Tampa Bay Rays have decisions to make as non-tender deadline looms

Eleven Rays players are eligible for arbitration this year

• By
  
  Adam Sanford
  
• on November 16, 2023 1:58 pm

Entering the offseason, the Tampa Bay Rays had 16 players eligible for arbitration. In the three weeks since the World Series ended, they have reduced that number to 11.

Raimel Tapia became a free agent, Cole Sulser accepted assignment to Triple-A Durham, and Jalen Beeks, Josh Fleming, and Christian Bethancourt were claimed off waivers by the team.

The Rays have already agreed to a one-year $1.95M deal with left-handed pitcher Tyler Alexander, avoiding arbitration.

According to spotrac, the following players are eligible for arbitration:

• Shawn Armstrong (5.113): $1.8MM
• Andrew Kittredge (5.070): $2.3MM
• Harold Ramirez (4.124): $4.4MM
• Colin Poche (4.114): $2.1MM
• Aaron Civale (4.058): $4.6MM
• Zack Littell (4.043): $1.7MM
• Jason Adam (3.132): $3MM
• Randy Arozarena (3.129): $9MM
• Drew Rasmussen (3.111): $2.2MM
• Isaac Paredes (2.160): $3.2MM
• Shane McClanahan (2.158): $3.6MM

Most of these players are expected to be retained, with Harold Ramirez being one of the questionable ones due to concerns over his salary projection.

While Ramirez has been a consistent performer offensively, his lack of defensive versatility could impact the Rays’ decision to keep him on the roster.

The MLB non-tender deadline is tomorrow at 5pm ET.

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