Well owner Stu Sternberg went out on a winning note with the World Series title he longed for in his 20 years in charge of the Rays as his sale to Jacksonville businessman Patrick Zalupski. And Zalupski has decided to make a bit of a splash by giving us a payroll of $150M next year, some 75% more than what we spent ($85M) in our championship season as we look to defend that title. But first a look at the trophy:
And while we have very few free agents, there will be still be some turnover. First off, we exercised our club options on
Brandon Lowe and
Pete Fairbanks, while declining them for Danny Jansen ($12M is a bit too much) and Taylor Walls and Jacob Waguespack, who both finished the year in the minors. Also last winter's big free agent signing
Ha-Seong Kim opted out of his deal, although we still control his rights through arbitration. We're also non-tendering A.J. Puk (out for 2026 with a torn labrum), Matt Thaiss (who did a decent job as the backup C but we have other options in mind), and Richie Palacios.
A position-by-position look at things:
C-An overhaul at this position is coming since Jansen and Thaiss are not returning. We signed
Jonah Heim to a minor league deal and offered him a modest MLB contract which he seems interested in signing, and we have a possible deal in the works to bring in another backstop which I'll detail in the next post.
1B-Aranda returns, as does Yandy who will DH.
2B-B.Lowe is back.
SS-We still control Kim as mentioned, but given his relatively poor showing last year and the fact he's due 8 figures in arbitration, combined with top prospect
Carson Williams being ready to take over the position, and he'll be likely moved elsewhere.
3B-Future franchise cornerstone Caminero is entrenched here.
IF-Caballero is the incumbent utility man, and likely returns. Mead is still around too.
LF-Morel had an up-and-down season and only earned 1.2 WAR so he's no lock to start next year.
CF-DeLuca had a nice season overall but he was a bit overmatched defensively in center to the point where we brought in Trent Grisham in September. Grisham's a free agent and maybe we re-sign him but I'd like to do better here.
RF-J.Lowe had a disappointing season at the plate (211/292/370) but his glove and speed earned him 2.3 WAR so we'll give him another shot.
OF-Mangum is probably the best defensive CF still under contract and makes a decent backup, although he needs to hit more. Caballero can play some out here as well.
DH-Yandy returns and Mead can DH some against lefties when Yandy plays 1B with Aranda sitting.
Prospects:
Xavier Isaac is blocked at 1B right now but can play a 45 LF so if we decide we want his power bat at the sacrifice of some defense that could be arranged.
Brayden Taylor probably needs another year of seasoning but can play across the infield.
Chandler Simpson is the game's ultimate one-trick pony given his ludicrous speed and could grab a backup OF job.
SP: A very strong rotation returns with McClanahan, Rasmussen, Ober, Baz and Bradley all coming back, as well as Pepiot who lost his job when Mac came back.
Joe Boyle is the most intriguing option while
Alex Faedo also filled in nicely for a bit last year and is a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option and
Joe Rock is another option.
RP: And the bullpen is fairly intact as well with Fairbanks closing and being set up by Stewart, Cleavinger, Speier, Uceta and M.Rodriguez.
Prospects: We're light on pitching prospects but have vets like
Mason Englert and Kevin Kelly to bring up if needed.
Goals for the offseason:
1. Improve at catcher (this may be done)
2. Improve the outfield (preferably CF)
Do we make a run at a free agent like Kyle Tucker - a hometown Tampa boy - with the extra money our new owner gave us? Stay tuned.