Rays To Select Austin Slater
1:20pm: The Rays have officially announced Slater’s addition to the roster. Heasley was transferred to the 60-day IL as the corresponding 40-man move. To open an active roster spot, infielder Oliver Dunn has been optioned to Triple-A Durham.
9:55am: The Rays will select the contract of outfielder Austin Slater from Triple-A Durham, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Slater signed a minor league deal with Tampa Bay late last month but is now headed to the major league club as the Rays gear up for a slate of left-handed pitchers.
Tamps Bay will need to open a 40-man spot for Slater. Righty Jon Heasley, who was recently diagnosed with a stress reaction in his elbow and placed on the 15-day IL, seems like a potential 60-day IL candidate. Outfielder Jake Fraley underwent a hernia procedure last month that came with a recovery timetable of six to eight weeks and could be a candidate as well, if the team feels his recovery will skew toward the lengthier end of that window.
Slater, 33, has already played with two different teams this season and seven over the past three seasons combined. He’s been hitting well in Durham, going 8-for-23 with five doubles, a homer, five walks and six strikeouts in 28 trips to the plate (.348/.464/.696).
Slater has taken 49 major league plate appearances between the Marlins and Mets this season, and they haven’t gone well. He’s 8-for-43 with only one extra-base hit (a double) and three times as many strikeouts (15) as walks (five). Broadly speaking, his past three seasons in the majors have been a struggle — hence the frequent changes of address. He’s taken 421 plate appearances in the bigs since Opening Day 2024 and slashed just .212/.298/.304.
Even with that lackluster run, however, Slater is still a lifetime .263/.352/.420 hitter in 1067 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. The Rays will face Red Sox left-hander Connelly Early tonight and are slated to face fellow southpaw Payton Tolle tomorrow. The Angels’ rotation is in disarray, so it’s hard to gauge exactly who’ll be starting for them next weekend when the Rays visit Anaheim. They’ll miss lefty Reid Detmers, barring a shuffle of the current order, but the Halos currently have five lefties in the bullpen. That should lead to plenty of chances for Slater to contribute off the bench or perhaps in the starting lineup if the Angels opt for bullpen games with a lefty opener and/or bulk reliever (e.g. Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri).
Rays Move Steven Matz To Bullpen
Left-hander Steven Matz is heading to the Rays’ bullpen, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The veteran failed to escape the second inning on Tuesday against the Tigers. Matz has allowed a dozen runs across 8 2/3 innings since coming off the IL in mid-May.
Matz signed a two-year, $15MM deal with the Rays in December. His tenure in Tampa Bay was off to a decent start before elbow inflammation cost him a few weeks. The lefty posted a 3.86 ERA through his first seven appearances. A 4.55 SIERA suggested he was due for regression, but he was delivering solid innings at the back end of Tampa Bay’s rotation.
The elbow injury popped up out of nowhere, as Matz was coming off back-to-back quality starts. His velocity has been fine after rejoining the team, but his Stuff+ has slipped from 98 to 91. Matz has seen his swinging-strike rate drop by more than 3% in three outings since his IL stint.
After operating almost exclusively as a starter with the Mets and Blue Jays, Matz has picked up ample experience as a reliever in recent seasons. He worked in a swingman role for multiple years with the Cardinals. Matz made 53 appearances between St. Louis and Boston in 2025, all but two of which came as a reliever. His pair of starts came in April with the Cardinals. Matz functioned as a traditional one-inning reliever after being dealt to the Red Sox.
Tampa Bay relied on a combination of Griffin Jax, Mason Englert, and Jesse Scholtens to cover two rotation spots during Matz’s IL stint. Jax has now been fully stretched out as a starter. Scholtens is down with a wrist injury, and Englert missed time with a forearm issue. The latter is now back with the big-league club. Englert covered five innings and tossed a season-high 82 pitches in relief of Nick Martinez on Wednesday. He’s expected to step into Matz’s rotation spot, possibly as a bulk reliever, per Topkin.
Matz was due to start on Monday against Boston. The move to the bullpen is “not by any stretch permanent,” manager Kevin Cash said, relayed by Topkin. A six-man rotation later in the season could make sense as a way to limit innings for Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen, who have extensive injury histories. Jax is also working as a starter for the first time since 2021 and is on pace to set a career high in innings.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images
Rays Place Jon Heasley On Injured List
June 2: Tampa Bay announced that Heasley has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right elbow, which he evidently suffered while on the big league roster. As a result, his outright was rescinded and he has been placed on the MLB 15-day injured list with an effective date of May 29. That will return him to the 40-man roster, which already had a vacancy after Andrew Wantz was designated for assignment over the weekend.
