Rays sign Taylor Walls for 2025-2026, avoiding salary arbitration.
He was the last Rays player to be agreed to a salary for 2025. Walls is under team control through the 2027 season.
The Rays have signed their final outstanding player eligible for salary arbitration in 2025, and that’s Taylor Walls, who was asking the Rays to pay him $275,000 more than was offered by the club.
Under new deal with #Rays, Walls will get $1.35M salary in 2024 (arb filings were $1.3 and $1.575) and has a $2.45M option for 2026 or a $50,000 buyout. Option can increase $50,000 if he gets 450 plate appearances in '25.
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) January 22, 2025
Walls had taken to social media to — if I may read between the lines — express his displeasure with how success is measured in the arbitration process. This is not an uncommon experience for players who stay involved in the rookie contract negotiation process.
In agreeing to an option for 2026, the Rays can either rely on a guaranteed a rate to pay Walls for the following season, or decline the option and send his contract into a second of three planned years of salary arbitration. In other words, declining the contract option would not result in free agency for Walls.
Previously: Tampa Bay Rays settle with four players; Taylor Walls will go to arbitration