The Tampa Bay Rays announced Friday that they have reached agreements with seven players eligible for arbitration in 2023, coming to deals with pitchers Shawn Armstrong, Jalen Beeks, Yonny Chirinos and Andrew Kittredge, catchers Christian Bethancourt and Francisco Mejia, and outfielder Randy Arozarena.
But the team was not able to reach a deal with seven other players before the deadline, and therefore will be going to arbitration with pitchers Jason Adam, Pete Fairbanks, Colin Poche, Jeffrey Springs, and Ryan Thompson, infielder Yandy Diaz, and DH/OF Harold Ramirez.
The Rays do not negotiate with arbitration-eligible players once the deadline passes, so the team and those seven will be headed in fromt of an arbitration board, which usually takes place during Spring Training, with each side presenting a case for why the player should be awarded a certain amount for the year, and the arbitrators will then pick one side or the other.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
