Junior Caminero has forced the Rays into a kind of contract conversation they don’t get to have very often.
That was the backdrop when Tampa Bay’s 23-year-old third baseman sat down earlier this week with ESPN’s Jeff Passan and talked through a range of baseball topics, including his LIDOM Game 7 home run heard around the world and his thoughts on Cleveland trading him. The discussion eventually turned to labor negotiations and the looming lockout, with Passan laying out the money Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. landed on their mega deals and framing Caminero as the next young star in that lane.
Passan also explained how much players stand to lose if a salary cap arrives, and Caminero acknowledged that his contract potential is right there with Soto and Vladdy.
That’s the reality now for Tampa Bay. Caminero isn’t a mystery prospect anymore, and he’s not just a promising young bat either.
He’s a national sensation who has been ripping through MLB records at a ridiculous pace for someone his age, whether that means setting home run marks for players 23 or younger or mashing seven homers in six games. He’s also become the Rays’ clear franchise centerpiece and the WAR leader on the AL’s best team at the All-Star Break.
All of that comes with a price tag the Rays will have to confront if they want to keep him for the next decade.
Tampa Bay has long made a habit of locking up its own stars. Evan Longoria signed multiple extensions there, and so did Kevin Kiermaier and Chris Archer. That’s been part of the Rays’ identity: identify the talent, develop it, and keep it before it reaches the market.
But Caminero puts them in a different spot. He’s past the prospect phase that once made him easier to tuck away, and he’s now operating in a tier where a team-friendly bargain is no longer the obvious path. At the same time, the Rays’ budget may not allow them to commit that heavily to one player.
Extensions usually happen at one of three stages. Some players, like Colt Emerson of the Seattle Mariners, get paid before they’ve even played a major league game, which usually gives the club the friendliest deal.
Others, like JJ Wetherholt, sign after debuting and giving the team enough proof to open the checkbook. Then there’s the Guerrero Jr. route, where a team waits until the edge of free agency and tries to keep the star from ever reaching the open market.
Caminero is in between those lanes, and that’s what makes this so tricky. Tampa Bay can’t lowball him now, not with the kind of superstar status he’s already built. But the Rays also may not be built to meet the kind of number his rise suggests.
For now, his future in Tampa Bay still includes more chances to deliver those defining moments. Long term, though, the fit looks far less certain.
In Other News...
Junior Caminero Shares What Is Fueling The Rays' First-Place Push
The Rays have spent much of the season looking like a team that knows exactly who it is, and Junior Caminero says the answer starts in the clubhouse. Tampa Bays first-place push has been built on more than timely hitting and pitching, with Caminero pointing to the way the group has stayed connected and the leadership that has helped keep everything moving in the same direction.
Caminero has also been doing his part on the field, hitting .279 with 28 homers and 59 RBIs in 94 games, and he carried that momentum into the break after taking part in the Home Run Derby. Now the Rays turn back to the standings and a series against the Red Sox, with the clubhouse tone and the steady presence of several veterans still shaping how this stretch feels for a team trying to protect its lead. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Fans Still Cant Believe How Yordan Alvarez Ended Up In Houston
A lot of the All-Star conversation this week has centered on how far some of these players have come, and Yordan Alvarez remains one of the best examples. The Astros slugger has become a centerpiece in Houston after arriving through a transaction that now looks like one of the most lopsided deals in recent memory, the kind of move that still makes rival fan bases shake their heads when the midsummer showcase rolls around.
The broader point is hard to miss: plenty of the games biggest names did not start their careers where they are starring now. Whether it is a pitcher who found another level after changing organizations or a hitter who blossomed after a new opportunity, the All-Star stage keeps reminding teams that talent can be hidden in plain sight. For Houston, Alvarez is the reminder that one misread can change a franchises trajectory for years. [Read more 🡒]