Rays Add Cam Booser To 40-Man Roster
The Rays added lefty reliever Cam Booser to their 40-man roster, the team announced. He will not break camp, as the club optioned him to Triple-A Durham. Tampa Bay placed righty reliever Steven Wilson on the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. He’s dealing with lumbar disc inflammation and will be out for at least the first two months of the season.
Tampa Bay also announced four expected IL placements. Taylor Walls (right oblique strain) and Gavin Lux (right shoulder impingement) went on the 10-day injured list. Ryan Pepiot (right hip inflammation) and Edwin Uceta (right shoulder impingement) go on the shelf for at least 15 days. The Rays can backdate those moves to March 22.
Booser signed a minor league deal in January. That included an upward mobility clause which required the team to add him to the 40-man roster or cut him loose if another club were willing to give him a roster spot. The Rays opted for the former route, though his two remaining option years meant they can still keep him in the minors.
The 33-year-old southpaw (34 in May) had an impressive camp. He fired 11 innings of one-run ball with 12 strikeouts and four walks. Booser has a 95 mph fastball but leaned more heavily on his mid-80s cutter than anything else this spring. He has pitched in parts of two MLB seasons. Booser found success as a rookie with the Red Sox in 2024 but struggled after being traded to the White Sox a year ago. He allowed a 5.52 ERA with huge walk and home run rates across 31 innings for Chicago, who dropped him at the end of the year.
Rays To Place Ryan Pepiot On Injured List; Carson Williams To Break Camp At Shortstop
The Rays will place right-hander Ryan Pepiot on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right hip, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’s not expected to be out long. With Pepiot sidelined, fellow righty Joe Boyle will be brought back after previously being optioned to Triple-A Durham. Boyle will begin the year in the rotation. Topkin adds that top shortstop prospect Carson Williams, who’d previously been optioned, will now open the season as the Rays’ shortstop after Taylor Walls hit the injured list. That was the expected outcome, though the Rays were at least open to the idea of bringing in some outside help.
Pepiot, 28, has been a solid mid-rotation arm for Tampa Bay for the past two seasons after coming to the Rays in the trade that sent Tyler Glasnow to Los Angeles. He’s pitched a total of 297 2/3 innings with a 3.75 ERA, a 25.4% strikeout rate and an 8.9% walk rate. Pepiot missed time in 2024 after taking a comebacker off his leg and later developing an infection in his right knee — the two weren’t related — but tossed a career-high 167 2/3 innings in a career-high 31 starts in 2025. Since all IL stints can be backdated up to three days (if the player hasn’t been in a game in those three days), Pepiot is only guaranteed to miss the first 12 days of the season.
Boyle, 26, is one of the game’s tallest and hardest-throwing pitchers. Listed at a massive 6’8″ and 250 pounds, he averaged 98.5 mph on his heater last season even while working primarily as a starter. He joined the Rays as part of the return in the trade sending Jeffrey Springs to the Athletics. In 52 innings last year, Boyle logged a 4.67 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate and 12.4% walk rate. He was dominant in the minors, yielding only a 1.88 ERA in 86 Triple-A frames. This spring, Boyle turned in a solid 3.72 ERA with a huge 34% strikeout rate but a troublesome 17% walk rate. Boyle will now start the second game of the Rays’ season, Topkin notes; righty Nick Martinez, who signed a one-year deal worth $13MM this winter, will be pushed back a couple games to a minor hamstring issue.
As for Williams, he’ll hope to take this unexpected opportunity and run with it. There’s little doubt about the former first-round pick’s defensive acumen or raw power. Scouts laud him as a plus defender at shortstop, and he belted 28 home runs in 557 plate appearances between Triple-A and a brief major league debut last year. He’s generally considered one of the sport’s top 100 prospects, due in no small part to the relatively high floor created by his glove and plus power.
The question regarding Williams is whether he’ll make enough contact to emerge as an above-average starter or be more of a low-end regular or even a power-and-defense utility option. He fanned in a massive 41.5% of his 106 major league plate appearances last year. That alone wouldn’t be terribly alarming for a small-sample set of plate appearances by a 22-year-old, but Williams also went down on strikes in 34% of his Triple-A plate appearances. He punched out at a 28.5% clip in Double-A in 2024 and a 31.4% clip across three levels in 2023.
