After reaching the ALDS last season, the Rays had their usual busy offseason in search of the roster mix that could bring them into championship contention.
Major League Signings
- Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, 3B/OF: Two years, $12MM (plus $2.4MM in posting/release fees to Yokohama DeNA BayStars)
- Total spend: $14.4MM
Trades And Claims
- Acquired OF Hunter Renfroe and IF prospect Xavier Edwards from the Padres for OF Tommy Pham and minor league IF/RP Jake Cronenworth
- Acquired 1B/OF Jose Martinez, OF Randy Arozarena, and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick from the Cardinals for LHP prospect Matthew Liberatore, C prospect Edgardo Rodriguez, and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick
- Acquired OF Manuel Margot and C/OF prospect Logan Driscoll from the Padres for RP Emilio Pagan
- Acquired OF prospect Cal Stevenson and RHP prospect Peyton Battenfield from the Astros for RP Austin Pruitt
- Acquired cash considerations and a player to be named later from the Reds for RHP Jose De Leon
- Acquired 1B/OF Brian O’Grady from the Reds for cash considerations and a player to be named later
- Acquired IF prospect Curtis Mead from the Phillies for LHP prospect Cristopher Sanchez
Notable Minor League Signings
- Kevan Smith, Aaron Loup, Chris Herrmann, Dylan Covey, Sean Gilmartin, Ryan LaMarre, Brooks Pounders, Aaron Slegers, Deck McGuire, John Curtiss, Johnny Davis, D.J. Snelten
Notable Losses
- Avisail Garcia, Travis d’Arnaud, Eric Sogard, Guillermo Heredia, Jesus Aguilar, Matt Duffy, Pagan, Pruitt, Liberatore
After finishing second among Tampa Bay position players with a 3.3 fWAR in 2019, Tommy Pham found himself heading out of town, sent to the Padres as part of a four-player deal. The minor leaguers exchanged in that deal — highly-touted infielder Xavier Edwards and a potential two-way threat in Jake Cronenworth — are certainly noteworthy, with the Rays getting the slightly longer-term prospect in Edwards while Cronenworth could help San Diego as early as this season. But, looking at just the big-league return in the trade, the Rays sent an older, pricier, but more established hitter in Pham to the Padres for the powerful but less-polished young slugger in Hunter Renfroe.
With 70 homers over 1450 career plate appearances, we know Renfroe can mash, though his lifetime batting average (.235) and OBP (.294) leave much to be desired. 2019 saw Renfroe enjoy something of a breakout in the first half of the season before being hampered by injuries, though even Renfroe’s numbers prior to the All-Star break (.252/.308/.613 with 27 homers in 289 PA) showed only modest improvement in the average and on-base categories.
Nonetheless, Renfroe is almost four full years younger than Pham, brings more defensive versatility as an outfielder who can be deployed in center field in a pinch, and has a much lower price tag. Renfroe is controlled through the 2023 season as a Super Two player, and is set to earn $3.3MM in 2020, his first arbitration-eligible year. By contrast, Pham will earn $7.9MM in 2020, which is the second of three arb years.
In short, the deal almost seems like a prototypical Rays move — they got a bit younger, saved some money, and acquired a player in Renfroe who could offer enough untapped potential to be just as good or better than Pham in 2020 (plus, there’s also the lingering injury question of Pham’s elbow). Flexibility and depth continue to be paramount in Tampa’s approach to roster building, as the Rays can wield a lineup that offers a lot of different looks, and is stocked with players who could be moved around to different positions based on circumstances.
Consider the Rays’ major free agent signing of the winter, as they landed Japanese slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo after a focused recruitment process that convinced Tsutsugo to reject more expensive offers for Tampa Bay’s two-year, $12MM contract. Tsutsugo is a bit of a defensive question mark as a first baseman or left fielder, yet the Rays are planning to give Tsutsugo a look at third base; a position he hasn’t played since 2014.
It’s safe to assume that Yandy Diaz will end up getting the majority of playing time at third base, but if Tsutsugo can step in at the hot corner even once in a while to spell Diaz against a tough righty starter, that opens up a spot in the lineup for a left-handed hitting Joey Wendle, or perhaps another lefty bat in Nate Lowe (should Lowe make the Opening Day roster). Even if the Tsutsugo/third base experiment doesn’t work out, Wendle can play third base himself, and Tsutsugo could perhaps then just be slotted into the first base/DH mix.
