Garrett Cleavinger News: Will be part of closer committee

Cleavinger, Griffin Jax and Edwin Uceta are expected to be part of a closer-by-committee for the Rays in 2026, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Rays elected to decline Pete Fairbanks' $11 million option, and the plan for now is to fill that ninth-inning vacancy with multiple players. Cleavinger had the best season of his career in 2025, holding a 2.35 ERA and 82:18 K:BB over 61.1 innings. The lefty has neutral splits, so he should not be at a matchups disadvantage when it comes to who manager Kevin Cash chooses to deploy in save situations.