With another offseason milestone coming and going for the Tampa Bay Rays, there were no surprises this time, unlike with the team option deadline.
Not too long ago, what appeared to be easy decisions for the Rays became a bit more difficult, and the team shocked everyone when they elected not to pick up the option for closer Pete Fairbanks. This sent the talented right-hander to free agency, and he is now considered to be one of the best options available on the market.
With the non-tender deadline being on Friday night, there weren’t expected to be any surprises for the Rays, and that ended up being the case. After designating both outfielders, Christopher Morel and Jake Fraley, the team non-tendered their contracts, making them both free agents.
No Surprises for Tampa Bay
Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Due to the prior decisions earlier in the week, these decisions came as no surprise. For Morel, this likely will be the end of a disappointing year and a half with the franchise after being part of the trade that sent Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs. With the success that Paredes has had of late, it’s safe to say that it was a bad decision by Tampa Bay.
Morel was never able to get it going at the plate for the Rays, and with a lot of bodies in the outfield, they elected to move on. The young outfielder is still just 26 years old, but he will have a lot to prove to earn another shot somewhere.
While it seems likely that Morel isn’t going to be back, the same can’t be said for Jake Fraley. The Rays have already expressed an interest in keeping him, but if they do so, they will have to sign him as a free agent.
“We’ve expressed a desire to keep the conversations going … if that’s something that he wants to explore on his end,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said Tuesday to Adam Berry of MLB.
With these two moves, the roster continues to take shape for the Rays heading toward December. There haven’t been a ton of moves made just yet, with free agency just getting going, but that could change very quickly. A few players will likely be the dominoes that get things moving over the winter once they sign, and it will be interesting to see where Tampa Bay looks to upgrade.
There are a number of areas that could be upgraded for the Rays, but some of them will likely look internally for some development by their younger players.
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