3 Options Tampa Bay Has with Tyler Glasnow

Option 1: Extend Tyler Glasnow

The thought of extending a star talent seems like a no-brainer for most teams that are perennial contenders, unless you're the Rays. Tampa Bay tends to tighten their payroll as much as possible, deal away talent in need of new deals, and roll the dice on their young guys. It has worked year in and year out, but there are always exceptions to any rule. Just look at shortstop Wander Franco.

Franco signed a team-record extension with the club this last offseason of 11 years, $182 million with incentives and options to bump that to 12 years, $223 million. Money was clearly left on the table for Franco, but the player and club were willing to bend on their best interests to make a deal work right now. A similar situation could work out with Glasnow.

It is hard to speculate exact numbers, but an extension in the realm of 4 years, $60 million could be a good foundation of a deal for both sides. Glasnow would receive some security over the next few years and peace of mind coming off of a major injury, while the club would be able to retain one of the highest ceiling pitchers in baseball to have a rotation that features the likes of Shane McClanahan, Shane Baz, Luis Patino, and others. The three headed monster of Glasnow, McClanahan, and Baz could easily be the best trio of starters in baseball over the length of Glasnow's deal. Having this kind of depth in their rotation as well allows the club to take a risk on Glasnow, knowing that underperformance or injury can be covered internally.

It may be a tough sell to the club to invest that much of their payroll into a player coming off of injury at a position of strength, and Glasnow may rather roll the dice over the next few seasons to see if he can hit it big in free agency. This kind of extension does appear extremely beneficial for both sides though and would be a wise option of the Rays want to dominate with their pitching going forward.