The #Rays will be releasing OF Desmond Jennings tomorrow.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 26, 2016
Once considered one of the most promising young outfielders in the game, Jennings had been part of the “core three” of Rays players after being drafted in 2006 along with Evan Longoria and Alex Cobb. In nearly 2,000 plate appearances between 2011 and 2014 he slashed .249 BA/.327 OBP/.402 SLG/.729 OPS/103 wRC+ while hitting 47 home runs and swiping 86 bases. He also turned in an 11.7 fWAR, putting him seventh among position players in team history.
Unfortunately the 29 year-old has battled injuries and poor performance for much of the past two seasons, owning a .222 BA/.295 OBP/.347 SLG/.642 OPS line with just eight homers and seven stolen bases in 333 plate appearances.
As Jeff Todd (MLB Trade Rumors) noted, Tampa Bay will be on the hook for his league minimum salary:
Jennings was earning $3.3MM in his second season of arbitration eligibility. Even if he catches on with another organization and makes it back to the majors this year, Tampa Bay will remain on the hook for the remainder of that less a pro-rated portion of the league minimum salary. Jennings profiled as a likely non-tender candidate at year end, but will instead hit the open market a bit early.
Kevin Cash called the move a necessity for both the ball club and Jennings, saying, “It was time. Best for him, best for us, going forward.” Cash continued, “It’s unfortunate it just didn’t work out. We couldn’t quite get him on the field as much as we would have liked.”
It’s uncertain what precipitated the move now, however, parting ways with Jennings gives Tampa Bay the opportunity to sign a more consistent impact bat prior to the 2017 season.