Speaking of first base/DH candidates, the Rays added another prominent name to that list in acquiring Jose Martinez from the Cardinals. Rumors have swirled about the Rays’ interest in Martinez for well over a year, and the lefty-crushing slugger will now be the primary right-handed hitting first base/DH option, alongside the lefty-swinging Tsutsugo, Lowe, and Ji-Man Choi. While Martinez can play first base or a corner outfield spot, he is probably the rare Rays pickup who wasn’t targeted for his roster flexibility, due to Martinez’s longstanding defensive struggles.
Between Martinez, Tsutsugo, and Renfroe, the Rays hope they can replace or top the 57 home runs that departed last year’s lineup — Pham, Avisail Garcia (who signed with the Brewers) and Travis d’Arnaud (who signed with the Braves). The long ball wasn’t a big weapon for Tampa Bay in 2019, as their 217 homers ranked them 21st of the 30 teams, but that number could rise thanks to both the new faces and healthier seasons from the likes of Diaz, Wendle, and Brandon Lowe.
With Guillermo Heredia non-tendered and Garcia leaving in free agency, the Rays looked at such free agents as Yasiel Puig and Shogo Akiyama as options in the outfield. Instead, Tampa Bay bolstered its outfield depth by adding Randy Arozarena as part of the trade with the Cardinals, while also acquiring Manuel Margot in another trade with the Padres. It was only a few years ago that Margot was a consensus top-25 prospect in all of baseball, and while he has shown to be an excellent defender at the MLB level, his bat (84 wRC+, 87 OPS+) has yet to emerge. Since Margot is still only 25, it isn’t out of the question that he could be a late bloomer.
The Rays paid a pretty substantial price for Margot, sending their 2019 saves leader in Emilio Pagan westward. Pagan’s lone season in Tampa Bay was a very impressive one, as he recorded 20 saves while posting a 2.31 ERA, 7.38 K/BB rate, and 12.3 K/9 over 70 innings. Between Pagan, Austin Pruitt (dealt to the Astros), Jose De Leon, and Matthew Liberatore, the Rays did more subtracting than adding to their pitching, though Tampa is arguably one of the few teams deep enough in pitching options to handle dealing from a surplus.
To this end, the Rays will count on their collection of arms to manage the bullpen, with a closing committee of Diego Castillo, Nick Anderson, Jose Alvarado, and possibly others to handle save situations. As for the rotation, the Rays will can always fall back on using an opener if necessary, but the team looks ready to enter the season with a rotation of five proper starting pitchers: Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yonny Chirinos, and likely one of Ryan Yarbrough or Brendan McKay. There is some uncertainty within that group given Glasnow’s injury-riddled 2019 and Snell’s nagging elbow problems, though both are expected to be ready by the time the 2020 season eventually gets underway.
As with basically any Rays player that makes a substantial salary, there was some speculation that Morton could be a trade chip now or in the near future, should Tampa Bay fall out of the pennant race. Morton is being paid $15MM in 2020 and (if he doesn’t retire) he has a vesting option on his services for 2021 that will be worth another $15MM if he spends less than 30 days on the injured list this season. The 36-year-old is still pitching at a very high level, and it makes sense why the Rays seemingly didn’t test the market for him this offseason, as Morton is even more valuable considering the lingering health questions surrounding Snell and Glasnow.
Pham ended up being the one larger salary moved off Tampa’s books, which was probably the more logical move than trading Morton since good outfield help is somewhat easier to find than a front-of-the-rotation pitcher. GM Erik Neander faces a difficult challenge in trying to manage a small budget while also trying to build a contender, and as such Rays trades are rarely as simple as a one-for-one swap. Getting young talent back in deals is of critical importance, whether it’s landing Edwards from San Diego, a higher Competitive Balance Round draft pick from St. Louis, or acquiring catching prospect Logan Driscoll from the Padres in the Pagan deal. Driscoll was the Padres’ second-round pick in the 2019 draft, and down the road he could develop into yet another “catcher of the future” candidate for a Rays franchise that has long looked for stability behind the plate.
