With the Rays Surging, Will They Still Trade Any Veterans?

Last year didn’t look anything like the seasons that the Tampa Bay Rays are used to. The team was as mediocre as could be, hovering around the .500 mark from the beginning of the season to the end.

The result was a fourth-place finish in the AL East, their worst placement since the 2016 season. They also finished six games shy of a playoff spot, breaking a five-year streak of reaching the postseason.

The Rays got off to a bit of a slow start this season as they sat 14-16 to end the month of April. One wondered whether they made the proper adjustments to get back on track in 2025.

It didn’t take long to stop wondering. The team righted the ship with a 16-12 record in the month of May and have been one of the most blisteringly hot teams in the league in June at 17-9 so far.

Actually scoring runs certainly helps. The Rays were awful at the plate last year, producing offense at a rate of just 3.73 runs per game, which was second to last in the league ahead of just the pitiful White Sox.

It’s been a completely different story in 2025. Tampa has bumped up to 4.80 runs per game, which is the third-best offense in the AL and sixth-best in MLB.

Unsurprisingly, the Rays’ pitching has been as effective as always. Their 3.71 ERA is good for sixth in the AL and ninth in MLB.

For now, this all has the Rays comfortably in the driver’s seat when it comes to a return to the playoffs. At 47-37, they are just 1.5 games behind the Yankees for the AL East lead and hold the top AL wild-card spot by 1.5 games as well.

Soon, the calendar will turn to July, and after the festivities of the All-Star Game in Atlanta and MLB Draft, all eyes will turn toward the trade deadline. Most teams in Tampa’s spot would be considered clear deadline “buyers.”

But the Rays don’t operate like most teams. Even when they are in playoff contention, they haven’t been afraid to make moves that include trading top performers if it will help their future state while allowing them to still compete in the present.

Last year alone, the Rays traded away Randy Arozarena, Isaac Paredes, Jose Siri, Aaron Civale, and Jeffrey Springs. All four players had varying years of control remaining when they were traded.

The year before that, talented but oft-injured pitcher Tyler Glasnow was shipped out during the offseason. In 2022, Austin Meadows was traded right as the season was started and in 2021, Willy Adames was traded away before the season even hit June.

There’s no doubt that the Rays will do everything they can to ensure that they start a new playoff streak by the time this regular season is over. Still, there are a few veterans they could look to move with an eye to the future as well.

Stats were taken prior to play on June 30.

Which Veterans Could Be on the Move?

Zack Littell, SP

Littell is somewhat of an unsung hero for the Rays. He doesn’t get as much credit as some of the other starters on the team, but all he has done since arriving in Tampa is pitch to the tune of a 3.70 ERA in 72 games (60 starts).

This year might be his finest as a starter yet. Through 17 games, he has a 3.61 ERA and is leading the league at just 1.1 walks per nine innings, which would be the lowest mark of his career.

He has plenty of motivation to be pitching at his peak. Littell is due to become a major-league free agent for the first time this offseason and is hoping to earn a contract for 2026 and beyond.

That also means motivation for the Rays to move him and get something in return before he likely walks after the season. It may be one of the more obvious moves in the league considering what Tampa has in the pipeline.

The Rays have been great at churning out talented, young pitchers and they have two more at Triple-A Durham ready to deploy when they feel like it. Joe Boyle (1.85 ERA) and Ian Seymour (2.69 ERA) are killing it this year and are likely to get a shot at the rotation next year anyway.

Should Tampa move on from Littell, they wouldn’t miss a beat.

Yandy Díaz, DH

It feels like whenever trade rumors are brought up, whether during or after the season, Díaz’s name is found somewhere amongst them. Now, with the trade deadline almost a month away, here we are again.

Díaz, who has been playing at DH for most of the year, has had another good year at the plate in 2025 with a .291 average and 130 wRC+ in 78 games. He’d be an attractive candidate for any team in need of offense.

Tampa has more bandwidth to move Díaz this year as opposed to last year. Only four Rays players who played in over 100 games had a wRC+ over 100 and two of them (Arozarena, Paredes) were traded. They wouldn’t have had much firepower left if they’d traded Díaz too.

Things look much different here in 2025. As mentioned earlier, the Rays have one of the top offenses in the league and are better equipped to sustain the loss of a player like Díaz.

Like Littell, Díaz was likely to become a free agent after the season. He has a conditional club option for next year that could vest at $13 million. Entering his age-35 season and with replacement options on the roster, it would be shocking to see the Rays pick that up.

Even at his age, though, a possible $13 million contract for the year for that type of production could be doable for a team with more financial resources. Regardless, even as a rental, Díaz would be an appealing bat for offense-needy teams at the deadline.

Pete Fairbanks, RP

While the aforementioned Littell has been one of the most consistent arms on the rotation side of the Rays pitching staff, Fairbanks has been his equal in the bullpen the last few years. And he’s done it in the most intense of situations.

Since arriving in Tampa back in 2019, Fairbanks has gone 19-18 with a 2.89 ERA, a 1.179 WHIP, and an 11.9 K/9 over 246 games. In the last three years, he’s been working as the team’s closer.

Fairbanks has 78 saves over his Rays career with 63 of them coming over just the last two and a half seasons. He’s blown 10 saves over those two and a half seasons as well, but Tampa is 102-25 over that span in any game in which he has pitched.

The Rays have a very affordable $7 million club option for the last year of Fairbanks’ contract in 2026. But considering he’s entering his age-32 season, the fact that they seemingly can produce new relievers as needed, and knowing how volatile relievers can be, moving him seems more likely.

Relievers with closing experience are always hot commodities at the trade deadline, whether a team needs a replacement closer or just another high-leverage arm. Fairbanks could slide into either role with ease.

Brandon Lowe, 2B

For years, the Rays have had one of the more talented infielders in the AL in Lowe. But while his numbers have been pretty consistently good, his time on the field has not.

Ever since having his 2019 All-Star season cut short due to injury, Lowe has struggled with injuries. He played full seasons in 2020 and 2021 but hasn’t played in more than 109 games in any other season of his career.

Lowe has been good and healthy here in 2025 and it’s reflecting in his numbers. In 78 games, the 30-year-old is batting .275 with an .815 OPS, 10 doubles, 18 homers, 49 RBIs, and 52 runs scored.

And that might be good enough to convince another team to call and check on his availability. Lowe has an $11 million club option for next year, which is reasonable for his type of production if he’s able to stay on the field, but like other players is a little pricey for Tampa’s liking.

As good as it is to have a bat like Lowe’s in the lineup, the Rays have other players that they like such as Curtis Mead and José Caballero who are younger and can help man the position moving forward.

Even with the Rays clicking and on track for a return to the playoffs, they never shy away from moving veterans via trade, especially if they’re on expiring contracts. So the question might not be whether they’ll trade away a veteran this summer, but more so how many.