The Rays found enough money to tender all of their arbitration eligible players contracts. The cost, based on MLBTR’s arbitration projections, add up to approximately $31.6 million. That they were willing to do so doesn’t man they’ll keep all of them onboard, of course, it may simply indicate they believe that they can trade them. In particular, Jacob McGee has drawn a lot of trade chatter and may be the biggest trade chip the Rays have this offseason.
With catching issues plaguing the team last season, the Rays decided to send some cash over to the Astros in return for Hank Conger who we’ll examine further below.