Rays Your Voice: Who will the Rays add to the rotation? Guest Brian Menendez

With the dust settled in Charlie Morton’s free agency, it’s now time to look and see how the Rays might try to replace the 37-year-old starting pitcher. Sure, the Rays organization is full of young, talented pitchers that could probably form a rotation good enough to send the team back to the postseason, but the expectations are raised this year. Charlie Morton was the guy on the mound in Game 7 of the ALCS, and would’ve started the same game in the World Series had the Rays won Game 6 and Justin Turner had not been infected. A year before that he was a finalist for the American League Cy Young award, a feat only accomplished by two other Rays pitchers. But now he’s gone.

Brian and I take a look at some of the options available on the free agent market, including old friend Chris Archer. There are plenty of other veteran pitchers that the Rays could bring in for less than what they owed Charlie Morton, but if the Rays are looking to add this offseason, the trade market may be the way to go. Lance Lynn is entering the last year of his very friendly contract with the Texas Rangers, and the Rays have the pieces to make deals like this happen. We’re not saying the Rays need to go all-in, but we’d feel a lot more comfortable with another addition to the starting rotation.