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Pair of High-Profile Tampa Bay Rays Pitchers Garnering Trade Interest Ahead of Winter Meetings

According to Jon Morosi of MLB.com, Jeffrey Springs and Pete Fairbanks are both receiving trade interest ahead of next week's winter meetings.

Brady Farkas

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Pete Fairbanks (29) throws a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the ninth inning at Tropicana Field on Aug 18.
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Pete Fairbanks (29) throws a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the ninth inning at Tropicana Field on Aug 18. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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According to Jon Morosi of MLB.com, a pair of Tampa Bay Rays pitchers are generating real trade interest in advance of next week's winter meetings.

From Morosi on X:

Rays LHP Jeffrey Springs and RHP Pete Fairbanks are among the Tampa Bay pitchers garnering trade interest in the days before the Winter Meetings, as I reported today on @MLBNetwork.

The 30-year-old Fairbanks has been one of the better relievers in baseball over the last few years. A six-year veteran of the Texas Rangers and the Rays, he saved 25 games in 2023 and 23 this past season. Fairbanks has also appeared in 46 games or more in each of the last three seasons.

Lifetime, he's 16-19 with a 3.29 ERA. He's set to be a free agent at the end of the 2025 season and the Rays are notoriously famous for trading players that are in their last year of arbitration.

The 32-year-old Springs is under contract through 2026 and would seem to be a little tougher to get in a deal as a result of it. He is currently scheduled to be in the Rays rotation alongside Taj Bradley, Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan. Returning from Tommy John surgery this past season, he went 2-2 with a 3.27 ERA.

Prior to getting injured in 2023, he had looked excellent, going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA in three appearances.

He is a seven-year veteran of the Rangers, Boston Red Sox and Rays. He's 23-12 lifetime with a 3.39 ERA.

The winter meetings take place from Dec. 9-12 in Dallas.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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