Rays sign Drew Rasmussen to extension

4.01pm: The Rays have now officially announced the deal.

2.25pm: Rasmussen’s agents at the Beverly Hills Sports Council have now announced that the extension is complete.

1.32pm: The Rays and the right-hander Drew Rasmussen are closing on a multi-year deal that would buy Tampa Bay an additional year of control of the club, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Rasmussen would earn a total of $8.5 million over the next two seasons — his final two years of arbitration — and the Rays would gain a club option in his 2027 season (his first season as a free agent). The payment would come in the form of a $500,000 signing bonus, a $2 million salary in 2025, a $5.5 million salary in 2026 and an $8 million club option ($500,000 buyout) for the season ’27. The escalators could push the option price up to $20 million, Topkin adds. Rasmussen is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Ramussen, 29, missed most of the 2023-24 seasons recovering from an internal brace procedure to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. That surgery reduced his workload both seasons, as well as his expected price in arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a modest $2 million salary for the talented righty next season. By virtue of his salary and signing bonus, he will exceed that amount with this new multi-year deal, while also sacrificing a year of free agency to secure some immediate returns.

It’s an understandable trade-off for Rasmussen, who didn’t get a full look in the big league rotation until his age-26 season (2022) and has missed significant time since then due to injury. The Brewers’ sixth-round pick in 2018, Rasmussen signed for just a $135,000 bonus and didn’t make his big league debut until 2020. In total, he’s made less than $4 million in his career thus far.

Rasmussen was traded from Milwaukee to Tampa Bay in the 2021 deal posted Willy Adames to the Brewers. He was on a steep decline and then stretched into a hybrid role for Tampa Bay, but he really broke out in 2022. That season, Rasmussen pitched a career-high 146 innings and averaged 2. 84 points earned with a slightly lower than average 21.4%. strikeout rate versus a staggering 5.3% walk rate. He kept the ball on the floor at a strong 46.6% clip. Rasmussen averaged 95.5 mph on his heater, deftly avoided hard contact and posted a 12.1% swing-hit rate that suggests there could be more punchouts in the tank down the road.

In fact, this appeared to be the case as well at the start of 2023. Rasmussen had an even better ERA of 2.62, but saw his strikeout rate rise to 26.6%. He maintained the positive lead (6.2%) and also saw his ground ball percentage rise to 52.6% – a six percentage point increase from the previous season. Over a 36-game span from 2022 to 2023, Rasmussen pitched like a true No. 1 starter. 1 or 2: A clear playoff arm who could throw near the front of any rotation.

Injuries, however, had other ideas for the talented steed. The Rays announced on July 8, 2023 that Rasmussen would require surgery. He ended up missing 13 months of action, returning to the big leagues on Aug. 7 of last season. The Rays primarily used him as a reliever. He “started” four games, but did so by pitching only two innings apiece and working as an opener. The results, however, were excellent. In 28 2/3 frames, Rasmussen posted a 2.83 ERA, a 30.2% strikeout rate, a 5.2% walk rate and a 53.3% grounder rate.

The plan now is for Rasmussen to return to the rotation, according to Topkin. It will join Shane McClanahan (returning from Tommy John surgery), Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley, Shane Baz AND Zack Littell in a mix of very talented weapons. McClanahan, Rasmussen and Baz may face some form of workload limitations, as Baz has yet to pitch a full season since returning from ligament surgery in 2022, though he has pitched a combined 118 2/3 innings between Triples -A and the major in 2024.

For the Rays, there is little to no impact on the 2025 budget. Rasmussen will make just a nominal $500,000 more than his projected arbitration price, thanks to that signing bonus. They will also set the right-hander’s 2026 salary, gaining some cost certainty. It’s possible that Rasmussen could have surpassed the $5.5 million salary in arbitration with a big year, but probably not by much, given the low platform he would be starting from. The concession to locking in that ’26 salary is giving up a potential free agent season: his age of 31. As long as he’s healthy, this option will pay him at least $8 million, though with good health there’s a good chance the figure will be a bit higher.

Although it’s not quite on the same scale as the Rays’ extension with the former ace Tyler Glasnowthere are some parallels here. Tampa Bay is betting some guaranteed money on a talented but oft-injured right-hander. Glasnow’s $25 million salary in the final season of his extension is guaranteed, while Rasmussen will have to stay healthy to get close to that figure. Still, it’s a potentially hefty salary by the Rays’ standards, and one that could make Rasmussen a trade candidate down the road. The extension gives the Rays extra control over a potential frontline arm but also a viable trade candidate in the future. Perhaps it’s cynical to point out how an extension increases a player’s trade value immediately after the deal, but the Rays have a long history of operating this way.

For now, Rasmussen will enter the season as a locked-in member of a deep and talented rotation. The Rays, however, haven’t done much to improve their mediocre lineup Danny Jansen provides a major potential upgrade behind the plate. Rather, they apparently hope for big steps forward from the highly touted third baseman Junior Caminero and bounces from Josh Lowe AND Christopher Morelboth saw notable declines at the plate after very productive 2023 campaigns.