The catching position has long been the weak link in Tampa Bay, and the Rays at least considered making a big move to strengthen the position this winter. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Tampa has expressed interest in signing him JT Realmuto before Realmuto re-signed with the Phillies yesterday for three years and $45MM.
The Rays rarely make big deals on the free agent market, and it was widely assumed that Realmuto would eventually return to Philadelphia. Aside from these two points, however, it makes sense why the Rays would look to Realmuto, given their needs behind the plate and the fact that Realmuto remained on the open market until mid-January. Had the Phillies successfully signed Bo Bichettefor example, Realmuto’s chances of meeting are likely slim, leaving the door open for the Rays (or another team in need of a catcher) to sneak in an offer.
Zach EflinThe three-year, $40MM contract through the 2022-23 offseason represents the largest contract the Rays have ever offered to a free agent. This isn’t far below what Realmuto got from the Phillies, and if Philadelphia had gotten out of the Realmuto market entirely, there would have been a chance the Rays would have made a similar offer, or perhaps the same annual value on a two-year contract. In fact, MLB Trade rumors revealed a two-year, $30MM deal for Realmuto, but the Phils ended up adding a third year at the same annual rate of $15MM.
Besides the Phillies, the Red Sox are the only other team known to be interested in Realmuto this winter. Rangers have been the target of speculation, but reports have indicated that the club’s limited budget will not allow it. Among other contenders or would-be contenders, the Giants, Reds, Pirates, or Marlins might have made sense, but there was no indication that any of these clubs (many of them operating under reduced salaries) made any push for Realmuto.
As usual in Tampa Bay, there was a lot of shuffling in the offseason, expensive players were released and other players were brought in to fill holes on the cheap. Steven Matz, Cedric Mullinsagain Jake Fraley they were all signed for a combined $25MM, so the Rays added three players for more than the $22.5MM they were owed. Brandon Lowe again Pete Fairbanks if these two were caught. The result is a payroll that will likely look very similar to last year — RosterResource estimates the Rays’ 2026 payroll at around $80.1MM, compared to their $78.9MM salary from 2025.
Signing Realmuto would likely cause the Rays to drop another prominent salary in order to balance the numbers. Losing someone like him Yandi Diaz adding Realmuto may not have been an acceptable tradeoff for Tampa’s roster, but with Diaz entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, perhaps that’s a move the Rays could be open to making to finally land a catcher spot.
President of baseball operations Erik Neander said in November that the Rays were open-minded about the catchers, saying “if we can find a way to get better at that position, we will, but those two guys [Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia] we appreciate it. If we go into next year and that’s where we are – a lot of players, we’re counting on the development where they are, and that applies to those two and [we] think they can give us more than they did this year.”
Fortes and Feduccia are currently ranked as the top two catchers for the Rays, with Logan Driscoll and a non-scheduled invitation Blake Sabol as the only other back in the organization with any sense of MLB. In a sign of how the position has become a revolving door for the Rays, Fortes and Feduccia have each been with a team since July, as the duo was acquired respectively from the Marlins and Dodgers at the trade deadline.
Fortes is a starting gloveman who hit just .224/.280/.345 over 1174 plate appearances in the majors. Feduccia also didn’t make it to the Show but in a limited sample of 119 PAs, with 102 of those trips to the plate coming after a trade from Los Angeles. Officially a well-regarded prospect in LA’s farm system, Feduccia has solid Triple-A numbers and could be a viable hitter, even though he’s already 28 years old.
With Realmuto back in Philadelphia again Victor Caratini now signed by the Twins, the top two options on the free agent market immediately left the board in a 24-hour period. Instead of sifting through other free agents who may not represent a clear upgrade, the Rays appear to be opting to seek trade help, as Rosenthal writes. The pickings are slim here as well, but teams like the Royals, Cardinals, or Pirates likely have enough depth available to match Tampa Bay as trade partners.
