The Tampa Bay Rays ceased their salary dump on Wednesday, agreeing to a one-year, $4-million deal with veteran outfielder Carlos Gomez, pending a physical. The deal also includes $500-thousand in potential incentives, and a $500-thousand assignment bonus.
It now seems that the Rays are engaged in a broad re-shaping of their 2018 roster as opposed to a pure tear-down. That would level GM Erik Neander’s claim that further moves to part with veterans were not anticipated.
I would say extremely unlikely. Our focus at this point is we’d like to add a little bit. We’re not looking to pull this thing back, said Neander Tuesday night.
MLB Trade Rumors predicted that Gomez would command a $22-million guarantee over two-seasons at the start of the offseason. That the Rays acquired the free-agent on $4-million single-season commitment represents quite a bargain.
Gomez has earned his share of detractors for his, uhh…emotionally charged performance on the field — a reputation born of his role in inspiring a handful of bench-clearing brawls.
He is not far removed from a miserable run with Houston, although Gomez is coming off of a rebound season with Texas, in which he went on to slash a .255 BA/.340 OBP/.462 SLG/.802 OPS line with 17 home runs and 13 steals over 426 plate appearances and 102 games.
Much of his spike in production was due to a .336 BABIP, while his 30% strikeout rate not only is worrisome, but stayed above his career mean. In all fairness though, Gomez was able to cut his strikeout rate to 24% in the second half last season.
Gomez rated as a plus base runner last season, and he is an upgrade on Peter Bourjos with his nearly league average bat, which Sandy Kazmir (The Process Report) noted when he ranked and compared the newest Ray to the remaining free-agent hitters.
It goes without saying that Gomez is no longer a premium performer, yet he is still an asset on the field when he is healthy. He still offers value as an all-around player. The outfielder maintains a positive overall defensive score on Fangraphs as a center fielder, and his average-to-above-average arm makes him a likely candidate to play right-field in 2018.
Gomez, Denard Span, and Mallex Smith now appear to represent the top three options to flank Kevin Kiermaier, although it’s worth noting that the Rays could still target an affordable bat…just not at the expense of Alex Colome, Chris Archer or Kiermaier.
#Rays could still look to enlist another inexpensive bat. They are still listening on Colome. Never got close to hearing what desired for Archer. Kiermaier similar to Archer, talked lots without traction. Both likely to stay, at least for now.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) February 21, 2018