Williams has taken a total of 2217 professional plate appearances since being drafted 28th overall in 2021 and has struck out in 32% of them. He’s highly unlikely to ever hit for a high average, but Williams has also walked in 11.4% of his professional plate appearances. If he can continue to walk in more than 10% of his plate appearances, hit for power and play defense, than a batting average in the .210 to .230 range won’t necessarily be a dealbreaker. With Walls down for several weeks due to an oblique strain, Williams will get the chance to solidify himself in manager Kevin Cash‘s infield.
Tampa Bay also finalized its bullpen, per Topkin. Right-hander Hunter Bigge was optioned to Triple-A, leaving lefty Ian Seymour and righties Mason Englert, Yoendrys Gómez, Kevin Kelly and Cole Sulser to claim the final five spots behind veterans Griffin Jax, Bryan Baker and Garrett Cleavinger. Righty Edwin Uceta is already known to be starting the season on the injured list due to shoulder troubles.
Meanwhile, righty Jake Woodford triggered the upward mobility clause in his minor league deal with Tampa Bay. It’s not yet clear whether he’ll be added by another club or if the Rays will keep him as depth to keep on hand in Durham. Woodford had a strong spring (one run, 5-to-2 K/BB ratio, 45.5% grounder rate in 7 1/3 innings) and has pitched in each of the past six big league seasons. He has a 5.10 ERA inn 256 big league frames and has worked as both a starter and long reliever in his career.
Rays Have Discussed Pepiot, Baz In Ketel Marte Trade Conversations
The Rays are among a number of teams that have been tied to Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte. Arizona general manager Mike Hazen has consistently downplayed the chance of a deal coming together on their MVP-caliber second baseman, but he hasn’t slammed the door shut given the team’s need for starting pitching.
Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that conversations with the Rays have kicked around a framework that would send both Ryan Pepiot and Shane Baz to the desert. Piecoro writes that nothing is believed to be close on that front and the Rays are not necessarily any kind of frontrunner. Indeed, he adds that the Diamondbacks have had conversations with another team interested in Marte that would be built around a bigger-name starting pitcher.
Whether or not talks with Tampa Bay progress, the mention of multiple controllable starters hammers home the high asking price which the Diamondbacks have set. Pepiot landed in Tampa Bay as the centerpiece of the Tyler Glasnow return two offseasons ago. He’s the team leader with 297 2/3 innings pitched since the start of 2024.
The former third-round pick owns a 3.75 earned run average while striking out a little more than a quarter of opposing hitters. He’s a decent strike-thrower who sits around 95 MPH with his heater and has a plus changeup. Pepiot’s slider is a distant third offering, and the changeup has made him a reverse splits pitcher. He has held left-handed hitters to a .192/.287/.354 batting line with a near-28% strikeout rate over the past two seasons. Righties have hit .243/.303/.420 while punching out at a 23% clip.
Pepiot is unlikely to develop into an ace, but he’s an established mid-rotation starter who turned 28 in August. He has a little over three years of service time, so he’s under arbitration control through 2028. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.7MM salary. Teams place a premium on an affordable #3-type starter. The Rays presumably aren’t shopping Pepiot, but it’s a testament to Marte’s offensive impact that the righty would be on the table in those conversations.
Baz, 26, has also come up in trade talks with the Astros. The 6’3″ righty is a former top prospect who has yet to reach his upper mid-rotation ceiling. That’s partially due to some early-career injuries, including Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2023 season. He posted a 3.06 ERA across 14 starts when he returned in ’24. That earned him a spot in Kevin Cash’s rotation this year, but Baz had an up-and-down performance. He concluded with a 4.87 ERA across 166 1/3 innings. That’s despite a solid 24.8% strikeout percentage and 11.6% swinging strike rate.
The pure upside might be higher with Baz than it is with Pepiot. He sits 97 MPH and gets above-average movement on an 85 MPH knuckle-curve and 90 MPH cutter. Baz has plus stuff and is a decent enough strike thrower. He has been held back by a lack of start-to-start consistency. He allowed one run or fewer 10 times (including seven scoreless appearances) but also had 10 outings in which he gave up five or more runs.
