The Tampa Bay Rays have a few pressing needs on their roster that they are going to look to address this offseason.
Notoriously frugal, don’t expect that to change this winter despite the presence of a new ownership group. Their spending habits could change in the near future, but for now, it is expected to be status quo while the rest of the American League East spends aggressively.
One position that the Rays are going to be looking for an upgrade at is catcher. Right now, the only players on the 40-man roster at the position are Hunter Feduccia, Nick Fortes and Dominic Keegan.
Keegan, one of the team’s top prospects, has yet to play in the Major Leagues. Feduccia and Fortes were both acquired in trades this past season, but the team is going to keep its eyes open for upgrades.
Rays named potential landing spot for Jonah Heim
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One player to keep an eye on is Jonah Heim. A new entrant to free agency after being non-tendered by the Texas Rangers, Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report has named Tampa Bay as a potential landing spot for him and it is easy to see why.
His drop off with the bat and behind the plate defensively is certainly concerning. He had a .602 OPS over the last two seasons and his metrics with the glove have been going in the wrong direction.
However, it wasn’t too long ago that Heim was viewed so positively. During the 2023 season, he had 3.1 bWAR with a .755 OPS and 106 OPS+, earning a spot on the AL All-Star Team.
His production at the plate was excellent, producing career-highs in doubles, home runs and RBI with 28, 18 and 95. Heim also won the Gold Glove Award that year, getting the job done in every facet of the game.
Jonah Heim would provide stability behind plate for Rays
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It is hard to envision him turning back into that level of producer at this point in his career. He will be turning 31 years old next June and has put together back-to-back years of underwhelming production across the board.
However, one positive that he does bring to the table is availability. Heim has proven very durable and is still capable of giving a team 100+ games behind the plate.
Getting away from the Rangers, where he had an underwhelming .204/.266/.282 slash line at Globe Life Field could be good for him. On the road, he had a .220/.275/.374, which isn’t going to get him All-Star recognition again, but at the very least still makes him startable behind the plate.
How much of an upgrade he would be over Feduccia and Fortes is a valid question, but they are all just keeping the seat warm until Keegan is ready to assume a prominent role at the Major League level.
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