Junior Caminero Extension LOOMS Large Over Tampa Bay Rays’ Offseason Plans

Junior Caminero Extension LOOMS Large Over Tampa Bay Rays’ Offseason Plans

How the Rays treat Junior Camino this winter will say more about the new ownership than any press release ever could. You are Locked on Rays, your daily Tampa Bay Rays podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome into the Locked OnRays podcast. Locked on Raays is part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. And we are Kevin and Ulissiz and we are lifelong Race fans who have been podcasting about the Tampa Bay Race since 2019. Later on today’s show, we’ll look at how Tampa Bay’s offseason decisions could reshape their 40man roster. In a few minutes, we’ll dig into what arbitration projections say about how the Rays value their core. But to start, how the Rays handled Junior Kimroa this winter could tell us everything about the new ownership’s priorities. And we’re going to talk about all of that thanks to Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Let’s get into that. Ownership handling of Junior Camdo this off season. Kevin will reveal way more than any press conference ever could because I know that as a race fan there’s a certain hierarchy involved in this off season. It’s stadium stadium stadium then everything else afterwards. It’s very important for us to get a stadium. might not be important for dudes in California or anywhere else, but for people that care about the Tampa Bay Rays, the stadium is incredibly important. Um, so thinking about other things could be a slippery slope. However, is there any possibility that the race office alongside with ownership because when it’s, you know, contracts this size, ownership obviously has to uh be involved in these talks. Is there any chance that ownership can walk and chew gum at the same time? I would think so and hope so. I mean, we can’t just say that, okay, ownership gets us a new stadium. We’re done. Everything’s accomplished. Everything’s hunky dory. I think they have to thread the needle if they really want to make an impact on the fan base. Uh the fan base has been so distraught over the last several years between and it wasn’t really the Ray’s fault, but the Wander situation and what was the their fault was the the breakdown of what could have been a new stadium in St. Petersburg and then the team being losers the last couple years and trading off uh fan favorites and figureheads of this franchise over the last handful of years. So, I think that working out some sort of extension beyond the beyond just saying that, hey, we’ve got Junior Camero for the next five years, that’s all that matters. I think that they can do a little bit better than that. Can we I feel like that could be a nice windfall for the fan base, a nice headline grabbing item that we can take on and run with. And the issue with Camaro is if if he continues to replicate what he’s doing year in and year out, he’s just going to become more expensive. So if if you as a raised front office and the ownership in tandem believe that he will be able to mirror the production in 2025 and maybe even get better uh not just the next five years, which five years from now, that’s theoretically when he’d be entering his prime of 26, 27, 28 years old. uh what are you going to give us beyond that? Can he be a guy that we can put on the on the Mount Rushmore of this franchise going forward? Because you have to have somebody that can lead you into that next era and into a new stadium and Brandon Laauo is probably not going to be around long enough to experience that. Yandi Diaz, so many other players as well. So, you know, working out something with Junior would be awesome. And I think it would also signal that, you know, they’re comfortable and confident that they’ll win out in the end with the whole wander situation. In other words, uh they won’t have to pay him, you know, uh buckets and buckets of money because he’s a criminal. You Yes. Uh you buried the lead there, though, I think, and you were trying to be subtle about it, but I’m I’m I’m not going to be subtle about it. uh you you said it’s not um you know easy just to say or fair to just say oh we got him for five years which is exactly what Eric Neander said at the end of the year press conference oh you know when when asked about the contract extension he was of course PC about it like he of course is going to be or has to be in that uh scenario but I think that he didn’t have to say that which is like oh well we have uh junior for the next five years so that’s kind of like a contract extension No, Eric, that’s not that just is. That just is, man. So, like I’m sorry, man. I I get heated, but like I don’t don’t sell us. Don’t gaslight me, man. I’m a grown man. Yes. Don’t gaslight me. All