After d’Arnaud signed with Atlanta, the Rays will head into 2020 with Mike Zunino as their starting catcher. Zunino’s struggles led to d’Arnaud taking over the regular job last season, leaving the Rays hoping that Zunino’s dreadful year was just an aberration. A couple of veteran backstops in Kevan Smith and Chris Herrmann are in camp on minor league deals, and Michael Perez is in the in-house contender for the backup position. Unless Zunino gets on track during the season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Rays make catching a priority before the trade deadline.
Between dealing Pham, the free agent departures, and non-tendering players like Heredia, Jesus Aguilar, and Matt Duffy, the Rays opened up enough money to do some offseason spending without much changing their financial outlook. As per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Rays have a projected Opening Day payroll of just under $67.6MM, which represents an increase of barely $150K over their season-ending 40-man roster payroll.
The Rays’ spending habits continue to draw attention from the MLBPA, whose grievance against the team’s use of revenue-sharing funds (in essence, wondering why those funds aren’t being spent on player salaries) was expanded to cover both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 offseasons. Grievance notwithstanding, it doesn’t appear as if much will change for the Rays on the payroll front unless they are finally able to land their long-desired new ballpark in Tampa or St. Petersburg…or perhaps one new stadium in the Tampa/St. Pete area and another in Montreal, should the organization’s unusual split-city concept comes to fruition.
2020 Season Outlook
If it’s possible for a team to quietly win 96 games, the Rays did just that in 2019, finishing just a game short of the highest win total in franchise history. Nothing Tampa Bay did this winter remotely came close to the Yankees’ $324MM splash on Gerrit Cole, and while New York’s on-paper roster seems far more star-studded than the Rays’ collection, Tampa finished only seven games out of the AL East lead last season. While the Yankees famously won 103 games despite a myriad of injuries last year, the Rays also achieved their success despite losing a number of key players for long stretches of time.
The American League will be more competitive on the whole in 2020, so even capturing another wild card would represent a nice achievement for the Rays. This could be particularly true since two ex-Rays executives are now running other AL rivals — the Red Sox hired former Rays senior VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom as their new chief baseball officer, while the Astros hired former Rays VP of baseball operations James Click as their new GM in February, after Houston’s firing of Jeff Luhnow as a result of the sign-stealing scandal.
With other organizations trying to ape the Rays’ track record of quality acquisitions at low-cost prices, it leaves Neander and the remaining front office members with more of a challenge in keeping things afloat in Tampa Bay, especially with a roster that could be on the brink of a special season. It will be interesting to see how the Rays manage the assets of arguably the league’s best farm system in making further additions to this team in July, whether a major trade could take place, or whether the front office will continue this offseason’s pattern of somewhat quieter moves.
How would you grade the Rays’ offseason? (Link for app users.)
The Libertore deal still kinda surprises me, as does the Pagan deal.
Like the Pham trade for them
Yeah I have them a c. Could turn out to be a A. I don’t like giving up good young pitching. Maybe they seen some problems with those guys though. Rays usually win trades. Lost some front office guys, did they lose the master or apprentice? I too like Pham trade. I will always side with younger, cheaper, more control, upside. They won’t have any problems with DH depth.
Would change grade to a B. I like all the trades for sure except maybe the Cardinals one and I dont hate it. I personally think Matthew Liberatore is overrated. I see his max value as a #3 but he still needs a lot of work just to make it as a starter. But if other teams truly believe he is one of the best 50 prospects in baseball maybe they could have gotten a little more for him.
It’s hard not to vote A. The Rays are head and heels above most clubs in operations.
Awful D lost every trade
How can you even think about saying that before you see how the prospects theyve acquired develop
They don’t need prospects when they’re supposed to be a competing team
Pham trade wasn’t awful but it seems like a noncompetitive move.
Margot has clearly showing he can’t produce at an MLB level hitting they already got Kiermaier who’s similar so no need to trade your closer.
And trading for Jose Martinez who they already had three similar players to who is awful in the field and an average hitter last year for a great pitching prospect makes no sense.
