Rays seal reunion with Fraley, who joins crowded OF on 1-year deal

TAMPA -- In the span of three weeks, Jake Fraley has come and gone and come back to the Rays.

The Rays on Tuesday officially re-signed Fraley, the 30-year-old corner outfielder, capping a run of transactions in which they claimed him off waivers from the Braves on Nov. 6, designated him for assignment on Nov. 18 and non-tendered him last Friday.

Fraley agreed to a one-year Major League contract worth $3 million with up to $400,000 in performance bonuses, based on the number of days he spends as an active member of the big league roster, according to a source.

The Rays were clearly interested in Fraley, based on their decision to claim him earlier this month, but they were not comfortable carrying him through the arbitration process at his projected salary, which would have been a raise over the $3.125 million he earned this past season. Instead, the two sides briefly parted while working toward the agreement they reached on Tuesday.

Beyond the recent back-and-forth, this pairing is a reunion for the Rays and Fraley. They selected him in the second round of the 2016 Draft, then traded him to Seattle in the November 2018 deal that brought back catcher Mike Zunino.

“Jake is someone obviously we have some history [with]. It's been a little while, but he's just a good at-bat,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said when the Rays claimed Fraley earlier this month. “Effective player against right-handed pitching in particular, good defensive ability, can do a lot of different things to help win games. It's no secret (that) our outfield situation last year wasn't the kind of output that we were hoping for.”

It’s not yet entirely clear how Fraley will fit on the Rays’ roster, especially with the number of outfield options they currently have. He’s a left-handed hitter who can play either corner spot but has seen more time in right field, which is the spot occupied by the left-handed hitting Josh Lowe.

The Rays’ outfield picture also includes center fielder Jonny DeLuca, speedster Chandler Simpson, versatile switch-hitter Jake Mangum, outfielder/infielder Richie Palacios and the recently acquired Ryan Vilade, who is out of Minor League options but can also play the infield.

Fraley has played 468 games in the Majors over parts of seven seasons with the Mariners, Reds and Braves. He is a career .248/.333/.402 hitter with 47 homers and 179 RBIs, and he’s been more effective against right-handed pitchers, with a career .261/.344/.432 slash line.

Fraley played only 76 games last season, when he was limited by injuries to his left calf, right shoulder and right oblique. He missed time in previous seasons due to quad, hamstring, shoulder, knee, wrist and toe injuries.