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Offseason Outlook: Tampa Bay Rays

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Despite a last-place finish and their third straight losing season, the Rays are looking to reload rather than rebuild for 2017.

[Rays depth chart & payroll, via Roster Resource]

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Evan Longoria, 3B: $94MM through 2022 ($13MM club option for 2023, $5MM buyout)
  • Chris Archer, SP: $20.25MM through 2019 (plus club options for 2020-21)
  • Logan Forsythe, 2B: $5.75MM through 2017 ($8.5MM club option for 2018, $1MM buyout)

Arbitration Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections via MLB Trade Rumors)

Contract Options

  • None

Free Agents

The Rays’ 68-94 record marked the first time the club had failed to crack the 70-win plateau since the 2007 season, which was also the last year that Tampa finished last in the AL East.  There’s an argument to be made that a low-payroll team in a tough division should consider starting from scratch after such a rough season, yet the Rays certainly seem to have more talent than your usual last-place team.  With so many interesting players on hand, it isn’t surprising that Rays president of baseball ops Matt Silverman and his front office is “hellbent on getting this team back into contention.”

That being said, Silverman and company have quite a bit of work to do in figuring out how to fix their roster’s flaws.  Pretty much every unit on the team is a “yeah, but…” situation.  The lineup finished with the sixth-most homers of any team in baseball, but only 13th of 30 teams in slugging percentage, 24th in runs scored, 27th in OBP and 28th in batting average.  The bullpen had Alex Colome enjoy a breakout season as closer, but the relief corps as a whole ranked in the bottom half of the league in ERA, K/9, BB/9 and HR/9.  The Rays’ rotation has long been touted for their collection of young arms, but they finished middle-of-the-pack in most starting pitching categories, and lost one of their young arms when Matt Moore was traded to the Giants at the deadline.

Let’s begin with the rotation, which stands as Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Blake Snell, Alex Cobb and Drew Smyly.  Archer is looking to bounce back from something of a hard-luck year that saw a big spike in his home run totals, though most of his issues came only in the first half of the season.  Smyly is also looking for a rebound year, Snell will enter his first full year in the bigs and Cobb will be looking for a full campaign after making just five starts in 2016 as he returned from Tommy John surgery.

Tampa’s starting five has a lot of talent, though on the whole is still weighed more towards promise than proven MLB results.  Matt Andriese is also on hand as a rotation candidate, and I could be underrating his shot at a starting job.  He posted the same 2.0 fWAR as Odorizzi and Smyly despite pitching significantly fewer innings, and Andriese topped them both in BB/9, home run rate, grounder rate, FIP, xXIP and SIERA.  These stats aside, Andriese pitched quite a bit better in his 22 2/3 relief innings than he did in 105 IP as a starter, so the Rays could feel the righty is needed in the bullpen.  He could easily slide back into the rotation for a spot start or perhaps a more permanent role change if Smyly, Cobb or Snell struggle.

With some starting depth available, could the Rays deal another arm?  Archer and Odorizzi generated a lot of attention at the trade deadline before Moore was shipped out, and Smyly could also draw interest given his potential and two remaining years of control.  This offseason’s free agent starting pitching market is painfully thin, so Silverman could demand an even larger return for one of his top starters now than he did at the deadline.  Barring a blockbuster offer, I’d guess it would still be surprising to see the Rays deal Archer given his team-friendly contract (plus, most teams planning to contend don’t trade their ace).  Odorizzi and Smyly, however, could be shopped given their rising arbitration costs.

In the event of a starting pitching trade, Andriese could be elevated to the rotation or the Rays could pursue a veteran on a minor league deal to provide depth or compete for the fifth starter’s job.  Tampa Bay could also look to its farm system (i.e. Dylan Floro, Taylor Guerrieri or Brent Honeywell) for added starting or relief depth.

Any of these young arms could see work in relief anyway, as there is certainly room for improvement in the bullpen.  The Rays will be building from the back of the bullpen outwards, as while Colome got a bit of peripheral luck (namely a whopping 93% strand rate), the Rays probably feel pretty good about their ninth-inning situation.  Beyond Colome, southpaw Xavier Cedeno and righty Danny Farquhar had good seasons, long reliever Erasmo Ramirez was at least able to eat innings, and former closer Brad Boxberger is hoping to bounce back from an injury-ravaged year.  Boxberger will look for better health and better control (as per his ungainly 7.03 BB/9 over 24 1/3 innings), and while the Rays would hope Boxberger is able to serve as a setup man, they can’t be counting on much in the wake of his lost season.

