through the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. The Trop sustained significant damage, particularly from Milton on October 9. Most notably, the roof was essentially gone. This was a big problem because the Trop had no drainage system in place, making it suddenly unusable.

At that time, it wasn't known exactly what would happen next. But in the following months, the club's short-term and long-term stadium plans would be shifted dramatically. They are going to play their 2025 homes games in a minor league park. They could be back in the Trop next year, but that's not clear. The deal for the new stadium is now dead and relocation talk has retaken a seat at the table.

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Reynaldo Lopez To Undergo Arthroscopic Shoulder Procedure

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The Braves are sending Reynaldo López for an arthroscopic procedure on his injured shoulder, manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Mark Bowman of MLB.com). The team won’t have a timetable for López’s return until after the surgery, as that will reveal whether there’s any structural damage. Snitker said the Braves are hopeful that the All-Star righty will return at some point this season.

While it’s not quite the worst-case scenario, it’s clearly concerning. Initial imaging on López’s shoulder has only revealed inflammation. Even in an ideal situation where the scope confirms that diagnosis, it’s going to be a long-term absence. Any kind of midseason procedure on a pitcher’s throwing shoulder is going to cost him a good chunk of the year.

Atlanta signed López to a three-year, $30MM free agent deal during the 2023-24 offseason. While he had worked in relief for the preceding three seasons, the Braves stretched him back out as a starter. When he’s been healthy, the results could hardly have been better. López managed a 1.99 earned run average across 26 appearances spanning 135 2/3 innings. He and Paul Skenes were the only pitchers to reach 100 innings while posting a sub-2.00 ERA. López deservedly earned an All-Star nod and placed 11th in NL Cy Young balloting.

López’s arm health unfortunately became a story in the second half. Forearm inflammation knocked him out for a couple weeks after the trade deadline. He returned relatively quickly from that issue but went back on the injured list in mid-September. The second placement was the result of shoulder inflammation. It was again a relatively brief IL stay, but it proved a precursor to this year’s shoulder discomfort.

The 31-year-old made his 2025 season debut in Atlanta’s second game of the season. He worked five innings of three-run ball in Friday’s loss to San Diego. López only recorded one strikeout and all of three swinging strikes. His velocity was fine — his 95.6 MPH average fastball speed was the same as it had been last season — but it was a tough outing. The Braves placed him on the 15-day injured list yesterday.

Atlanta recalled Bryce Elder to go opposite Blake Snell in Wednesday’s series finale against the Dodgers. Chris Sale will take the ball tonight against Dustin May as the Braves try to break a five-game losing streak. Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver and Grant Holmes occupy the other rotation spots for the moment. Spencer Strider is on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett and could be back in the majors by the middle of next week. That’d likely push one of Elder or Smith-Shawver back to Triple-A. Strider’s return should be a huge lift, but the López injury is testing Atlanta’s already questionable depth beyond their top four starters.

The Braves reworked López’s contract at the beginning of the offseason. The pitcher agreed to trim this year’s salary from $11MM to $8MM in exchange for the club preemptively triggering an $8MM option for 2027.

Angels Trade Michael Petersen To Braves

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The Braves and Angels announced a trade sending reliever Michael Petersen to Atlanta for cash considerations. The Halos had designated the righty for assignment yesterday when they acquired Jake Eder from the White Sox. Atlanta optioned Petersen to Triple-A Gwinnett. They already had an opening on the 40-man roster after placing Jurickson Profar on the restricted list following his PED suspension.

Petersen, 30, has kicked around the league over the past few months. He made his big league debut with the Dodgers last summer. Petersen pitched 11 times with L.A. before they lost him on waivers to Miami. He made five appearances with the Marlins before the end of the season. Miami waived him at the beginning of the offseason. Petersen went to the Blue Jays and then the Angels on offseason waiver acquisitions.

The Halos had optioned him to Triple-A to begin the year. Petersen pitched once for their affiliate, allowing two runs in 1 1/3 innings. He had good numbers at that level a season ago. Petersen fanned more than 35% of opponents while working to a 1.64 ERA across 33 innings for the Dodgers’ top affiliate. That didn’t translate into much MLB success, as he gave up 14 runs over his first 19 2/3 big league frames. He recorded 14 strikeouts while issuing 11 walks.