Liberatore should have fetched a better major leauge player than what they got
I love how for one AFK knows what it takes to acquire certain talents. Incase you forgot trades are a 2 way street. It’s not free agency where a player has a value and you pay them at the number to get them. Both teams have to achieve something out of a trade and you do have to give up talent to get talent, not every trade is gonna be highway robbery. The Rays evaluate players better than any team in baseball and if they think it’s the right price then it’s more than likely the best deal they could’ve gotten anywhere. And secondly the have said this publicly but the player that really entices them in the Martinez deal is Randy. He killed all minor league pitching and hit very well in the majors (albeit a very small sample size) and has looked really really well this spring. To get 2 above average right handed bats and go up 30 something picks in the draft for one pitcher is hardly a horrible trade
I love how you pretend this is hindsight and people didn’t hate the trade at the time. You know its a bad deal when the prospect the Cardinals got would be rumored to be a piece in an Arenado package. Jose Martinez is a DH who was not even good last year. You can find those type of players on the street. Randy is solid but it doesn’t take a GM to know you’d take a young LH stud over him. And where did I say it was terrible? I thought they could have got a better MLB piece for their window.
Because he was a top 5 prospect in the Rays loaded system and a top 2 in the not so loaded cards system or empty Rockies system. Just because one player is expendable to one team doesn’t mean he’s not useful for other teams. But the Rays produce guys of his style almost yearly, if Randy gets a full season and hits .290+ with 25+ Hrs and 80+ RBI’s with 6 years of control and can play a very good D I would think most teams take that over a 2-3 rotation piece. This is no Clayton Kershaw coming up, live good arm but not one people are drooling over. It’s a win win, Rays are in a division full of good left handed starting pitching and some useful productive RH bats are gonna be way more useful than a what if starting pitcher who is a couple years away
The Rays are loaded in the infield with tremendous talent however the outfield is mediocre but not without potential.
Kiermaier is no where near mediocre
2015 Gold Glove Award (American League Outfielder)
2015 Platinum Glove Award (American League)
2016 Gold Glove Award (American League Outfielder)
2016 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award
2018 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award
2019 Gold Glove Award (American League Outfielder)
Under Neander the team has improved their farm system & also made their MLB roster more talented/deeper. To get their hitters of preference the team traded from their surplus (pitching) but they still have enviable prospects leftover to keep the pipeline flowing. By acquiring Martinez the Rays moved up into the Competitive balance 1st round to allow them to get another younger prospect & the extra bonus money that comes with it to get their draft picks signed.
I think they won every trade pretty easily except maybe 1 but have a hunch they did alright on it. We will see.
I am a Rays fan, but I have to admit I did not like their trades this offseason, or the Nick Solak trade last July. I really like Xavier Edwards as a prospect, but Tommy Pham was one of their two best hitters(along with Meadows). For a team in position to compete for the playoffs, and being a small market, potentially limited window team, I really did not like it(plus I really don’t like Renfroe as a player). The Pagan trade just made no sense to me, even more so after they got RA from the Cardinals to be a potential backup to Kiermier. Pagan still had years of control too. Hopefully, I am wrong.
Pretty much everything you said just now made no sense. Solak had a nice break in, but Incase you haven’t noticed the Rays dark system is just stackeddddd with infielders and they got an intriguing arm back in Fairbanks. And if Fairbanks can get some control he could be the next Pagan easily. Pham was hurt and still is hurt and his skills were for sure starting to decline, you trade a declining player for a young good outfielder who has big potential with a bat. Pagan was not as good as his numbers show and there’s proof in the numbers of you find the article on it and was not good in the playoffs at all.
Edwards top 100 prospect Wander samuel franco #1 prospect plus Nate Lowe Brandon Lowe Yandy Diaz Willy Adames
Big F! Every trade made absolutely no sense for the team.
Edwards has massive upside but the rest are pretty dumb. 3B LOWE, SS WSF 2B ADAMES 1B DIAZ, that could be a star studded infield in the future.