May 30: Right-hander Jon Heasley has cleared waivers and been outrighted to the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate. (Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported the move shortly before the team’s official announcement.) Heasley isn’t able to decline the outright assignment, so he’ll return to Durham and await his next selection to the active roster.
The Rays signed Heasley to a minor league deal in April and then selected him to their 26-man roster just three days ago. Heasley pitched the final four innings of the Rays’ 11-2 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday, allowing five runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs. Tampa Bay then designated Heasley for assignment yesterday, and the right-hander made a quick trip through waivers.
Though Wednesday’s outing was far from memorable, it did mark Heasley’s first MLB game in almost exactly two years. Ironically, Heasley’s last appearance was with the Orioles back on May 23, 2024, and that unsuccessful stint saw him post a 16.88 ERA across four games and 5 1/3 innings of work.
A 13th-round pick for Kansas City in the 2018 draft, most of Heasley’s pro career has been spent in the Royals organization, apart from the 2024 season in Baltimore and his current stint in Tampa. Heasley has exhibited good control but only intermittent strikeout ability even in the minors, and his career ERA now stands at 6.04 over 143 frames with the Rays, Orioles, and Royals. Big league batters have taken Heasley yard a stunning 31 times in that relatively brief 143-inning sample size.
Andrew Wantz Elects Free Agency
The Rays announced that right-hander Andrew Wantz has cleared waivers and elected free agency. Tampa designated him for assignment a few days ago. He has a previous career outright, which gives him the right to reject further outright assignments in favor of the open market.
It was a very brief stint in the majors for Wantz. He was selected to the roster on Friday and designated for assignment on Sunday. He made one appearance, allowing five earned runs in an inning and two thirds.
The Rays were spinning plates for a while there, due to a few unique situations. Griffin Jax was hit by a comebacker last Tuesday and was removed after two innings. The next day, Steven Matz started, coming off a stint on the injured list with no rehab assignment. He lasted three innings, which led to Jonathan Heasley absorbing four frames in relief. After that, the Rays bumped off Heasley and added Wantz to give them a fresh arm. On Saturday, starter Drew Rasmussen only went four innings. Wantz was one of five relievers who pitched behind him. Wantz is out of options, so he was designated for assignment when they freshened up the bullpen once more.
Earlier in his career, Wantz had some decent results with the Angels. He tossed 117 innings for that club from 2021 to 2023, allowing 3.85 earned runs per nine. His 9.7% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 25.4% of batters faced.
In 2024, the Angels tried stretching him out in the minors, which didn’t work. He posted a 6.17 ERA in seven appearances for Triple-A Salt Lake and then underwent some kind of elbow surgery. The details on that procedure were murky but he was outrighted off the roster at season’s end and then signed a two-year minor league deal with the Rays for 2025 and 2026.
He was back on the mound late last year with encouraging results, allowing just one earned run in 13 innings. He wasn’t able to carry that over into 2026, as he put up a 7.04 ERA in Triple-A before being called up for emergency action. That number was at least a bit misleading, as his .403 batting average on balls in play and 57.3% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side. His 20.7% strikeout rate, 9.9% walk rate and 45.8% ground ball rate were all close to average. His 4.04 FIP suggested he deserved far better.
In situations like this, it’s common for the player to re-sign with the club he just walked away from. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rays re-sign Wantz in the near future but he has the chance to explore other opportunities.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Rays Place Craig Kimbrel On 15-Day IL, Announce Other Moves
The Rays have placed right-hander Craig Kimbrel on the 15-day injured list with a right wrist strain, per a team announcement. The move is retroactive to May 28th. The club is also recalling lefty Cam Booser and righty Trevor Martin from Triple-A. In addition, righty Andrew Wantz is being designated for assignment, removing him from the 40-man roster.
Kimbrel joined Tampa Bay on a major league deal last week. That came after he was designated for assignment by the Mets and elected free agency. Kimbrel only got into one game with his new club, striking out two hitters in a scoreless inning on May 26th. Now, he’ll be on the shelf for two weeks, continuing a frustrating age-38 season for the once-great closer.
