Tampa Bay Rays Offseason Tracker: Hottest Free-Agency News, Trade Rumors

Tampa Bay fans didn't have to wait for the baseball season to officially come to an end for there to be wholesale changes with the Rays. From the midseason trade of staff ace David Price to the more recent departures of general manager Andrew Friedman and manager Joe Maddon, a new era of Rays baseball is about to get underway.

What that's going to entail for the financially strapped franchise is anyone's guess, which makes this offseason a critical one for the club. Will they look to cut ties with some holdovers from the past regime, acquiring more young, controllable pieces? Or will the Rays look to rebuild on the fly, hoping for a quick return to relevance in 2015?

Keep it right here for the most up-to-the-minute rumblings about the Rays along with analysis and everything else that comes with it as we look for the answers to those questions. While the post date will always show as October 31, simply click through to see the latest about the Rays as they put together their roster for the 2015 season.

Tampa Bay's Free Agents and Done Deals

Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

All the juicy rumors and analysis follow, but consider this your one-stop shop for all the comings and goings in Tampa Bay this winter, including the status of the team's free agents. 

Done Deals

Nov. 14: Traded RHP Justin Masterson to Arizona for SS Andrew Velazquez and OF Justin Williams

Nov. 21: Traded RHP Joel Peralta and LHP Adam Liberatore from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for RHP Jose Dominguez and RHP Greg Harris

Nov. 26: Signed RHP Ernesto Frieri to a one-year, $800,000 deal (with incentives)

Dec. 1: Traded IF/OF Sean Rodriguez to the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash considerations and a player-to-be-named later

Dec. 16: Traded OF/DH Matt Joyce to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for RHP Kevin Jepsen

Dec. 17: Part of three-team trade with San Diego and Washington. End result is:

Rays Get: 1B/DH Jake Bauers, LHP Travis Ott, C Rene Rivera, RHP Burch Smith and OF Steven Souza

Nationals Get: RHP Joe Ross and a PTBNL (will be SS Trea Turner)

Padres Get: LHP Jose Castillo, C Ryan Hanigan, OF Wil Myers and RHP Gerardo Reyes (Analysis)

Dec. 30: Signed 2B/SS Asdrubal Cabrera to a one-year, $8 million deal

Rays Free Agents

RP Joel Peralta (Nov. 2: Rays picked up $2.5 million team option, Nov. 21: Traded to Dodgers)

2B/OF Ben Zobrist (Oct. 31: Rays picked up $7.5 million option)

Could Ben Zobrist Follow Andrew Friedman to Los Angeles?

Brian Blanco/Getty Images

Update: Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 12:45 p.m. ET

With Asdrubal Cabrera now in the fold and multiple teams still looking for help at both second base and in a corner outfield spot, it seems a foregone conclusion that the Rays will trade Zobrist at some point over the next few weeks.

--End of Update--

Update: Friday, Oct. 31 at 8:41 p.m. ET

In what comes as a surprise to nobody, the Rays announced via Twitter that they have picked up the $7.5 million option that they held on Zobrist for 2015. It's a mere formality, and in no way precludes the team from trading him at some point during the offseason.

--End of Update--

The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo fully expects Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist to be one of the hottest names on the rumor mill this winter, something that isn't at all surprising.

Zobrist, 33, is a consistent producer at the plate and one of the more versatile players in the game, capable of playing second base, shortstop and either of the corner spots in the outfield.

In what would be a bizarre scenario, Cafardo opines that former Rays general manager Andrew Friedman, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, could make Zobrist one of his primary targets this winter.

The Dodgers have a deep farm system to facilitate a deal, and the two-time All-Star is likely going to be too expensive for the Rays to re-sign after the 2015 season. It might behoove the club to deal him now, when they could maximize his value.

Dec. 17: Traded Wil Myers to San Diego as Part of Three-Team Deal

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Two years after landing Wil Myers as the centerpiece of the James Shields/Wade Davis trade, the Rays have shipped the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year off to San Diego in exchange for a package of talent from both the Padres and Washington Nationals.

Here's a brief overview of the five players heading to Tampa Bay.

1B/DH Jake Bauers (Age: 19)

Ranked as San Diego's No. 14 prospect last year by MLB.com, Bauers is a tremendous defender at first base that doesn't have the athleticism or tools to play elsewhere. He hit .296 with 29 extra-base hits (eight home runs), 64 RBI and a .789 OPS in his first full professional season at Single-A Fort Wayne.

LHP Travis Ott (Age: 19)

A strikeout artist with a fastball that sits in the low-90s, Ott struggled with his control in his first full professional season last year, averaging 4.3 BB/9 and 7.4 K/9 over 13 starts split between Low-A and Single-A for Washington. He'd go 1-4 with a 3.93 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.

C Rene Rivera (Age: 31)

A career backup until last season, when he started 103 games behind the plate for the Padres, Rivera offers far more offense than the Rays got from Ryan Hanigan and Jose Molina in 2014, hitting .252 with 30 extra-base hits (11 HR), 44 RBI and a .751 OPS, but is a mediocre defender and awful pitch-framer.

RHP Burch Smith (Age: 24)

Ranked as San Diego's No. 16 prospect by MLB.com, Smith has flown through the Padres minor-league system since being drafted in 2011, reaching the big leagues in 2013 where he got shelled. Ironically, his debut was against the Rays, who ran him from the game after one inning, putting five hits and six earned runs on the board.

His fastball sits in the low-to-mid 90s with late cutting action, while his curveball and changeup project as above-average pitches, with the offspeed stuff more effective than his sweeping breaking ball.

A forearm injury limited Smith to only two starts at Triple-A in 2014. 

OF Steven Souza (Age: 25)

Landing Souza from the Nationals was the key to this entire deal making sense from the Rays perspective. More than a few talent evaluators believe that his offensive profile is comparable to Myers', though Souza doesn't come with nearly as much hype as Myers had.

Named Washington's No. 5 prospect by MLB.com, Souza made his MLB debut in 2014, going 3-for-23 (.130) with a pair of home runs over 23 at-bats. He's got tremendous raw power and the speed to not only cover a lot of ground in the outfield, but cause some problems when he gets on base.

Ultimately, this deal will be judged on whether Souza develops into the middle-of-the-order bat that Myers seemed to be before his injury, and whether any of the younger pieces the club acquired wind up being anything more than organizational depth.