Tampa Bay Rays’ Roster Ready to Roll into Spring Training

The Tampa Bay Rays have had a pretty busy off-season as they have dealt players and addressed needs, but are they done?

The Tampa Bay Rays have made several moves this offseason. Moves that included trading Tommy Pham for Hunter Renfroe and Xavier Edwards.

They addressed the loss of Pham’s combination of power and on-base skills by signing Japanese slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo.

They traded left-handed pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore for Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to address their lack of right-handed hitting depth.

Martinez and Arozarena also bring solid on-base abilities.

They are set up with one of the deepest pitching rotations they’s had in years. With three potential Cy Young contenders heading the group in Charlie Morton (finished third last year), Blake Snell (won it in 2018), and Tyler Glasnow (finished 2019 with a 1.78 ERA in 12 starts).

They have two very solid pitchers rounding the rotation out with Yonny Chirinos and Ryan Yarbrough, but also have a couple of fallback pieces in place with Baseball America’s #14 overall prospect, Brendan McKay and former Marlins’ starting pitcher, Trevor Richards.

They improved their outfield defense with the addition of Hunter Renfroe. They increased their power potential despite losing Pham.

The Rays have kept the heart of their bullpen intact, a pen that led the league in ERA last season.

Third Base is full of potential as Yandy Diaz is being pegged as a potential breakout candidate. Yandy has always been one of the elite hitters when it comes to average exit velocity and that finally began to equate to home runs last season with the Rays.

Mike Brosseau, Joey Wendle, and Daniel Robertson have all shown promise behind Yandy. Don’t forget, Tsutsugo has some experience at the hot corner, as well.

What is left?

Rays’ reporter for the Tampa Bay Times, Mark Topkin responded to a question on Twitter about the remainder of the offseason.

By looking at the roster, there’s not a lot of room for improvement, but Topkin’s comments further cement the notion that the Rays have the players they want and are now focusing on the upcoming season.

What do you think of the Rays’ acquisitions this offseason?