Baz also has between three and four service years and is eligible for arbitration through 2028. He’s projected for a $3.1MM salary. Teams are probably divided as to whether they’d prefer Pepiot’s stability or Baz’s raw stuff, but both pitchers have significant trade value. They’re two of the three returning Tampa Bay pitchers (alongside Drew Rasmussen) who topped 100 innings. The Rays are likely to give Steven Matz a starting opportunity, but they’d certainly need to backfill the rotation if they traded two starters. Shane McClanahan hasn’t pitched since 2023. Joe Boyle and Ian Seymour have limited track records.
The Diamondbacks would require a monster return built around MLB starting pitching to move Marte. He’s coming off a .283/.376/.517 showing with 28 home runs. Marte is the best second baseman in the league and is signed for a bargain $102.5MM over the next six seasons (the final of which is a player option year).
“I think it’s a risky deal when you’re talking about trading really, really good players at all,” Hazen told Piecoro. “It’s something that we have to at least listen to in our job. It’s not something that you really look forward to, necessarily, when you have the players that we do. But it’s also the reality of our team and where we are that I have to consider some things.”
Arizona agreed to terms with Michael Soroka on a one-year deal this week. He’ll be in the rotation alongside Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt. (They’re unlikely to get Corbin Burnes back from Tommy John surgery before August.) Nelson was the only one of that trio who found much success this year. The D-Backs need to add another two starters and don’t have a ton of payroll space to address that via free agency. They’re also looking for bullpen help and could upgrade at third base or in the outfield.
While Marte is the best second baseman at least loosely available on the trade market, the Rays ironically have the second-best such option. Brandon Lowe is coming off a 31-homer season in which he hit .256/.307/.477 over 553 plate appearances. Lowe is entering the final season of his contract and is set to make $11.5MM. The Rays have reportedly gotten hits from the Pirates and Reds (surely among others) about his availability.
President of baseball operations Erik Neander touched on Lowe’s trade candidacy from the Winter Meetings (link via Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times). He called the two-time All-Star an “important, impactful player who provides power at a position that is hard to find.” Neander acknowledged the Rays’ history of shopping players whose control windows were closing but praised both Lowe and Yandy Díaz as longtime contributors.
“Our history is our history. We’ve made (trades) with players that are established, that are impactful contributors that as they get their way closer to free agency, we’ve made plenty of those decisions. But we’ve also made decisions the last few years to kind of continue to roll forward with these guys. We greatly appreciate them and are more than happy to ride in the next year and see what this team can do.”
Both clubs could go in a few different directions over the coming weeks. There’s no guarantee either will end up moving their star second baseman, but the trade market has yet to really pick up as most of the top free agent hitters continue weighing their options.
Rays Notes: Ownership, Pepiot, Aranda
The Rays are set to change hands any day now, as current owner Stuart Sternberg has agreed to a sell the franchise to a group led by Patrick Zalupski in a deal that’s expected to be finalized at some point this month. Since the announcement of that deal back in July, additional details about the deal have trickled out. One such detail is that Sternberg and other current members of his ownership group will retain a stake in the Rays for the time being after the sale.
Another emerged today when Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that Rick Workman has joined Zalupski’s prospective ownership group. Topkin writes that Workman’s move to purchase a stake in the Rays is both a significant shock and a major blow to the Orlando Dreamers group, which is committed to luring an expansion franchise to Orlando. Topkin suggests that Workman was viewed as an “anchor” investor for the group’s efforts to bring MLB to the city who would have been a candidate to serve as the controlling partner of a hypothetical Orlando MLB franchise. John Morgan, the group’s second-largest investor, has also departed the effort now that it appears likely that the Rays will remain in Tampa.
According to a statement from MLB Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, who serves as an MLB ambassador for the Dreamers, the organization was “surprised” when Workman conveyed that he plans to invest in the Rays, but emphasized that Workman “did not in any way suggest concerns” regarding the Dreamers initiative. Dreamers co-founder Jim Schnorf goes on to suggest that the 70-year-old Workman may have had a change of heart about waiting for the lengthy process of getting a team to Orlando, which would likely take years now that the Rays figure to stay in Tampa, and instead chose the more immediate option of joining Zalupski’s group.
Between the loss of multiple major investors and the likelihood that the Rays remain in Tampa, it’s becoming harder to imagine a team coming to Orlando any time soon. With that said, Schnorf noted that there are “multiple” other candidates to serve as control person of a hypothetical Dreamers franchise and that the initiative has no shortage of funding.