right, dude. Like, no. It’s not a contract extension, honestly. So, uh that’s that’s just the thing that really upsets me sometimes. It’s that uh we get these guys in front of a microphone and it seems like they’re just so used to not saying anything at all uh that they just lie. And that’s just not right for the Phantom. You can’t tell people having him under contract for the next five years is like an extension. It really isn’t, man. Yeah. Is it just going to be more of the same of okay, we just let a really good players stick around with us through his arbitration years and maybe not even through all of his arbitration years, his pre-ARB and then maybe one or two years of arbitration and then you ditch them for something else. Like at some point we need to build a core and build some sustainability with our star standout players if we want to create some sort of identity. And I understand the albatross con uh contracts. I mean, if if Junior’s asking for, you know, the moon Vladito Jr. or yeah, Vladito money, then okay, I I understand it from that perspective. But I I don’t think that would be the ask at this point in time. Now, if he replicates what he did in 2025, next year, and the year after, then then to an extension world. Yeah, that’s not happening then, right? If he puts another 45 home run season, you’re you’re gone. he’s gonna be like, “No, I’m gonna take my my chances here because now Arp’s gonna be pretty nice to me and see you later.” So, it’s a situation where yes, the stadium has to come first, second, and third, but you just wonder uh you also have to maintain you have you have to find out how you’re going to win games and make the playoffs and hopefully go deep in the playoffs beyond just the carrot of uh hey, we built a new stadium, so we’re done. or works over. Exactly. And you have to have that guy that’s going to bring you into that new stadium. And Junior Camando definitely is that guy to do that. But trade strategy people and fan morale are tied together when we say in 2026 the names Pete Fairbanks and Brendan Laauo. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than Fan Duel. the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. And you know what? You can always use them as green Skittles on FanDuel. That’s always a lot of fun. And right now, FanDuel is giving you customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. You heard that right, $300 in bonus bets to new customers when your first $ five bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com right now to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Thank you so much for joining us at Locked On Race, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Guess what people? Picking up Brandon Laauo and Pete Fairbanks’s options, that’s not an option, okay? It’s a must. They have to pick up both Fairbanks and Beau’s options. Uh they have affordable options. Let’s go with Below. He’s got an 11.5 million one. Fairbanks has an 11 million one. And that’s because he actually reached a lot of his incentives from the 2025 season. Good things for the race. Yeah. because it meant that he had a productive season. Um, good things for Fairbanks because he gets to be paid like a premier back end of the bullpen kind of guy. But really, Kevin, if you want to build something, not only do you have to keep your superstars like Junior Camino and signing him to an extension, but you also have to have those veteran leadership in both the bullpen and in the position player pool like Brendan Laauo and Pete Fairbanks. Because if you do not pick up these options, it’s telling the whole fandom that is going through a lot of turmoil right now, you’re in for a season where two of the biggest race players ever are both shipped off in the same offseason. Yeah, that’s you’re going to have to figure out a way to make up those five or six or seven wins without those guys. And I don’t see where the Rays are doing that in free agency or trade this year. Now, I will say going back to the first segment, uh I guess the the top of mind pri priority is is making sure that Brandon Laauo and Pete Fairbanks uh options are picked up and then you work on an ext an extension some sort of extension for Junior Kimro. But um if it came down to it of one, it can only be one or the other. I think we’re both in agreement that it has to be Brandon Laauo. Correct. Yeah. Between Fairbanks are allowed. It has to be Brennan Laauo. Um but but again like if you look at from a trades trade strategy point like they just these options are in options. They just have to be picked up. It’s a must because yeah once you pick that pick it up and then you choose to trade f you know I’m not about it and I think most race fans are not about it but it at least gives you a possibility to get something