Tampa Bay

Rays

Because of Tampa Bay’s budget or lack thereof, there were immediate trade rumblings involving Rasmussen after the Rays exercised his $20 million club option for 2027. Topkin reports that the Rays intend to hang onto the 31-year-old as their ace for the upcoming season.

Uceta, who had a 3.79 ERA and 103 strikeouts in 76 innings out of the Rays pen in 2025, was supposed to be a closer candidate last season. Instead, he missed the entire year after coming down with a sore shoulder in spring training, and now it sounds like he’s out until at least June next year.

Smith has been a model of consistency since taking over as Cleveland’s closer and finished this past season with 41 saves and a 1.95 ERA across 74 innings. Baker came out of nowhere to emerge as Tampa Bay’s stopper, notching 41 saves of his own. Varland made the leap into one of the more dominant relief pitchers in the game, posting a microscopic 1.27 ERA and 97/23 K/BB ratio across 78 innings. He also finished with a career-high 35 saves.

Walls avoided arbitration last year by accepting a one-year, $2.45 million contract with a $3.15 million option for 2027, and the Rays are picking the second year, since he’d probably make a little more than that in arbitration after his Gold Glove season. He’ll be eligible for free agency for the first time next winter.

Suwinski was sent from the Dodgers to the Pirates at the trade deadline, but he never played in the majors last season. The former Pirates slugger slumped to .231/.296/.300 in 37 games for Triple-A Durham after joining the Rays organization, but the team still seems to think he can contribute. He did hit .274/.362/.489 with 21 homers in 93 games for Oklahoma City before the deal. The 28-year-old is a lifetime .199/.305/.389 hitter with 57 homers in 1,361 plate appearances, all of which came with Pittsburgh.

The Rays lost Alberto to the White Sox in the Rule 5 draft last year, but they got him back a couple of weeks into March, and he went on to post a 3.43 ERA and a 72/25 K/BB in 60 1/3 innings between Double- and Triple-A. He’ll be a long shot to claim a spot in the Rays pen to begin next year, but he’ll probably surface at some point.

They’ll both become free agents. Heasley was called up by the Rays on May 27, gave up five runs over four innings in one appearance and then was DFA’d, only for that to be rescinded because of a stress reaction in his elbow. He spent the rest of the year on the injured list.

Whitley returns to Tampa Bay as organizational relief depth after compiling a respectable 2.81 ERA and 31/8 K/BB ratio across 32 innings for Triple-A Durham last year. The 31-year-old middle reliever hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since making 43 appearances for the Cardinals from 2020-2022.

Bodine is the 46th-ranked prospect in baseball. He hit .342/.410/.517 in 468 at-bats across four levels this season with 17 home runs and 10 steals. He threw out 19 percent of all potential basestealers and could be an option for the Rays at some point in 2027.

It appears Randy Flores first deal since being named general manager will be to acquire Reifert. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the return will be cash considerations for the Rays. The right-hander was returned to Tampa Bay after the Nationals selected him in the Rule 5 draft prior to the 2026 season, but Washington chose not to carry him on the 40-man roster. He forged a 2.46 ERA for Triple-A Durham, and will have a chance to win a bullpen spot with the Astros this spring in Florida.