Jake Fraley finally has a home with the Rays on a 1-year deal

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Nov 25, 2025

Published in Baseball

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TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays drafted Jake Fraley. They traded Jake Fraley. They waived Jake Fraley.

And now, all these years later, they appear ready to play Jake Fraley

Fraley, 30, signed a one-year deal with the Rays on Tuesday nearly a decade after they selected him in the second round out of LSU. The deal is reportedly for $3 million with another $400,000 available in potential bonuses depending on the number of days he’s on the active major-league roster.

The Rays claimed Fraley off waivers from Atlanta earlier this month, but non-tendered him last week rather than risk going to arbitration. He was projected to make $3.6 million in arbitration, according to mlbtraderumors.com. After he was designated for assignment by the Rays, he became a free agent and the team quickly began discussing a deal for a slightly lower salary.

Fraley spent the 2016-17 seasons in the Rays’ lower minor leagues before being traded to Seattle along with Mallex Smith in the Mike Zunino deal. Fraley, a left-handed hitter with decent pop, spent parts of three seasons in Seattle before being dealt to Cincinnati in 2022.

He was a valuable role player with the Reds, hitting .260 with 38 homers and 49 stolen bases across parts of four seasons.

Fraley has been used almost exclusively in platoon roles in the big leagues with nearly 85% of his plate appearances coming against right-handed pitching. He has a career .776 OPS against right-handers and a .508 versus lefties. The Rays’ 40-man roster currently includes four other left-handed hitters in the outfield (Josh Lowe, Chandler Simpson, Richie Palacios, Tristan Peters) along with switch-hitter Jake Mangum and right-handers Jonny DeLuca and Ryan Vilade.

The biggest issue for Fraley in the past has been staying healthy. He’s been on the injured list 13 times in his career. He spent a total of five weeks on the IL in 2025 with calf and shoulder injuries.

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