“No competing city can come close to matching our attributes in regards to stadium location, market size, population growth, tourism numbers, tourist development taxes, and strength and growth of the local economy,” Schnorf said. “Orlando remains the only fully-ready solution for any MLB situation in need, whether via relocation of an existing franchise, or one of the planned expansion slots.”
Turning to on-the-field news, Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot was scratched from his scheduled start today with what the club referred to as “general fatigue.” Pepiot, 28, has thrown 163 innings across 29 starts this year. That’s roughly 30 innings more than his previous career high, which was set last year and was itself 30 innings more than his career high before that. With the righty in uncharted territory innings-wise and Tampa’s playoff hopes all but scuttled, it might seem reasonable to expect Pepiot to sit the rest of the season out. That’s not necessarily the case, however, as MLB.com’s Joey Pollizze relays that Pepiot told reporters he expects to pitch again this year. The Rays went with a bullpen game to fill Pepiot’s spot in the rotation today, with Ian Seymour, Shane Baz, Drew Rasmussen, and Adrian Houser set to go the next four days, so the club won’t have to make a decision on Pepiot until their September 15 game against Toronto.
Turning to the lineup, Topkin relays that (according to manager Kevin Cash) first baseman Jonathan Aranda went for a checkup today as he nurses the fractured wrist that sent him to the injured list on August 1. Aranda is progressing well, according to Cash, and has already begun hitting off a tee and playing catch as he starts to rehab his ailing wrist. It’s still not clear if Aranda will have time to return before the end of the season, but the update is nonetheless encouraging about his ability to put together a normal offseason and enter Spring Training in a strong position for 2026. The 27-year-old Aranda enjoyed a breakout season at this dish this year and slashed .316/.394/.478 across 103 games while splitting time between first base and DH. It was a strong enough performance to earn Aranda the first All-Star nod of his career, and he figures to be a major contributor to the Rays for years to come given that he won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2027 season.
Could The Rays Still Move A Starting Pitcher?
The Rays entered the offseason with at least seven rotation-caliber arms on the roster. Each of Shane McClanahan, Taj Bradley, Drew Rasmussen, Zack Littell, Shane Baz, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Pepiot has had success in a big league rotation, though injuries have hobbled several of that group in recent years. Tampa Bay already thinned out that stock of arms (and, naturally, trimmed payroll) by shipping Springs and lefty Jacob Lopez to the A’s in a deal netting them righty Joe Boyle, minor leaguers Will Simpson and Jacob Watters, and a Competitive Balance (Round A) draft pick in 2025.
The Rays now have “only” six starters with proven (to varying levels) track records in the majors. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that they’re still planning on a five-man rotation, however, adding that trading a starter in the late stages of spring training is “not out of the question.” At best, that very lightly leaves the door for a trade propped open. There’s nothing to strongly suggest the Rays are planning to deal from the rotation. Still, it’s nonetheless worth examining the team’s options if it comes to that point.
The veteran Littell would be the most obvious candidate to change hands. Tampa Bay moved the now-29-year-old righty from the bullpen to the rotation midway through the 2023 season, and the results have been better than anyone could’ve reasonably predicted. Littell solidified the staff in the second half of ’23 and pitched a career-high 156 1/3 innings with a 3.63 ERA over 29 starts last season. Since moving to a starting role after the Rays claimed him from the Red Sox, Littell has started 40 games and logged a combined 3.65 ERA with a lower-than-average 20.4% strikeout rate but a sensational 4.1% walk rate.
Each of the Rays’ other starting pitchers is signed or controlled via arbitration through at least the 2027 season. Littell is a free agent following the 2025 campaign. He’s being paid a reasonable $5.72MM. He’s not an ace by any stretch of the imagination, but based on how he’s fared since July 2023, the right-hander could step into the third, fourth or fifth spot in most big league rotations.
Trading anyone from the rest of the group is tougher to envision. McClanahan has pitched at a Cy Young level when healthy but missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s controlled through 2027. Moving him right now would mean moving their most talented starter at a time when they’d be selling low. Rasmussen signed a two-year deal with a club option earlier this offseason. That bought out his remaining arbitration seasons and gave Tampa Bay control over his first free-agent year by way of that 2027 club option. Flipping him so soon after signing him to that deal is extremely difficult to envision; MLB teams simply don’t sign a player to extension and then trade him prior to ever appearing in their jersey under the terms of that new contract.
