The Tampa Bay Rays need an expensive and ambitious offseason plan

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ST PETERSBURG, FL – SEPTEMBER 27: C.J. Cron #44 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a homer in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees on September 27, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

The first thing the Tampa Bay Rays will need to do this offseason is make final decisions on their arbitration eligible players.

Arbitration Players and Projected Salaries:

C.J. Cron – $5.2MM
Tommy Pham – $4.0MM
Matt Duffy – $2.6MM
Chaz Roe – $1.4MM
Jesus Sucre – $1.2MM
Vidal Nuno – $900K

By finalizing their arbitration decisions they will need to make decisions on C.J. Cron, Vidal Nuno, and Jesus Sucre. I expect them to pay Chaz Roe, and obviously they will keep Matt Duffy and Tommy Pham. The Rays will need to non-tender Vidal Nuno and Jesus Sucre by the November 30th and either find a trade candidate for Cron or non-tender him by the deadline as well.

I don’t expect the Rays to retain Cron, Sucre, or Nuno this offseason thus freeing up 7.3 million to spend in free agency.

Sucre will find himself out of a job after spring training if they choose to keep him. Vidal Nuno only blocks one of their talented young pitchers from getting experience. By trading or non-tendering Cron, the Rays clear the way for the second step in the offseason…

Total Money Saved: 7.3 million

Total Cost for 2019: 8 million