Atlanta had a free roster spot after the Profar suspension. Petersen is in his second of three option years, so the Braves can keep him in Triple-A for a while if he holds his 40-man spot. This is the fifth trade the Braves and Angels have made since the start of the offseason and their third deal of the past two weeks. Atlanta traded Angel Perdomo to the Angels in mid-March, and the teams lined up on the Ian Anderson/José Suarez swap a few days later.

Padres Outright Tyler Wade

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The Padres announced that Tyler Wade was outrighted to Triple-A El Paso after going unclaimed on waivers. As a player with five years of major league service, Wade could have declined the minor league assignment while retaining his $900K salary. It seems he’s comfortable enough with the organization to report to Triple-A instead of pursuing other opportunities.

San Diego designated Wade and Eguy Rosario, both of whom are out of minor league options, for assignment on Opening Day. Teams have seven days to resolve DFA limbo. Waivers take 48 hours, so teams have five days after a DFA to line up a trade. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller said the team was trying to find a trade partner on Rosario, but he’d presumably end up on waivers tomorrow if they don’t make a trade this evening. Wade hit waivers more quickly, as he was less likely to get an MLB roster spot from another team.

The lefty-hitting Wade held a spot on San Diego’s big league roster for all of 2024. He appeared in 90 games, hitting .217/.285/.239 without a home run through 156 plate appearances. It’s an incredibly light bat, but Wade is a plus runner who can play anywhere aside from catcher. The Padres guaranteed him $900K on a deal with a $1MM club option to buy out his final arbitration season. That gave him a decent chance to win another bench job entering Spring Training, but he was jumped on the depth chart in camp.

Wade had a poor spring, hitting .209 with one homer in 19 games. San Diego brought in Jose Iglesias on a minor league contract with a $3MM base salary that made him a strong candidate to win the backup shortstop job. Iglesias, Yuli Gurriel and Gavin Sheets all made the roster as minor league signees. Brandon Lockridge had a great Spring Training to take the fourth outfield role. Lockridge runs very well himself, so he can replace Wade as Mike Shildt’s top pinch-running option.

The lack of flexibility on the bench obstructs Wade’s path back to the big leagues. He’s versatile enough to serve as injury insurance or an alternative if Iglesias isn’t performing well.

Mariners Select Jhonathan Díaz

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The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Jhonathan Díaz. The club already had an open 40-man roster spot, so no corresponding move was necessary there. In terms of the active roster, right-hander Emerson Hancock has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com noted earlier that Díaz was in the clubhouse with Hancock headed out.

As of a month ago, the Mariners were set to open the season with a strong front five of Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller, George Kirby, Bryan Woo and Luis Castillo. Unfortunately, Kirby was shut down in early March due to some shoulder inflammation and started the season on the injured list.

That opened an opportunity for Hancock but his start in yesterday’s game against the Tigers could hardly have gone much worse. He didn’t make it out of the first inning, recording just two outs, one of which was a caught stealing. He allowed six earned runs on seven hits, forcing the bullpen to cover 8 1/3 innings.

Of the club’s eight relievers, four of them pitched last night, each of them recording at least four outs and throwing at least 31 pitches. Out of the four guys who didn’t pitch last night, three of them appeared in Sunday’s contest.

They have brought up Díaz presumably for a multi-inning option out of the bullpen soon. Last year, he made five appearances in the majors for Seattle but spent most of his time in the Triple-A rotation. He logged 117 2/3 innings for Tacoma over 22 starts and one relief appearance. His 4.36 earned run average wasn’t bad in the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He struck out 22.9% of batters faced, gave out walks at a 9.9% clip and got grounders on 54.1% of balls in play.

The lefty was outrighted off the roster in February and elected free agency but returned via a minor league deal. He still has options, so the M’s could perhaps shuttle him to Tacoma and back throughout the year, recalling him whenever a situation like this arises.

In the short term, it’s unclear what the M’s plan to do with the rotation. They are in the midst of a seven-game stretch to start the season, with two more to go. But thanks to having five off-days in April and some at the start of May, they don’t play more than six games in a row again until the second half of May. Perhaps they could survive for a while with a four-man group of Gilbert, Miller, Woo and Castillo. Optionable arms like Hancock, Díaz and Blas Castano could perhaps make spot starts or take bulk work in occasional bullpen games over the next six weeks or so.

Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, USA TODAY Sports

Sean Manaea To Be Shut Down Another Two Weeks Due To Setback In Rehab

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Mets left-hander Sean Manaea started the season on the 15-day injured list due to a right oblique strain but he’ll need more time than that to rejoin the club. Manager Carlos Mendoza today told reporters, including Tim Healey of Newsday, that the southpaw suffered a setback in his rehab. He got a platelet-rich plasma injection and will be shut down for another two weeks. Even if he’s healthy after that shutdown period, he’ll need a full ramp-up after that, meaning the best-case scenario is a return in late May or early June.

That’s obviously less than ideal news for the Mets. Manaea gave them 32 starts last year with a 3.87 earned run average. He logged 181 2/3 innings with a 24.9% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. The club liked his performance enough to re-sign him via a three-year, $75MM deal, though with some notable deferrals.

So far, they’ve received nothing for that investment. Manaea was diagnosed with his oblique injury in late February and missed the entire spring. He’s already missed a few days of the regular season and his absence will extend for several more weeks.

He’s one of several starters currently on the shelf. Christian Scott had Tommy John surgery in September of last year and will most likely miss the entire 2025 season. Frankie Montas is out with a lat strain and still isn’t throwing. Paul Blackburn also started the season on the injured list due, in his case due to right knee inflammation.

The Mets have started the season with Clay Holmes, Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning and David Peterson starting the first four contests. Kodai Senga is scheduled to start tonight. That rotation will have to do for the time being, as it doesn’t appear any of Manaea, Montas or Blackburn are close to a return.

If another injury should pop up before anyone in that group can make it back, Justin Hagenman is on the 40-man roster. Prospects like Brandon Sproat and Blade Tidwell aren’t yet on the roster but are pitching in Triple-A to start this year.

One small silver lining of Manaea’s delay is that the Mets could now transfer him to the 60-day injured list, as such a move would still allow him to be activated in late May. That will give the club an extra 40-man roster spot to use on selecting a player from the minors or perhaps grabbing someone off waivers. Their 40-man count is currently at 38, however, so they won’t need to make a call on Manaea until they make a few more roster moves.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Pirates Option David Bednar

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The Pirates announced that they have optioned right-hander David Bednar to Triple-A Indianapolis and designated catcher Jason Delay for assignment. Those are the corresponding moves to add pitching prospect Thomas Harrington, a move which was reported earlier today.

The move highlights what a recent struggle it’s been for Bednar, who was once one of the most dominant closers in the league. From 2021 to 2023, he made 172 appearances for the Pirates. He had a 2.25 earned run average, 31.2% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. He gradually took over the ninth inning in Pittsburgh in that time, with three saves in 2021, 19 the year after and then 39 in 2023.

That production would have been exciting for any club but it was enhanced by the “local kid makes good” angle. Bednar was born in Pittsburgh, went to Mars Area High School and attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He was drafted by the Padres but made his way to his hometown club in January of 2021, just before his breakout, as part of the three-team trade that sent Joe Musgrove to San Diego.

But he’s been on a downward slide since then. He posted a 5.77 ERA for the Bucs last year. His strikeout rate fell to 22.1% and his walk rate climbed to 10.7%. He lost the closer’s role for the final month of the season.

His first three appearances in 2025 have gone poorly. On Opening Day against the Marlins, he was put into the bottom of the 9th in a 4-4 game. He allowed a triple, issued an intentional walk and then allowed a walk-off single. He got another chance the next day, getting the ninth with the Bucs up 4-1. A walk and a homer quickly made it 4-3, though Bednar then got three outs to record the save. On Sunday, he was again put into tie game in the ninth. A single, stolen base, throwing error and wild pitch quickly led to another loss.

It’s a frustrating mystery for Bednar and the Pirates, as his stuff doesn’t seem to have lost any zip. He averaged 96.6 miles per hour on his fastball in 2023 with opponents batting .188 and slugging .315 against it. Last year, his velo actually ticked up to 97.2 mph but the pitch allowed a .256 batting average and .459 slug. His splitter and curve didn’t seem to lose any velo either.

Bednar and the team have presumably been trying to find an explanation for his struggles without coming up with a clear solution, so the Bucs have taken the step of sending him to Indianapolis, perhaps with the idea of him having a chance to get into a good groove away from the pressures of the big leagues. In Bednar’s stead, the closing duties will perhaps fall to someone like Colin Holderman or Dennis Santana.

The move isn’t likely to impact Bednar’s trajectory to free agency. He came into this season with his service clock at four years and 76 days. That’s 96 days shy of the five-year mark and he’s already added five more days this year. That means he needs about three more months in the majors to get over that line. Assuming he gets beyond five years at some point here in 2025, he would have just one season of club control remaining.

