There’s by no means an offseason the place the Rays don’t have a number of gamers circulating the rumor mill, and this winter is not any exception. Tampa Bay already flipped heart fielder Jose Siri to the Mets final month, and there’s been loads of hypothesis about the potential of trades of a few of their veteran gamers incomes notable salaries. Yandy Diaz has typically been the main focus, however he’s one among a number of gamers who might draw curiosity. MLB Community’s Jon Morosi stories that nearer Pete Fairbanks and left-hander Jeffrey Springs are among the many Rays who’ve been fashionable in commerce talks not too long ago.
It’s not an enormous shock to see both participant’s title pop up in commerce rumblings. Fairbanks featured prominently on MLBTR’s checklist of high offseason commerce candidates again in early November. Springs is the costliest of at the very least six wholesome rotation choices for the Rays. Each gamers are signed for a number of seasons.
Springs, 32, has two years and $21MM remaining on a four-year, $31MM extension he signed previous to the 2023 season. The contract incorporates a $15MM membership choice for the 2027 season ($750K buyout). Up to now, that contract hasn’t panned out as hoped, although not essentially via any actual fault of Springs. The journeyman southpaw broke out with the Rays in 2022, posting a glowing 2.46 ERA with a powerful 26.2% strikeout charge and terrific 5.6% stroll charge in 135 2/3 innings. He seemed like one other late-blooming diamond within the tough unearthed by a Rays entrance workplace with a knack for simply that kind of discovery.
Sadly, Springs hasn’t been wholesome since. He made three dominant begins to open the 2023 season (16 innings, one run allowed, 24-to-4 Okay/BB ratio) after which suffered a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgical procedure. He missed the rest of the ’23 marketing campaign and made it again to the mound for seven huge league begins and 33 innings late final 12 months. The outcomes have been good in that restricted pattern. Springs posted a pointy 3.27 earned run common, fanned 26.1% of opponents and held his walks to a 7.7% charge. His common four-seamer was down from 91.4 mph in 2022 to 89.8 mph in 2024, nevertheless, and he noticed related velocity drops on his slider and changeup. Springs’ 12.9% swinging-strike charge was nonetheless robust, however it’s down from the 14.2% clip he displayed in 2021-23.
Along with Springs, the Rays have Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Zack Littell, Taj Bradley, Shane Baz and a returning Shane McClanahan (2022 Tommy John surgical procedure) all within the combine for begins subsequent 12 months. That’s along with yet-to-debut prospects like Joe Rock and Ian Seymour, who each excelled within the higher minors final 12 months. Springs has seemed the a part of a high-end starter up to now however just for a fleeting span of about 150 innings throughout 2022-23. The Rays can be promoting a bit low, however his $10.5MM wage is steep for them underneath regular circumstances — not to mention at a time when the membership is dealing with seemingly income losses following Hurricane Milton’s decimation of Tropicana Area’s roof and the membership’s subsequent settlement to play at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Area — the spring coaching and Class-A house of the Yankees.
Fairbanks, 30, has been terrific when wholesome in 5 seasons with the Rays. “When wholesome” is an sadly essential caveat, nevertheless, because the flamethrowing 6’6″ righty has by no means reached 50 appearances or topped 45 1/3 innings in an enormous league season. Relationship again to 2020, Fairbanks touts a 2.89 ERA. He fanned practically 35% of his opponents from 2020-23 however noticed that quantity slip to a roughly common 23.7% this previous season. Fairbanks didn’t have an enormous lack of velocity on his heater, however it dipped from a mean of 98 mph from ’20-’23 to 97.3 mph in 2024. His slider noticed a bigger drop, going from a mean of 86.4 mph to 85 mph over those self same durations.
The Rays signed Fairbanks to a three-year, $12MM contract that purchased out all three arbitration years (2023-25) and assured them management over his first free-agent season within the type of a 2026 membership choice. He’s owed $3.666MM this season with a $7MM choice ($1MM buyout) on his ’26 marketing campaign. Even for a partial season of a reliever with Fairbanks’ upside, it’s a fairly modest worth to pay. As such, there’s no inherent urgency for the Rays to maneuver him. They could really feel a bit extra motivated to maneuver Springs and his weightier wage, however up to now it’s not clear the Rays are essentially procuring both — simply that they’ve drawn curiosity.
The Rays’ lot in life, after all, is to continually hear on all of their gamers as they progress via their arbitration years or the latter levels of any contract extensions. This 12 months’s stadium troubles and the uncertainty surrounding their dwelling in 2026 and past solely add to that.
On the similar time, Tampa Bay already considerably culled payroll with their sequence of deadline trades and through the departures of some arb-eligible gamers (through commerce and non-tender). RosterResource tasks a bit lower than $79MM in payroll for the Rays this coming season — already a drop of greater than $10MM from their 2024 ranges. Buying and selling Springs, Fairbanks or different veterans just like the aforementioned Diaz or Brandon Lowe might additional cut back spending and release the Rays to tackle some cash in different trades. With regard to free company, they’re in an analogous spot to the A’s in that they’ll have to influence gamers to signal on for at the very least one 12 months (and certain extra) enjoying their dwelling video games in a minor league facility.
