The Tampa Bay Rays announced Thursday that they have signed right-handed reliever Jason Adam to a $900-thousand Major League split contract, with a $300-thousand rate in the minors. Tyler Glasnow, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, has been placed on the 60-day Injured List in order to clear space on the 40-man roster. Adam can earn an additional $250-thousand via incentives.
Adam made his excitement over joining the Rays known.
Everyone knows what the Rays are known for. They’re known for making you better. They’re known for winning. So where else would I want to be?
— Jason Adam
Adam, 30, was an effective hurler with the Blue Jays and Cubs from 2019-20, pitching to a combined 3.06 ERA with a 26.2% strikeout rate and 12.1% walk rate across 35.1 innings between those two stops. He was especially good at missing bats on the north side of Chicago (in 2020), whiffing 36.2% of the batters he faced (21 of 58) while maintaining an impressive 17.3% swinging-strike rate.
However, 2021 was nothing if not a disaster for Adam. After being optioned to Triple-A Iowa early in the season, the right-hander suffered an open dislocation and fracture of his left ankle while shagging fly balls during warmups. The injury caused significant damage to several ligaments and tendons in his foot.
Last June, Adam told Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register) that he feared he might lose his foot. He continued, saying that he went into shock directly after the injury and that doctors had difficulty sedating him for surgery due to the excess adrenaline his body produced in the wake of the injury.
Yet Adam made a full recovery and returned to the big leagues with Chicago late last season after just a few months of rehabilitation. The right-hander made three appearances and tossed three shutout innings with six punchouts to no walks, and just one hit allowed down the stretch.
Totally unrestricted, fully healthy. When I came back at the end of the year last year, if anyone would have bunted on me, it might have been trouble. But now I’ve been doing all my cuts and runs and sprints and jumps, and in some ways, I feel like I can jump and run better than I had previously just because it’s been a focus.
— Jason Adam
Adam boasts a mid-90s fastball that ranks in the 99th percentile as it relates to spin, an 88 mph changeup that dives out of the zone, a whiffy 83 mph slider that has exceptional depth and glove-side cut, and a 78 mph curveball that has exceptional bite and coaxes a lot of whiffs. Still, there is room for improvement for the hurler, and it is quite possible — as Rays Metrics tweeted — the Rays could focus on increasing the active spin on his heater, increasing the usage of his secondary pitches, or have him focus on just one particular breaking ball shape to simplify his pitch mix.
Adam will compete for a spot in the Rays’ bullpen alongside Andrew Kittredge, Pete Fairbanks, J.P. Feyereisen, JT Chargois, Matt Wisler, and Brooks Raley. That being said, because he has a remaining minor league option year, he’s not assured a spot and could start the season In Triple-A Durham. In that case, he likely could join the Durham Express as the Rays attempt to maintain fresh arms in the ‘pen. However, all that comes with a caveat: Under the new CBA, an individual player can only be optioned to the minors five separate times during a given option year.
If Adam can solidify himself as a member of the Rays’ relief staff, he will hold plenty of value well beyond 2022. He currently has just one year and 129 days of big-league service time, and he could remain under team control through the 2026 season.