in return. So you have to pick up these options. Now, the issue is Kevin, like if you’re if you’re putting that A or B option, uh, obviously you you’d rather have Beow than Pete Fairbanks, but I think I want to see somebody that’s a Rays fan to come up here and you are the the floor is yours, race fan, if you want to come on here and tell me that the Rays bullpen in 2025 was uh a fun to watch, b uh non-cardiac uh inducing, and C effective. And then if you do all those three things, you are lying to me. Like Eric Neander lied to us at the press conference by saying that five years isn’t a contract extension. Yeah. This isn’t the bullpen from four, five, six years ago where you could take Blake Snell out after five innings and feel like you were in as good or or better shape. Uh there there’s probably a reasoning why uh the Rays coaching staff in front office said, “Okay, we’ll let some of these starters go a little bit deeper in the games because we don’t want to try to mix it or risk it with our bullpen.” Now, I I might have a different point of view if we saw, you know, a full year of greatness from Hunter Biggie, a full year of greatness from Edwin USA, a full year of greatness from somebody else. Like, if that all came together, sure. But there’s there’s still question marks. There’s still volatility. And and what you can say about Pete Fairbanks, I know we make jokes about pitching in cold weather and the issue he has with his hands. He’s been pretty darn consistent. I know that we would love to see a few more outings and innings from him, but I mean, I don’t have the numbers pulled up right in front of me, but there’s definitely not an a more consistent or longlasting member of our bullpen that we have presently. and and we saw 2019. Yeah. We we saw how many, you know, pitchers that we had to go through in the bullpen, whether it was injury or performance related. And it was like, man, can’t we just have a reliable seventh, eighth, ninth inning guy or sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth inning guy? And at least, you know, that Pete Fairbanks, he can handle the three most important outs. Who else on this roster can we totally and confidently trust with being able to get through in that situation? Then as far as Brandon Lau goes, good luck finding another 30 home run guy from second base or just a 30 home run guy in general. That’s that’s going to be that inexpensive. And I say 11.5 million, that’s a pretty darn I mean Brandon Laauo, the numbers that he put up, you you could have paid him like double that and you still probably would have been coming out ahead. $11.5 million is not expensive in 2025 when I just went to Publix and I saw what I had to pay. Okay, you buy five items and it’s 75 bucks. It’s literally 2025 economy right now. $11.5 million is nothing in baseball terms, especially if you’re going to get a guy that’s going to bop you 31 home runs from the second base position, who by the way is a lefty, who by the way provides that leadership in the clubhouse, who by the way has been there, done that, maybe not uh output or maybe not productivity when the the lights are brightest, but he has been there and that can help a young group of people because you got your Chandler Simpsons, you got your Jake Mangums, you’ve got your possibly your Bob Seymours, you’ve got your Hunter Fiducious, your Nick Fores, you got your junior Camino who hasn’t really been there and you can say like, wait, he was part of the 2023 uh, you know, wild card series. Like, bro, he had like won a bat because they didn’t trust him in 2023. They chose not to trust him and there were 19,000 people at the Trump that day. I was there. Nobody can tell me differently. I was there at both games. Um, so it was just like a Tuesday afternoon game, like a normal game in June. Well, uh, several of those guys you mentioned, Fiducia, Jake Mangum, uh, Chandler Simpson, I don’t know about Bob Seymour might just be a quad A player. The same thing for Fiducia, but uh, those guys do not provide the power numbers that Brandon Laauo provides. So, yes, pick up the options of Lao and Fairbanks. And I I think it would be kind of slimy to trade those guys right after picking up their options. I would at least like to give them a couple months in the 2026 season and see where you’re at. I mean, if you’re at the trade deadline or close to the trade deadline or after the All-Star break and it’s a situation where, man, we’re six games under 500, we’re not going anywhere, then okay, we can have that conversation. But as of right now, I mean, if if you’re declining those options or not picking them up uh going into 2026, we we might as well hang it up for for 2026. I mean, we might as well just say, “Okay, we’re gonna lose a third straight season.” I It’s