ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays have been here before.
Three years ago, they had an elite-level starter with a track record of dominance, when healthy, set to earn a franchise-record salary in the final year of a contract extension. President of baseball operations Erik Neander sat inside Tropicana Field for his end-of-season press conference and expressed the club’s desire to keep him, saying the Rays were “reasonably confident” they could increase their payroll to afford an ace “if we think that’s the best path to winning a World Series.”
Two months later, the Rays traded Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers.
Will history repeat itself with Drew Rasmussen this offseason? Maybe not.
Sitting inside a press conference room at Tropicana Field on Tuesday morning, fielding questions about the Rays’ World Series defeat against the Brewers and the offseason ahead, Neander said Tampa Bay intends to bring back its ace next season.
“Not a declarative this, that, whatever, but I can sit here very confidently and say that every intention right now is thinking about Ras anchoring our rotation and how to make this team better going into next year,” Neander said during his end-of-season press conference.
The Rays exercised Rasmussen’s $20 million club option for next season on Saturday. It’s $4.5 million less than what Glasnow was due in 2024, before he was traded, but still would represent a significant chunk of Tampa Bay’s payroll. It would be the most the Rays have ever paid a single player for one season.
Thus, Rasmussen had hardly left the mound in Game 5 of the World Series before finding his name atop many lists of this offseason’s top trade candidates. But the Rays won’t part with such an important player so easily after he helped them get so close to winning the franchise’s first championship.
“We want to have Ras back,” Neander said. “Going into this offseason when you were that close to where we were, it's hard to think that we'll be closer if Ras isn't a part of this team, right? So that's where our head’s at. That's where our heart is on that particular matter.
“Our history is our history. Our decisions are our decisions. And there are forces that, when you start to get into that [salary] territory, does that take too much of your payroll in a way that makes it difficult to have a contending team? I think we're in a position where we can accommodate that and make it work and make another run at this, because our position player group isn't as expensive as some years.”
Indeed, the Rays should be able to bring back their entire position player group, minus free-agent center fielder Cedric Mullins. Aside from Rasmussen, there are only two players on guaranteed contracts next year: DH Yandy Díaz ($13 million) and lefty Steven Matz ($7.5 million). Everyone else is either eligible for salary arbitration or in the “pre-arb” phase of club control.
Neander acknowledged the inevitable Glasnow comparison in his comments regarding Rasmussen on Tuesday. But he also pointed out the ways in which this situation is different.
For one, the 2023 Rays finished their season by getting swept by the eventual champion Rangers in the American League Wild Card Series. Their competitive window was dented by the loss of ace Shane McClanahan (for what turned out to be two seasons due to injuries) and shortstop Wander Franco (to the restricted list amid legal issues in the Dominican Republic).
They didn’t intend to trade Glasnow when they extended him in August 2022. By December 2023, they felt like it was the best choice for their future.
“The competitive trajectory of that club changed, and with that, we were in a spot where financially we didn't feel like that was the right time to really press on payroll,” Neander said.
Things have changed. The Rays have a new ownership group headed by managing partner Patrick Zalupski, who wrote in a letter to fans on Tuesday that “getting this close without finishing the job stings for the entire organization” and that they “are steadfast in our pursuit to bring a World Series championship to Tampa Bay.”
They have the promise of a new, long-term ballpark opening in 2029. They have a roster that just won the AL and reached the World Series, with most of the group set to return.
And they have an ace worth investing in.
“I think we're in a position now, going into this offseason -- the quality of our club, how it comes together, looking ahead -- where circumstances are different,” Neander said. “Hopeful that because of that, we have a real opportunity to run back this group in as close to its current form as possible, and then find the right tweaks to it.”