Baz and Pepiot are under club control through 2028. The former is earning $1.45MM in 2025, while the latter has yet to reach arbitration. (Baz did so as a Super Two player.) Bradley can’t become a free agent until the 2029-30 offseason. We’re talking about the Rays, so the “never say never” caveat always applies to some extent, but acquiring four or five seasons of anyone from that bucket would very likely come at a steep price and require a team to part with MLB-ready bats that are both high-upside and controllable for a similar or even lengthier window.
Any team even contemplating a trade from the rotation at this stage of the calendar will be wary, of course. As we’ve seen throughout the league — most prominently up in the Bronx — perceived starting pitching “surpluses” can turn into deficits quickly this time of year. The Rays won’t move someone just to trim payroll, but they have depth even beyond the six arms mentioned here.
The previously mentioned Boyle, for instance, is having a nice spring and has experience in a big league rotation already. Following his acquisition in the Springs trade, president of baseball operations Erik Neander called the 6’7″ righty someone who has “the physicality and the stuff to fit at the front of the rotation.” Boyle averages nearly 98 mph on his heater but has severe command issues that need to be ironed out. Righty Jacob Waguespack might be Triple-A bound but has 105 2/3 big league innings under his belt. Prospects Joe Rock and Ian Seymour both had some success in Triple-A last year (the latter in particular). There’s no such thing as “too much” rotation depth, but that group could further embolden the Rays to listen on Littell or another big league starter if a team makes a compelling offer.
Rays Place Ryan Pepiot On Injured List
The Rays announced that right-hander Ryan Pepiot has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right knee infection, retroactive to July 19. Right-hander Tyler Zuber was recalled from Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move.
Pepiot was acquired from the Dodgers in the offseason trade that sent Tyler Glasnow to Los Angeles. His first season in Tampa has been a solid one so far, as he has made 17 starts with a 3.92 earned run average. He has punched out 26.7% of batters faced while keeping walks down to a reasonable clip of 8.8%.
It’s unclear exactly how or when he injured his knee. His last outing was the Sunday before the All-Star break and he tossed six shutout innings against the Guardians that day. Perhaps it was ailing him after that and the Rays used the break to see if it would improve but didn’t see much progress.
Regardless of how or when it happened, it will subtract from Tampa’s rotation depth, which has been an evolving story in recent weeks. They are not exactly sellers in the traditionally understood way, as they have been hovering around .500 this year. They are currently 49-49 and just 4.5 games out of a playoff spot.
However, they have had some pitchers coming back from lengthy injury layoffs, which has allowed them to make some starters available on the trade market. They recently flipped Aaron Civale to the Brewers and then quickly replaced him with Shane Baz, who had recovered from his Tommy John surgery.
That swap left the Rays with a rotation consisting of Pepiot, Baz, Zach Eflin, Zack Littell and Taj Bradley. With Jeffrey Springs also nearing a return from his own Tommy John surgery layoff, it seemed possible that Tampa could make yet another starter available without really harming their rotation depth in 2024 too much. Eflin and Littell seemed the most likely options there as each is set for free agency after 2025.
Perhaps this injury to Pepiot will change that calculus, but it’s still not clear how serious the injury is or how much time the Rays are expecting him to miss. In the meantime, they will have to replace Pepiot in the rotation, which could just involve reinstating Springs since the lefty has been rehabbing for a couple of months now. Rehab stints normally only last 30 days for pitchers but can be extended in the case of Tommy John surgery recoveries. If Springs isn’t ready, Tyler Alexander and Jacob Lopez are on the 40-man roster and could be recalled.
Rays Notes: Lowe, Pepiot, Poche, Devenski
The Rays are close to getting a major piece of their lineup back from the injured list, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays that club manager Kevin Cash told reporters that Brandon Lowe is restarting his rehab assignment this weekend and could return to the big league roster as soon as Monday if all goes well in his final rehab outings.
Lowe made it into just eight games this season before being sidelined by an oblique injury but has been one of the club’s most reliable hitters since he made his debut back in 2018, as evidenced by the career .245/.334/.484 slash line he carried into the 2024 campaign. That includes two monster seasons in 2020 and 2021 that saw him earn downballot MVP consideration, but he’s remained a valuable hitter in recent years even as he’s not regained that elite peak offensive form; in 2023, the then-28-year-old slashed a solid .231/.328/.443 with 21 homers.
