It’s no secret that the Tampa Bay Rays have several pitchers-of-interest this offseason. On Tuesday night we learned of new developments heading into the Winter Meetings.
The Rays must make a decision on who they are as an organization. Certainly, the team would like to contend in 2018, however, given the foundation of the American League East that may be tough to do.
Unless of course they go into a complete rebuild.
Earlier this month, Marc Topkin commented how every player on the roster was “in play” when it comes to possible trades this winter.
Alex Colome was the first name to pop up in trade rumors when the St Louis Cardinals expressed an interest in the MLB-saves leader (47), entering his age-29 season.
On Tuesday night we learned that Jake Odorizzi has received interest from the Minnesota Twins.
#mntwins have talked with #Pirates about RHP Gerrit Cole and #Rays about RHP Jake Odorizzi. Both come with 2 years of control and shouldn’t break the bank via arbitration process. 2018 projections are $7.5M and $6.5M, respectively.
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) November 22, 2017
Coming off of, arguably, the worst season of his career, its unknown what the return would be for the 4-year starter in Tampa Bay. After finishing eighth in ROY voting in 2014, posting 11 wins, Odorizzi has yet to surpass that win total.
Even though his 2017 campaign was marred by injury – and a propensity to serve-up the long ball -Odorizzi comes with two years of control. MLB Trade Rumors projects Odorizzi to earn $6.5MM in 2018. Couple that with an extra year of control and its no surprise that the Twins are interested.
In fact, look for several other teams to try to buy-low on the right-hander. The Milwaukee Brewers won 86 games last year and if they decide that names like Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish are too rich for them, Odorizzi could be a fit.
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