If Tampa looks to free agency to bolster the pen, expect the team to pursue veterans on inexpensive one-year deals in the hopes of finding a reclamation project.  One option could be to re-sign a familiar face in Kevin Jepsen, who struggled badly last year but posted strong relief numbers in 2014-15.

As always, don’t expect the Rays to be big spenders this winter.  After pushing payroll into the $74-75MM range in 2014 and 2015 in hopes of making a pennant run, the 2016 Opening Day payroll dropped to roughly $66.68MM.  Tampa already has approximately $58.2MM committed to 14 players for 2017, between the slightly more than $25MM guaranteed to Archer, Logan Forsythe and Evan Longoria and the $33.2MM projected to the club’s large arbitration class.

Smyly and Odorizzi have the highest price tags of those 11 arb-eligible players, and as I noted earlier, the Rays could free up some payroll space by trading either.  Ramirez’s $3.5MM projected salary could make him a trade chip as well.  Despite his interesting usage as an old-school fireman type of reliever, Ramirez’s numbers weren’t much more than average, so he could be seen as expendable.

Trading Longoria would free up the most money, of course, though there isn’t any sign that the Rays would deal their franchise player.  This is another case where, if the Rays are serious about contending, they’re pretty unlikely to deal an established star, especially since Tampa still has quite a few question marks around the diamond.  Third base is a position the Rays don’t have to worry about thanks to Longoria, with second base (Forsythe) and center (Kevin Kiermaier) also not positions of need.

The Rays believe they have an answer at shortstop in the form of Matt Duffy, acquired in the Moore trade.  Duffy was an outstanding third base defender over two seasons in San Francisco though he has only played 28 games at short in the big leagues.  Duffy recently underwent surgery to fix an Achilles tendon issue that bothered him all season and quite likely contributed to his poor year at the plate.  It could be that Duffy’s eventual future is as a utilityman given that top shortstop prospects Daniel Robertson and Willy Adames are both in the pipeline, but for now, Tampa Bay hopes Duffy can solidify a position that has been an issue.

Steven Souza is still the incumbent right fielder, though the Rays are still looking for a breakout from the 27-year-old.  Brad Miller and Corey Dickerson are penciled in at first base and left field, respectively, with Dickerson stepping up as defender last year after a few subpar years in left with the Rockies.  Miller has struggled with the glove pretty much everywhere he’s played around the diamond, though the Rays can live with some defensive issues at the less-critical position of first as long as Miller keeps slugging.  Acquired in a six-player deal with the Mariners last winter, Miller delivered just the 11th 30-homer season in Rays history.

Miller and Dickerson are both left-handed hitters who haven’t shown much against left-handed pitching, so the Rays could use a right-handed bat or two to platoon at first or in left field.  Richie Shaffer and Mikie Mahtook are internal options for these role, though Shaffer has actually hit righties much better over his brief career, while Mahtook couldn’t hit anything (39 wRC+) over 196 plate appearances last season.  Mahtook is at least ticketed for the fourth outfielder job given his ability to handle all three outfield spots.  First baseman Casey Gillaspie, the Rays’ first-round pick in the 2014 draft, hit very well in his first taste of Triple-A action last season and could earn himself a big league platoon role with a big Spring Training.

Looking at the 2016-17 free agent list for lefty-mashing bats in the Rays’ price range, players like Dae-Ho Lee or Franklin Gutierrez could be considered to join the 1B/DH/LF mix.  Sean Rodriguez, a former Ray, would also fit as a right-handed bat though his big 2016 numbers and defensive versatility may earn him a bigger contract than Tampa can afford.

