Rays' outfield supply in spotlight heading into Winter Meetings

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

TAMPA -- Rays executives and staff will enjoy a quick trip to this year’s Winter Meetings, at least to the extent that any travel along Interstate 4 can be considered quick.

Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings, the offseason’s marquee event, will take place at the Signia by Hilton and Waldorf Astoria in Orlando from Monday through Wednesday. The Winter Meetings tend to generate some transactions and plenty of buzz, but there’s more to the gathering than the constant churn of baseball’s rumor mill.

The MLB Draft Lottery is Tuesday, and the Rays have a 3.03% chance to secure the first overall pick. Wednesday is the Rule 5 Draft. All 30 Major League managers will meet with the media. Top executives will publicly discuss their goals for the offseason while privately going about executing those plans.

Here’s where the Rays stand heading into a busy few days in the shadow of Walt Disney World.

Club Needs
Rotation: The Rays have arms and they have upside, but they could use a veteran to fill the Zach Eflin/Zack Littell/Adrian Houser role, taking the ball every fifth day and covering enough innings to ease the burden on everyone else. Perhaps it will be one of those former Rays or someone Tampa Bay targets in a trade.

Catcher: The Rays like their current defensive-minded duo, Hunter Feduccia and Nick Fortes, and offensive-oriented prospect Dominic Keegan (Rays’ No. 15) isn’t far behind. But it’s hard to ignore that their catchers hit just .185 with an MLB-worst .592 OPS last season, and they’re always looking for a long-term everyday solution behind the plate, someone who can meet their defensive standard and lengthen their lineup. The Rays could roll with Feduccia and Fortes, with Keegan waiting in the wings, but they’ll keep their options open.

Shortstop: The job may belong to Taylor Walls on Opening Day, and they could do worse than pairing an infield loaded with big bats (Jonathan Aranda, Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero) with arguably the best defensive shortstop in baseball. But if they want to give Carson Williams more time at Triple-A Durham, they could at least use another option to create competition and fill the void created by dealing José Caballero to the Yankees at the Trade Deadline.

Potential Trade Candidates
2B Brandon Lowe: Lowe is set to earn $11.5 million in the final option year of his contract extension. That combination of salary and proximity to free agency is enough to make him a potential trade candidate. There’s no guarantee that he will be dealt, though, even if he’s bound to attract interest. The Rays have been reluctant to trade him before, and they have no obvious replacement.

DH/1B Yandy Díaz: This is probably even less realistic than Lowe, but as a veteran with a rising salary, he merits a mention. The Rays have talked about Díaz in the past, yet shown no urgency to move him. There just aren’t many hitters who possess his combination of contact, patience and power, and he still has two years of club control remaining.

Outfield depth: Adding Cedric Mullins and Jake Fraley has created a logjam in the outfield, which should lead to a trade. The most obvious issue is that they have too many left-handed/switch-hitting corner options: Josh Lowe, Fraley, Chandler Simpson, Jake Mangum, Richie Palacios and Tristan Peters. (That’s in addition to Mullins, righty-hitting center fielder Jonny DeLuca and right-handed corner option Ryan Vilade.) Something’s got to give, probably sooner than later.

Prospects To Know
SS Carson Williams: After an unexpected stint as the regular shortstop down the stretch, the club’s top prospect should get another chance to prove himself in Spring Training. But it seems more likely Williams will start the season in Triple-A to further refine his offensive approach. If he learns from his time in the Majors, though -- like Aranda and Caminero before him -- he has all the other tools to succeed soon.

C Dominic Keegan: As a catcher with Triple-A experience and a spot on the 40-man roster, Keegan is set to be the Rays’ next line of defense behind the plate. His 2025 season was derailed from the start by a right elbow injury, but he has otherwise hit everywhere he’s been. The Rays believe in his bat, his defensive tools and his makeup enough to view him as a worthy option in the Majors. How soon will that happen?

Rule 5 Draft
Which Rays are available? Their top-ranked prospect available is infielder Cooper Kinney (Tampa Bay's No. 17 prospect), who just posted a .685 OPS at Double-A Montgomery. Right-hander Logan Workman could get a look from a team in need of innings. Catcher Tatem Levins recorded a .788 OPS in Double-A. Reliever Evan Reifert didn’t catch on with the Nationals last year due to control issues, but he’s got a devastating slider and excellent Minor League numbers.

Will they make a pick? Their 40-man roster is currently full, and if that remains the case, they can’t. But if a spot opens up, it’s always possible. The Rays landed two pitchers from the Mets’ system last year, lefty Nate Lavender and righty Mike Vasil, but Vasil was cut in camp and Lavender went back to the Mets after rehabbing all season. Kevin Kelly turned out to be a useful pickup in 2022, though, and it never hurts to take a closer look at someone in Spring Training.

Burning Question: What’s their next move?
So far, the Rays’ biggest additions of the offseason are Mullins and Fraley. They’ve added some pitching depth, namely reliever Steven Wilson and potential starter Yoendrys Gómez, but they also lost closer Pete Fairbanks and starter Houser to free agency. They’ve made a number of other moves on the margins, but arguably nothing that will make anyone feel differently about their roster next season. They have to address their glut of outfielders somehow, and they have needs in the rotation, behind the plate and at shortstop. Where will they focus first?