ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays will have plenty of challenging choices to make this offseason. Their first big decision, though, was easy.
As expected, Tampa Bay officially exercised catcher Mike Zunino’s $7 million club option for the 2022 season before Sunday’s deadline. That will make Zunino one of Tampa Bay’s highest-paid players next year, his fourth season with the club, but the Rays simply couldn’t turn away one of their most valuable and most important players after what he accomplished this past season.
A year ago, the Rays declined Zunino’s $4.5 million club option and made him a free agent. But Zunino bet on himself and the relationships he established with Tampa Bay, re-signing with the Rays on a one-year, $4 million contract that included incentives based on playing time. Zunino proved himself and maxed out his option-year salary with an outstanding campaign, slashing .216/.301/.559 with a career-high 33 homers in 109 games while playing his usual brand of excellent defense.
“We brought him back last winter, talked about it being a winning recipe for us, and that was the belief. What he was able to do this year offensively, it’s one of the reasons we won 100 games,” Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said Oct. 12. “That was a special year for him. I think it speaks to just the type of competitor he is, the drive that he has to get better. It would have been really easy for him to settle into a certain identity as a catcher that he really had with us prior. We saw some signs of it last fall, through the postseason, but just an incredible year for him.”
Zunino, 30, finished second on the Rays last season with 4.5 Wins Above Replacement, according to Fangraphs — behind only Brandon Lowe (5.2 fWAR). Among all big league catchers, only Buster Posey (4.9 fWAR) and Will Smith (4.6) were more valuable. According to Statcast, Zunino produced six runs from the extra strikes he created behind the plate last season, the fifth-highest total in the Majors.
Zunino’s breakout season at the plate had a major impact on the Rays’ lineup, adding another layer of depth to the Majors’ second-highest scoring offense. He finished second on the team in home runs, second in OPS and fifth in RBIs, consistently providing power that he credited to years of work with hitting coach Chad Mottola.
But the Rays felt his influence behind the plate more than anywhere else, as he guided a Tampa Bay pitching staff with the American League’s best ERA despite a seemingly endless streak of unexpected injuries.
Manager Kevin Cash and the Rays coaching staff relied on Zunino to help mentor Tampa Bay’s stable of inexperienced starters, including left-hander Shane McClanahan and right-hander Drew Rasmussen. And they trusted the veteran catcher to handle a staff that used 38 pitchers — plus three position players on the mound — throughout the season. All of them, from holdovers like Ryan Yarbrough to the wave of young arms who made their way to the Majors, sang Zunino’s praises.
The Rays will likely lean on more young starters next season — including McClanahan, Rasmussen, Luis Patiño and Shane Baz — while relying on the depth of their bullpen. Now, they can take comfort knowing they’ll have Zunino behind the plate once again.
Tampa Bay took care of some additional offseason housekeeping on Sunday by reinstating the following six pitchers from the 60-day injured list before the 5 p.m. ET deadline: Jalen Beeks, Yonny Chirinos, Tyler Glasnow, Colin Poche, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson. Additionally, Tampa Bay added catcher René Pinto to the 40-man roster; to make room, the club designated left-handed reliever Adam Conley for assignment.
The Rays’ 40-man roster is full.