Top 5 biggest agreements for the Tampa Bay Rays on Arbitration Day

4. Aaron Civale - $4.09 million

Civale will be ready for Year 2 in Tampa Bay after coming to the team in a trade at the 2023 deadline with the Cleveland Guardians. He was added to a starting rotation that needed reinforcement with many pitchers out, and the results the Rays got were pretty promising for a full and productive 2024. 

In 45.1 innings, he put up a 5.36 ERA with a high 58 strikeouts. This is the same amount as he had last year with Cleveland, but he pitched 30 more innings with them. The higher strikeouts came from a good chase rate of 30% ,which is characteristic of other Rays pitchers. He also is a heavy breaking ball pitcher with a lot of curves and cutters. He did not walk a lot of batters in St. Pete either (11).

Civale's return is big for a Tampa Bay rotation that will still suffer from injuries at least at the start of 2024. He is set to be one of the main starters.