As the Tampa Bay Rays prepare for the offseason, they are going to likely be an active team in the trade market with numerous veterans that they could move. This is a talented group for the Rays as shown by some of their success in 2025. 

However, Tampa Bay is still a low-payroll team, and they very rarely let talented assets leave for nothing in free agency. With a few key veterans like Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe, and Pete Fairbanks all potentially entering their final year with the team, the Rays are likely to move some of these players. 

With talent in place and coming off a year in which they had a positive run differential, Tampa Bay might not be far off from contending. However, they do have some areas of need, one of which being to improve their slugging abilities in the outfield. Even though there is some talent in the group, they have a bit of a log jam currently and moving one of their youngsters to potentially help clear that and pursue a better slugger could make sense. 

Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) recently wrote about Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson being a potential trade target of the Philadelphia Phillies this winter. 

Moving Simpson Would Solve Outfield Log Jam