One free agent name that jumps out is the guy the Rays signed last winter as a lefty-masher.  Steve Pearce posted an outstanding .908 OPS over 232 PA for the Rays before being dealt to Baltimore at the trade deadline.  Unfortunately for Pearce, a flexor mass injury in his right forearm limited his time with the O’s and he underwent surgery to fix the problem in late September.  Pearce will be sidelined until late January at the earliest and late March in a worst-case scenario, so until his diagnosis becomes clear, it’s hard to see him netting more than a one-year deal.  The Rays could offer Pearce a chance to return to a familiar surrounding and potentially pick up there he left off in 2016, playing either at first or in left when a southpaw is on the mound.  To sweeten the deal, the Rays could perhaps even take a flier on Pearce on a low-cost two-year deal to offer the veteran more long-term security.

Speaking of fliers, and this is purely speculation on my part, the Rays could use their unsettled catcher and DH spots as a way of looking into the Wilson Ramos market.  Such a scenario would’ve been unthinkable a few weeks ago, when Ramos was on pace to score perhaps as much as a five-year deal as the top free agent catcher on the market.  Then, unfortunately, Ramos suffered a torn right ACL for the second time in his career, ending his season and throwing his near-future into total uncertainty.  It won’t be known how much time Ramos will miss until he actually has his surgery, though he himself speculated that if he can’t physically handle regular catching duties, he could be limited to playing for AL teams due to the designated hitter rule.

As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted in that previous link, the Tropicana Field turf may not be an ideal landing spot for a catcher with bad knees, plus the Rays might still not be able to afford Ramos even if he ends up taking some type of prorated or incentive-heavy contract.  It would behoove the Rays to explore all options behind the plate, however, given how catcher has been such a problem area for years.  None of the catchers in the mix last year (Wilson, Curt Casali, Luke Maile, Hank Conger) did much to solve that problem, either offensively or defensively.

The Rays can’t afford Matt Wieters, but second-tier free agent catchers like Nick Hundley or Jason Castro could potentially be options if the Rays are willing to splurge (by their standards) on a notable multi-year contract.  The likes of Carlos Ruiz, Alex Avila or Chris Iannetta would be even cheaper and maybe more realistic options.  This offseason’s class is about as wide as a free agent catching market gets, so Tampa Bay can go in many directions for a sorely-needed upgrade.

Since free agency is something of a luxury for the Rays, expect Silverman to continue mining the trade market, as he did in his first two offseasons running Tampa’s front office.  The baseball operations head has done a good job of adding new building blocks for expendable parts, though clearly Silverman hasn’t been able to find the ideal mix for plugging all the holes on the roster.  This winter could go a long way towards determining the Rays’ future direction, as if they can’t get back on the winning track in 2017, hard questions may need to be asked about whether this core group of players are viable cornerstones for a contender or if a full rebuild could finally be necessary.

Rays Outright Decker, Marks, Querecuto

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Teams are quickly cleaning house this time of year, and the Rays vacated several roster spots over the past weekend, outrighting outfielder Jaff Decker, left-hander Justin Marks and infielder Juniel Querecuto off the 40-man roster this weekend, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Decker has elected free agency, per Topkin (Twitter link), and the other pair has the right to do so as well. Dana Eveland, too, was outrighted and elected free agency, as noted by Topkin yesterday.

Decker, 26 (27 in February), received the most big league time of the bunch but didn’t exactly excel in his brief time with the Rays. In 57 plate appearances, the former No. 42 overall draft pick batted .154/.211/.173. It’s been more than five years since Decker was considered a Top 100 prospect, but he does have a solid line in parts of four seasons at the Triple-A level, where he’s batted .266/.368/.409 with 31 homers in 1506 plate appearances. He’ll likely land elsewhere on a minor league deal this winter and hope to compete for an opportunity to prove himself in the Majors, where he’s managed just a .477 OPS in 129 PAs.

Marks, meanwhile, returned to the Majors for the first time since 2014 this past year and tossed nine innings for the Rays while allowing only one run. However, the 28-year-old (29 in January) also yielded seven hits and walked nine men against just six strikeouts in that time, exhibiting some obviously troubling issues with control. His Triple-A work was encouraging, though, as he pitched 140 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 with a 44.7 percent ground-ball rate. Given the dearth of starting pitching talent available this winter, some team figures to look at that solid performance and consider him a possible depth piece.

