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ST. PETERSBURG — When Tyler Glasnow signed a two-year extension with the Rays in August 2022, that effectively silenced any trade rumors that might have followed the big right-hander into the following offseason. The deal pushed back Glasnow’s free agency by a year and left no doubt he would return to Tampa Bay last season.
“The most important thing to me”, Glasgow said at the time“It’s the relief of knowing that I’m exactly where I want to be.”
How much longer will this be the case?
With the offseason underway, Glasnow is already being mentioned as a potential trade candidate, the kind of ace that fans of teams in need of pitching can and will dream of. The reason is simple: He’s set to make a record $25 million for 2024, his final season before hitting free agency, and he plays for the Rays.
Tampa Bay has never committed so much money to a player for a season. Glasnow’s salary is a big reason why the Rays’ projected payroll for next season is somewhere in the $120 million range, territory they’ve never reached before.
President of baseball operations Erik Neander said during the Rays’ end-of-season press conference that he was “reasonably confident” they could increase their payroll “if we think that’s the best path to win a World Series. However, if that’s not the path they choose, they’ll likely have to part ways with higher-paid veterans.
They could cut salaries here and there by dealing, among others, outfielder Manuel Margot and DH Harold Ramírez. But the quickest way to reduce payroll would be to trade Glasnow for younger, cost-controlled talent.
Glasnow made no secret that he wanted to stay with the Rays, before signing his extension for a recent appearance of “Foul Territory” when he said Tampa Bay was the “no” 1 place I want to be. (He even bought a house in Tampa.) But can the Rays build the kind of competitive team they want with just one player earning that much money?
“It’s all about the impact that a player produces – measured, and a lot of other things that you can’t measure as well,” Neander told MLB.com’s Juan Toribio earlier this week during the managers’ meetings. generals in Scottsdale, Arizona. everything about Glas, including his affection for the organization and for being here. … It was an extension (two years for $30 million); we’ve already done two for 30 deals, and pretty well. We’ll see where this leads.
“In any given year, our team may be a little different on opening day than it was when we finished the previous season. But I really, really enjoy it. We are grateful to have it. We’ll take it from here. He’s a good person to have on your side. We know that.”
This is essentially the argument for keeping Glasnow. When healthy and effective, he’s a legitimate starter at the top of the rotation — the kind of pitcher who would get $25 million a year as a free agent without anyone thinking twice. This hasn’t always manifested itself consistently due to injuries, but look no further to see what he’s capable of. debuts in 2021 or the the stretch he had this summer.
The Rays need elite-level performances like that heading into next season, and it’s worth noting that they showed a willingness to pay the price for that kind of player with their contract offer to Freddie Freeman before the season 2022. They know they will be without All-Star ace Shane McClanahan all year after he underwent Tommy John surgery. Their rotation won’t include Jeffrey Springs until at least midseason, and the return of Drew Rasmussen could come after that.
Aside from Glasnow, that leaves them a combination of Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale, Zack Littell, Taj Bradley and perhaps a limited workload Shane Baz to start the season, with little proven depth behind them.
For this reason, Neander noted during general manager meetings that pitching could be a need for the Rays this winter. Obviously, they would have to add even more pitching if they traded Glasnow.
“I think with some of the injuries we’ve had, some players will come back sooner. We will have a few weapons returning mid-season. We have to get a little creative in how we put this together,” Neander told Toribio. “It’s safe to say that adding pitch is always a good idea. This year is no exception.