The Rays are surely hoping that Lowe can provide the club with a spark offensively, as the AL’s best offense from 2023 has scuffled a bit in 2024. They’ve posted a collective wRC+ of just 101 this year, down 17 points from last year and good for just 14th in the majors to this point in the year. Those relative struggles have been thanks primarily to down seasons from key contributors like Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena to this point in the season. Richie Palacios and Amed Rosario have filled in admirably for Lowe in his absence, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rays look to work both players into the lineup on a semi-regular basis even upon Lowe’s return.
Also nearing a return from the shelf is right-hander Ryan Pepiot, who has been on the shelf since May 8 after being struck by in the leg by a comebacker. Pepiot’s return will be greatly appreciated for the Rays, as he’s pitched to a strong 3.68 ERA and 3.64 FIP through seven starts with the Rays in his first season as a regular in the rotation. Prior to being swapped to the Rays this past winter in the Tyler Glasnow deal, Pepiot had shown flashes of his impressive ability with the Dodgers, for whom he pitched to a 2.76 ERA in 78 1/3 innings split between the 2022 and ’23 seasons.
In Pepiot’s absence, the Rays have relied on Taj Bradley and Tyler Alexander to fill out the club’s rotation alongside Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale, and Zack Littell. Bradley has looked excellent in his two starts since being activated, with a 2.45 ERA and 3.04 FIP in 11 frames. Alexander, on the other hand, has generally struggled while swinging between the rotation and the bullpen with the Rays but carried a perfect game into the eighth innings of his most recent start against the Blue Jays, ultimately throwing 7 1/3 innings of three-run ball on three hits, no walks, and four strikeouts.
Not all the injury news has been positive for the Rays, however. Topkin relays that Cash indicated to reporters today that the Rays still have no clear timeline for return regarding left-hander Colin Poche, who has been on the shelf for nearly a month now due to mid-back tightness. The 30-year-old southpaw was one of Tampa’s most important relievers last year as he pitched to a sterling 2.23 ERA with a 3.34 ERA and a 24.8% strikeout rate in 60 2/3 innings of work. Unfortunately, he struggled badly this season in ten appearances prior to being placed on the injured list, as he allowed seven runs in 9 1/3 frames on 12 hits and three walks while striking out six. Poche’s uncertain return date, according to Cash, contributed to the club’s decision to acquire left-hander Richard Lovelady from the Cubs earlier today in exchange for southpaw Jeff Belge.
While Poche appears to be nowhere near a return, the same isn’t true of veteran right-hander Chris Devenski, who has been on the shelf since late April due to a bout of knee tendinitis. Topkin notes that the veteran right-hander has begun a rehab assignment at Triple-A, though he notes that according to Cash the righty will need “at least” one more rehab appearance before the club considers bringing him back up to the big leagues. Cash also indicated that the Rays have not yet decided whether they’ll have Devenski take a longer rehab assignment in order to stretch him out for multi-inning relief or simply promote him to the majors as soon as he’s ready to contribute in shorter bursts. Devenski pitched to largely average results between the Angels and Rays last year, with a 4.46 ERA in 42 1/3 innings of work despite a solid 3.96 FIP.
Rays Place Ryan Pepiot On Injured List, Reinstate Taj Bradley
The Rays have made a swap of starters, with right-hander Ryan Pepiot going on the 15-day injured list, while Taj Bradley has been reinstated from the IL and will start Friday’s game. The moves were relayed on X by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
Pepiot was hit on the leg by a comebacker on Sunday. A CT scan came back negative for any fractures but the club will give him some time on the injured list anyway, presumably to get over any soreness or swelling he’s currently experiencing.
It’s an unfortunate development for the Rays, as Pepiot was out to a strong start to the year. Acquired from the Dodgers as part of the Tyler Glasnow trade, Pepiot has made seven starts with a 3.68 earned run average. He has struck out 29.1% of batters faced while walking 7.8% of them.
Rotation health has been an ongoing concern in Tampa for quite a while. Each of Shane Baz, Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen are on the injured list due to undergoing elbow surgeries last year, or 2022 in the case of Baz. Jacob Waguespack is also on the IL due to a strained shoulder while Bradley had been there due to a strained pectoral.
Bradley now swapping in for Pepiot makes this a neutral move in a sense, though Bradley’s results haven’t been as strong as Pepiot’s thus far. He had a 5.59 ERA in 104 2/3 innings for the Rays last year. His 28% strikeout rate was strong and his 8.5% walk rate around average, but he allowed 23 home runs.
