These non-roster invitees could add to Rays' spring camp intrigue

ST. PETERSBURG -- A month from now, pitchers and catchers will populate the back fields and bullpen mounds of the Rays’ Charlotte Sports Park complex. The offseason feels far from over in terms of Hot Stove activity, but Spring Training is that close.

There should be plenty of intrigue in Rays camp. Who will play second base? How does Shane McClanahan look? Who will claim starting jobs in the outfield, at shortstop and behind the plate? Which young prospects will catch the big league staff’s attention? How will Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda and others perform on the World Baseball Classic’s international stage?

But there’s another group of players who will be looking to prove themselves, whether that’s for a spot on the Opening Day roster or a look later in the season. They are the non-roster invitees, specifically players signed to Minor League contracts with invitations to Major League camp.

They’re hardly household names, with neither the security of a spot on the 40-man roster nor the boundless possibility of prospect status. But they can make an impact. For proof, look no further than Edwin Uceta, a non-roster invitee two years ago who is now one of Tampa Bay’s top relievers.

With that in mind, let’s look at six of the non-roster invitees the Rays have signed so far.

INF Raynel Delgado
Delgado has yet to reach the Majors, but he’s put together a .270/.357/.389 slash line with 76 stolen bases over parts of three seasons in Triple-A. A sixth-round pick by Cleveland in the 2018 Draft, he spent the first six years of his career in the Guardians organization before joining the Brewers last season, when he hit .281/.363/.378 with 40 steals in 125 games for Triple-A Nashville.

More importantly, the 25-year-old can play shortstop in addition to second and third base. If Taylor Walls is Tampa Bay’s starter and Carson Williams returns to Triple-A to begin the season, the only other backup shortstop option on the 40-man roster is Brett Wisely. The Rays could add a more proven candidate, but if they don’t, Delgado will have a chance to compete with the out-of-options Wisely for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

LHP John Rooney
The Rays have six left-handed pitchers on their 40-man roster: McClanahan, Steven Matz, Ian Seymour, Garrett Cleavinger, Joe Rock and the just-acquired Ken Waldichuk. McClanahan, Matz and Seymour are starters. Cleavinger is one of Tampa Bay’s top high-leverage options. Rock finished the season in a relief role for Triple-A Durham. Waldichuk is a former top prospect who struggled as a starter last season in his return from Tommy John surgery.

The lack of lefties could create an opportunity for the 28-year-old Rooney, who made his MLB debut for the Astros last August before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery (to clean up bone spurs and repair lateral epicondylitis) in September. A third-round pick of the Dodgers out of Hofstra in the 2018 Draft, Rooney produced a 2.56 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP with 55 strikeouts and 24 walks in 38 2/3 innings over 43 appearances in Triple-A last year.

C Blake Sabol
Sabol spent the entire 2023 season with the Giants, mostly splitting his time between catcher and left field while playing 110 games overall, then he played in only 19 MLB games the next two seasons between 2024 with San Francisco and ’25 with Boston. He bats left-handed and hit .251/.313/.431 with 13 homers against right-handers in ’23, so he could have some appeal as a platoon option behind the plate.

If nothing else, Sabol can provide left-handed-hitting depth at catcher. The Rays seem poised to begin the season with Hunter Feduccia and Nick Fortes, and No. 20 prospect Dominic Keegan could be ready at some point this year.

OF Edward Olivares
The 29-year-old outfielder debuted for the Padres in 2020, then was traded to the Royals about a month later. He played parts of 2021-23 in Kansas City, producing a roughly league-average 104 OPS+ in 670 plate appearances, but hit just .224/.291/.333 in 55 games for the Pirates in 2024. The right-handed-hitting corner outfielder spent last year playing for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan, although he played more games for their Minor League team.

RHP Jake Woodford
A Day 1 Draft pick by the Cardinals out of Tampa’s Plant High School in 2015, Woodford debuted for St. Louis in 2020 and produced a 3.26 ERA over 53 appearances in ’21-22. Then came a 6.23 ERA for the Cardinals in 2023, a 7.97 mark for the White Sox and Pirates in ’24 and a 6.44 ERA for the D-backs last year, all while averaging fewer than six strikeouts per nine innings. He’s put up better numbers in Triple-A, though, and any pitcher capable of working multiple innings out of the bullpen can be helpful.

INF Logan Davidson
The Athletics’ first-round pick in the 2019 Draft, Davidson presents an almost comic degree of versatility: He’s a switch-hitter, and while he’s primarily an infielder, he has played everywhere but pitcher and catcher in the Minors. For good measure, he pitched an inning for the Angels in September after debuting for the A’s last May. The 28-year-old didn’t hit much in the Majors, although he’s a produced a .271/.367/.441 slash line over 1,002 plate appearances in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League.