ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays on Sunday released the names of the 60 players chosen to be in their roster pool for this season.
For the most part, this is the group from which they will stock their active roster, which will be 30 players for the scheduled start of the season July 24, then reduced after two weeks to 28 and after two more weeks to 26.
Spring 2.0 training camps open this week, with testing Wednesday and the first workouts Friday, with about 35 player at Tropicana Field and the others at the spring facility in Port Charlotte.
While changes can be made, players can't be just shuttled on and off the 60-man roster. To be removed, they have to either be traded, released or placed on the restricted, suspended or injured lists. (There are traditional and coronavirus injured lists with different rules.)
Infielder Wander Franco and pitcher Shane Baz are among a group of prospects included on the 60-man.
Earlier Sunday, Franco was traded by his Dominican Republic winter-league team, sent from the Gigantes to Escogido as part of what was called an "eight-player mega trade."
Here are a couple of notes about the roster and more:
_ General manager Erik Neander said that including Franco, Baz and some other prospects was the result of having a few "spots to play with" and the consideration that they could benefit from the experience and potentially be pleasant surprises if needed.
_ Neander said depth and versatility are strengths of the roster and he expects the bulk of the 30-man opening day roster to come from the 37 players working out at the Trop. (Those names are in bold on the roster below.) "We expect to contend, we expect to compete," Neander said.
_ Pitcher Brent Honeywell, recovering from a recent elbow procedure, was the only player on the 40-man roster not included. Neander said Honeywell's recovery is going well but with him not being healthy, the Rays opted to not include him. Another option would have been to put him on the list, then place him on the injured list, which would have resulted in major-league pay and service time.
_ Outfielder Yoshi Tsutsugo is expected to be back from Japan in time for the opening of camp Wednesday, Neander said.
_ Neander said the Rays are still deciding if they will schedule any exhibition games; teams are allowed to play up to three.
Here is the Rays' 60-man list (players in the Trop group in bold; (ASTERISK)-not on 40 man roster):
Pitchers (30)
LH Jose Alvarado
RH Nick Anderson
LH Anthony Banda
RH Shane Baz(ASTERISK)
LH Jalen Beeks
RH Diego Castillo
RH Yonny Chirinos
RH Dylan Covey(ASTERISK)
RH John Curtiss(ASTERISK)
RH Oliver Drake
RH Pete Fairbanks
LH Josh Fleming(ASTERISK)
LH Sean Gilmartin(ASTERISK)
RH Tyler Glasnow
RH Andrew Kittredge
LH Aaron Loup(ASTERISK)
LH Shane McClanahan(ASTERISK)
LH Brendan McKay
RH Sam McWilliams(ASTERISK)
RH Charlie Morton
LH Colin Poche
RH Trevor Richards
RH Chaz Roe
RH Joe Ryan
LH Ryan Sherriff(ASTERISK)
RH Aaron Slegers(ASTERISK)
LH Blake Snell
LH D.J. Snelten(ASTERISK)
RH Ryan Thompson(ASTERISK)
LH Ryan Yarbrough
Catchers (5)
Ronaldo Hernandez
Chris Herrmann(ASTERISK)
Michael Perez
Kevan Smith(ASTERISK)
Mike Zunino
Infielders (15)
Willy Adames
Mike Brosseau
Vidal Brujan
Ji-Man Choi
Yandy Diaz
Lucius Fox
Wander Franco(ASTERISK)
Brandon Lowe
Nate Lowe
Jose Martinez
Kevin Padlo
Esteban Quiroz(ASTERISK)
Daniel Robertson
Taylor Walls(ASTERISK)
Joey Wendle
Outfielders (10)
Randy Arozarena
Dylan Cozens(ASTERISK)
Kevin Kiermaier
Ryan LaMarre(ASTERISK)
Jose Lowe(ASTERISK)
Manuel Margot
Austin Meadows
Brian O'Grady
Hunter Renfroe
Yoshi Tsutsugo
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