Renfroe gives the Rays a much better defender in the OF & the ability to drive in more runs. Martinez gives the Rays another hitter that can help them drive in runs. Acquiring Margot & Randy A gives the team 2 talented & fast OFs. Signing the Japanese slugger gives the team another talented bat that helps the team improve their run scoring. The team also picked up a higher slotted competitive balance pick & another highly touted prospect. They also still have deep talented minor league pitchers for the future to go along with their talented minor league hitters.
For the Record there isn’t many deals the Rays have ever made that made much sense and 99% of them work out wonderfully. Every trade made absolutely perfect sense if you aren’t just looking at names on jerseys
I just want to say that Yandy Diaz will be a stud
I couldn’t agree more
What counts as a stud? It’s such an ambiguous term. I agree that Diaz’s exit velos always showed he would be a phenomenal hitter, and last year finally elevated that launch angle to let the power play. “Stud” as in an MVP caliber player is probably not in his future, but a borderline all-star corner infielder is definitely there.
He will be in MVP voting
Lots of good players but they need a stud in the lineup.
You just said Diaz will be a stud. So do they have a stud? Is he a stud? there is no logical consistency here.
A proven stud, Diaz can be but injuries are his problem
The virus is going to have a much larger effect on the Rays than other teams in their division. Not because it’s going to dramatically affect their revenues; they don’t have enough local revenues to be affected.
But every game missed by the Yanks and Sox (especially, but the Jays and O’s also fit) means loss of REAL money for those teams. That’s going to significantly cut the Revenue Sharing pool for the year. And you can bet the bean counters in Boston and New York are already ticking and footing the expenses the virus is causing (more money out of the pot).
I’d also suggest that pay for the players may very well be taken out of the Central Fund until the games start; that’s going to really cut THAT revenue for teams like the Rays (CF funds are funds that are distributed to each team equally, from TV for example).
Those (RS and CF) are the two largest sources of income for the Rays (and other low revenue teams). It’s going to hurt them disproportionately.
I hear ya but I honestly dont give a rip about how much rev sharing is not going to be pocketed by the Big Wigs in TB-
Look they run a great baseball org but running a 58 mill payroll with that team and not trying to add in the off-season with a little money is just brutal
They are 4th lowest and its a big jump to Kc (15 mill more) for 5th lowest- Portland would embrace them with open arms
I will always root for them as they hired my fav baseball writer of all time Jeff Sullivan I just wish they would spend 85-90 mill in this window right now where they could be World Cahmpions
But that’s the rub, right. If they had signed a Tony Two-Bags, e.g., they’d probably be the prohibitive AL East favorites. But because of their economic situation, all adding payroll means is decreasing profit. Other teams balance a given signing with anticipated increases in attendance/TV ratings/merchandise. But attendance at the Trop is what it is, TV ratings, while good, are remarkably consistent despite team performance, and merchandising is a minor factor.
And they’re at the level that any increase in locally generated revenue just decreases their share of the Revenue Sharing pie. In short, they generate 225M in revenue if they lose 100; they generate 225M in revenue if they win 100. Not a lot of motivation to get better.
As such, Neander’s job is actually simpler than many other GMs; they have to weigh all kinds of factors when considering a transaction. All Eric has to do is keep payroll low. That he’s done a decent job with the 80M is certainly a tribute, but it’s mitigated by a low pressure environment.
I just dont think they have an economic situation if they spend an extra 40 mill the way they do in times like these-
Sure in down times Im perfectly Ok with down payrolls but when they are {Here} in the timeline it irks me as a fan of baseball to see-
Im all in favor of re-locating a couple teams which would thus put pressure on those above who do not seek means to ever increase payroll to above abysmal when contending to win the whole enchilada
There are other cities dying for a chance at a team, of course Mlb should have a floor already set but that’s another issue
Is Austin Meadows really as good as 2019?
Considering he tanked around the time of his injury, I’d say he’s even better than 2019
Where does this Renfroe in CF come from? The Padres chose to play Wil Myers in CF over Renfroe in 65 games last year. That’s all you need to know there.
Renfroe had over 20 DRS. Obviously a different position but Myers couldn’t sniff that any position. HR is a much better defender than Myers will ever be
Renfroe has played a handful of innings in CF. One good defensive year at a corner OF spot doesn’t make you a capable CF. You would think if he could, the Padres would have put him there over Myers.
