Rays Pitcher Projected To More Than Double $1.45 Million Salary in Arbitration

A huge raise has been projected for a Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher this winter in arbitration.

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This winter is going to be a very busy one for the Tampa Bay Rays when it comes to potential arbitration cases.

There isn’t a team in baseball that has more arbitration-eligible players than the Rays. They have 17 currently, which means there will be a lot of negotiating between the team and players on the roster.

One of the players who is eligible for a raise via arbitration is starting pitcher Shane Baz. Originally acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates as the player to be named later, along with Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow, in the Chris Archer blockbuster, he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations yet.

Injuries have been the story of his MLB career to this point, missing the entire 2024 campaign. He was able to get on the mound for 14 starts in 2024, giving him 23 as a Big Leaguer.

How much is Shane Baz projected to make in arbitration?

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Baz was able to more than double that number in 2025 alone, finally getting in a fully healthy campaign. That is as much of a reason as any that he is in line for a massive raise this winter in arbitration.

As shared by MLB Trade Rumors, Baz has 3.158 years of service time. After earning $1.45 million in 2025, he is set to more than double that amount in 2026. Projections have him earning a $3.1 million contract.

That is the fourth-highest projection amongst all arbitration-eligible Tampa Bay players. Only starting pitchers Ryan Pepiot and Shane McClanahan and relief pitcher Griffin Jax are projected for more. Pepiot is the highest at $3.7 million, with McClanahan and Jax tying at $3.6 million.

The Rays would love for all four of those players to be the anchors of their pitching staff for years to come. Baz certainly has the talent to be a front-end starter, which he flashed at points this past campaign as he continued knocking off rust from being sidelined for so long.

Shane Baz has the potential to be front end starter

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Staying healthy was a major accomplishment for him, making 31 starts. He threw 166.1 innings with a 4.87 ERA to go along with 176 strikeouts. A 0.4 bWAR was produced, and some of his underlying metrics suggest he pitched better than the numbers suggest.

Opponents didn’t hit him too hard with an average exit velocity of 88.8 mph and a hard-hit rate of 39.4% which is just above the league average. Baz throws the ball hard, and most of his Baseball Savant page is slightly above-average.

Only 26 years old, there is still plenty of time for him to develop and reach the expectations placed on him as a former first-round pick. Another year removed from the injury, big things could be on the horizon in 2026 now that he has proven capable of staying healthy.