Kimbrel had a 6.00 ERA in 15 innings with the Mets before joining the Rays. Although his 4.39 expected ERA was much better, that’s obviously still not a good mark and shows that Kimbrel is a shell of his old self even accounting for poor luck. Kimbrel is averaging 93.6 MPH on his four-seamer in 2026, continuing his decline from 2023, when the pitch averaged 95.8 MPH. Dating back to the start of 2025, Kimbrel has a 4.18 ERA in 28 innings, with opposing hitters putting up an .806 OPS against him.
At best, low-leverage relief is what the Rays can expect from Kimbrel when he gets back. Tampa’s starters rank third in the Majors with a 3.11 ERA, but their bullpen ranks 25th with a 4.74 mark. Bryan Baker and Kevin Kelly have both been excellent, especially Baker in the closer role. In contrast, Jesse Scholtens is underperforming his 4.99 expected ERA by two runs, and he’s now on the injured list himself. The other qualified relievers have a 4.67 ERA or higher. Lengthy track record aside, Kimbrel probably has a short leash when he returns from injury, as the Rays won’t risk worsening their bullpen long-term with only a slim lead over the Yankees in the AL East.
In the meantime, Booser and Martin are back in the Majors as fresh arms. Booser was optioned before Opening Day and hasn’t appeared in the Majors this season, though he has a sharp 1.80 ERA in 20 innings at Triple-A. That mark comes with a 6.3% walk rate, so the Rays might be counting on improved control from Booser in the big league bullpen, at least over his 13.3% walk rate last year with the White Sox. The same can be said of Martin, who’s allowed eight walks in 15 innings at Triple-A this year but has generally limited free passes in the minors.
Wantz loses his roster spot after a single game with the Rays. He allowed five earned runs on 54 pitches in 1 2/3 innings yesterday’s 14-3 loss to the Angels. Wantz was only selected the day before, though he was out of options and needed to be designated to be taken off the roster. Wantz has been outrighted before and can technically reject an outright assignment if he clears waivers. However, he’s only thrown three innings in the Majors since the start of 2024, so it’s possible Wantz remains in the organization and waits for a call-up to re-establish himself.
Photo courtesy of Jamie Sabau, Imagn Images
Expansion/Stadium Notes: Vancouver, Sacramento, Tampa
It is expected that Major League Baseball will look to expand from 30 to 32 teams at some point in the future. Several cities have been floated as possibilities over the years, including Nashville, Salt Lake City, Portland and Orlando. In recent weeks, Vancouver and Sacramento have thrown their hats into the ring. Gary Mason of The Globe and Mail provided many of the details on the Vancouver situation last month while Evan Drellich of The Athletic amd Maury Brown of Forbes reported on the Sacramento bid this week.
A group led by real estate developer Zack Ross is pushing a Vancouver proposal that seems to have the backing of mayor Ken Sim. City council recently approved a motion directing staff to start a procurement process for the unsolicited bid proposal.
Vancouver is already host to the Canadians, the Single-A affiliate of the Blue Jays. Per Mason’s piece, Ross was asked by that club to look for a spot to build a new stadium. Nat Bailey Stadium, where the Canadians play, was built in 1951. While undergoing that process, he had the idea of potentially pursuing a big league club. The group is targeting a 20-acre plot of city-owned land on the south shore of False Creek. He is now looking for investors. The architecture firm Populous, which designed the Las Vegas Sphere, has put together a stadium rendering.
The piece says that the owners of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers have expressed an interest, as has actor Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds was born and raised in Vancouver and is already the co-owner of Wrexham A.F.C., as documented in the TV show Welcome to Wrexham, which raised the profile of that club. Jed York, principal owner of the 49ers, is also a co-owner of the football clubs Leeds and Rangers. Mason also mentions the owners of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken as being interested.
It’s hard to tell exactly how much money would be needed for a new club, but it would be a total in the billions. As noted by Drellich, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred threw out a figure of $2.2 billion as a possible expansion fee back in 2021. That was before Steve Cohen bought the Mets for $2.4 billion and José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones agreed to purchase the Padres for $3.9 billion. Presumably, the price has gone up since Manfred made those comments.
The viability of Vancouver as a market is somewhat in debate. As Mason points out, Major League Soccer is looking to move the Whitecaps from Vancouver to an American market, something that might not bode well for investor confidence in the city. Vancouver does support the NHL’s Canucks and got an expansion franchise in the NBA in 1995, but the Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001. The Lions have played in the Canadian Football League since 1954. The popularity of baseball in the area can be seen whenever the Blue Jays play in Seattle, as Canadian fans stream across the border for those contests.