Querecuto, 24, made his MLB debut this year when he tallied 11 plate appearances in late September and collected a triple for his first and only big league hit. The Venezuela native signed with Tampa Bay back in 2009 and spent this past year playing third base, second base and shortstop (listed in order of frequency) between Double-A and Triple-A, where he hit a combined .241/.298/.341 in 375 plate appearances.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/10/16

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Here are today’s minor moves:

  • Righty A.J. Achter and outfielder Nick Buss were outrighted to Triple-A by the Angels after clearing waivers, per a club announcement. Achter, 28, carried a 3.11 in 37 2/3 innings last year but did so with a 14:12 K/BB rate. Having previously been outrighted, he’ll have the chance to elect free agency. As for the 29-year-old Buss, he is coming off of a solid campaign at Triple-A. But after putting up a .290/.345/.462 slash in 372 trips to the plate at the highest level of the minors, Buss failed to hit in a limited stint in the bigs. He’s also eligible to take free agency given his accumulation of minor league service time.
  • Left-hander Dana Eveland elected free agency after being outrighted by the Rays, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The 32-year-old has seen action in eleven major league campaigns, but this one was awfully rough. In 23 innings, he coughed up 23 earned runs on 32 hits while recording 19 walks to go with his 21 strikeouts. On the other hand, Eveland was lights-out at Triple-A, allowing just one earned in 29 2/3 frames.

Royals’ J.J. Picollo Believed To Be Candidate For D’Backs GM Job; Rays’ Chaim Bloom Declines Interview

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2:23pm: Bloom has turned down an opportunity to interview with the Diamondbacks, reports Piecoro. Dodgers executive Alex Anthopoulos did the same earlier this week, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman relayed Saturday.

9:58am: Rays VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom and Royals’ assistant GM J.J. Picollo are believed to be candidates for the Diamondbacks’ general manager position, league sources tell Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.  The two executives join a lengthy list of names previously linked to the D’Backs job, including Ned Colletti, Kim Ng, Ray Montgomery, Peter Woodfork and internal candidates Bryan Minniti and Mike Bell.

Both Bloom and Picollo have been connected to multiple front office openings in recent years, even getting consideration for the same job on more than one occasion.  Both were interviewed for the Twins GM job just last month, and both were contenders to become the Phillies’ new general manager last offseason before the team hired Matt Klentak.  (Picollo was an early favorite for the Philadelphia job, though it was Bloom who ended up making the Phillies’ final three list of candidates for the position, along with Klentak and A’s assistant GM Dan Kantrovitz.)  Bloom was also interviewed by the Brewers last offseason before they hired David Stearns as their new general manager.

Unlike the other known candidates, Bloom and Picollo don’t have any previous connection with the D’Backs themselves or other NL West teams, so they would bring a fresh perspective to Arizona’s baseball operations department.  Bloom has spent his entire 11-year career in baseball with Tampa Bay, while Picollo has spent the last decade in the Royals’ front office and the previous seven years working for the Braves.  Both are also younger executives (Picollo is 45 years old and Bloom is just 33) and thought to be more analytically-minded, which would also represent a change in direction for the D’Backs.  The previous front office, led by Tony La Russa and since-fired GM Dave Stewart, was rather openly old-school in their approach, with an analytics department headed by a first-time baseball ops hire.

AL East Notes: Rays, Bogaerts, Bautista, Encarnacion

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The Blue Jays can advance to the ALCS for the second straight year if they can defeat the Rangers in Game Three of their series tonight, while the Red Sox will be eliminated if they don’t win their own Game Three with the Indians this afternoon.  The Sox could live to play another day, however, without ever taking the field — there is a lot of rain in the forecast in Boston and MLB officials are already meeting to discuss a possible postponement.  Here’s the latest from around the AL East…