If he stays down for longer than that, the Bucs could theoretically gain another year. But in that scenario, he likely didn’t pitch well in the minors, meaning they probably wouldn’t tender him an arbitration contract since he is making $5.9MM this year. The arbitration system is set up so that salaries almost never go down, even with poor performance.

It will surely lead to plenty of “what-if” questions. The Bucs haven’t been competitive for most of the recent past, so Bednar’s name came in a trade rumors from time to time. The Pirates never clicked on any deal. In hindsight, plenty will say that they should have taken whatever offers were on the table, but it’s hard to fathom anyone foreseeing this quick downfall.

Delay, 30, has seen a decent amount of time as Pittsburgh’s backup catcher in recent years. From 2022 to 2024, he hit .231/.295/.315 in 134 games with solid glovework. However, the catching depth for the club has become more crowded. Endy Rodríguez missed all of 2024 recovering from UCL surgery but is now back. While he was gone, the club took a flier on Joey Bart and saw him break out. Between those two and former first overall pick Henry Davis, Delay was likely fourth on the depth chart.

The Bucs will now have a maximum of one week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next. The waiver process takes 48 hours so any trade possibilities would have to come together in the next five days. Delay still has options and hasn’t yet reached arbitration, so he could be an affordable depth addition for a club looking to bolster its catching corps.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Phillies Claim Brett de Geus

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The Phillies announced that they have claimed right-hander Brett de Geus off waivers from the Malins and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He was designated for assignment by the Fish a couple of days ago. The Phils don’t need to make a corresponding move because they had an open 40-man spot after designating infielder Buddy Kennedy for assignment when setting their Opening Day roster.

de Geus, now 27, has 61 1/3 innings of big league experience. Most of that came as a Rule 5 pick in 2021, though he was also in the bigs last year. His career 7.48 earned run average is obviously not inspiring. His 16.6% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate are both subpar, though he’s generated ground balls at a strong 52.5% clip.

Despite those rough major league numbers, de Geus has been popular in transaction logs. Going into 2024, he signed a minor league deal with the Mariners. They added him to their big league roster in early April. He was designated for assignment in August and has since gone to the Marlins, Blue Jays, Pirates, Marlins again and now the Phillies on waiver claims.

Last year, he averaged 98 miles per hour on his four-seamer and 96.4 mph on his sinker. He also mixed in a splitter, knuckle curve and cutter. His 39 Triple-A innings last year still resulted in a fairly unexciting 5.31 ERA and 15.6% strikeout rate but he got grounders at a 56.6% clip.

Even though he hasn’t quite put it all together yet, teams clearly think there are enough ingredients where he could click. Since the Phils had an open 40-man spot and de Geus has options, there’s little harm in taking a flier to see how things go with the IronPigs. He’ll give the club some extra bullpen depth and could be in the majors if he performs well and a need arises.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images

Astros Acquire Nick Robertson

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The Blue Jays announced that they have traded right-hander Nick Robertson, who was designated for assignment last week, to the Astros. In exchange, minor league righty Edinson Batista heads to the Jays. To open a 40-man spot for Robertson, the Astros transferred Cristian Javier to the 60-day injured list, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Rome adds that Robertson will report to Triple-A Sugar Land.

Robertson, 26, has a fairly limited major league track record. Over the past two years, he has thrown 35 2/3 innings for the Dodgers, Red Sox, Cardinals and Blue Jays. He has a 5.30 earned run average in that sample but his 24.8% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate are both a bit better than average, while his 42.2% ground ball rate is right around par.

His minor league work wasn’t great last year but was quite strong before that. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 168 1/3 innings on the farm with a 3.80 ERA, 29.1% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. But last year, he posted a 6.87 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate and 13.7% walk rate in 36 2/3 Triple-A innings.

His profile has been enough to garner interest from several clubs. He was flipped from Los Angeles to Boston in the July 2023 trade that sent Enrique Hernández to the Dodgers, then the Sox sent him to the Cards in the December 2023 deal that sent Tyler O’Neill to Fenway. St. Louis put him on waivers in September, with the Jays putting in a claim and holding him through the offseason. But they needed to open some 40-man spots as they set their Opening Day roster and bumped Robertson off.