Though Vancouver is nowhere near Toronto, most of Canada is considered Blue Jays territory. That doesn’t seem like it will be much of an issue. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro has said the Jays would support a team in Vancouver. “We are supportive of any effort to grow baseball in Canada, and that would include the opportunity to bring MLB to Vancouver,” Shapiro said.
Nicholson-Smith also quotes Manfred, from the 2025 postseason, broadly supporting the idea of a second team in Canada. “There’s no place you’re going to go where you’re not splitting the market,” Manfred said. “I’ve got probably four clubs that think Nashville’s part of their market. I’m not being funny. Literally, they do. So whenever you expand, you’re growing the business, you’ve got another revenue-generating point. You’re going to get a big payment on the way in and one of the things that happens is somebody’s market gets nicked a little bit. So this market, Canada, is no different. The advantages that Canada has is there are places you can go that are distant geographically from Toronto.” The Montreal Expos and the Jays co-existed in MLB for many years, starting with the creation of the Jays in 1977, but the Expos struggled to make that arrangement work. They were moved to Washington in 2005 and became the Nationals.
Geographically, Vancouver is closer to Seattle, but it’s possible the Mariners would be on board. As noted by Tim Booth of The Seattle Times, the Mariners would probably be more concerned about Portland having a team, since they would view that area as part of their current territory. Since Vancouver is seen more as Jays country, the M’s may not be too concerned about a team there, and might even welcome the travel impacts. Seattle is so isolated on the MLB map that they currently have to cover large distances for every road game. A team in Vancouver would lead to a few road games with modest travel, while not dramatically impacting the club’s territorial rights.
Turning to Sacramento, West Sacramento mayor Martha Guerrero announced last week that the city would be pursuing an MLB expansion club. A local real estate developer named Mark Friedman is leading the charge to sell the area as viable for a big league club more permanently. West Sacramento, a distinct city from Sacramento but part of the same metropolitan area, is the temporary home of the Athletics. Ideally, that would give the region proof of concept, but the A’s haven’t drawn especially large crowds to Sutter Health Park.
The group isn’t deterred by that, expressing belief that turnout would be greater if the area had its own team, as opposed to one just passing through. The group doesn’t have a lead investor but claims to already have $800MM in place in terms of land and private investment. They also claim to have access to $1 billion in public money. They are targeting a 50-acre segment of land in West Sacramento, an area that includes Sutter Health Park.
“We may elect to build a new stadium next to the existing stadium, and then tear that one down, or we may choose to tear down the existing stadium and build a new one on the same site,” Friedman said. “We just haven’t gotten to the design part of this, and are waiting until we bring the lead investor on, because that person will undoubtedly want to place their stamp on what the project looks like.” Brown notes that Sacramento natives Dusty Baker and Derrek Lee are involved in the pitch, though the degree of their involvement is not clear.
As a market, Sacramento supports the NBA’s Kings. They also had the Monarchs in the WNBA starting in 1997 but that team folded in 2009. The River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants, are the more permanent host club for Sutter Health Park. They are sharing the stadium with the A’s for the 2025 to 2027 seasons while the A’s finish their stadium in Las Vegas. Sutter Health Park and the River Cats are owned by the Kings.
At this point, the possibility of expansion is still fairly theoretical. Manfred has consistently said that he would like the A’s and Rays to figure out long-term stadium plans before expansion could be on the table. The A’s are on track to be in Las Vegas for the start of the 2028 season but the Rays are still in a limbo zone.
The Rays have a lease at Tropicana Field through 2028 but don’t have anything in place beyond that. The new owners are in talks with the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County about a new stadium plan. Per Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times, the team and government officials have agreed to a memorandum of understanding about a plan to build a $2.3 billion domed stadium near Raymond James stadium, home of the NFL’s Buccaneers, but the MOU is nonbinding. Per the plan, the county would contribute $796MM and the city $180MM, with the Rays covering the rest as well as any overruns and maintenance. The team will also spend $8 to $10 billion on a mixed-use development to surround the stadium.
It’s unclear if they can get through the next hoops to proceed with the project. As Topkin notes, Tampa city council passed the nonbinding MOU 4-3 but councillor Bill Carlson plans to change his vote for the actual deal. He only voted “yes” on the nonbinding MOU to keep the discussion going for now. If something can’t be worked out in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, it’s expected that a move to Orlando may be pursued.
