Erasmo Ramirez qualifies for Super-Two status

Erasmo Ramirez will enter salary arbitration a year early, according to off-season calculations from MLB. Normal rookie contracts allow arbitration in the final three years, but enough play at the major league level can kick that process off a year early.

The take away would be that this makes Ramirez more expensive over time, but he was a worthwhile piece of the rotation in 2015 and should continue to be next season. It was a gamble to acquire him for Mike Montgomery at the start of the season, but after two rough outings while learning the Rays Way of pitching, he settled into some incredible baseball.

Paying him a tiny bit more was a foregone conclusion if his acquisition was a success, given his amount of time spend in the majors in 2013 and 2014, so it's all worth it. The Rays couldn't have managed his past any differently.

In total the Rays will have eleven arbitration eligible players, with the following pulled from MLB Trade Rumors arbitration projections for 2016:

Jake McGee (4.127) - $4.7MM

Logan Forsythe (4.113) - $3.3MM

Desmond Jennings (4.101) - $3.1MM

Rene Rivera (4.082) - $1.6MM

Alex Cobb (4.061) - $4.0MM

J.P. Arencibia (4.052) - $1.4MM

Daniel Nava (4.045) - $1.9MM

Drew Smyly (3.154) - $3.9MM

Brandon Gomes (3.082) - $900K

Brandon Guyer (3.066) - $1.3MM

Erasmo Ramirez (2.158) - $2.8MM

Meanwhile, with the end of the World Series, three Rays have officially reached free agency: John Jaso, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Grady Sizemore.

It is not clear that the Rays have made any early attempts to sign the departing players to an extension, though I would imagine all three would be welcome on 2016's roster.