if you don’t pick these options up, it’s baseball negligence. I’ll say it right there. It’s It’s almost as bad as dfing Cory Dickerson after an All-Star season. It’s It’s almost as bad as, you know, releasing a guy who hits 30 home runs in CJ Cron and then saying, “Duces.” It’s just in bad taste. Yes, it is indeed. And let’s hope that is not the case. Now, uh there are many more decisions in the pipeline for the Rays. Deadlines, roster crunch decisions, those will approach very quickly for the Rays after the World Series. NFL season is back and honestly, there’s nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans cheering on your team. But let’s be honest, getting tickets can always be a hassle. between cues, login screens, it’s always a mess. And that’s why I use Game Time, the app that gives the advantage back to fans. In fact, I was in Fort Lauderdale a couple weeks back. I wanted to see a soccer game. Guess what I did? I used Game Time because you’ll always get 100% authentic. So, today, download the Game Time app. Create an account and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code L O C K E D O N M LB for $20 off your first purchase. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download Game Time today. Thank you for listening to the Locked on Race podcast and making us your very first listen every day. We appreciate it. We are of course part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. The Tampa Bay Rays have clear decisions to make for the first week of the off season. The World Series is going on right now. In fact, I think as we are recording, both the Blue Jays and Dodgers are playing. So depending on how long that series goes, uh, and really even if it goes seven games, best of seven, whatever it may be, uh, the Rays must be ready to make some key decisions and pull the trigger right after the season officially closes because there are multiple roster deadlines within the first five days. In in fact, really the the month of November in general will be pretty chalk full with uh transactions and dead lane uh deadlines that the Rays have to to meet and conform to. Yeah. So, they have to reinstate people from the 60-day IIL uh and get him back into the 40man roster spot. So you’re thinking Mlanahan, Taylor Walls, Johnny Duca, Hunter Bigiggy, Manuel Rodriguez, who of course won’t even be part of the 2026 um team that he got Tommy John, so he won’t even be a part of the team, unfortunately. But yeah, think about it. That’s that’s one less reliever you have for the bullpen. So you might as well keep Pete Fairbanks around for the time being. And you know, I guess Oh. Oh, we actually have a uh basically a free agent signing. Hunter Biggie is back on the team, Kevin. So, that’s basically a free agent signing. That’s exactly what they’re going to say. I know you’re being tongue and cheek, but that’s that’s pretty much the MMO and the quote that you can plug in and replace each and every year if you have an injured player comes back. Hey, that’s our free agent signing. So, free agent. Oh, that’s nice. Thanks. Uh yeah, you talked about deadlines. Not only that, but uh November 18th, they must decide which minor leaguers to protect from rule five eligibility. Uh and then by November 21st, they face the non-tender deadline uh determining which arbitration eligible players will receive the contract. So yeah, the month of November is going to be go go for the Rays. I think there’s some decisions that that are going to be very easy to say, yeah, you’re going to protect Shane Mlanahan, you’re going to protect Taylor Walls and Duca and all that, but just the French guys, uh, for example, Van Bell, uh, that the Rays received from the Reds this year, where’s what’s his future like? Uh, there there’s some French guys that you wonder where, uh, will they be protected? Will they be added onto the 40man? And if they’re added, well, then somebody else is going to take that spot. Man, that is true. And then I know we had an episode several weeks ago about arbitration eligible players and which ones the Rays will keep around and which ones they won’t keep around. Um, and then also curious about the rule five eligibility. That’ll actually probably have to be a topic we get into. Uh, diving into some of the key minor leaguers that are up for that. It is interesting because sometimes we we will pinpoint a couple guys like they must add these guys and then they don’t add those guys or they add a guy that like nobody’s heard of or has been totally under the radar and you find out okay they might have a little something something to them and they could wind up being a special player down the line. But yeah, it it’s obvious you you reinstate the key players from the 60-day IIL and then make sure make sure make sure that Brandon