3 Options Tampa Bay Has with Tyler Glasnow

Since being acquired by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow has emerged as one of the elite arms in all of baseball. Standing at 6'8, Glasnow boasts an elite fastball with swing and miss off speed stuff, which made him the ace of the Rays staff and a Cy Young canidate in 2021.

Glasnow's career ERA with the Rays sits at 3.10 and has elite WHIP and SO/9 metrics at 1.00 and 12.2 respectively. 2021 was when he truly burst onto the scene on a national level, as his ERA sat at 2.66 over 88 innings of work with 123 strikeouts and WHIP of 0.93. Glasnow then suffered elbow soreness on June 8th which eventually lead to Tommy John surgery, sidelining him for the rest of the 2021 season as well as 2022.

It is no secret that the Rays tend to move off their star talent early in order to maximize the value they can get in return, but the situation Glasnow is in could make for an interesting storyline for the rest of 2022 and the 2023 season. Pitchers come back from Tommy John with more success than ever before, but there is still no guarantee that the Rays right hander would return to his ace form. There has also been a bit of variance in his performance year to year as well as more injury history. Glasnow's first 200 innings of his career were more league average at best, and then showed his ace level stuff in an injury shortened season in 2019. Upon returning in 2020, Glasnow's ERA sat at 4.08 but has an elite strikeout per 9 of 14.3.

The Rays talked Glasnow deals at the 2021 trade deadline, but nothing ended up coming to fruition. Glasnow has indicated that he would love to remain in Tampa Bay, so it appears that there is at least some level of interest in a potential extension. Then again, the Rays may decide he is more valuable as a trade asset, making this an interesting crossroads for both the club and player.

Here are three potential ways the club could handle the situation with their injured star.