  • The Rays may have to trade some salary in order to add needed parts to their roster while still keeping a payroll in the $65-$70MM range, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.  Drew Smyly, Erasmo Ramirez and Brad Boxberger could all be potential trade chips, Topkin speculates, since the three hurlers are all becoming increasingly expensive through arbitration.
  • In his latest Boston Globe notes column, Nick Cafardo wonders if the Red Sox could eventually move Xander Bogaerts to third base given Bogaerts’ subpar defensive metrics.  Bogaerts’ glovework accounted for minus-10 Defensive Runs Saved and -1.6 UZR/150 in 2016, a significant drop from his generally average numbers in 2015.  A move to the hot corner doesn’t seem imminent, given that the Sox already have Travis Shaw as the incumbent, Pablo Sandoval still owed a lot of money and top prospects Yoan Moncada and Rafael Devers also lined up for third base.  It could be that the Red Sox can live with Bogaerts’ defense as long as he keeps producing at the plate.  If not, other shortstop options include slick-fielding but light-hitting Deven Marrero, as well as prospects C.J. Chatham and Mauricio Dubon still a couple of years away.
  • Also from Cafardo’s column, he opines that Jose Bautista’s time with the Blue Jays could be coming to an end.  The Jays may not even extend Bautista a one-year, $16.7MM qualifying offer for fear that the slugger could accept it.  Bautista had a down year by his standards, hitting .234/.366/.452 with 22 homers over 517 plate appearances in a season interrupted by two DL stints.  These are still pretty solid numbers, however, plus Bautista is enhancing his stock with another big postseason performance, so I would be pretty surprised if the Blue Jays declined to even issue a QO.  Unless the club is simply ready to move on from the slugger, I would also imagine that the Jays wouldn’t mind having Bautista back on a one-year deal, given his outstanding track record.
  • The Blue Jays could make Edwin Encarnacion another offer in the wake of his excellent season, Cafardo writes, though Encarnacion is expected to be a top Red Sox target to replace David Ortiz.
  • Encarnacion has long been linked to Boston on the rumor mill, though ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required) feels Encarnacion isn’t really a fit since the Red Sox are already overflowing with position players.  The Sox could also use a left-handed bat rather than a righty-swinger like Encarnacion, plus there are several other first base/DH types on the market this winter that could be obtained for a much cheaper price.

Manfred On Playoffs, Rosters, HRs, Expansion, Fernandez

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Major League Baseball’s wild-card game is in its fifth year, and it doesn’t sound as if it’s going away. Speaking to reporters before Tuesday’s single-elimination matchup between Toronto and Baltimore, commissioner Rob Manfred expressed support for the format. “In terms of the games themselves, I understand that baseball doesn’t usually have one-game knockouts, but I do believe these two games get our playoff season off to a really exciting start,” said Manfred. “I’ve gone to the wild card games, each of them, the last two seasons. The atmospheres in the ballparks are phenomenal, and I think it gives a great jump start to our playoff season.”

Manfred also touched on several other pertinent topics as the league and the players’ association continue working toward a new collective bargaining agreement. Here’s a roundup (courtesy of the Associated Press and Jim Caple of ESPN.com):

  • For the first five months of the regular season, all major league teams play with a 25-man active roster. When Sept. 1 rolls around, that number increases to 40. September doesn’t quite resemble the rest of the regular season as a result, and Manfred isn’t a fan. “I don’t think 18 pitchers in a game is a good thing,” Manfred said of the increase in pitching changes that September brings. “I do believe in a reform of those rules, again protecting the benefits that are available to players, I’m not looking to take away service time or anything like that, but I do think it would make sense to get to a situation where we played out September games closer to the rules that we play with the rest of the year.”
  • Home runs have skyrocketed across the majors in recent seasons, leading to questions about whether the ball is juiced. Manfred shot down that idea, saying, “We are absolutely convinced this issue is not driven by a difference in the baseball. My own view is the spike is related to the way the game is being played now, the way we are training hitters from a very young age. We have not been able to find any external cause that explains the spike in home runs.” Whatever the reason, batters hit nearly 1,500 more HRs this season than they did in 2014 (5,610 to 4,186), while the league’s homer-to-fly ball rate was at 9.5 percent two years ago compared to 12.8 percent in 2016.
  • In terms of putting together a schedule, 32 teams would be better than the current total of 30, according to Manfred. However, he’s not on board with expansion until the stadium situations with the Athletics and Rays are figured out.
  • Manfred left open the possibility of eventually introducing an award to honor former Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating accident Sept. 25. “I understand there’s some strong feelings on this topic,” Manfred stated. “It’s not the right time of year to be thinking about additional awards. But it’s an issue we’ll talk about during the offseason. Obviously, we recognize the significance of Jose in terms of his importance to the Marlins franchise, and the fact that he was symbolic of the next generation of players.”
  • MLB has come out in support of the Save America’s Pastime Act, a piece of legislation that limits the pay and benefits of minor league players. When Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star (Twitter link) pressed Manfred on that Tuesday, the commissioner commented, “We’re not opposed to paying minor league players any particular wage. What we are opposed to is the imposition of administrative requirements in terms of keeping track of hours and overtime.” Manfred also referred to those requirements as “impractical” and wondered aloud whether extra batting practice or going to the gym would qualify as overtime. “For us it’s really not about the money so much as the burden that would be imposed,” he added.

