The Tampa Bay Rays have reportedly made its first free agent splash, but it comes as a boost to the pitching rotation.
Jeff Passan of ESPN was the first to report that the Rays and pitcher Zach Eflin had agreed to a three-year deal worth a reported $40 million.
Right-hander Zach Eflin and the Tampa Bay Rays are in agreement on a three-year contract, pending physical, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 2, 2022
The deal would be the largest free agent contract in total dollars in franchise history, eclipsing the five-year, $35 million deal given to pitcher Wilson Alvarez before the 1998 season.
Eflin, who was a first-round pick of the San Diego Padres in 2012, has played his entire big-league career with the Philadelphia Phillies, and went 3-5 with a save and a 4.04 earned run average in 20 appearances, including 13 starts in 2022. In seven seasons with Philadelphia, he amassed a record of 36-45 with a 4.49 ERA.
The team will need to make a roster move before announcing the deal.
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.
