Extension Worthy Core Players
Austin Meadows (RF/DH): Watching Meadows last year in his first full year as a major league starter was a thing of beauty. From homering off of Justin Verlander in the first Rays at-bat of 2019 to watching him develop every day on his best nights and also some of his worst, Meadows was the heart and soul of this 2019 Rays squad and I foresee him being that for a while longer. He hits for average, he hits for power, he gets on base at a high rate, and with an organization like the Rays that has focused so much on pitching and being known for that developmental skill, Meadows will be the offensive star the Rays need ever since Longo was traded away.
Tyler Glasnow (SP): The future of the Rays rotation is bright, and Tyler Glasnow has the potential to be the ultimate ace for them. Blake Snell may be the current frontline guy, but after seeing how amazing Glasnow was in his first month before he went down to injury, the sky is the limit for him. He and Snell will be a deadly duo in the future with others behind them and if the Rays want to be able to keep their payroll with some room open before he demands lots of money, now is the time to extend the electric 6’8 power throwing righty.
Ryan Yarbrough (SP/RP): Yarbrough, already at the age of 28 may not seem like a smart choice at first especially with the pedigree and talent of the guys above him, but after two years with the Rays in which he has posted a combined 27-12 record and a respectable 4.02 ERA over 289 innings as the primary Rays bulk guy for the team that revolutionized the “opener” strategy he’s deserved what money could be his. Another factor that goes for Yarbs, is that he has the tools and skills to withstand the ultimate enemy of any contract extension, which is age. The soft-tossing lefty is a master at inducing soft pop flies and easy outs for the defense, a talent that doesn’t diminish with age. Also, his 3.55 FIP (Fielding-Independent-Pitching) was considerably better than his 4.13 ERA mark for 2019, foreshadowing a very likely and possible breakout season ahead for him. He won’t be too expensive to extend as well, seeing that he is already extremely undervalued in the market and can technically be classified as a reliever as well as a starter.
Wander Franco (SS/2B): The undisputed best prospect on the planet and only at age 19, Franco has already received the only ever 80 FV (Future Value) ranking as a prospect at Fangraphs baseball and projects to be one of the greatest players in the next wave of young baseball. That already should be enough to sign the young man to a very lengthy team-friendly deal that would give him the security of a contract as well as the Rays value in the long term for a player of such talent as Franco. I, as well as many other Rays fans, see Wander as the face of the future of Rays baseball and the front office can’t toy around in this situation but instead commit to the player who is the future of Tampa Bay.
Brendan McKay (SP/DH): A two-way player out of the draft, the Rays worked with McKay throughout his entire minor league career to try to develop the young talents two-way potential as a hitter and pitcher. But with the hitting falling far behind the pitching prowess at this point it’s about time for the Rays to start utilizing him fulltime as a starter and to slot him in an already superpowered rotation. And with the ranked 15th prospect in the game already getting a stint in the MLB, he’s now ready to be a core piece of this contending Rays starting corps for a long time.
The Players who won’t make the cut
Mike Zunino (C): Though it might be too early to say for sure, the Zunino-Mallex trade in retrospect is looking like a disaster for both sides after the dust of a full season for both players cleared. The catcher the Rays were hoping they had acquired was one with the potential to hit a high amount of home runs, while possibly boosting other offensive numbers, as well as blending that with his already league known wide defensive capability behind the plate. What the team got instead was something of a complete failure. He batted a miserable .165 at the plate and only hit 9 home runs, soon finding his starting job to be replaced by breakout buy low acquisition Travis d’Arnaud. While he was brought along for another year of catching behind the plate, his job doesn’t look to be one of any stability with a Rays team looking for offensive production anywhere they can get it.
