Outfielder's Time With Rays 'Likely Coming to a Close' As Non-Tender Candidate

The Tampa Bay Rays could have an opening in their outfield if a prediction for one of their starters comes to fruition.

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The Tampa Bay Rays are going to make a concerted effort this offseason to improve their outfield. This past season, that positional group left a lot to be desired.

It was encouraging to see the positive impacts made by rookies Chandler Simpson and Jake Mangum. The Rays’ front office is confident they can coexist in the same outfield despite some overlapping in their skill sets as speedy contact hitters who don’t offer much power.

Those two aren’t going anywhere. Decisions will have to be made on two of their other prominent players out in the grass: Josh Lowe and Christopher Morel.

Both are arbitration-eligible this offseason, but that doesn’t guarantee they will be back in the fold. In Morel’s case, he could very well be looking for a new team to join.

Christopher Morel predicted to be non-tendered by Rays

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Johnbitzer of MLB Trade Values believes that his time with Tampa Bay is going to come to an end in a few weeks. Morel was listed on the tier of “Veterans getting too expensive relative to their production” in his piece about non-tender candidates.

“Christopher Morel’s time in Tampa Bay is likely coming to a close, as the Rays seem unlikely to pay $2.8M for a guy who is coming off two consecutive negative-fWAR seasons,” he wrote.

There was some improvement in his production in 2025 compared to what he did after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline. His OPS+ was a 90 this past year.

Morel provided a little bit of pop, hitting 11 home runs with 16 doubles in 305 plate appearances. He had a .219/.289/.396 slash line, but he hasn’t had much of a positive impact in any facet of the game for the Rays.

Christopher Morel has provided Rays with underwhelming production

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Morel swings hard and makes loud contact, but they aren’t translating to positive results. His bat speed, hard-hit rate, average exit velocity and barrel rate are all well above the league average, but his overall numbers are still underwhelming.

A -4 was recorded for Defensive Runs Saved. While he didn’t qualify for Baseball Savant leaderboards, his -6 Fielding Run Value was well below average. His Outs Above Average of -5 is also far from ideal.

The only area of the game where he had a positive impact was on the basepaths. His +1 Baserunning Run Value was above average. As is his 28.0 mph sprint speed.

Projected to make $2.8 million in arbitration, that isn’t a massive number to have on a payroll. But, for a franchise as frugal as Tampa Bay, those are funds that could be better spent elsewhere on the roster.