The Tampa Bay Rays made one of the more surprising moves of the MLB offseason when they decided to decline the club option they had on closer Pete Fairbanks.
Instead of paying him $11 million, they declined that and had to pay a $1 million buyout. Viewed as one of the best trade chips in baseball entering the offseason, when they canvassed the league to see his value, there wasn’t much of a market for him.
As a result, they decided to move on from him, not wanting to risk carrying that salary throughout the winter. The Rays have put those savings back into the team, signing outfielders Cedric Mullins and Jake Fraley and pitcher Steven Matz in free agency.
Tampa Bay has also gotten quite a haul of prospects in two major trades, so moving on from Fairbanks hasn’t hurt them in that regard either. In a three-team deal that saw second baseman Brandon Lowe traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Rays received outfielder Jacob Melton and right-handed pitcher Anderson Brito from the Houston Astros.
In exchange for starting pitcher Shane Baz from the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay received catcher Caden Bodine, outfielders Slater de Brun and Austin Overn, pitcher Michael Forrett and a 2026 MLB Draft pick.
Pete Fairbanks signing receives solid grade