The Rays’ Jake Fraley experiment is over.
Fraley was released after declining a minor league assignment, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times first reported that Fraley turned down the outright option, which left Tampa Bay with no path other than cutting him loose. He had been designated for assignment a few days earlier.
Because Fraley is an impending free agent and the season is nearly finished, a claim was never a serious expectation. He also has more than five years of service time, which gave him the right to refuse an outright assignment while keeping his salary situation intact.
The move sends him into the open market early, with an eye on 2027. Fraley could have accepted the assignment and stayed available to the Rays for the postseason in case of an injury elsewhere on the roster, but he chose free agency instead.
Since he already has at least six years of service time, he would have reached free agency after the season anyway. Now he can speak with all 30 teams while most players still can’t.
There is real track record here, even if this year didn’t show much of it. From 2021 through 2025, Fraley appeared in 449 games with Seattle, Cincinnati and Atlanta.
In 1,491 plate appearances, he hit .252/.339/.411, good for a 107 wRC+ - 7% better than league average. The left-handed bat has done most of its damage against righties, where he posted a .265/.349/.439 line and 116 wRC+, compared with .184/.281/.250 and a 54 wRC+ against southpaws.
Fraley has also brought speed and defensive versatility. He swiped 59 bases in 75 attempts and played all three outfield positions. Defensive Runs Saved viewed him as a little below average over that span, while Outs Above Average had him a bit above par overall.
His path to Tampa Bay started last November, when Atlanta put him on waivers. The Rays claimed him, non-tendered him and then brought him back on a $3MM deal. The bet was straightforward: a useful left-handed hitter who could handle right-handed pitching, run the bases and give them competent defense at a low cost.
That plan fell apart. Fraley missed several months after hernia surgery and never really got rolling around it, hitting .216/.289/.364 with an 83 wRC+ in 97 plate appearances.
While he was sidelined, Chandler Simpson and Víctor Mesa Jr. both broke out, and that pushed Fraley down the depth chart. Tampa Bay activated him from the injured list on September 15, then designated him for assignment five days later. The injury-heavy 2026 season will make his free-agent market trickier, but teams could still circle back and bet on a healthier bounceback in 2027.
In Other News...
Rays Clinched The AL East In The Best Possible Place
For one night at Yankee Stadium, the Rays turned a division race into a coronation. Tampa Bay beat the Yankees 6-1 to lock up the American League East, with Drew Rasmussen delivering one of the sharpest outings of the season, working 6 2/3 innings and striking out 11 while carrying a no-hitter into the seventh. Yandy Daz added the timely power with four RBIs, and the kind of complete performance that has defined this team all year ended with a celebration in the visitors' clubhouse.
The setting only made it sweeter for Tampa Bay, which has spent so much of the season chasing control of the division and finally finished the job in the most hostile of places. The Rays walked out of the Bronx with a title in hand and a loud reminder that their formula still travels, even when the stakes are as high as they can get. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Clinched The AL East Behind A Start That Changed October Expectations
A strong start from Drew Rasmussen helped push Tampa Bay into familiar territory again, with the Rays clinching the AL East in a way that underscored how much their rotation can still shape October expectations. In a season where pitching milestones were piling up around the league, from Zack Wheelers 2,000th career strikeout to Carlos Rodons 100th win, Rasmussens outing stood out as the kind of stabilizing performance Tampa Bay has long counted on when the games matter most.
For the Rays, the division title is more than another line on the standings page. It gives them a firm grip on the postseason picture and a reminder that even in a year when other clubs were grabbing attention for bullpen usage records and individual accomplishments, Tampa Bay was building its case through timely starts and steady execution. Rasmussens role in the clincher only sharpened the sense that this team can still set a different tone once October arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Let A Crucial Bronx Opportunity Slip Away Quietly
In the first game of Tuesdays doubleheader in the Bronx, the Rays got the kind of outing they usually need to cash in on a road opportunity. Nick Martinez gave them six innings and allowed just two runs, which was enough to keep Tampa Bay within reach for most of the afternoon, even with Carlos Rodon working deep into the game for the Yankees.
Cody Bellingers home run gave New York the first punch, and the Yankees never really gave the Rays a foothold from there. Tampa Bay was shut out, and a chance to make some noise in a meaningful spot slipped away quietly, leaving the rest of the day to carry a little more weight. [Read more 🡒]