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

Major League Baseball had its big arbitration day in which the team and players agreed on numbers for contracts ahead of the 2024 season. Going into the day, Tampa Bay had 10 arbitration players and was able to come to agreements with eight of those, leading to a successful day with lots of big-time players setting their salaries. Here are the top five names that are coming back to the Rays without any financial issues. As for the other two? Best of luck in the courtroom, and no hard feelings.

5. Shawn Armstrong - $2.05 million

The first name on the list is Shawn Armstrong. The 33-year-old right-hander will come back to St. Pete as arguably one of the best arms out of the bullpen. He comes off of an astounding 2023 season with a 1.39 ERA in 52 innings pitched.

The impressive stuff about Armstrong is how often he gets opposing batters to chase out of the zone. His percentage stayed high from 2022 at 34%, which is the 96th percentile of the MLB. This led to 54 strikeouts, which was efficient for the number of innings he pitched.

If he continues to play like he has the past few years, expect Armstrong to continue to be one of the highly used players in the bullpen.

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.

2. Shane McClanahan - $7.2 million

McClanahan is solidified now as the heart and soul of the Rays pitching unit. The arbitration agreement to keep him in Tampa Bay is big in the team keeping their Cy Young-contending ace satisfied while he rehabs through injury. When healthy, the former All-Star features some of the best breaking ball action in the game, and mainly relies on a high-80 mph changeup. 

On August 4 of this season, McClanahan went on the 15-day injured list with forearm tightness. This injury escalated into the lefty needing his second Tommy John surgery and it ended his season.

It is expected that he will not be back until 2025. But, a portion of the agreement says that $120,000 could be made for each start he has in 2024. That money will be added to his salary in 2025. This creates an incentive for McClanahan to possibly make some starts later in the year. Regardless, Tampa Bay will keep tabs on one of the best pitchers in baseball as he continues his road to recovery.

1. Randy Arozarena - $8.1 million

After rumors that Arozarena was being traded were circling all offseason, the Rays have now set his value. Will they be willing to swallow an $8.4 million salary? This might be the final year the Rays hold onto Arozarena, but it'll be a big one. The biggest thing Arozarena improved last year was his walk total (80 total) while keeping his strikeouts from increasing.

Arozarena's batting average dipped a little to .254, but he put up the most home runs of any season and had 80+ RBI, showing his run-scoring ability for Tampa Bay (scoring 95, the most of his career in any season).

Hopefully, this agreement helps the Rays maintain an ever-improving hitter with discipline as he comes off of an All-Star season while decreasing animosity. His home run ball and base-running are also getting noticeably better, helping his stardom shine as the centerpiece to a team that thrives off of small ball.