Rays pick up Drew Rasmussen's option for franchise-record $20M salary

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 31, 2026

Published in Baseball

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TAMPA, Fla. — Turns out, Drew Rasmussen didn’t have anything to worry about regarding his option.

The Rays on Saturday picked up their 2027 option on the ace right-hander, agreeing to pay him a franchise-record $20 million salary rather than see him leave as a free agent.

Rasmussen was emotional after Wednesday’s World Series loss, saying he would “hope” to stay but acknowledged the uncertainty. Though the option pickup gives Rasmussen that opportunity, he is not guaranteed to stay. The Rays still could decide to trade him, as he will be a free agent after the season.

The Rays also have formalized designated hitter Yandy Diaz’s $13 million option for 2027, which vested in August when he reached 500 plate appearances but also was contingent on him finishing the season healthy, which he was deemed to have done.

Heading toward Monday’s deadline, the Rays’ only remaining option decision is on shortstop Taylor Walls. They can either pick up a $3.1 million option or go to arbitration, where he is projected by mlbtraderumors.com to make $3.5 million.

Walls presents a unique case, because he has below-average offensive numbers (hitting a career-high .222 this season with a .607 OPS) but is an extraordinary defender, with the possibility on Sunday night he could win his first Gold Glove.

Rasmussen, 31, established himself as a frontline starter in 2022 after being acquired from the Brewers. He underwent a third major elbow surgery in July 2023, returned in August 2024 as a reliever, then rejoined the rotation in 2025 and posted back-to-back All-Star seasons.

He had a 16-5 record, 2.67 ERA and league-leading 0.913 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) in the regular season. He then went 2-1 with a 2.20 ERA and 0.907 WHIP over five playoff games. That included a strong four-inning outing in Game 5 of the World Series, which he started on short rest for the first time in his career.

In 35 starts overall, he went 18-6 with a 2.60 ERA over a career-high 200 2/3 innings, with 205 strikeouts.

Manager Kevin Cash lauded Rasmussen prior to Wednesday’s game for wanting to take the ball and said that among many players whose contributions helped the Rays get to the World Series, “Ras might be at the top of that list.”

After the loss, Cash had further praise: “That guy is a stud. ... We knew this was a big ask, but appreciate Drew Rasmussen so much for taking the ball, wanting the ball, and going out and doing what he did.”

Rasmussen had tears in his eyes when asked after Wednesday’s game about his status and hopes to stay.

“I’ve got a lot of thoughts. What they are, I don’t know, unfortunately,” he said. “I don’t know, man. There’s a business element to this, and I understand that, and I just, I don’t know.”

Rasmussen’s option was part of a two-year extension he signed in January 2025 that guaranteed him $8.5 million — a $500,000 signing bonus, $2 million salary in 2025, $ 5.5 million salary in 2026 and a $500,000 buyout on the 2027 option.

The option was for $8 million and included a series of escalator clauses based on his number of starts and days spent on the injured list for right arm issues and overall. With 30 starts and no time missed, he hit them all (for $28 million), but there was an agreed-on $20 million max.

The highest single-season salary the Rays have paid a player is $15 million to Charlie Morton in 2019.