The Rays announced that they have activated infielder Ben Williamson from the 10-day injured list. He returns after missing a month and a half due to a right hamstring strain. In a corresponding move for Williamson, outfielder Jake Fraley has been designated for assignment. Tampa’s 40-man roster is full after the move.
Fraley was non-tendered by the Rays at the end of last year. He rejoined the club on a one-year, $3MM deal to serve as a platoon option against righties. He hasn’t been able to serve in that role due to injury. Fraley suffered back in May and ultimately required surgery, which should have set him up for a six to eight-week absence. However, he experienced setbacks while on his rehab assignment in July and ultimately did not return until September 15th. He appeared in three games after that and went hitless in six at-bats.
Owing to that four-month absence, Fraley has only been healthy enough to take 97 plate appearances, of which 87 have come against righties. He is batting .216/.289/.364 with an 83 wRC+ overall, including an 82 wRC+ against righties. It’s hard to draw conclusions from such a small sample, but it was nonetheless a stark drop-off from Fraley’s performance in 2025. In 217 plate appearances last year, Fraley had a perfectly average 100 wRC+ (101 wRC+ against righties) along with a 22.6% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate. The strikeouts have climbed to 29.9% in this year’s limited action.
Evidently, the Rays saw little reason to continue carrying Fraley on the roster. He is a limited defender in right field, so between that and his struggles on offense, he wasn’t going to be on the postseason roster anyway. Jonny DeLuca and Ryan Vilade are the other backup outfielders at the moment. DeLuca has accrued +7 Defensive Runs Saved and +12 Outs Above Average while splitting time between center field and right this year. Meanwhile, Vilade has a 120 wRC+ in 254 plate appearances. Both DeLuca (95 wRC+ against righties) and Vilade (99 wRC+) have hit righties better than Fraley, even without the latter’s platoon advantage.
Fraley now heads to DFA limbo. He entered this season with over five years of service time, so he has the right to reject an outright assignment while retaining his guaranteed salary. With that, the Rays figure to put him directly on release waivers. Once he clears and becomes a free agent, Fraley could sign with a new team for the prorated league minimum, but it’s much more likely that he waits it out until the offseason.
Williamson came to the Rays in a three-team trade this past offseason. He has taken 270 plate appearances with an 82 wRC+ and a slash line of .247/.309/.332, though he’s chipped in eight stolen bases. Defensive grades have been mixed on his infield work. Williamson has been worth +5 DRS between second, third, and shortstop, while OAA has him at -4 across those three spots. He was a second-round pick by the Mariners in 2023 and will finish this year above one year of service time.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images
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