The Rays had loads of accidents rocking the rotation in 2024, however might lastly be coming into type. Shane Baz returned from damage on 7/11 in his age-25 season, and ace Shane McClanahan must be again subsequent season within the rotation. That offers an already first rate six-man rotation:
LHP Shane McClanahan
RHP Ryan Pepiot
RHP Taj Bradley
LHP Jeffrey Springs
RHP Shane Baz
LHP Zack Littell
Plus there are the depth choices of LHP Tyler Alexander (if he survives the low season on the roster), RHP Jacob Waguespack, and prospects LHP Jacob Lopez, LHP Joe Rock, and LHP Ian Seymour. In different phrases, the Rays don’t must improve the beginning rotation.
Alternatively, it might be value contemplating an improve if the entrance workplace thinks it’s value allocating funds towards a extra attractive arm, particularly if the workforce discovered a taker on the commerce marketplace for the likes of Springs or Littell.
With that in thoughts, listed below are three free brokers who could be value breaking open the piggy financial institution for in 2025.
RHP Shane Bieber
In a world the place the Rays know precisely what stadium they’re enjoying in, they might be everywhere in the Shane Bieber renaissance. The Rays have given two-year rehab contracts to pitchers earlier than, most notably Nathan Eovaldi, who signed an incentive-laden one-year for $2 million, with a workforce choice on the identical charge. A former Cy Younger winner coming off Tommy John surgical procedure, Bieber shall be on the lookout for the same deal to launch himself again into free company, however he’ll command considerably extra money, given the pedigree.
The Rays group has loads of non-payroll bills to return, however conditions like Bieber’s give them a possibility to signal prime expertise to short-term offers. Their present payroll is low in absolute phrases, so Tampa Bay must be keen to play on this market.
RHP Charlie Morton
Approaching his age-41 season it will be cheap for the everlasting Morton to retire, however right here we’re once more questioning if he’ll proceed. As soon as a Cy Younger finalist with Tampa Bay in 2019, the Rays let him stroll after the 2020 World Collection, and he went on to place up 4 extra high quality seasons in Atlanta (incomes $75 million within the course of).
Now you could be pondering, why would we pay up for Morton if Bieber is out there? Effectively, when there’s no stadium you want somebody who’s dedicated to the native product, and Morton’s household nonetheless lives within the space. That might be a bonus in the event that they’re keen to spend.
Then once more, if you happen to’re Morton, do you need to play within the Florida outside warmth at age-41?
Morton is nice, however this signing would additionally take some religion that his physique will sustain with the calls for of pitching on the highest stage. Maybe a 2TTO strategy is sufficient to mitigate such danger.
RHP Frankie Montas
There are some professionals and cons with this concept, let’s begin with the con: In case you didn’t like Aaron Civale within the Rays rotation, you won’t be excited a couple of Montas mission. Like Civale, his fastball is a under common main league pitch, with poor extension (thirteenth percentile) and a really straight form. Like Civale, he’s given up a ton of dwelling runs. And he has no single single pitch pretty much as good as Civale’s curve or sweeper, which had been among the many finest cases of that pitch kind within the sport.
Right here’s the Professional: he’s extra a Littell than a Civale! He includes a mid-80s splitter and a 90 mph cutter, each with good depth, which theoretically provides him the instruments to work each side of the plate. The whole package deal is appears to be like like Littell +3 mph (however with a bit much less command). The Rays would possibly marvel if they will create extra armside sweep together with his slider, and probably sluggish it right down to differentiate it from that cutter — a gameplan they used on Littell to good impact earlier than transitioning him to the rotation.
However the larger query is about rely administration and fastball surviveability. When Montas completely must get a fastball over for a strike, and the batter is aware of that he must, can he? Or can he sequence and find nicely sufficient to principally keep away from this harmful state of affairs? The Rays by no means fairly acquired that equation proper with Civale.
But in addition, that may not matter, as a result of if you happen to pony up free agent cash for a Montas you’re not shopping for fastball high quality, you’re paying for innings amount, as David Appleman writes for FanGraphs:
Have you ever acquired an enormous pile of innings to eat? Does league-average manufacturing sound nearly proper to you? Chomp, chomp, chomp.
The Rays rotation is generally younger and just lately injured. Montas gives some safety in opposition to that danger within the following season.
