12:20 p.m.: Jansen will be paid $8 million in 2025, and there is a $500,000 buyout on a shared option for the 2026 season, Topkin reports.

12:10 p.m.: Jansen and the Rays have agreed to a one-year, $8.5 million deal, Robert Murray of FanSided reports. He turned down multi-year offers to join the Rays and position himself for a return to the free-agent market next year, Murray adds. The agreement is still pending.

12:04 p.m.: The Rays are in “serious discussions” with free agent catcher Danny Jansen and are close to a deal, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. The ISE prospect would take on a prominent role behind the plate for the Rays, sharing time with standout defense Ben Rortvedt. It will be a one-year deal for Jansen, Ken Rosenthal and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic.

The 29-year-old Jansen is a longtime division foe and has spent his entire career with the Blue Jays and briefly with the Red Sox this summer. He’s a rebound candidate looking to bounce back after a poor year at the plate in which he hit just .206/.308/.348 in 328 plate appearances. It’s been a tough year and a particularly tough end for Jansen, but at the start of the season he seemed primed for a notable deal in free agency. He slashed .237/.317/.487 (121 wRC+) overall from 2021 to 2023 – including a massive .260/.339/.516 performance in 2022.

Any discussion of Jansen’s decline should take into account that he was on the injured list earlier in the season due to a broken wrist he suffered during spring training. Jansen came out of the gate hitting .295/.375/.533 in his first 120 plate appearances before falling into an extended lull from which he never really recovered. Jansen hit just .150/.270/.237 in his last 204 attempts.

(Anecdotally, Jansen also became the first player in MLB history to play for both teams in the same game, starting for the Jays in a rain-interrupted game against the Red Sox that ended later in the second half – after he had traded to Boston.)

Jansen still posted a strong 12.7% in that time and posted a slightly below average 21% in his plate appearances. However, his contact quality fell apart (85 mph average exit velocity, 24.2% strike rate). Jansen’s .172 average on balls in play during that span of just over 200 plate appearances certainly suggested poor fortune, but the lack of quality contact underscores that it wasn’t just pure bad luck.

The Rays are hoping a healthier Jansen can help them solve a problem that has been going on for several seasons. Tampa Bay’s catchers were, as expected, among the least productive in the league last year – as you would expect if you start the year as a journeyman Alex Jackson and a defensive specialist like Rortvedt as a big league catching tandem. In terms of wRC+, the Rays’ catchers were 33% worse than average at the plate. Only the Marlins and White Sox were less productive at the position. Tampa Bay’s catchers combined to hit a disastrous .194/.272/.291 this season, although Rortvedt’s talent for draw walks and strong gloves made things at least a little more palatable.

Even if Jansen can simply match last year’s poor performance, that would be an offensive improvement for the Rays. If he can regain even some of his 2021-23 form, it could be a huge improvement for the lineup. Defensively, he’s likely a step backwards, although there’s reason to hope for improvement in 2025. Jansen is typically considered a solid, but not elite, defender. Statcast gave him plus grades for blocking pitches in the dirt and slightly below-average frame grades last year. Jansen has a career steal rate of 20%, but is just over 13% over the last two seasons. However, he broke the middle finger and wrist of his throwing hand in those two seasons, which could have a negative impact on his throwing ability down the road. Jansen’s average pop time of 1.99 seconds is still right at the 2022 level (1.98 seconds).

Jansen’s signing is expected to increase the Rays’ payroll to $86 million. However, that number could still change dramatically as the Rays have drawn trade interest in veterans like this Jeffrey Springs ($10.5 million in 2024), Yandy Diaz ($10 million), Pete Fairbanks ($3.666 million) and Zack Littell (expected to be $4.8 million) – among other things. It’s not clear how willing the owners are to spend money after the hurricane damage that destroyed the roof of Tropicana Field and forced the Rays to move to Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field (home of the Yankees’ Class A affiliate). However, the Jansen deal at least signals a willingness to spend modestly, even if the ultimate plan is to balance things out by trading other veterans for young, controllable (and cheaper) talent.