Laauo and Pete Fairbanks are in tow for 2026. I I’m okay with, you know, dropping off a couple arbitration eligible players if that means that you can keep uh Pete Fairbanks and Brandon Lao around. But but again, it’s one of those things you you spent a lot of money to own a baseball team. You should have a lot of money to run a baseball team. And you can’t use the stadium crisis, if you will, as a crutch to not spend money on the payroll. Not saying that we have to go bonkers and spend, you know, Steve Cohen money or uh, you know, fill in the blank uh, you know, Yankees money or Dodgers money or whatever it is. But at least would be nice, but we’re not asking for that. Yeah. I hover around 80 to 90 hundred million dollars. give us, you know, something and maybe it’s some uh maybe it’s a perspective where they want to see how this young group of guys, assuming that you keep most of the core around how they do in 2026 before making additions uh the following year. But, uh you can’t, you know, if if you don’t keep around the few core pieces that we have, you’re going to be going bonkers and going to be in a tail spin. And and really we’re ultimately we’re going to have to start a new window of of being a playoff contender because uh you look at the Blue Jays, you look at the Red Sox, you look at the Orioles, you look at the the Yankees, maybe not the Orioles so much, but uh you look at other teams in the AL East, uh they’re chomping at the bit to win 90 plus games uh for the foreseeable future. I know that Trop isn’t a new stadium, but it is going to feel like opening a new stadium in 2026. So, if you go by that same rationale of like, hey, you build a new stadium, you need to have your star, like, you know, we’re saying Junior Cameo in segment one. Yeah. Well, guess what? I need Yandi Diaz, I need Brandon Lao, I need Pete Fairbanks in in on the team because, oh, you’re having trouble sometimes getting people in uh at the Trop. Yeah. How about not pay $11 million to a couple players and Yanni Diaz around 10.5 and Yeah. Tell me how how many people you’re going to get in those doors. Yeah. Like and again, you’re a new ownership. You you can’t do that to you have to present yourself at a different kind of level than your predecessor because the predecessor did not do very well with the fandom. don’t go into a bat a step forward with of the fandom. So, these dates in November are going to be very critical for the race. Yeah. And and last thing on this, it’s it’s not like the new ownership group is taking over Albatross’s con uh contracts. These extensions were extremely teamfriendly deals at the time. Now, you know, the last year of the deal is more pricey than the first year of the deal, which kind of goes back to Junior Camero. you can kind of do a step program with him where you know the first year of his contract he gets x number of dollars the next year the it just cons consistently goes up but still I mean the Rays have won by folds and folds with the extensions of Yandi Brandon Laauo and Pete Fairbanks and uh let’s hope that every one of those members is a part of the team uh you know if you don’t want to pay Chris Morell $2.5 million or $3 million I’m fine with that okay you don’t have to ask me twice. Uh, but these other guys, you you need to make a concerted effort to keep them around for sure. Uh, on that note, thank you all for listening and watching the Locked On podcast. We appreciate it. Uh, stay tuned for later on this week. We have uh some fun stuff planned, including uh an episode that is uh very Halloween ccentric uh that’ll be dropping later this week. Uh so stay tuned for that. Hope you all have a wonderful day. Stay safe and we will talk to you later.

Tampa Bay Rays face crucial offseason decisions. Will new ownership secure Junior Caminero as a franchise cornerstone?
Kevin Weiss and Ulises Sambrano dissect the Rays’ upcoming contract choices, focusing on Brandon Lowe and Pete Fairbanks’ team options.
They argue that retaining these veterans is vital for team success and mentoring prospects like Caminero and Chandler Simpson. The hosts also explore looming roster deadlines, including the 60-day IL reinstatements and Rule 5 draft protections. With a new stadium on the horizon, how will ownership balance payroll and competitiveness?
Tune in for passionate analysis on why picking up Lowe and Fairbanks’ options isn’t just smart – it’s “baseball negligence” not to.
0:00 Intro: Junior Caminero’s future with Rays
3:19 Ownership’s priorities: Stadium vs. player retention
7:35 Brandon Lowe and Pete Fairbanks’ contract options
14:05 Value of veteran leadership in clubhouse
17:58 Upcoming offseason roster decisions and deadlines
22:17 Balancing payroll with stadium plans

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