Sep 20, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz (2) hits an rbi single against the Boston Red Sox in the seventh inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Evaluating Pros and Cons of Rays Potentially Trading Yandy Diaz

Originally posted on Tampa Bay Rays on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Oct 6, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The Tampa Bay Rays have entered the offseason with a lot of important decisions to make regarding the future of the franchise. Due to the change in ownership, this winter could be an uncertain one for the franchise. New ownership might look to make an early splash, but the Rays have notoriously been among the bottom of the league in payroll.

In 2025, the team was able to get off to a very strong start to the season. It appeared that the Rays were going to be contenders early on, but unfortunately had the wheels come off a bit. Due to some scheduling challenges, Tampa Bay had a brutal summer with a majority of their games on the road.

With this coming offseason being an interesting one, the Rays could go in a couple of different directions. Trade rumors will certainly be surrounding some of their key players and the team might elect to move some of them. One player who could be dealt is slugger Yandy Diaz. Here are some of the pros and cons if they decide to move him.

Pros

If the Rays were to move Diaz, they would be selling relatively high on a veteran slugger coming off a fantastic campaign. In 2025, Diaz slashed .300/.366/.482 with 25 home runs and 83 RBI.

There would be plenty of teams who would be interested in acquiring a slugger who can put up those types of numbers, and the team would be able to get quite the haul for him. If Tampa Bay elected to move Diaz this winter, they would realistically expect to get some excellent prospects back in return.

Cons

While there are some pros about trying to sell high with Diaz this winter, there are some cons as well. This was a team that was able to be one of the best in the American League in the first half of the year and showed some serious upside.

Even though trading Diaz wouldn't cripple the offense for the Rays, he would be a lot of production to try and replace either from within or externally. The veteran slugger was great in 2025 and moving him would be a blow to the team.

Tampa Bay is a team that has the potential to be a contender in 2026, but they will need to avoid being sellers this winter. Ideally, keeping Diaz at least until the trade deadline to re-evaluate where they are standing would be the wise move.