Partitions’ scenario is completely different from the others, as he’ll stay beneath membership management no matter Tampa Bay’s choice. The choice was included within the deal he signed in January to keep away from an arbitration listening to, so this choice is only a matter of setting his wage for subsequent yr. If the Rays choose up his possibility, the Gold Glove finalist will earn $2.45 million. The choice is shopping for out the shortstop’s possibility for $50,000 and going by the arbitration course of.
There’s extra at stake for Lowe and Fairbanks, whose choices symbolize their last seasons of membership management with the Rays. Tampa Bay can train Lowe’s possibility for $11.5 million or pay $500,000 to make him a free agent. Fairbanks’ $7 million possibility is now price $11 million, due to him maxing out his efficiency bonuses, with a $1 million buyout.
Talking at his end-of-season information convention final month, president of baseball operations Erik Neander indicated that the Rays holding on to Lowe and Fairbanks at this yr’s Commerce Deadline was “indicative of form of the place we’re” with each.
“I believe we count on to be a aggressive group subsequent yr. How can we enhance ourselves? What sort of cash is required? How do you must allocate it? [That] might be a consideration as we get within the winter and discover the right combination,” Neander stated. “These are two gamers which have meant loads to our group. We recognize them each enormously. We’re going to enter this winter and simply see how we will finest configure this factor to win extra baseball video games subsequent yr.
“We did not transfer them on the Deadline, and often that is a reasonably good signal of how we really feel about them.”
Let’s have a look at each conditions.
The Rays picked up Lowe’s membership possibility for this previous season, a comparatively simple name that he rewarded together with his healthiest yr since 2021. He hopes the identical state of affairs performs out subsequent yr and past.
“Clearly, I hope they choose it up and I get to spend one other yr in Tampa,” Lowe stated at Rogers Centre on the ultimate day of the common season. “We love the world. We love the followers. We love the teaching employees, the gamers which can be right here. So, as a lot change that occurs in our sport, we might like for that to be a relentless.”
Lowe, 31, hit .256/.307/.477 with 31 homers, 19 doubles and 83 RBIs in 134 video games whereas incomes his second profession All-Star nod. He’s a veteran chief within the clubhouse who possesses uncommon energy for a second baseman, which is important given Tampa Bay’s lack of pop within the outfield.
All of that makes choosing up the choice seem to be the pretty apparent name. All of that might additionally make Lowe an intriguing commerce candidate for power-starved contenders who need assistance at second base, if the Rays select to make him accessible.
One catch: Whereas there are utility gamers like Richie Palacios and Tristan Grey who may step in at second base — in addition to prospects like Cooper Kinney (No. 17 prospect) and Émilien Pitre (No. 28) within the system — the Rays merely don’t have anybody who may fill Lowe’s place and change his manufacturing instantly. For that cause, it’s laborious to see a state of affairs through which they plan to contend whereas slicing ties with Lowe.
Like Lowe, Fairbanks is coming off a productive season and his healthiest yr in fairly a while.
The 31-year-old right-hander made a career-high 61 appearances, recording 27 saves with a 2.83 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and 59 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings. Fairbanks is also a key a part of Tampa Bay’s clubhouse tradition and a hyperlink to the golf equipment that reached the postseason yearly from 2019-23.
This selection is the final portion of the extension Fairbanks signed previous to the 2023 season, masking what would in any other case be his first yr of free company. It will make Fairbanks the third-highest-paid participant on the group, behind Yandy Díaz ($12 million) and Lowe, which makes the Rays’ choice right here considerably extra difficult.
Rays managing accomplice Patrick Zalupski indicated the membership’s payroll isn’t set for a major improve when he stated on Oct. 7, “The economics of the membership haven’t modified since we acquired it.” So, committing $11 million to a single reliever can be an uncharacteristic and probably dangerous transfer for a budget-conscious entrance workplace, particularly with different wants to deal with.
Will the Rays take that gamble with Fairbanks and produce him again atop a bullpen that additionally options Edwin Uceta, Garrett Cleavinger, Griffin Jax and Bryan Baker, amongst others? Or are they extra prone to choose up his possibility and discover the commerce market? We’ll discover out quickly after the World Sequence ends.
