5:10 p.m: The Rays have now made it official and announced that they have signed Rosario. To open a roster spot, Rasmussen was placed on the 60-day IL.
2:45 p.m: The Rays and infielders Amed Rosario have agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million deal, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Octagon customer can unlock an additional $500,000 through incentives. The Rays have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a move to make this deal official, but they can easily do that by either moving Drew Rasmussen or Jeffrey Springs Added to 60-day injured list.
Rosario, 28, was an everyday big league shortstop for many years but has had a challenging season. He started the year with the Guardians but was hitting just .265/.306/.369 as the deadline approached, good for a wRC+ of 87. His shortstop defense had always been questionable, but in 2023 it became downright problematic. He received a grade of -16 Defensive Runs Saved and -15 Outs Above Average with Cleveland.
The Guards sent him to the Dodgers Noah Syndergaard, and Rosario's new club shifted him to the other side of the bag most of the time. He seemed to handle the position change well, at least in a small sample of 190 innings, posting 3 DRS and OAA with a straight zero. His bat was about the same as he hit .256/.301/.408 and posted a wRC+ of 93 as a Dodger.
He was significantly better in the previous two seasons. He hit 11 home runs in both 2021 and 2022, a modest number but much better than the six he hit in 2023. In those two years with Cleveland, he slashed .282/.316/.406 with a 103 wRC+, but didn't walk much. Additionally, he avoided strikeouts, had a 4.5% walk rate and an 18.4% strikeout rate.
Defensively, he had a positive grade from DRS in 2022, but was otherwise consistently below average. OAA has had him in negative territory in every full season of his career. He probably won't be an everyday option for the Rays at shortstop, but he could see some use there from time to time.
The Rays love flexibility and have a big hole at shortstop due to the absence Hike Franco, whose future is uncertain because he is being investigated for a relationship with an underage girl. Over and beyond, Taylor Walls is recovering from hip surgery and will miss at least part of the season. President of Baseball Operations Erik Neander recently suggested as much Jose Caballero could be the start of the beginning of the year.
The club also has perspective Junior Caminero, who is widely considered one of the top 10 prospects in the sport and has already made his major league debut. But his bat is considered superior to his defense and some evaluators expect him to end up at third base rather than short. Osleivis Basabe is in the mix, but he hasn't hit much in his first taste of the majors or Triple-A. They added Yu Chang on a minor league deal earlier today to provide some depth off the roster.
Caballero, acquired from the Mariners in Luke Raley deal, has only 280 MLB plate appearances, slashing just .221/.343/.320. He has some speed after stealing 26 sacks in 29 attempts last year and the defense seems good, 4 DRS and 2 OAA so far. But overall, the Rays don't have many solid answers at their shortstop position and Rosario might be able to factor that in.
But even though he's no longer in that position, there are still ways for him to be useful for the Rays. The right-handed hitter has faced big platoon splits in his career, hitting .298/.339/.467 for a wRC+ of 121 against lefties, but just .262/.296/.374 for a wRC+ of 84 the rest of the time .
The Rays have a left-handed, hitting second baseman Brandon Lowe and with the turn advantage he also performs better. He hit .220/.284/.437 against righties, 99 wRC+, but posted a huge line of .253/.349/.499 and 135 wRC+ against righties. He also suffered significant injury setbacks in his career, with 2021 being his only season in the major leagues in which he played more than 109 games. A Lowe and Rosario platoon at the keystone could perhaps be best for both players.
Players like Josh Lowe And Jonathan Aranda are also lefties with notable problems when the southpaws are on the mound. That could perhaps lead to Rosario being used as the designated hitter for a while or even occasionally taking over as an outfield corner. He only has 171 1/3 innings of big league fielding experience, but the Rays might look to move him if they believe it will benefit their versatility.
Despite his difficult season and generally poor defensive record, Rosario still attracted a lot of interest this winter. The free agent market for center fielders was rather weak, but many teams there needed help. The Angels, Marlins, Red Sox and Blue Jays were linked to him at various points during the offseason. The Jays turned around Justin Turner And Isiah Kiner-Falefa as their infield additions while the Red Sox filled their second base position through trades Vaughn Grissom. The Marlins are still looking for an upgrade at shortstop but have reportedly made an offer Tim Anderson. It is known that the angels are interested in bringing something back Gio Urshela as a multi-positional infield upgrade.