Tampa Bay Rays: Top 5 Bright Spots Of 2016

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Rebuilding season or not, falling short of the playoffs and finishing with a losing record probably means that more things went wrong than went right for a team. This series, however, will focus on those silver linings that each team can take away from an otherwise disappointing season.

[Related: “Top Bright Spots” archive]

Here are the biggest bright spots for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Note: Evan Longoria’s terrific season does qualify as a bright spot, but not a major one in regards to what was expected and how it affects the team moving forward. His trade value has risen, but it was already high and it’s likely the team holds on to their star third baseman with an eye on contending in 2017.

1. Brad Miller, 1B

When the Rays traded for Miller in the offseason, the hope was that he could give them at least adequate defense at shortstop to go along with 15-20 home runs. As the Mariners had already concluded, the 26-year-old was not very good at shortstop. But, as the Rays discovered, Miller proved that he was capable of much more at the plate, allowing them to hold off on a fallback plan to use him as a super-utility man who could start a handful of games per week.

With 20 homers and an .809 OPS, Miller made his debut as the Rays’ starting first baseman on August 8th. He would go on to hit 10 more homers and finish the season with a total of 30. It was the first time since 2009 (Carlos Peña, 39 HR) that a Rays’ hitter other than Evan Longoria finished the season with at least 30 homers. Versatility is still a key component of Miller’s value, but his breakout season at the plate has him locked in as the team’s first baseman for the foreseeable future.

2. Alex Colome, RP

After being moved out of the rotation in mid-2015, Colome proved that he could handle a late-inning relief role and possibly fill the closer’s role sometime in the future. When Brad Boxberger landed on the disabled list  to start the 2016 season, “sometime in the future” came much sooner than expected.

By the time Boxberger, who saved 41 games for the Rays in 2015, would return from the disabled list in late May (he would return to the disabled list after just one appearance), it was already apparent that he had been Wally Pipp’d. The 27-year-old Colome earned an All-Star bid on his way to a brilliant 37-save season with a 1.91 ERA, 2.4 BB/9 and 11.3 K/9. Finding a closer is not on the team’s agenda for the upcoming offseason.

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Silverman: Rays “Hellbent” On Return To Contention

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The Rays are surely happy to put the 2016 season in the rearview mirror after ending up buried in the AL East basement. President of baseball operations Matt Silverman and manager Kevin Cash addressed the club’s situation heading into the offseason today, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

First and foremost, Silverman stressed that the club is “hellbent” on a return to contention, suggesting that a broad-based sell-off should not be expected. Tampa Bay dealt Matt Moore and Steve Pearce at the trade deadline, but the former was shipped from a position of depth while the latter was on a one-year deal.

Plus, the Moore swap brought in Matt Duffy, who the club hopes will solidify things at shortstop. His presence also allows the organization to utilize Brad Miller at first (or in a broader utility role), which Silverman suggested could be positive in several regards (via Topkin, on Twitter).

Silverman suggested that the club will need to balance its commitment to its core with the need to infuse some new blood. “We have a lot of the guys in house, but we’re going to need to make some changes and we’re going to need to bring in some new players, too,” he said. “The core is intact, the core is talented, and if you listen to the players talk, if you listen to Kevin and the coaches, they will tell you, too. There is still a lot of confidence, there is still a lot of optimism within our clubhouse, and that bodes well for next year.”

The two key organizational figures didn’t cite any major needs, which is a good thing given the team’s resource restraints. Improving the bullpen is one obvious area, and Cash also cited a desire to do a better job running the bases. Then, there’s the catching position, which Silverman acknowledged has been a “sore spot,” as Topkin further tweets.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see whether Silverman and co. can come up with any other creative options over the winter. As I wrote in breaking down three key needs for the club, there’s not only room to improve behind the plate and in the pen, but also perhaps an opportunity to add some offensive firepower. Looking to players like Corey Dickerson and Steven Souza to improve is obviously the key, but that doesn’t mean more can’t be done. What remains to be seen is whether the rotation-rich Rays will be willing to dip into the reservoir of starters once again after dealing Moore at the deadline. It is clear, though, that there’ll be interest from other teams; Silverman says he has already received calls on starting pitching, as Topkin tweets.

