The Tampa Bay Rays might remain active in the trade market. They could be sending one of their longtime players packing because of his salary for the 2015 season as well as the potential value they can get in return.
According to FOX Sports' Jon Morosi, Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Ben Zobrist has a "decent chance" of being traded between now and Opening Day. The 33-year-old is the longest tenured Ray, having spent the last nine seasons with the team. However, the team's owner, Stuart Sternberg, mentioned he was looking to reduce payroll, and Zobrist's $7.5 million salary for 2015 could be the next to leave town.
President of baseball operations Matt Silverman has already made a number of moves to save the team money in 2015 and beyond, so it wouldn't be shocking if Zobrist was dealt. It was previously speculated the team would decline his option for 2015, but they wanted to keep him because of the lack of talent among middle infielders, or they realized they could get much value for him in a trade.
"Zobrist is perhaps the most valuable position player any team plausibly could acquire between now and the start of the season," writes Morosi. "His 5.7 Wins Above Replacement in 2014, according to FanGraphs.com, is the highest among free agents and readily available trade candidates."
Morosi also notes the Mets, Nationals, Mariners, Rangers, Cubs, Reds, Giants and Twins could use Zobrist because of his ability to play multiple positions (second base, shortstop and all of the outfield). He also owns a career stat line of .264/.354/.429/.749 with 114 home runs, 511 RBIs and 102 stolen bases in nine seasons. Most of those numbers were compiled from 2009-2014 because he did not play more than 62 games in each of his first three seasons.
Let's not forget the Rays acquired 23-year-old Nick Franklin from the Seattle Mariners when they traded David Price to the Tigers. Franklin can play second base or shortstop and would save the Rays millions of dollars. Now that the Rays might be moving out of Tampa Bay, Sternberg likely wants to save as much money as he can before he sells the team, if that actually happens.
