Rays Arbitration Notes: Tendered and Non-Tendered

The Rays Arbitration decision time is upon us as the non-tender deadline nears, and we will soon find out who stays and who goes

 UPDATE (3-12-15): All Arbitration Eligible players have been tendered contracts by the Rays, as per Marc Topkin.

The Rays have a large enough group of players waiting to have their arbitration issues resolved that it will impact the budget the team has to work with during the rest of the off-season. Unlike the Red Sox who can throw $30 million per season at a pitcher, the Rays may not spend that much on all of their off-season contracts combined.

The following players are Arbitration eligible. We’ll list what the outcome of each is as news comes through about their status. Their expected salary from MLBTR’s predictions is also included:

• Jake McGee $4.7MM
• Logan Morrison $4.1MM
• Alex Cobb $4.0MM
• Drew Smyly $3.9MM
• Logan Forsythe $3.3MM
• Desmond Jennings $3.1MM
• Erasmo Ramirez $2.8MM
• Rene Rivera $1.6MM (Non-Tender Candidate)
• Brandon Guyer $1.3MM
• Brandon Gomes $900K (Outrighted to AAA)
• Daniel Nava $1.9MM (Outrighted to AAA)
• J.P. Arencibia $1.4MM – RELEASED

Note that trades may still be made, making this decision process more complicated than meets the eye.

Next: Tampa Bay Rays Free Agent Target: Mike Napoli

With over $31 million listed above, the Rays have some decisions to make and they need to make them soon. It’ll be interesting to see if they decide to cut bait on some of these guys.