Robertson still has an option season remaining, so the Astros can keep him in Sugar Land to see if he can put 2024 behind him. They had some 40-man roster spots to burn due to several injuries. Javier had Tommy John surgery in June of last year and won’t be an option until the second half of the season even in a best-case scenario.

Presumably, several clubs were interested in adding Robertson as some optionable depth, so the Astros had to part with a minor leaguer in order to jump the waiver queue. Batista, 23 in May, was an international signing out of the Dominican Republic. He hasn’t yet risen higher than the High-A level, showing some ability to get strikeouts and ground balls but also with control issues. Since the start of 2021, he has 277 1/3 innings pitched across various minor league levels with a 4.87 ERA, 23.9% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate. He has worked both out of the rotation and the bullpen.

In June of 2024, Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice of FanGraphs gave Batista an honorable mention on their list of the top prospects in the Astros’ system, describing him as “an advanced, athletic, undersized depth starter type.”

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images

Braves Designate Jesse Chavez For Assignment, Select Zach Thompson

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The Braves announced that they have selected right-hander Zach Thompson to the major league roster. Fellow righty Jesse Chavez has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

The moves are seemingly a response to the club’s pitching staff getting heavily used early on. Atlanta is starting the year with seven straight games and lost the first five. On Sunday, AJ Smith-Shawver started and only lasted four innings. The club lost on the road, meaning the bullpen only had to cover four additional frames, but swingman José Suarez tossed three of them. Reliever Héctor Neris also tossed an inning and was designated for assignment afterwards.

Ahead of yesterday’s game, the club selected Chavez to take the place of Neris. Yesterday’s starter Grant Holmes also lasted just four innings. Losing on the road again, the bullpen needed to cover another four frames. Raisel Iglesias and Enyel De Los Santos each covered one. Chavez took two, throwing 41 pitches in the process.

The club didn’t use any of Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson or Daysbel Hernández in the past two days but the rest of the group got a lot of work, particularly the multi-inning options. They also had to recall Bryce Elder to start tomorrow’s game when Reynaldo López landed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.

Surely, the club will be hoping for a good outing from Chris Sale tonight, but he’ll be facing a tough Dodger lineup. Whether it’s after Sale tonight or after Elder tomorrow, Thompson might be needed to cover some long relief innings before the club’s much-needed off-day on Thursday.

Thompson, 31, has some major league experience under his belt. He debuted with the Marlins in 2021 and posted a 3.24 earned run average, working both in the rotation and the bullpen. Prior to 2022, he was traded to the Pirates for Jacob Stallings but his ERA jumped to 5.18 with Pittsburgh that year.

He hasn’t been in the majors since then. The Bucs designated him for assignment and flipped him to the Blue Jays ahead of the 2023 season. The latter club kept him in the minors that year, where Thompson posted a 4.61 ERA in 24 Triple-A starts. He was outrighted off Toronto’s 40-man during that season and elected free agency at season’s end. He required flexor tendon surgery in October of that year and missed all of 2024 while recovering.

That led to a minor league deal with Atlanta a few months ago. He tossed nine innings over two spring appearances, allowing one earned run with five strikeouts and three walks. He’ll give the club another multi-inning arm for now, though the need for such a player could dissipate fairly quickly. As mentioned, they have an off-day on Thursday. They will have another on Monday, giving them some more breathing room. Spencer Strider could be reinstated from the IL in the next week or two and López could potentially be back in the mix if his issue proves to be minor. Thompson still has options and could potentially be sent to the minors while hanging onto his 40-man spot.

As for Chavez, he always seems to find his way back to Atlanta, even he gets pulled away from time to time. He signed a minor league deal with the Rangers this winter but was released when he wasn’t going to crack the Opening Day roster. That led to a minor league deal with Atlanta. Their tough start to the season meant they needed to quickly call him up. But after he tossed those two frames and 41 pitches last night, he was probably going to be unavailable for a day or two, so he’s been hastily bumped off as well.

Though he’s now 41 years old, Chavez has remained effective. From the start of 2021 to the present, he has a 2.93 ERA in 203 innings pitched. That includes a 24.3% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 42.4% ground ball rate. He’ll now be in DFA limbo for a maximum of one week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any potential trade talks would have to happen in the next five days.

He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment, so he’d likely end up in free agency if he goes unclaimed on waivers. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back with Atlanta after that but he’s also been with the Pirates, Royals, Blue Jays, Athletics, Dodgers, Angels, Rangers and Cubs in his career.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports

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