The Rays made a bullpen swap on Sunday, designating right-hander Chris Roycroft for assignment to clear roster space. It's the kind of unglamorous, midseason paperwork move that barely registers outside of Tampa Bay — until you realize what it means for a team trying to hold on down the stretch.
Roycroft's stint with the Rays was short and rocky. Tampa Bay acquired him from the Cardinals back in late June, sending either a player-to-be-named-later or cash to St. Louis to get him. He never really found his footing at the big league level, posting a 6.52 ERA across 19 1/3 innings with Tampa Bay while striking out just 16.3% of the batters he faced and surrendering six home runs. He wasn't exactly lighting it up at Triple-A Durham either, running a 5.02 ERA in 28 2/3 innings there. The Rays optioned him down and recalled him three separate times trying to find a role for him — it just never clicked.
The move to make room is bigger news than the DFA itself. Manuel Rodríguez is being activated off the 60-day injured list, and he's a real weapon if he's back to form. From 2024-25, Rodríguez ran a 2.12 ERA over 68 innings, walked hardly anybody at a 6.1% clip and generated grounders at a well above-average 53.1% rate. That's a genuine high-leverage arm — the kind of setup piece a contending bullpen actually needs in September. He hasn't pitched in the majors since June 2025, having gone under the knife for flexor tendon surgery, so this is as much a return from injury as it is a corresponding move.
For Roycroft, this is now the second organization in two months to move on from him — the Cardinals dealt him away in June, and now the Rays are cutting him loose too. He'll either get claimed off waivers by a team looking for bullpen depth, get outrighted back to the minors, or hit free agency. Not much drama here, but it's a reminder of how thin the margin is for middle relievers trying to stick on a playoff roster — one bad ERA and you're a transaction line, not a bullpen piece.