The Rays have placed catcher Christian Bethancourt, left-handers Jalen Beeks and Josh Fleming, right-hander Cole Sulser, infielder Tristan Gray, and outfielder Raimel Tapia on outright waivers, the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin reports. The wave of transactions clears some space on Tampa’s 40-man roster, and also acts an essentially an early set of non-tender decisions, as five of the six players (all except Gray) were eligible for salary arbitration and project to make a combined $8.4MM in 2024.
That’s not an insignificant sum for a smaller-payroll team like the Rays. Even if the club has said it’s open to a higher than usual payroll in 2024, some cuts were inevitably coming from Tampa Bay’s large arbitration class, both for financial reasons and for simple roster maintenance reasons. Today’s cuts take the club’s projected payroll for 2024 (per RosterResource) from just under $130MM down to just over $121MM. That figure, of course, is still around $42MM higher than the club’s payroll in 2023.
Bethancourt, 32, was the club’s primary catcher for much of the 2023 campaign. Though he was a capable defensive option behind the plate, Bethancourt posted disappointing numbers on offense with a slash line of just .225/.254/.381 in 332 trips to the plate. That line was good for a wRC+ of 74, which ranks 28th among 31 catchers to make at least 300 plate appearances in 2023. Late in the season, Bethancourt was supplanted as the club’s top option behind the plate by 26-year-old backstop Rene Pinto. Given this, it’s of little surprise that the cost-conscious Rays would look for a cheaper option than Bethancourt to back up Pinto in 2024. Bethancourt’s glove work should still see him garner interest as a potential depth option behind the plate alongside other veteran free agents like Tucker Barnhart and Curt Casali.
Beeks, 30, made his big league debut with the Red Sox back in 2018 but recorded just 6 1/3 innings of work for the club before being shipped to Tampa Bay. Upon joining the Rays in late July, Beeks posted a 4.47 ERA and roughly matching 4.45 FIP in 44 1/3 innings of work. He largely replicated that league average production over a full season in 2019, with a 4.31 ERA and 4.41 FIP in 104 1/3 innings of work. Beeks pitched well in the shortened 2020 campaign with a 3.26 ERA and 1.79 FIP but made just 12 appearances before having his season cut short by Tommy John surgery.
Upon returning to the big leagues in 2022, Beeks enjoyed the best season of his career with a 2.80 ERA and 3.49 FIP across 61 innings of work. Unfortunately, the 2023 campaign proved to be the worst of Beeks’s career; despite his FIP (3.82) staying relatively similar last season, Beeks saw his ERA balloon up to 5.95 in 42 1/3 innings of work this year. Still, as a left-handed relief option who enjoyed considerable success on the mound as recently as last year, the 30-year-old hurler should find plenty of interest from clubs on the open market, though perhaps not at the level of the $1.8MM salary he was projected for in arbitration.
Fleming was a fifth-round pick by the Rays in the 2017 draft and impressed during the shortened 2020 campaign, which was his rookie season. The then-24-year-old southpaw posted a 2.78 ERA in 32 1/3 innings of work that year, though a 4.40 FIP indicated that Fleming may have had some good fortune on his side in those numbers. In 2021, Fleming was given a larger role as he opened the season as a member of the club’s rotation and started off strong with a 3.39 ERA and 4.15 FIP in 13 appearances through the end of June. Unfortunately, the wheels came off for Fleming from there, and his final 13 appearances saw him post an atrocious 8.05 ERA with a 4.49 FIP in 38 innings of work. That tough end to the season carried into Fleming’s performances in the big leagues the past two seasons, where he combined for a 5.40 ERA and 5.16 FIP in 86 2/3 innings of work. That being said, Fleming’s relative youth and past success could make him an interesting depth option for pitching-needy clubs on a minor league pact this offseason.
Though a member of the Rays organization in 2023, Sulser’s only big league appearances with the club came back in 2019, when he made his big league debut for Tampa with seven scoreless appearances. Since then, Sulser bounced between the Orioles, Marlins, and Diamondbacks organizations before returning to the Rays in 2023 after a difficult 5 1/3 inning stint in Arizona that saw him post a 6.75 ERA. Though Sulser didn’t return to the big leagues this year after re-joining the Rays, he did pitch well in 18 2/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level for the organization, with a 3.86 ERA and a decent 22.4% strikeout rate. The best season of Sulser’s career came in Baltimore back in 2021, when the righty posted a 2.70 ERA and 2.98 FIP in 63 1/3 innings of work. Now on the open market ahead of his age-34 season, Sulser will join a market deep in veteran depth options as he looks for his next team.
