With the offseason underway, the Tampa Bay Rays will be seeking to make some improvements this winter to help get them back into contention in the challenging American League East. 

After seeing three teams from their division make the playoffs in 2025, with one of them nearly winning the World Series, it is going to be an uphill battle for the Rays to compete. Tampa Bay doesn’t have the same payroll capabilities as the other four teams in the division, but that hasn’t stopped them from putting a good product on the field year after year. 

With some good talent on the team and them returning home after being displaced from Tropicana Field in 2025, the Rays will be hoping to get back in the playoff conversation. While that is going to be the goal, they are going to have to get creative financially to make some improvements, and that has already started. 

The decision not to pick up the team option on their closer might have been shocking, but it could end up being a savvy move for the team. However, he is already starting to generate a fair amount of interest in the free-agent market. The Athletic contributors (subscription required) recently wrote about Rays free agent closer Pete Fairbanks being a possible target for the Boston Red Sox this winter.

Red Sox Looking To Improve BullpenTampa Bay Rays pitcher Pete Fairbanks throwing the ball

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

It was a great year for Boston in 2025, and they will be looking to get back to the playoffs with their talented young group. The team will undoubtedly be trying to bring back third baseman Alex Bregman, but also making a couple of additions to their starting rotation and bullpen makes sense. 

While Aroldis Chapman is going to be the closer for the team in 2026 after his fantastic campaign, the Red Sox are looking to create an even stronger bullpen to deal with the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, which makes sense. 

Even though Fairbanks will be paid like a closer this winter, having him as the setup man for Chapman would be one of the top one-two combinations in the league, while Fairbanks would be an excellent addition for Boston. The Rays believe that they have the depth and talent in the bullpen to survive without him. 

They will likely go back to a closer-by-committee plan for Tampa Bay, which has had success in the past. Even if their bullpen is fine, the team will undoubtedly hope that Fairbanks isn’t going to be pitching in their division.  

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