Drellich notes that MLB would likely prefer that the expansion locations be split with one to the west and one to the east. If that proves to be true, then Vancouver and Sacramento could be competing with each other, as well as with Salt Lake City and Portland.
The current collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA expires this coming December 1st and negotiations are ongoing. Expansion is something that would have to be collectively bargained between those two parties and it’s possible that it comes up in those talks. Manfred has said he would like to make progress on that front before his expected departure in January of 2029. On the other hand, there are bigger priorities in those talks and expansion may still be on the backburner until the Rays get a more concrete plan in place.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images
Rays Designate Jon Heasley For Assignment, Select Andrew Wantz
The Rays announced that they have reinstated infielder Ben Williamson from the 10-day injured list and selected the contract of right-hander Andrew Wantz. In corresponding moves, infielder Carson Williams has been optioned to Triple-A Durham and righty Jon Heasley has been designated for assignment.
Wantz, 30, has pitched in parts of four seasons with the Angels, totaling 118 1/3 frames at the MLB level. He’s logged a solid 3.88 ERA in that time and turned in a strong 25.7% strikeout rate. Wantz’s 9.8% walk rate is a bit high, and he’ll probably always be a bit homer-prone just due to his extreme fly-ball tendencies (career 29.5% ground-ball rate), but he’s pitched decently when healthy and in the majors.
The health component is a notable one for Wantz. He’s only in the Rays organization by virtue of a two-year minor league contract he signed ahead of the 2025 season. The Rays knew Wantz would miss nearly all of 2025 upon signing him. Wantz spent most of the 2024 campaign on the injured list with the Halos and eventually underwent surgery. The Angels removed him from the 40-man roster following the ’24 campaign, rather than carry an injured player on the 40-man roster all winter, and the Rays scooped him up a few months later.
Wantz wound up pitching 13 minor league rehab innings late last year. He’s healthy now and has appeared in 18 Triple-A games with the Rays. The 6’4″, 235-pound righty has been dinged for a 7.04 ERA in 23 innings, with most of the damage coming over his five most recent outings (11 runs allowed in seven frames). However, Wantz has been dogged by a massive .403 average on balls in play. His 20.7% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate are both worse than the major league average, but not by much, and his 4.02 FIP suggests that better days should be on the horizon.
Wantz is out of minor league options. He won’t be able to be sent back to Durham unless he clears waivers first, and even then, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, given that he’s previously been outrighted in the past. It’s possible this will just be a brief one-off look in the majors, but Tampa Bay has invested more than a year of effort into rehabbing the righty, so they’d presumably like to take a look at him for more than just an appearance or two.
Meanwhile, Heasley’s stint with the Rays’ big league club will be just such a one-off look, it seems. Tampa Bay signed him to a minor league deal last month. He made one big league appearance this week after his contract was selected from Durham, wherein he surrendered five runs in four innings of work.
The 29-year-old Heasley has now pitched in parts of five seasons between the Royals, O’s and Rays. He’s totaled 143 innings with a 6.04 ERA, a perilously low 14.3% strikeout rate and a solid 8.7% walk rate. The former 13th-round pick out of Oklahoma State had strong numbers in the minors up through Double-A but has been hit hard in Triple-A and the majors. He’s out of big league options, so any team that picks him up would need to plug him right onto the major league roster. Between that fact and his struggles between Triple-A and MLB, he’ll likely clear waivers. The Rays have five days to look for a trade partner or waive him. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so Heasley’s DFA will be resolved within a week’s time.
Rays Select Jon Heasley
The Rays announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Jon Heasley. Fellow righty Trevor Martin has been optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, infielder Gavin Lux has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Heasley, 29, appeared in four big league seasons from 2021 to 2024. With the Royals and Orioles, he tossed 139 innings in a swing role, allowing 5.89 earned runs per nine. His 8.9% walk rate was around average but he only struck out 14.4% of batters faced. He averaged around 93 miles per hour with his four-seamer while also throwing a sinker, curveball, changeup and a slider/sweeper.
He started the season with the Royals on a minor league deal. He was released at the end of camp and then signed a minor league deal with the Rays in April. Since then, he has been working as a swingman for Triple-A Durham. He has made seven appearances, only four of which were technically starts, but he went between three and 5 2/3 innings in each. In total, he has logged 27 2/3 innings on the year with a 3.90 ERA. His 15.7% strikeout rate is low but he has only walked 5.2% of opponents and induced grounders on 46.6% of balls in play.
