Rays Pick Up Drew Rasmussen's $20 Million Option for 2027, a Franchise-Record Salary for the AL Champions' Ace

The Tampa Bay Rays exercised their $20 million club option on Drew Rasmussen for the 2027 season on Saturday, keeping the American League champions' ace under contract for one more year and setting up the largest single-season salary the franchise has ever committed to a player.

Tampa Bay picked up the option rather than pay Rasmussen a $500,000 buyout, according to The Associated Press. The 31-year-old right-hander can become a free agent after the 2027 season.

The decision came three days after the Rays' season ended at Tropicana Field, where the Milwaukee Brewers won Game 5 of the World Series 4-1 to take the series four games to one and clinch their first championship. Rasmussen started that game on three days' rest.

How a $8 million option became $20 million

Rasmussen and the Rays agreed in January 2025 to an $8.5 million, two-year deal that avoided arbitration and included a club option for 2027. That option started at $8 million, but it carried escalators tied to his health and workload.

According to the AP, the price rose to $20 million because Rasmussen stayed healthy throughout 2026 and made at least 28 starts. MLB.com reported that he maxed out the escalators during the best season of his career. With the option exercised, the contract is worth $28 million over three seasons.

Here is how the deal breaks down, based on the AP and MLB.com reports.

The figure is new territory for the Rays. MLB.com noted that the club has never paid a player $20 million in one year. The highest single-season salary in franchise history is $15 million, which Charlie Morton earned in 2019.

A career season

Rasmussen went 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA in 30 starts during the regular season, helping the Rays win the AL East. He struck out 174 batters in a career-high 172 innings, made his second All-Star team and led the American League with a 0.91 WHIP, according to MLB.com.

His October was nearly as strong. He went 2-1 with a 2.20 ERA in five postseason starts and threw 28 2/3 more innings as Tampa Bay won its third pennant. In his first playoff start, he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the New York Yankees and struck out 10 in a 1-0 win in the Division Series opener, the AP reported.

The World Series was tougher. Against Milwaukee, the team that traded him to Tampa Bay, Rasmussen threw 89 pitches over 3 2/3 innings in Game 2 and allowed three runs, getting a no-decision as the Brewers rallied for a 5-4 win and a 2-0 series lead. In Game 5, pitching on three days' rest for the first time in his career as a true starter, he allowed one run on two hits over four innings and took the loss.

Manager Kevin Cash said afterward that the club had planned for 60 pitches or four innings and stuck to it.

"He's a stud. That guy is a stud. His stuff was as sharp as it could have been," Cash said, according to MLB.com.

Over seven seasons with Milwaukee and Tampa Bay, Rasmussen is 46-22 with a 2.83 ERA in 160 major league games, including 111 starts. Since 2022, his 2.74 ERA ranks fourth in the majors among pitchers with at least 500 innings, behind only Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Chris Sale, according to MLB.com.

Three elbow operations

The durability that triggered the escalators is a big part of the story. Rasmussen has had three major elbow operations: Tommy John surgeries in 2016 and 2017 and an internal brace procedure in 2023. The last one cost him most of that season, and he returned in 2024 as a multi-inning reliever and opener before moving back into a full starting role.

Rasmussen credited the organization with managing that recovery.

"This organization, man, it's the best. They always look out for me," Rasmussen told MLB.com after Game 5. "They're doing their best to protect me, and unfortunately, their biggest enemy in that is myself."

Will he stay?

Exercising the option guarantees Rasmussen's salary. It does not guarantee he pitches for Tampa Bay next season. MLB.com raised the question directly: whether a lower-payroll club that has never paid anyone $20 million will keep a pitcher at that price or trade him this winter with one year of control remaining.

Rasmussen acknowledged the uncertainty in the clubhouse after the Game 5 loss. Asked whether he hoped to remain with the Rays, he replied, "I hope so."

"I mean, I don't know, man," Rasmussen said. "There's a business element to this, and I understand that."

The argument for keeping him is the state of the rotation. MLB.com noted that the Rays are losing fellow top starters Freddy Peralta and Nick Martinez to free agency, which makes an ace even harder to replace.

Other Rays option decisions

The Rasmussen move followed two declined options a day earlier. On Friday, the Rays turned down mutual options on Martinez and outfielder Cedric Mullins, according to the AP.

Martinez's option was part of a $13 million, one-year contract, and Mullins' was part of a $7.5 million, one-year deal.

What it means for Tampa Bay

The decision lands during a busy stretch off the field for the franchise. Days earlier, the Tampa City Council voted 4-3 to approve a $21 million community benefits agreement for the Rays' planned stadium on Dale Mabry Highway, as The Florida Press reported. How the club handles a $20 million salary will be one early look at its spending as that project moves forward.

What's next

With Rasmussen's 2027 salary settled, the next decision belongs to the front office: build the rotation around him for a run at a second straight pennant, or test the trade market for one of the most efficient starters in baseball. The offseason's free agency period and the winter meetings will offer the first clues.