Three Needs: Tampa Bay Rays

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MLBTR will provide a broader view of each club’s winter plans when our annual Offseason Outlook series kicks off at the end of the regular season.  Until then, the Rays are the latest team to be featured in our quick look at this season’€™s non-contenders. We’ve already covered the Angels, Brewers, and Twins.

Things fell apart this year for Tampa Bay, which entered with hopes that a deep rotation and bolstered offense would spur a return to the playoffs. Instead, the club vanished into the basement of the AL East — a place it hadn’t visited since 2007 — and ended up dealing away Matt Moore, Brandon Guyer, and Steve Pearce at the trade deadline.

Still, the most significant of those trades, the Moore swap, brought back a controllable major league asset in Matt Duffy — who, they hope, will fill a need at shortstop — and the organization continues to field a number of affordable players with reasonable promise. A full-blown rebuild seems unlikely for a team that has typically focused on remaining competitive even while hunting for value and exchanging increasingly expensive veterans for youthful talent.

Operating on the presumption that the Rays don’t intend to shop their best assets this winter, preferring instead to build around their core, here are three areas where the team has significant needs this winter:

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AL East Notes: Yankees, Benintendi, Pomeranz, Beckham

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The only locks for the Yankees’ 2017 rotation right now are Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that GM Brian Cashman won’t take a reactionary approach to plugging holes in his rotation. As Sherman points out, though, the quartet of Luis Severino, Chad Green, Luis Cessa and Bryan Mitchell has yet to prove that there’s a definitive starter among them, and any could end up in the ’pen. The Yankees will add at least one arm this winter, he continues, though given the paucity of quality starters on the free agent market, a trade from the team’s suddenly top-ranked farm system might be the most rational expectation. Sherman lists speculative candidates ranging from Ervin Santana to Chris Sale, though the top-tier names like Sale are included more as a means of demonstrating the depth of New York’s farm than as a genuine indication of likelihood. Sherman rightly points out that with free agency looking so sparse, the asking prices in trades will be staggering — especially for the likes of Sale, Jose Quintana, Chris Archer and other top-tier arms.

More from the division…

  • The injury from which Andrew Benintendi recently returned was a bit more significant than originally reported, according to Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald, who reports that in addition to a sprain in his left knee, Benintendi also suffered an avulsion fracture just below the knee. The Red Sox have fitted Benintendi with a custom brace that he’ll wear on his left leg for the remainder of the season, but the 22-year-old tells Drellich that he’s already accustomed to the brace and no longer notices that he’s wearing it.
  • Red Sox lefty Drew Pomeranz could be feeling the effects of a career-high workload of innings, writes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. Manager John Farrell explained to MacPherson that while Pomeranz’s velocity remains strong, his pitch-to-pitch command hasn’t been present of late, which has cost him. Pomeranz, acquired in exchange for top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza in July, has lasted a combined 5 2/3 innings across his past two starts. He’s currently slated to make his next start (Friday against the Rays), but MacPherson notes that his fading results could land him in the bullpen once the postseason rolls around. Pomeranz is up to 164 1/3 innings this season, and his previous career-high (147 1/3 innings) came all the way back in 2013.
  • MLB.com’s Bill Chastain writes in his latest Rays Inbox column that he wouldn’t be surprised if Tim Beckham’s time with the Rays organization is coming to a close. Adding Matt Duffy to play shortstop and moving Brad Miller to first base to pair with Evan Longoria and Logan Forsythe at third and second has solidified the starting infield mix. And, he notes, the heightened play of Nick Franklin in 2016 gives him a leg up on the utility job. The Rays demoted Beckham on Aug. 31 right before rosters expanded due to some perceived carelessness on the basepaths, and they doubled down on that harsh message by electing not to bring him back up later in September. The former No. 1 overall pick, set to turn 27 in January, hit .247/.300/.434 with five homers in 215 PAs for the Rays this season.
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