Griffin Jax was hit by a comebacker in yesterday’s game and was removed after two innings, forcing the bullpen to absorb the rest. Martin logged three frames, throwing 52 pitches in the process. He was likely going to be unavailable for a few days, so he’s been swapped out for a fresh arm.
Steven Matz is starting tonight. He just returned from an IL stint due to elbow inflammation, without going on a rehab assignment. He tossed four innings in his first game back, which was a week ago. If Matz doesn’t have length today and the Rays want to spare their other relievers, perhaps Heasley can be called upon for some bulky work. The club is off tomorrow, so they should have a chance to reset. If they want to bump Heasley off the roster in the future, he is out of options.
As for Lux, his transfer was a formality. He had been on the 10-day IL since the start of the season due to various ailments. It was initially for a right shoulder impingement but then he later tweaked his left ankle and suffered a left shoulder shoulder injury. He was pulled off his rehab assignment a couple of weeks ago. His 60-day count is retroactive to the start of the season, so he will be eligible for reinstatement whenever he’s game ready, though it’s unclear when that will be.
Photo courtesy of Tommy Gilligan, Imagn Images
Rays, Austin Slater Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rays are signing outfielder Austin Slater to a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Ballengee Group client elected free agency yesterday after being outrighted by the Mets.
Slater is on his fourth organization of the 2026 season. He was in camp with the Tigers this spring. Granted his release shortly before Opening Day, Slater commanded an MLB contract from the Marlins. He spent a couple weeks with Miami but was outrighted off the roster in late April. Slater signed another big league deal almost immediately, replacing Tommy Pham in the New York outfield.
The Jacksonville native has appeared in 21 combined games, just over half of them starts. He’s hitting .209 with only one extra-base knock (a double) while striking out 15 times in 49 plate appearances. Slater hasn’t hit much over the past couple seasons, pushing him into a journeyman role after a half-decade run as a decent complementary outfielder with the Giants. Since the start of 2024, he carries a .212/.298/.304 line in 421 plate appearances divided between seven teams.
Slater made a living of mashing left-handed pitching during his time with San Francisco. He hasn’t hit well against pitchers of either handedness over the past couple seasons. He remains an above-average runner and competent corner outfield defender though.
It’s a sensible pickup for a team that has taken a couple hits to an already lackluster outfield over the past week. Jake Fraley and Jonny DeLuca will probably be out into July due to sports hernia surgery and a hamstring strain, respectively. That pushed Victor Mesa Jr. up from Triple-A Durham. Jacob Melton, their only other outfielder on the 40-man roster, hasn’t played in a month due to a left ankle sprain. Slater would probably be the next outfielder up if anyone else from the MLB roster suffers an injury.
Rays Sign Craig Kimbrel
2:30pm: The Rays have officially announced Kimbrel’s signing. In a corresponding active roster move, right-hander Jesse Scholtens has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right wrist strain.
11:36am: Veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel is heading to the Rays on a major league deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Kimbrel was designated for assignment by the Mets last week and elected free agency. The 37-year-old is represented by SportsMeter.
The Rays have yet to announce the move. The club has multiple openings on its 40-man roster, so no tweak will be needed there. Kimbrel is expected to be available for tonight’s game against the Orioles, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
The Mets added Kimbrel on a minor league deal in January. He failed to break camp with the team, but was called up in early April. The right-hander didn’t allow an earned run over his first four appearances in New York. He has struggled recently, permitting seven earned runs over 9 2/3 innings in May. He covered 2 2/3 frames on Wednesday, ceding two earned runs. The Mets DFAed him on Friday.
The well-traveled Kimbrel will have appeared with 11 MLB teams once he gets into a game with the Rays. Tonight could be considered a revenge game for the righty, but he’s pitched for three other clubs since his 2024 stint in Baltimore. Kimbrel put himself back on the big-league map to close 2025. He opened the year with the Braves, but only threw an inning in the majors. The veteran bounced to the Rangers, then landed in Houston. Kimbrel put together 13 solid appearances with the Astros, posting a 2.45 ERA with a 34.8% strikeout rate.
Tampa Bay lost Pete Fairbanks to free agency and Edwin Uceta to a shoulder injury heading into 2026. Griffin Jax got the first crack at the vacated closer role, but faltered. He’s now being stretched out as a starter. Bryan Baker has assumed the 9th-inning gig and performed quite well. The former Oriole has piled up 14 saves through 24 appearances. He’s been scored upon just twice in May. Kimbrel and his 440 career saves are unlikely to unseat Baker anytime soon.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images