Not when one player makes $20+ million and the other does not.
One thing is for certain; they’re going to be a very good defensive team.
Should win the division unless the stoppage drags into May or later. The longer it goes the better for NY.
Solid B. They didn’t address their need at catcher but that can be done in season.
Zunino is a defensive stud. Anything that he gives the Rays offensively is a bonus.
The Rays acquired a lot of bats not sure they need a hitting catcher Zunino and Perez combo should be fine
I’m not so convinced that Perez makes the team out of camp. Smith and especially Chris Herrmann have looked very good this spring
Fossil records date rays back to the Jurassic Period, over 150 million years ago, and only because scientists have found scales and teeth. Cartilage, the substance that gives them their shape, doesn’t fossilize.
Am I the only who feels like this article is throwin Tommy Pham massive shade?
Am I the only who feels like this article is throwin Tommy Pham massive shade?
Because Tommy Pham is overrated
Still the best professional scouts in the business. They did fine.
A. They’ve positioned themselves to be the strongest team in the AL East
Why 28 other teams weren’t calling for Nick Anderson at that price last year still shocks me-
This bullpen is going to be soooo fun, Poche was some major upside as well……… just uncomfortable at bats coming late game for whoever plays the Rays this year….. I would have rather them kept Pagan over Margot though to add even more to the pen-
Trevor Richards should provide plenty value this year and I really think Yonny might be one of the most underated Sps in the whole game, I think he takes another small leap this year as well………… he’s literally the ace on 5-8 teams in the league and hes there #4 but I dont see it ending that way b/c………. …..
My worries-
Snells health
Glasnows ability to pitch into Oct healthy
Yarbourgh cant hack it
McKay is not ready to step up
Because Nick Anderson was a nobody and his stats weren’t good. As a Rays fan I even cringed a little at the time and then watching the guy pitch I was like my lord this is a steal, just how the Rays do
I believe that players coming to the Rays are overshadowed by “bigger stars” so to speak on their previous teams.. ie Glasnow, Meadows. Coming to the Rays where the atmosphere is more relaxed & allowing them to be themselves has made a big difference mentally in many players & it showed on the field. You have to admit the aforementioned guys really broke out beautifully in their play & confidence.
Look at the Rays & Yankee Schedules during April & May.
The Rays are scheduled to play the Yankees and Houston 14 games in the first 2 months; all those will probably be cancelled. 7 of the Yankee games are in Tampa.
Those are not only good gate games but opportunities to get the advantage over the Yankees. They play Houston 3 times in Tampa and 4 in Houston. That’s it until the playoffs. –Boston, the O’s and the Blue Jays won’t be much competition the rest of the way.
Should be a clear path to a division or Wild Card.
Nobody has any idea what the schedule will look like now
I think you are really under estimating the sox & jays. I would be surprised if Rays are the consistent #2 in the east like last year.
The Sox have an Eovaldi who had 33 starts/ 199.2 innings in 2014 with the Marlins. That is what the Sox need along with” ERod 2019.”
ERod was 19-6 last year, a career year in which he pitched 203.1 innings. He would have to duplicate that year as Sale will not be a dependable starter. Martin Perez was 10-7 in 2019 throwing 163 Innings@ a 5.12 ERA. Ryan Weber is contending with Brian Johnson for the 4 th and 5 th starter roles.
The Jays may have more question marks after Ryu and Roark.
I would honestly suggest reading the article about what the Rays did in the off-season; I found it most interesting. I would not suggest any MLB team trade with the Rays unless you are looking to get someone in their top 10 Prospect List.
For the 2020 season, for whatever will be left of it, in the AL it will be the Yanks/ Rays
and everyone else.
Loved all the moves except for the Pagan / Margot trade… You trade your best closer for a 4th outfielder? Alvarado and Castillo are very inconsistent and who knows if Nick Anderson can come close to last year’s breakout campaign,,They had already traded for Arozarena prior to this who looks promising and can even play CF.. Ehhh we shall see
They picked up a good prospect and their future cf for a relief pitcher that they can easily replace. Plus soon they will be able to trade Kiermaier which will cut salary that they love to cut and get another lotto ticket prospect.