Rays exercise option on veteran infielder

The Tampa Bay Rays and infielder Taylor Walls are in agreement on a deal for the 2026 season, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The team will exercise the $2.45M club option that covers Walls’ second arbitration season, and also add a club option that proactively covers his third year in 2027. That option is valued at $3.1M, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. Vayner Sports represents walls.

The 29-year-old Walls led the team in shortstop appearances last season, providing quality glovework but little to no production in the batter’s box. The 2017 third-rounder was credited with a superlative 17 Defensive Runs Saved but turned in an anemic .220/.280/.319 line (66 wRC+) at the plate. He did draw walks at close to a league-average clip and has been well above average in that regard throughout his career as a whole. Walls also provided a bit of value on the bases, though his 14-for-20 showing in stolen base attempts wasn’t nearly as efficient as in the earlier years of his career; he entered the season with 52 steals in 62 tries.

Heading into 2026, Walls gives Tampa Bay some cover at shortstop if top prospect Carson Williams needs more time in Triple-A. Williams made his big league debut this year but hit poorly in his first 32 games/106 MLB plate appearances, slashing only .172/.219/.354 with an alarming 41.5% strikeout rate. Williams spent the rest of the season in Triple-A and didn’t exactly light things up there either (.213/.318/.447), though he was just 21 years old for most of his time at the top minor league level.

Williams will head to spring training squarely in the mix for Tampa Bay’s Opening Day shortstop job, but if he struggles in Grapefruit League play, the Rays can send him back to Triple-A Durham for more seasoning and turn shortstop back over to Walls, knowing he’ll at least provide a quality glove and a bit of speed out of the ninth spot in the batting order while Williams rounds out his development. If Williams does nab the shortstop job from the jump next year, Walls can fill a utility role; he’s also drawn strong grades for his defense at second base and third base.

Walls’ 2026 club option contained a $50K buyout, so it was a net $2.4M decision for the team. He’d have remained under club control even if the Rays had declined the option. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected Walls for a $2M salary, so the Rays either projected a higher number for Walls or picked up the option at a marginally higher-than-expected rate as a trade-off to secure another club option year at a relatively low rate.

That same scenario will hold true next winter as well. The Rays could decline the option and still keep Walls for a lesser amount in arbitration, depending on how his season plays out. Thursday’s deal doesn’t buy out any potential free agent seasons. Walls is still under club control through 2027 and is slated to become a free agent in the 2027-28 offseason.