BRADENTON, FL – MARCH 02: Andrew Wantz (50) of the Tampa Bay Rays delivers a pitch during a spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 02, 2026 at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Tampa Bay Rays have remained in the American League playoff picture despite dealing with constant turnover throughout their pitching staff.
As injuries and performance fluctuations have forced the club to shuffle relievers between Triple-A Durham and the major-league roster, several pitchers have received brief opportunities to prove themselves and not all of those debuts have gone as the team and its players might have hoped.
Tampa Bay Rays Pitcher Cuts Ties With Team Shortly After Brutal Outing
That proved to be the case for veteran right-hander Andrew Wantz, whose stint with the Rays’ big-league club ended almost immediately after a difficult debut, leading him to cut ties with the team in search of a new deal.
“Wantz was DFA’d by Tampa Bay after he gave up five earned runs in just 1.2 innings Saturday, and he’ll now look to free agency for his next opportunity,” CBS Sports reported earlier this week. “The 30-year-old has also struggled in the minors this season, posting a 7.04 ERA and 1.78 WHIP through 23 innings at Triple-A Durham, so he will almost certainly have to settle for another minor-league deal.”
The outing marked Wantz’s only appearance for the Rays after joining the organization last year. He was a non-roster Spring Training invitee following a season in the Ray’s minor-league system, and he was a long-time member of the Los Angeles Angels before that.
In four years with the Angels, the team that drafted him in 2018, Wantz logged a 4.20 ERA with 127 strikeouts in nearly 120 innings. But he suffered a mysterious injury setback and hasn’t enjoyed the same kind of success since.
“In 2024, the Angels tried stretching him out in the minors, which didn’t work,” Darragh McDonald wrote for MLB Trade Rumors. “He posted a 6.17 ERA in seven appearances for Triple-A Salt Lake and then underwent some kind of elbow surgery. The details on that procedure were murky but he was outrighted off the roster at season’s end and then signed a two-year minor league deal with the Rays for 2025 and 2026.”
Tampa Bay Rays Pitcher Who Underwent Mysterious Surgery Looks For New Team
Despite the difficult results, Wantz brings significant professional experience to the open market. The former Los Angeles Angels reliever has appeared in parts of six major-league seasons and entered this year with a career 3.93 ERA across 110 major-league innings. He has also accumulated more than five years of professional experience at the Triple-A level.
For the Rays, the move represents another example of the roster churn that often accompanies a long season. For Wantz, it creates an opportunity to seek a fresh start elsewhere.