TAMPA, Fla. -- For all they know they must improve after this year’s 80-82 finish, the Rays ended the season feeling good about the young bullpen arms that emerged down the stretch.
As the Rays produced the Majors’ third-best bullpen ERA in the second half, relievers like Edwin Uceta, Manuel Rodríguez and Kevin Kelly stepped into key roles. Drew Rasmussen looked electric in his return from elbow surgery. Right-hander Hunter Bigge and lefty Mason Montgomery emerged as hard-throwing arms to watch.
That depth will force the Rays to make some tough decisions in the bullpen, and they made one Friday night with left-hander Colin Poche.
The Rays non-tendered Poche along with three other arbitration-eligible players: left-hander Tyler Alexander, outfielder Dylan Carlson and lefty reliever Richard Lovelady, who was designated for assignment on Tuesday.
“Just decided that we needed to create a little more space and flexibility for some of those that showed up late in the year and looked really strong,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said. “Just having a little space to have a little more roster flexibility to handle all this year might throw at us that is different than what we’ve been accustomed to, playing home games without disruption.”
The Rays tendered contracts for next season to all their other unsigned players, including six arbitration-eligible players: starters Zack Littell and Shane Baz, right-hander Drew Rasmussen, shortstop Taylor Walls, lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger and catcher Ben Rortvedt.
The deadline for clubs and eligible players to exchange arbitration figures is Jan. 9. Tampa Bay previously signed arb-eligible reliever Cole Sulser to a split contract for 2025 and traded arb-eligible center fielder Jose Siri to the Mets for rookie reliever Eric Orze.
Poche, who earned $2.375 million this year, was set to become a free agent after next season. The 30-year-old has seen his strikeout rate (and the velocity on his bread-and-butter “rising” fastball) drop each year since 2022, when he returned from the Tommy John surgery that cost him two seasons.
Poche missed more than a month early this year due to mid-back tightness and two weeks in September due to left shoulder inflammation. Cleavinger gives the Rays an experienced left-handed option out of the bullpen, and the ascendant Montgomery -- who struck out 17 of the 37 batters he faced in a dominant September stint -- looks like a future high-leverage reliever.
Poche put together a 3.86 ERA with two saves in 37 1/3 innings over 43 appearances this year, following an excellent 2023 campaign in which he racked up 12 wins with a 2.23 ERA in 66 outings. His 81 career holds rank third in franchise history behind Joel Peralta (115) and Jake McGee (84), and his 225 career appearances rank eighth.
“Po’s wonderful. This whole group, but Po’s somebody that’s been with us a long time, has had a lot of success,” Neander said. “Behind the scenes, as steady as they come, as professional as they come. Elite work ethic. Just an all-around elite human being. It’s tough.”
Claimed off waivers from the Tigers last offseason, Alexander had some strong outings but ultimately posted a 5.10 ERA in 107 2/3 innings over 23 outings, including nine starts. He turned out to be necessary depth -- Neander said he “played a really valuable role for us and got better as the season went along” -- as the Rays battled through pitching injuries for much of the season.
Like Poche, Alexander (who earned $1.95 million this year) was set to become a free agent after next season. But Alexander is out of Minor League options, which would limit the Rays’ maneuverability. And the Rays just added Ian Seymour and Joe Rock to their 40-man roster, which also includes Jacob Lopez, giving them three left-handed depth options who finished the season in Triple-A.
Tampa Bay designated Lovelady for assignment on Tuesday to make room on the 40-man roster for switch-hitting outfielder Jake Mangum. Non-tendering the lefty officially made him a free agent.
Once a highly touted prospect, Carlson seemed like an ideal change-of-scenery candidate when the Rays acquired him from the Cardinals for reliever Shawn Armstrong prior to the Trade Deadline. But the switch-hitting outfielder never got on track, hitting .219/.299/.316 with three homers, 14 RBIs and 38 strikeouts in 127 plate appearances for Tampa Bay.
The Rays seem poised to move forward with Jonny DeLuca in center field, Josh Lowe in right and Richie Palacios or Christopher Morel in left field. The outfield also stands out as an area where they could add a bat this offseason.