The Rays have a decision to make on Brandon Lowe
An obvious decision, but a decision all the same
Should the Tampa Bay Rays exercise their option on Brandon Lowe’s contract?
Um...Yes!
As obvious as this is to us, we can still explore the matter a bit.
Brandon Lowe was the Rays 3rd round selection in the 2015 draft. The Maryland alum raked his way through the minor leagues and reached the Rays active roster in August of 2018, where he helped the team achieve 90 wins in what seemed like a lost season.
The Rays knew they had something special in Lowe and signed him to a potential eight year contract extension during spring training in 2019, shortly after Lowe made his big league debut. The contract has seen a massive return of the Rays investment with Lowe only receiving $4M AAV over the guaranteed six years of the deal. The Rays do hold two team options for the 2025 and 2026 seasons as $10.5M and $11.5M respectively.
Over his first few seasons, Lowe would showcase himself as one of the premier offensive second baseman in all of baseball; in 2023, when Lowe knocked his 100th career home run in just his 477th career game, he became the fastest second baseman in MLB history to do so. During the Rays World Series run in a shortened 2020 campaign, Lowe was among the best players in all of baseball as he hit .269/.362/.554. The “dawg” followed that up with a 39 HR season in 2021.
Unfortunately, Lowe has not been immune to injuries and he has missed significant time. Here is a quick summary of Lowe’s unlucky injuries:
- 2019: Severe bone bruise and left quad strain, played in 82 games
- 2022: Stress reaction in his back, played in 65 games
- 2023: Back inflammation and a fractured knee, played in 109 games
- 2024: Oblique strain, played in 107 games
When healthy and on the active roster, Lowe has continued to play his part. From 2022 through 2024, Lowe hit .234/.317/.440 with 50 HR, registering a 116 wRC+ and accruing 5.7 fWAR, playing in 281 games (57.8% of the Rays regular season schedule).
The Rays currently face a murky financial situation. There is the question of Wander Franco’s ongoing legal situation in the Dominican Republic and whether the Rays will be obligated to pay Franco the remainder of his $182M contract. The team currently doesn’t have a stadium to call home as Hurricane Milton shredded the roof of Tropicana Field. The team’s current TV network is in limbo as Diamond Sports Group (Bally Sports) halted their contracts after declaring bankruptcy. In the face of all of these concerns, we’ll be disappointed by not shocked if the team were looking to cut the 2025 payroll.
Declining the option on Brandon Lowe would alleviate almost 25% of their estimated 2025 payroll.
Of course, the Rays may be able to find a suiter for Brandon Lowe this winter. At the 2024 trade deadline, the Rays dealt away most of the core of the roster, but kept Lowe (as well as several others). We know there were discussions involving most of these players, but the Rays didn’t feel they were getting proper value so discussions led nowhere. Now talks will be revisited and Lowe could very well be traded, allowing the Rays to fully unload his team friendly contract unto another organization for a prospect that might turn into the next Brandon Lowe.
Teams have five days after the end of the World Series (did the Fall Classic really only go five games? So sad) The deadline for the Rays to make a decision on Brandon Lowe is fast approaching.
It’s an obvious decision.