It was a very disappointing season for the Tampa Bay Rays, a season in which they unloaded key everyday players, which contributed to the Rays missing the playoffs for the first time in five years, finishing with a record of 80-82.
So, what must the Rays do to improve the team for 2025?
Rays Must Improve The Offense
Tampa Bay’s pitching was good enough to make the playoffs, but not with this team’s poor offensive numbers.
The Rays shaved 45 million dollars from the payroll this summer, so there should be plenty to spend to improve the offense this offseason.
But there are still decisions to be made. What should the Rays do with Brandon Lowe and his contract?
Lowe is due 11.5 million in 2025, coming off a season where he hit .244 with 21 home runs and 58 RBIs.
This should be easy for the Rays to bring Lowe back for the 2025 season.
Baseball Operations Erik Neander said this about Lowe at his season-ending press conference.
“We’ve always spoken to the player Brandon is when he’s healthy. It’s all about availability. We saw through the summer just how much he can carry us when he’s locked in,” Neander said. “We talked about the need to score more than 600 runs. He wasn’t our problem.
“We appreciate him. We always have. We’ve we got a little more time here before we need to make that decision based on the way it’s set up. But I can at least speak to the fact that he’s still here and he wasn’t moved at the deadline, and some established players were as some sort of indicator and action for just how we feel about him.”
Rays Must Address The Catcher Position
The Rays must get better production from their catchers.
Rene Pinto, Ben Rortvedt, Alex Jackson, Rob Brantly, and Logan Driscoll combined to hit .194. Dom Keegan, their top catching prospect, will start the season at AAA Durham, so he probably won’t be ready for the big league club until mid-season.
The Rays will look to sign a catcher this winter to bridge that gap until Keegan is ready.
The Rays have a ton of infielders, so it wouldn’t be a surprise for the team to trade someone to bring in an outfielder with a good bat.
The Rays have Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe, Taylor Walls, and Junior Caminero as their starters around the infield.
Then there is Jose Caballero, the Swiss Army Knife of the Rays infield, who can play multiple positions. Jonathan Aranda and Richie Palacios will want their opportunities next season. Then there is Christopher Morel. How do the Rays plan to use him next season?
Does Curtis Mead deserve another chance?
Yandy Diaz Could Be Traded This Winter
Yandy Diaz is the most likely to be traded because he is due to make 10 million next season and has a 12 million option for 2026. Add in the fact that he is 33, and his production declined this season, which makes him an excellent candidate to be traded.
The Rays also have a ton of depth with their pitchers and could deal a pitcher to fill a position of need.
Shane McClanahan, Shane Baz, Jeffrey Springs, Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley, Zack Littell, Tyler Alexander, Jacob Waguespack, and Jacob Lopez can all be traded.
Then there is also Drew Rasmussen, who pitched mostly out of the bullpen this season but aims to return to the starting rotation in 2025.
There are also lots of trade options in the bullpen: Pete Fairbanks, Edwin Uceta, Manuel Rodríguez, Kevin Kelly and Hunter Bigge.
The Rays also have a ton of left-handed pitchers in the pen: Colin Poche, Garrett Cleavinger, Richard Lovelady, and Mason Montgomery.
It will be interesting to see what the Rays will do this off-season. For the first time in a long time, the Rays have some options and will be able to continue adding players and build a roster for 2025 that will hopefully end the one-year playoff drought.