Tampa squeezes the payroll

Diamondbacks acquired OF Steven Souza from the Rays as part of a three-team trade.

Tampa Bay received second base prospect Nick Solak from the Yankees and left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda plus two players to be named later from the Diamondbacks. Brandon Drury is going to New York. Souza had a career year with the Rays in 2017, posting an .810 OPS with 30 home runs in 148 games, and he should maintain a good amount of fantasy value in Arizona, even with a humidor coming to Chase Field. The 28-year-old outfielder is under control through 2020. He'll make $3.55 million in 2018 -- his first year of arbitration. 

 

 The first question to ask, understandably, is who do the Rays have left?
And, after they Tuesday added 2017 team MVP Steven Souza Jr. to the list of departees that had just included Corey Dickerson and Jake Odorizzi, the next to ask is what do they have left?
Short answer: A lot of questions.
While Rays officials, justifiably, are excited about the tall pile of talented arms they have – and added to by acquiring Diamondbacks prospect Anthony Banda – there are serious gaps in their lineup.
GM Erik Neander said they now would look to replace Souza and add players, taking advantage of the buyer-friendly market, if deals make sense.
But going by what they have now, this is the paragraph where I would normally tell you what the lineup is going to be,


But realistically, it's pretty much a puzzle.
Best guess?
Maybe some like this:

RF Denard Span
3B Matt Duffy
CF Kevin Kiermaier
C Wilson Ramos
DH Brad Miller
1B C.J. Cron
SS Adeiny Hechavarria
2B Daniel Robertson/Joey Wendle
LF Mallex Smith
Or maybe it's more like this:
3B Matt Duffy
CF Kevin Kiermaier
C Wilson Ramos
DH Brad Miller
1B C.J. Cron
RF Denard Span
SS Adeiny Hechavarria
2B Daniel Robertson/Joey Wendle
LF Mallex Smith
Or it could be like this:
LF Mallex Smith
CF Kevin Kiermaier
3B Matt Duffy
DH Brad Miller
C Wilson Ramos
RF Denard Span
1B C.J. Cron
SS Adeiny Hechavarria
2B Daniel Robertson/Joey Wendle

Even before trading Souza, the Rays were talking about adding a right-handed hitting outfielder. Now they pretty much have to. (Jose Bautista, on a small deal that makes the chip on his shoulder bigger?)
Consider that the players who hit 172 of their 228 homers last year – more than 75 percent – are gone. And 472 of their 671 RBIs, about 70 percent.
Plus with Alex Cobb gone as a free agent (though unsigned) and Odorizzi traded among missing pitchers, they have lost 41 of their 80 wins.
The current operating premise is to keep building up for the future while giving the big-league team at the least "a fighting chance."

That may be a battle.