2 former Rays still without a job heading into the 2025 season

With the difficult decisions involved in forming a club's 40-man roster, the Rays chose to let a few players walk instead of paying them in arbitration. Unfortunately, these athletes are still testing the free agent market, as they hope to join a roster for the 2025 season.

Dylan Carlson and Colin Poche remain free agents after being non-tendered by the Rays

First of all, former 33rd overall pick, Dylan Carlson is still searching for a job for the 2025 campaign. The switch-hitting outfielder has a very talented skill set, but he's yet to put it all together at the highest level. In his rookie season with the Cardinals, Carlson showed his worth as he slashed .266/.343/.437 with 18 home runs. The California native also finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting that season behind NL winner, Jonathan India.

However, opposing pitchers must have figured him out because he hasn't come close to replicating that success since then. In fact, the 26-year old has hit less than 10 home runs and produced below a 2.0 WAR each season since his rookie year in 2021.

The Rays hoped to revive his first season when they traded for the outfielder at the deadline in 2024, but the inconsistencies continued. Carlson hit a dismal .219 with a -0.3 WAR for Tampa Bay, which led to his departure from the club prior to arbitration.

Although, there are always teams in need of talented outfielders and especially, skilled sluggers. With Carlson's past statistics and obvious potential, an MLB team is bound to at least, sign him to a minor league deal before Spring Training.

The second Rays player that is currently without a home for 2025 is left-handed reliever, Colin Poche. Non-tendering Poche was a bit of a surprise for Rays fans, as his success in the bullpen has been evident over the past few seasons. In 2023, the Texas native won 12 games in relief and sported an impressive 2.23 ERA.

However, injury concerns and a plethora of talented pitchers in the minors led to the front office making this difficult choice. Despite these concerns, this relief pitcher may be one of the more underrated players in the free agency market. Any club looking for an affordable hurler that can provide consistent bulk innings out of the pen should look no further than Colin Poche. We wish both of these players more success with their future organizations.