Rays' Friday Arbitration Deadline

The deadline for the Rays and players to submit salary figures for contract arbitration is today, by 1:00 PM EST.

Eight players filed for salary arbitration on Tuesday, as is allowed per their rookie contracts: pitchers Alex Cobb, Kevin Jepson, Drew Smyly and Jake McGee, outfielder Desmond Jennings, infielder Logan Forsythe and catchers John Jaso and Rene Rivera.

Current service times and projected salary agreements by MLB Trade Rumors are listed below:

John Jaso (5.032) – $3.3MM

Kevin Jepsen (4.163) – $2.6MM

Jake McGee (3.127) – $3.8MM

Logan Forsythe (3.113) – $1.2MM

Desmond Jennings (3.101) – $3.2MM

Rene Rivera (3.082) – $1.3MM

Alex Cobb (3.061) – $4.5MM

Drew Smyly (2.154) – $3.0MM

While negotiations for tendered contracts are allowed to resume after Friday and up until arbitration hearings, which take place in February, the Rays' in-house policy is to have negotiations complete by the 1:00 PM deadline.

The Rays have yet to lose an arbitration hearing, and have avoided going to court in each of the past two years, which makes these eight cases remarkable.

Taking arbitration cases before a judge traditionally occur during spring training, which is not developmentally advantageous for the club or player.

Updates to follow as agreements and their contracts are released.