Rays Shockingly Predicted To Be an Active Spender in Free Agency

Will the Tampa Bay Rays start to spend with new ownership?

Oct 7, 2021; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays general manager Erik Neander before game one of the 2021 ALDS at Tropicana Field. | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays are planning for the offseason with the World Series right around the corner. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay wasn’t able to play baseball this year, but the team is focused on bouncing back and having a better campaign in 2025. 

Even though the team finished under the .500 mark, it felt like a franchise that was much better than their record indicated. In both pitching and offensive categories, they were really in the middle of the pack in baseball and seemingly deserved some more wins. 

This winter, the team saw new ownership finally take over and there is a new level of optimism for the franchise. With finding and building a new stadium in Florida being the number one goal for the new ownership group, they are seemingly going to be letting the front office continue to run things on the baseball side. 

That is certainly good news for Tampa Bay, who have one of the best front office’s in all of baseball. However, with a new group taking over, there is also hope that they will support this front office by upping the payroll a bit. Even though that hasn’t been the way for the franchise, it could be changing. 

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the Rays being a surprise spender with new ownership taking over. 

Will the Rays Spend?

In recent years, when new ownership has taken over teams, they have generally started to spend more than the previous regime. Fans of the Rays are certainly hopeful that it will be the case for Tampa Bay. 

The Rays are a team that has operated in the bottom half of the league in terms of payroll for nearly their entire existence. However, with an excellent front office that seemingly always makes the right decision, they have been able to thrive, 

Even though Tampa Bay might spend this winter, don’t expect them to try to chase down the new owners from the New York Mets or the Los Angeles Dodgers in terms of spending. However, there are a number of good free agents available that would make sense for the team if they did look to make a move. 

Whether it be this winter or in the near future, the Rays are likely going to be seeing a spending increase. Couple that with their ability to identify and develop young talent, the franchise could really take off in this new era.