The Tampa Bay Rays have made the three-year contract for infielder Yandy Diaz official today. As previously reported, the 31-year old third baseman will receive $24 million over the next three seasons, with the team holding a $12 million option for the 2026 season.
According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, Diaz will receive $6 million in the 2023 season and get a $2 million raise in each year of the contract. The option for 2026 also does not require the team to buy him out in order to decline.
Details of Diaz’s extension with #Rays, per source:
2023: $6M
2024: $8M
2025: $10M
2026 option: $12M, no buyout— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) January 31, 2023
Diaz was the receipient of the 2022 Paul C. Smith Champion Award, given out by the Tampa Bay chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America to the player who “best exemplifies the spirit of true professionalism on and off the field.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE, JANUARY 28: The Tampa Bay Rays appear to be close to locking down another of their young players, as infielder Yandy Diaz is close to signing a new three-year deal with the team, according to a report from MLB.com’s Juan Toribio.
Yandy Díaz and the #Rays are closing in on a three-year, $24 million contract extension, sources tell me and @Feinsand. There’s an option for a fourth year.
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) January 28, 2023
The deal according to Toribio would pay Diaz $24 million through the 2025 season, and contain a club option for 2026.
Diaz has been one of the most consistent hitters for Tampa Bay since coming to the team in 2019. In 137 games in 2022, Diaz hit .296/.401/.423 with nine home runs and 57 RBI, good for an OPS+ of 143, and was scheduled for salary arbitration with the team.
Diaz joins starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs and reliever Pete Fairbanks in receiving new multi-year deals to avoid arbitration. Four other players — pitchers Jason Adam, Colin Poche, and Ryan Thompson, and DH/outfielder Harold Ramirez — are still scheduled to go to arbitration with the team.
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.
