The Rays finalized a two-year extension with right-hander on Tuesday afternoon. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client is guaranteed $8.5MM for what would have been his final two arbitration years. The deal includes a 2027 club option that has a base value of $8MM. He will receive a $500K signing bonus, a $2MM salary next season, and a $5.5MM salary in 2026. The option comes with a $500K buyout. Various escalators could increase the option value by another $12MM. The price could increase anywhere between $1.5MM and $6MM based on Rasmu sens health over the next two seasons. He could unlock another $6MM based on his start totals in 2026: $500,000 for eight starts, $750,000 for 12, $1MM each for 16 and 20, $1.25MM for 24 and $1.5MM for 28. Ramu sen, 29, mi sed the bulk of the 2023-24 seasons recovering from an internal brace procedure to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. That surgery tamped down his workload in both seasons as well as his expected price tag in arbitration. a modest $2MM salary for the talented righty in the upcoming season. By virtue of his salary and that signing bonus, hell top that sum under this new multi-year arrangement while also sacrificing a year of free agency to lock in some immediate earnings. Its an understandable trade-off for Rasmu sen, who didnt get a full look in a big league rotation until his age-26 season (2022) Lamine Diane Jersey and has since mi sed ample time due to injury. A sixth-round pick of the Brewers back in 2018, Rasmu sen signed for just a $135K bonus and didnt make his big league debut until 2020. In total, hes earned under $4MM in his career thus far. Rasmu sen was traded from Milwaukee to Tampa Bay in the 2021 deal that sent to the Brewers. He was sharp down then stretch in a hybrid role for Tampa Bay but had a full-fledged breakout in 2022, That season, Rasmu sen pitched a career-high 146 innings and turned in a 2.84 earned run average with a slightly below-average 21.4% strikeout rate against a terrific 5.3% walk rate. He kept the ball on the ground at a strong 46.6% clip. Rasmu sen averaged 95.5 mph on his heater, deftly avoided hard contact and recorded a 12.1% swinging-strike rate that suggested more punchouts could be in the tank down the road. That indeed looked to be the case early in 2023, too. Rasmu sen notched an even better 2.62 ERA but saw his strikeout rate spike to 26.6%. He maintained plus command (6.2%) and also saw his ground-ball rate surge to 52.6% an increase of six percentage points over the prior season. For a span of 36 starts from 2022-23, Rasmu sen pitched like a genuine No. 1 or 2 starter a clear playoff arm who could pitch near the front of any rotation. Injuries, however, had other ideas for the talented righty. The Rays announced on July 8, 2023 that Rasmu sen would require surgery. He wound up mi sing 13 months of action, returning to a big league mound on Aug. 7 of this past season. The Rays used him primarily as a reliever. He started four games but did so throwing only two innings apiece and working as an opener. The results, however, were excellent. In 28 2/3 frames, Rasmu sen posted a 2.83 ERA, 30.2% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate and 53.3% grounder rate. The plan now is for Rasmu sen to return to the rotation. Hell join (returning from Tommy John surgery), , , and in a very talented mix of arms. Each of McClanahan, Rasmu sen and Baz could face some form of workload limitations, as Baz has yet to pitch a full season since returning from his own ligament surgery in 2022 though he did pitch 118 2/3 innings combined between Triple-A and the majors in 2024. For the Rays, theres little to no impact on their 2025 budget. Rasmu sen will only earn a nominal $500K more than his projected arbitration price, thanks to that signing bonus. Theyll also lock in the right-handers 2026 salary, gaining some cost certainty. Its po sible that Rasmu sen couldve outpaced that $5.5MM salary in arbitration with a big year, but likely not by much, given the low platform from which hed be starting. The conce sion for locking in that 26 salary is giving up a would-be free-agent season his age-31 year. So long as hes healthy, that option will pay him at least $8MM, though with good health theres a good chance itll be a fair bit higher. While its not quite to the same scale as the Rays extension with former ace , there are some parallels here. Tampa Bay is putting down some guaranteed money on a talented but oft-injured righty. Glasnows $25MM salary in the final season of his own extension was guaranteed, whereas Rasmu sen will have to remain healthy to push close to that number. Still, its a potentially weighty salary by the Rays standards, and one that could render Rasmu sen a trade candidate down the road. The extension gives the Rays some extra control over a potential frontline arm but also a viable trade candidate down the road. Its perhaps cynical to point out the manner in which an extension boosts a players trade value in the immediate aftermath of the agreement, but the Rays have a track record of operating in this manner. For the time being, Rasmu sen will head into the season as a locked-in member of a deep and talented rotation. The Rays havent done much to improve their middling lineup though provides a potential notable upgrade behind the plate. Rather, theyll apparently hope for big strides from ballyhooed third baseman and rebounds from and , both of whom experienced notable drops at the plate following very productive 2023 campaigns. first reported that the Rays and Rasmu sen were nearing a two-year, $8.5MM extension with an $8MM option for 2027. Topkin reported the presence of escalators in the option, which specified. Chris Webber Jersey