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4 Rays players that won't be back in 2024
The Rays could see some pretty big changes to their roster when the 2024 season opens up.
After failing to catch the Orioles in the AL East at the end of the regular season, the Tampa Bay Rays saw their 2023 playoff run come to a premature end at the hands of the red hot Rangers in the wild card round. Despite all of the talent on the Rays' roster, they were simply outplayed in the series in every way. Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap.
There was still a lot to like about the Rays' 2023 season. Despite being one of the most payroll-limited teams in the entire league, Rays yet again fielded one of the best teams in the league in route to winning 99 games. It wasn't always easy especially with all the injuries they had to deal with with their pitching staff, but Tampa got the job done thanks to having one of the most talented young rosters in all of baseball. That does not mean that fans shouldn't expect some changes this offseason, though.
Here are 4 Rays players that probably won't be coming back for the 2024 season
The Rays mostly feature a ton of arbitration eligible and pre-arb players on their roster, so they don't have to deal with a ton of guys leaving in free agency or guys that are set to get really expensive going into next season although Randy Arozarena, Aaron Civale, and Harold Ramirez aren't going to be cheap in arbitration, either. However, they do have a handful of pending free agents as well as one very notable outlier case that could be heading elsewhere (or at least out of action) next season.
Let's take a look at some of the Rays players that may not be coming back in 2024.
Raimel Tapia
For all the talent on the Rays' roster, Raimel Tapia doesn't move the needle very much. He had some pretty nice seasons when he was with the Rockies, but his 2023 season left a lot to be desired with a .655 OPS as he hopped around the league with the Red Sox, Brewers, and Rays. He did put together a decent few games with Tampa, but the bulk of this season wasn't the best.
The problem with keeping Tapia is that the Rays only brought him in to deal with the freak injury to Luke Raley suffered in mid-September. Assuming Raley is fully healthy, the Rays have a lot of outfielders in the fold right now with Jose Siri, Randy Arozarena, Manuel Margot, Josh Lowe, and Raley around. Tapia is likely to want more than just the big league minimum to come back and Tampa just...doesn't need him.
At the end of the day, the juice has to be worth the squeeze. Tapia isn't an uninteresting player, but he also is a guy who is likely to remain a hitter who posts an OPS around .700 who brings little to no power or impact to the table. He would make sense on a really cheap deal maybe, but it seems more likely that the Rays just move on without him.
Jake Diekman
The Rays' ability to evaluate players and find ways to extract the most value out of them is unparalleled and Jake Diekman is no exception. Diekman was coming off a brutal start to the 2023 with the White Sox where he posted a 7.94 ERA before getting released in May. The Rays saw something left in Diekman, though, and picked him up a few days after he was released.
Diekman rewarded Tampa's faith in him with 50 appearances and a 2.18 ERA during his time with the Rays in 2023. While the walks were a little spooky at times, he missed bats and proved to be one of the highlights of the Rays' bullpen this season.
All of that sounds like good reasons to keep a guy around, right? Well, unfortunately, Diekman is hitting free agency and has probably priced himself out of Tampa's comfort zone. The Rays have shown some slight willingness to lock up their younger guys for real money, but paying a 36 year old walk-prone reliever coming off a career year has never been how they do things. He will be missed and his service is appreciated, but Diekman seems as good as gone.
Chris Devenski
On the other side of the reliever coin is Chris Devenski who didn't have nearly the track record with Tampa that Diekman did. The Rays signed him to a major league deal late in the season (not completely unlike Tapia) after the Angels released him following their failed playoff push. Devenski had been pretty meh this season on the west coast with a 5.08 ERA in 29 appearances for the Angels.
Devenski's time with the Rays did go better with a 2.08 ERA although the sample size of nine appearances is really, really small to the point where one shouldn't draw too many conclusions. A nice pickup by Tampa Bay for sure, but Devenski's track record the last five years is hard to ignore.
Devenski is another reliever set to hit free agency and another guy that the Rays could probably live without. Everything about his pitching profile other than his admittedly strong walk rate just isn't all that exciting. His strikeout rate is fine, but he gives up a lot of hard contact and his success lives and dies with how well hitters are seeing his fastball in any given outing. If he is looking to parlay his short, but successful stint with the Rays into a decent payday, they should pass.
Wander Franco
This is a really, really tough one because no one really knows what is going to happen with Wander Franco. Wander was having a tremendous season on the field in 2023 and was on the periphery of the AL MVP discussion, but then allegations that Wander had relationships with underage girls came out which resulted in the Dominican Republic and MLB launching investigations into Franco's conduct.
Ever since he was placed on administrative leave in August, Franco's future both with the Rays and in MLB has looked decidedly murky. He absolutely deserves to be able to prove his innocence and the lack of details available to the public should mean that everyone needs to wait until the results of the various investigations come out before grabbing pitchforks. However, these are serious allegations and they could absolutely result in severe sanctions if they are found to be true.
Investigations like these take a long time especially when one is dealing with people in another country. It is probable that we will learn more sometime this offseason and if Wander is cleared, he will likely be wearing a Rays uniform sometime next season especially if MLB doesn't find anything unseemly. However, the Rays certainly aren't going to bet their season on that happening and with Junior Caminero in the big leagues, planning for a 2024 season without Wander Franco around seems like the safest course of action.