Gray, 27, made his MLB debut with the Rays earlier this season. Though his cup of coffee in the major leagues last just five plate appearances, he managed to notch two hits in that limited time, including a home run. Aside from his first foray into big league play, Gray hit decently well at the Triple-A level this year, with a .235/.312/.485 slash line at the level this year. While primarily a shortstop, Gray has experience at every position on the field except for catcher and center field, which when combined with his solid numbers at Triple-A and his impressive (though very brief) first showing in the majors could make him an attractive depth option to clubs on a minor league deal this winter.
Tapia, 29, spent the first six seasons of his big league career with the Rockies, slashing .280/.325/.396 in 439 career games with the club, though those numbers translate to a wRC+ of just 77 thanks to the inflated offensive environment at Coors Field. Prior to the 2022 season, the Rockies and Blue Jays got together on a deal that swapped Tapia to Toronto in exchange for Randal Grichuk, and Tapia found himself performing solidly as a platoon bat and fourth outfielder for the club. In 433 plate appearances with the Blue Jays in 2022, Tapia hit .265/.292/.380 with a wRC+ of 91. That performance wasn’t enough for Tapia to find a big league deal last winter and left him to bounce between three clubs throughout the 2023 season. In 169 plate appearances between Boston, Milwaukee, and Tampa, the 29-year-old took a step back at the plate with a .236/.317/.338 slash line with a wRC+ of just 80. Tapia figures to look for another minor league deal this coming offseason.
Jalen Beeks and Tristan Gray are a couple players that might be worth a gamble on.
Bethancourt will be picked up by some team. Back up catcher who can take the mound and pitch in an emergency.
Yeah, not sure why the Rays didn’t just hang on to him and just have him back up Pinto. Pinto looked decent down the stretch, but he isn’t a sure thing yet. Not sure what plan B is if he doesn’t work out or gets injured.
Bethancourt might be better served as a backup catcher.
Lol they’re stupid deep.
Remember when everyone thought Tapia was good cuz he hit .290 at Coors which “doesn’t affect batting average”
Lmao
Remember when people thought Jesse winker was good because he played in Cincinnati. Or Jason Worth was good, because he played in Philadelphia. Lots of players look good playing in hitter friendly parks. That aren’t the same after. But people only like to point out players, from the Rockies
I wouldn’t list Werth among those types of players. His issues after leaving the Phillies were much more about age/injuries than his home park
Winker got on base and hit for power in multiple seasons. Tapia did neither of those things ever
Winker was good everywhere until the doctors told him he had the back of an 80 year old man.
Tristan Gray is a mistake. He’s going to help someone real soon. Why all the opportunities for Brujan and Aranda, but not him? He’s a bat first infielder.
He’s worth a non-roster invite for sure, but probably not a 40 man roster spot. The only year he’s posted an .800 OPS was in low A ball and he’s old by prospect standards, even though it’s not much of an issue to me. The power might be for real, but if you’re not getting on base much even in the minors then it’s tough to tap into it against better pitching. I can see the appeal but I also get why they think he’s expendable.
There’s also the fact that the Rays usually know when to move on from fringe prospects, at least partially because my favorite team traded Junior Caminero for one of them lmao
Seems every time I saw a Rays spring training game, he hit one. Then he finally gets a start, and he hits one. Some players may be better at a higher level. I get it, he’ll be scooped up.
Since when does the age of a projected utility infielder matter?
I mean, I said it doesn’t matter to me. But you’ve really never seen someone downgrade a prospect because he’s older?
I agree. I’d outright Brujan over Gray. Brujan has shown nothing with the bat and has looked shaky defensively.
It’s early in the offseason & the Rays need to protect some prospects for the upcoming Rule 5 draft.
These moves were mostly to clear spots to reinstate players from the 60-Day IL before Monday
Meanwhile, what’s going on with that guy who plays (or played) SS for them? “Investigation” taking forever.
Can’t do much when a foreign govt is doing the investigation. Just have to wait.
It’s not like trying to unravel all the elements and players in the Kennedy assassination investigation. Even a novice investigator with an internet certificate should be able to solve this case inside of a work week. But I get it – government investigations can be susceptible to politics and graft.
Comparing these alogations to the Kennedy assassination is a good comp. Both happened for entertainment purposes only lol
Tapia to Oakland. Left bat, down year, something to prove. Good start to the year next year get himself traded and see ya later
Well, I guess the Sox won that Eovaldi trade.
Did they ?? They need starting pitching and dude just won a ring
Bro he won a ring in Boston in 2018 after they traded Beeks for him. Evo walked via free agency 3 years later.
Boston won that trade 1000%
Beeks can always say he was dealt for Eovaldi
I remember when Bethancourt was a highly rated Braves prospect. Hasn’t amounted to much though. That’s prospects for you though. I kind of wonder if Pache will end up going the same route 10 years from now.