Rays AL East Rival Predicted To Sign Pete Fairbanks in Free Agency

The Tampa Bay Rays will be seeing a lot of Pete Fairbanks if this free agency prediction comes true for one of their American League East rivals.

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The Tampa Bay Rays shocked the baseball world when they announced they were not exercising the team option they held for their closer, Pete Fairbanks.

Instead of taking on their $11 million contract, the Rays decided to pay a $1 million buyout. When the news first broke, it was met with plenty of skepticism because Fairbanks was viewed as one of the best trade chips in baseball heading into the offseason.

An established closer was expected to have no shortage of suitors. Evidently, the price tag was too much, and teams weren’t willing to spend that kind of money this early in the offseason.

As a result, Tampa Bay decided to make him a free agent instead of being saddled with that amount of salary commitment. The market that was expected for him as a trade chip is now unfolding as a free agent.

Blue Jays predicted to sign Pete Fairbanks

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Plenty of contending teams are going to line up to sign Fairbanks to bolster the backend of their bullpen. Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors has predicted that it will be a familiar Rays foe who comes away with him: the Toronto Blue Jays.

Fresh off their American League pennant victory, the Blue Jays are expected to be active this offseason. They want to build off the positive momentum that was created on their run to the World Series, where they fell just short against the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic seven-game series.

The bullpen is an area Toronto is expected to look for upgrades. They relied heavily on Louis Varland, who set records for how often his number was called this past postseason.

Throughout 2025, Jeff Hoffman had his ups and downs as the closer. He has proven in the past that he is capable of producing at a high level as a high-leverage reliever, but the team could use more late-game options.

Pete Fairbanks would be great fit for Blue Jays

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Fairbanks would be a great addition to the mix, especially at the numbers his contract has been projected to be. He is expected to cost a fraction of what other top relief pitchers such as Edwin Diaz, Devin Williams and Robert Suarez will command.

Throughout his tenure with Tampa Bay, he has been incredibly consistent, producing a 2.98 ERA across 267 appearances and 256.2 innings pitched. 317 strikeouts were recorded as well.

Competition to sign him will be fierce. Injuries have been a concern throughout his career, but he was able to avoid the injured list in 2025 and turned in arguably the most productive campaign as a Big Leaguer.

The Rays would certainly prefer not to see him regularly at the end of games, pitching for an AL East rival, but the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles are both expected to be in on him, along with the Blue Jays.