Daniel Robertson (INF): Ah, D-Rob. A highly touted prospect ever since he was acquired in the deal that sent Ben Zobrist to Oakland, Robertson has been something of an infuriating enigma to watch for so many Rays fans that wanted so badly to see him succeed. Each year he seems to bring the promise to finally hit his stride as a hitter and be a valuable and reliable part of the Rays infield group. 2017, he gave fans a very disappointing first half-season as a rookie but showed glimmers of hope to maybe be better in 2018. So then came 2018, where he actually did seem to find his way with the bat, hitting a solid .262 while being very efficient at drawing walks giving him a brilliant .382 on-base percentage. Fans couldn’t have been happier for the infielder but… he soon found himself injured and on the shelf for most of the entire second half of the year. Then, 2019 came for Robertson and throughout the first month of April he was, well how do you say it- terrible. Aaaaaand then he was injured again. But now an even more interesting development in the enduring saga of D-Rob came for him near the end of 2019 season. After recovering from his injury and rehabbing in Triple-A Durham, it was rumored to be said that he had now retooled his swing while working his way back up and it should produce some different results. And well, in the 29 at-bats he had in a brief September call-up he hit a fine .276 with a .323 on-base percentage. So, the cycle has come to its conclusion and now will restart again as fans see yet another glimmer of hope in the mirage that is Daniel Robertson. Yeah, sorry D-Rob a change of scenery might be good for you.
Hunter Renfroe (OF): Though this prediction feels a bit premature, seeing that the newly acquired power-hitting outfielder hasn’t even played a game in a Rays jersey, Renfroe does not seem to have the skills to stick around long term on a full time contending team. A very one dimensional player by nature, Renfroe doesn’t offer much to the Rays besides high power numbers, a skill that’s become in lower demand year by year as the number of new power hitters in the game increase. For a Rays team that needs home runs (11th in the AL in long balls) for the coming season to improve the offensive numbers, Renfroe should be efficient in that skill for the short term but beyond that, he may find himself not as useful as other sluggers that bring other types of offensive numbers with them, as well as good power numbers (Nate Lowe, Yandy Diaz, Yoshi Tsutsugo).
Jose Alvarado (RP): This was a tough call to make. The progression of Alvarado’s career has been something of a constant up and down for fans to watch. He impresses with his electric pitches that make the highlight reels on sports networks and has shown brilliant flashes of being able to be a shutdown closer, but there’s also the other side of the hard-throwing lefty. For all the incredible talent he possesses, Alvarado has had stretches throughout his career where he has struggled immensely with both his command on pitches and also with staying healthy. And the struggles have so far outmatched his pitching ability. With the Rays bullpen as good as it is currently with the amount of great arms in there, the idea of Alvarado being another reliable guy in the arsenal for Kevin Cash to utilize is great to think about, but the reality is much more different than what we’re probably going to get. The facts have to be faced. Good relievers are being discovered more and more as of late in this modern era of baseball and bullpenning, and the idea of spending roster spots and money that could be used on others, to try to develop one guy just doesn’t make too much sense in terms of long term success for the team.
Manuel Margot (CF): Another recently acquired player who was brought in to provide platooning depth to a Rays outfield with a certain Kevin Kiermaier who will need off days, Margot is going fit that niche perfectly in the short term plan for the Rays. But beyond that, he won’t really make much sense to keep around if he still hasn’t found his way with the bat that scouts raved about back in the day when he was a top prospect in the game. The other recently acquired MLB ready prospect Randy Arozarena has already shown he can hit across all levels of minor league ball he’s played, and if that can translate to the majors, then Margot really will be just superfluous at that point. The defensive whiz should be a useful part of this team for the next year or so but after that look for the Rays front office to be shopping him around on the market.
A Man in the Middle
Willy Adames (SS): I’ve been a fan of Willy’s ever since he was first acquired in the deal that shipped David Price to Detroit. He always resembled the face of the Rays rebuild for me in the trying years that were ‘14-‘17, and he’s been my favorite player ever since he’s first debuted with a moonshot of a homer off of all-time great Chris Sale at the Trop in only his second at-bat. Patiently, so far, fans and I have waited for Willy to break out into the star he was destined to become as a prospect, and while he hasn’t exactly been a disappointment, he also hasn’t been great. In his first full year last year, his bat was very inconsistent at times and couldn’t always be relied upon in the lineup as he put an average stat line of .254/.317/.418. But even though the offense wasn’t there all of the time for Adames, he did have one of the best defensive seasons of any Rays shortstops, tying for 1st in the AL among shortstops in defensive runs saved and producing the best WAR of any offensive player on the 2019 Rays due to his combined defensive and offensive WAR. So, Willy is far from a failed prospect. But next year should be absolutely crucial to his development. With the fast-rising Wander Franco breathing down his neck, looking to be the Rays starting shortstop in a couple of years’ time, Willy has to prove that he’s good enough to be an essential part of this team in order to make the starting job in the infield his.
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