The rotation will now consists of Zach Eflin, Zack Littell, Aaron Civale, Tyler Alexander and Bradley, at least until Pepiot heals up. Bradley still has options and could perhaps be sent back to the minors later in the year, though the club will have other choices available. Civale has a 6.14 ERA while Alexander is at 4.96 and both of them are optionable as well.
Dodgers Acquire Tyler Glasnow, Manuel Margot; Glasnow Signed To Contract Extension
December 19: Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the extension is actually valued at $111,562,500 over four years, with Glasnow to make $30MM from 2025 to 2027. The player option in 2028 is valued at $21,562,500, slightly higher than previous reporting. Heyman’s framing also suggests that Glasnow will choose on his option first. If he turns it down, then the Dodgers will get to decide whether or not to trigger a $30MM club option.
December 16, 3:33pm: USAToday’s Bob Nightengale relays the full contract breakdown for Glasnow, reporting that the 2028 player option is worth $21.5MM. This accounts for the previously unexplained $1.5MM discrepancy between the reported contract breakdown and the Dodgers’ announced $136.5MM figure.
12:08pm: The Dodgers and Rays finalized the four-player trade that will sent right-hander Tyler Glasnow, outfielder Manuel Margot, and $4MM in cash considerations to Los Angeles in exchange for right-hander Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny Deluca. News of the trade first broke a few days ago, with the final hurdle being the Dodgers’ ability to sign Glasnow to a contract extension. That deal has now also been completed, with L.A. announcing that Glasnow has agreed to a new long-term pact worth $136.5MM. Glasnow is represented by Wasserman.
As per the terms reported yesterday by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the new contract will see Glasnow earn $110MM in new money over the course of the 2025-28 seasons. Glasnow was already slated to earn $25MM in 2024 according to the terms of his prior contract with the Rays, and the new deal with L.A. breaks down as $90MM in salary over the 2025-27 seasons, and then the Dodgers hold a $30MM club option on Glasnow’s services for 2028. If the team declines that option, Glasnow can exercise a $20MM player option for 2028. Since Passan’s numbers only add up to $135MM rather than the Dodgers’ announced figure of $136.5MM, that extra $1.5MM has yet to be accounted for, possibly a signing bonus or a bit of extra guaranteed money on one of the years.
Unlike Shohei Ohtani‘s $700MM mega-deal with the Dodgers from last week, Glasnow’s extension doesn’t contain any deferred money. As such, it will be entirely portioned out onto the Dodgers’ luxury tax bills based on a $27.3MM average annual value over the next five seasons. According to Roster Resource‘s calculations, Los Angeles has an estimated luxury tax number of roughly $253.7MM for 202 — still under the $257MM secondary CBT tier, thanks to all of Ohtani’s deferrals lowering his tax-related AAV to $46MM per season. Still, with a number of roster needs still be addressed, the Dodgers’ tax bill could certainly still approach or exceed the next penalty tier of $277MM between now and Opening Day.
Glasnow has been seen as a possible trade candidate basically since the moment he inked his previous two-year, $30.35MM extension with Tampa Bay during the 2022 season. Signed when Glasnow was recovering from Tommy John surgery, the deal saw $25MM of the salary backloaded into the 2024 season, making it likely that the cost-conscious Rays would try to unload the right-hander beforehand.
The 30-year-old’s availability dovetailed with the Dodgers’ need for pitching this winter, as the Los Angeles rotation is full of injury-related question marks (i.e. Walker Buehler, and possibly Dustin May at midseason), pitchers without much big league experience (Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove, Gavin Stone), and a swingman in Ryan Yarbrough who may be best suited for bullpen duty. Pepiot was another member of that young crop of arms, but he’ll now head to Tampa Bay as he enters his third season of MLB duty.
In moving Glasnow and Margot and factoring in the $4MM in cash considerations, the Rays unloaded $33MM worth of salary for two players making the Major League minimum, in a move reminiscent of many budget-trimming, sell-high types of trades Tampa has become known for over the years. The Rays’ success rate in these deals is almost a cliche by this point, and even if Tampa Bay fans have become weary of the team’s continual roster churn and perpetually low-spending ways, the Rays’ ability to field competitive teams speaks for itself. Pepiot figures to step right into the rotation spot left open by Glasnow, while Deluca may not be guaranteed a spot in the Opening Day outfield, but he’ll at least be part of the shuttle heading back and forth between Triple-A since the outfielder has two minor league option years remaining.
