Speculation is heating up after insiders flagged the Padres as a serious contender for the Rays’ freshly available free agent.NL
The Tampa Bay Rays have been busy to start the winter, with the franchise making a number of moves and roster decisions already to begin to shape how things will look in 2026.
With free agency and the offseason rolling right along, the Rays are a team to keep an eye on with a desire to improve and be a contender in the American League East. It won’t be an easy task for them to achieve that in a challenging division, but there are some good things in place for the team.
As they hope to make some improvements, the team is going to have to be creative in order to be able to do so. Their payroll isn’t expected to increase much this winter, and recent moves further indicate that is going to be the case.
At the non-tender deadline, the team made a couple of decisions that were to be expected, but they parted ways with a young player for whom they certainly had high hopes. Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the San Diego Padres being a potential landing spot for recently non-tendered outfielder Christopher Morel.
Rays Letting Morel Go Was Understandable
Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images© Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images
While it might seem shocking for Tampa Bay to give up on Morel after a year and a half with the franchise, it is understandable. As the big piece in the trade that sent Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs, the young slugger was never able to flash some of the potential that the Cubs saw with him.
During his time with Tampa Bay, he slashed .208/.277/.355 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI in 154 games played. Those numbers certainly aren’t anywhere near where the team was hoping they would be. Offensive production from the outfield is something that the Rays desperately need, and Morel was a disappointment.
At just 26 years old, he will now be hitting free agency with a lot to prove. With some power potential in his bat, he should find another team this winter, but he might have to spend some time in the minors figuring things out.
The Padres would be an interesting landing spot for him, with the franchise generally doing a strong job of developing talent. If they deem that he has some potential and can fix his swing, he could be a good project for the franchise to work on.
