MLB Insider Believes Rays' Pete Fairbanks Will Receive Multi-Year Deal

Will Tampa Bay Rays' free agent Pete Fairbanks get a multi-year deal?

Sep 17, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Pete Fairbanks (29) throws a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays in the ninth inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays are heading into the holiday season with still several needs to address. Recently, one of their free agents has remained the top option at his position. 

It has been a busy winter for the Rays so far, with the team making a number of moves to try to position themselves for success in 2025. This is a franchise that is hoping to get back into the playoff hunt in 2026, but that will be a tall task. The American League East is once again looking strong. Beating the defending ALCS champions, the Blue Jays, will not be easy, but Tampa Bay has continuously operated well despite payroll challenges. 

Unfortunately, those payroll challenges likely played a factor in the team electing not to pick up the team option on their star closer, Pete Fairbanks. Even though he was projected to be a top trade candidate, the team elected to let him go to free agency. Now, his market appears to be strong, and he is likely to receive a good contract.

Jeff Passan of ESPN recently wrote about the talented former closer of the Rays, likely to receive a multi-year deal well over the $11 million option that Tampa Bay declined. 

Fairbanks Is the Top Option Left

Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

With a flurry of relief pitchers signing this winter, Fairbanks is the top one remaining, and his market continues to be strong. Following the Rays electing not to pick up his team option, there was some intrigue about what his value on the open market was going to be. 

So far, he has numerous suitors, and his market appears to be very strong. It would be shocking at this point, based on what other relief pitchers have received, that he doesn’t get a multi-year deal worth at least $10 million annually. 

For Tampa Bay, the decision not to exercise the option on him was puzzling at the time, and how his market has developed has increasingly made it look like the wrong decision. Coming off a year in which he saved 27 games and had a 2.83 ERA, there is plenty to like about what the right-hander can do out of the bullpen. 

Furthermore, while he would likely want to continue to be a closer, if an elite contender comes around and the money is right, he could also be used as a high-leverage option out of the bullpen.