The right-handed hitting Margot figures to move into a part-time role in the Dodgers’ outfield picture, acting as a complement to the left-handed James Outman and Jason Heyward. Margot has played primarily as a center fielder and right fielder, thus lining up well with Outman and Heyward’s projected positions. Mookie Betts will be taking over as the Dodgers’ new everyday second baseman in 2024, so it’s safe to guess that L.A. will aim to add more outfield depth if Betts will be spending most of his time on the dirt.
MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams broke down the Glasnow extension in larger detail yesterday, while Darragh McDonald outlined the news of the four-player trade agreement for MLBTR on Thursday. Jack Azoulay-Haron of MLB Nerds and Bruce Kuntz of Dodgers Digest first reported the four principal players in the trade. Jon Heyman of The New York Post first relayed that a Glasnow extension was a possibility. Jeff Passan of ESPN relayed that the deal was agreed to, contingent on the extension. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first relayed the Rays’ inclusion of the $4MM in salary offset.
Chicago Notes: Lee, Candelario, Pepiot
After losing Jeimer Candelario, Cody Bellinger, and Marcus Stroman to free agency last month, the Cubs figure to look for additional help at the corner infield spots and in the rotation while also continuing a search for a left-handed bat that saw them connected to both Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani before the superstars landed with the Yankees and Dodgers, respectively. According to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, that search for a left-handed bat took them to a somewhat unusual place, as Mooney indicates that Chicago pursued star KBO outfielder Jung Hoo Lee prior to him landing in San Francisco on a six-year, $113MM deal last week.
It’s something of a peculiar fit, as the Cubs have Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki locked into the corner outfield spots with top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong and his 80-grade glove in center field expected to break into the majors as a regular sometime next season. While that hasn’t stopped president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and his front office from pursuing Soto and a reunion with Bellinger, it’s worth noting that Bellinger has plenty of experience at first base and that Soto is a fringe defender in the outfield who may be best suited for a DH role. Lee, by contrast, has spent his entire professional career in the outfield and is viewed as a plus defender on the grass with a chance to stick in center.
Despite the uncertain fit, Mooney suggests that the 25-year-old’s youth, left-handed bat, and ability to play center were all attractive factors in the eyes of the Cubs. Speculatively speaking, the club may have seen Lee as a piece who could slot into center field on Opening Day to allow Crow-Armstrong more time to develop in the minors. Upon Crow-Armstrong’s promotion, the club could have utilized the DH slot, where they have no regular starting option, to rest Suzuki, Happ, and Lee by divvying up time in the outfield corners between the three of them while also allowing them to all play on an everyday basis.
More rumblings out of Chicago…
- Sticking with the Cubs, Mooney suggests that the club “didn’t express interest” in retaining Candelario after he hit the open market last month. Candelario came up as a member of the Cubs but was shipped to the Tigers at the 2017 trade deadline alongside infielder Isaac Paredes in exchange for catcher Alex Avila and left-hander Justin Wilson. Candelario made his way back to Chicago this past summer when the Cubs landed him in exchange for infield prospect Kevin Made and lefty relief prospect D.J. Herz. Candelario’s second stint with the Cubs was shortened by a two-week stint on the injured list in September due to a back issue. Though Candelario was a strong fit for the Cubs’ offseason needs as a switch-hitting infielder who can contribute at both infield corners as well as DH, it’s possible the club was turned off from pursuing him by the relatively modest .234/.318/.445 slash line he put up in 157 trips to the plate with Chicago this season. Candelario wound up signing with the Reds on a three-year, $45MM deal earlier this month.
- Looking toward the south side, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the White Sox were interested in right-hander Ryan Pepiot as part of a possible return package while discussing a Dylan Cease trade with the Dodgers earlier this winter. Pepiot ultimately was shipped to the Rays alongside outfielder Jonny DeLuca in exchange for oft-injured ace Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot. It’s unclear if the Dodgers and White Sox are still engaged in discussions regarding Cease following the Glasnow deal, though the Dodgers are certainly in need of multiple starting pitchers this offseason and would surely benefit from the addition of Cease, who sports a 3.54 ERA and 3.40 FIP over the past three seasons, to their rotation mix.