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Taylor Walls

SS · S/R · age 30.2 · TB

XIX-AXX-DOCTOBER OK

Roster status
10-DAY IL (Strained hip flexor)

Service thru 2025
4+092

Service now / projected
5+092 / 5+092

Option years left (2026)
2

Assignments left this season
5 of 5

Contract (2027)
2027 CLUB OPTION

Acquired
Drafted 3rd Rd (79) '17

Outrighted / DFA'd before
0 / 0

Contract
2 yr, $3.8M (2025-26), 2027 club option

Next 90 days, by the model

Stays put
88%

Designated
6%

Optioned
1%

Traded
5%

Released or non-tendered
1%

Pushing the cut risk around: age (30.18) raises it, this season's plate appearances (410) lowers it, time with the club (2124) lowers it.

Context the model does not weigh: ZiPS projects 0.7 WAR, 0.5 WAR this season; 7 IF on the 40-man, of whom Yandy Diaz, Jorge Mateo, Gavin Lux are headed to free agency.

Trained on every 40-man roster snapshot since 2011 and what happened in the following 90 days; it sees roster status, options, service, history and last season's line, not this season's performance or the club's intentions. How well it does.

Is there a job for him next year?

TB returns 11 IF on the 40-man once 3 free agents leave; about 8 IF jobs survive a normal winter. By his own recent record he ranks 6th among the returners (0.5 WAR against a bar of 0.1), which the calibrated model turns into 62% kept through the tender deadline. Ranked by ZiPS and Steamer instead, which credit his longer track record, he is 9th (0.5 WAR, bar 0.5), worth 71% kept on the same model.

By recent record: returning IF	Proj. WAR
1. Junior Caminero	3.8
2. Jonathan Aranda	2.6
3. Richard Palacios	1.4
4. Ryan Vilade	1.2
5. Ben Williamson	0.6
6. Taylor Walls	0.5
7. Mason Englert	0.2
8. Nick Madrigallast job	0.1
9. Jadher Areinamo	0.0
10. Jacob Melton	-0.6
11. Carson Williams	-1.7

By ZiPS / Steamer: returning IF	Proj. WAR
1. Junior Caminero	4.2
2. Jonathan Aranda	1.9
3. Ben Williamson	1.5
4. Carson Williams	1.5
5. Jadher Areinamo	0.9
6. Ryan Vilade	0.8
7. Mason Englert	0.7
8. Jacob Meltonlast job	0.5
9. Taylor Walls	0.5
10. Nick Madrigal	0.5
11. Richard Palacios	0.4

Departing free agents are excluded; players on club, mutual or player options are counted as returning. The kept probability is calibrated on every September since 2012 using the recent-record projection; the ZiPS/Steamer reading uses the same model with a different ranking, so treat it as a second opinion rather than a calibrated number. Salary enters once arbitration projections publish in October.

October: Post-season eligible

On the 40-man before noon ET Sep 1. He stays eligible as long as he remains on the 40-man or 60-day IL through the post-season; an outright after the cutoff would end automatic eligibility.

The post-season eligibility list is fixed at noon ET on September 1: everyone on the 40-man, the 60-day IL or the military list at that moment, who then stays there without interruption. Attachment 25 (Major League Rule 40)

What happens if the club…

option him to the minorsBLOCKED: Not without his consent: with five years of service he can refuse the assignment or elect free agency instead. The club's only unilateral moves are to keep him, trade him, or release him.; Article XIX-A: five years, no forced assignment
designate him for assignment (or put him on outright waivers): The club has 7 days to trade him, pass him through outright waivers, or release him; he is paid at the major-league rate and keeps accruing service in the meantime. On outright waivers any club can claim him for $50,000, worst record first, and the claiming club takes his contract (2 yr, $3.8M (2025-26), 2027 club option). If he clears, he cannot be outrighted without his consent: he can refuse and force a release with his contract intact, or elect free agency (forfeiting termination pay). Post-season: an outright after the September 1 cutoff ends his automatic eligibility. He could only return as an approved injury replacement, and only if he accepts the outright and stays on a minor-league reserve list in the organization without interruption; a release makes him ineligible for anyone this October. Because he is on the injured list he cannot be outrighted until he is healthy and reinstated, so a DFA now would have to end in a trade or a release.; Designated for assignment: 7 days · Outright waivers · Article XIX-A: five years, no forced outright
release him: Release waivers cost a claiming club $1 but the claimant assumes the whole contract, so expensive players clear. The club owes the full unpaid balance of this season's salary, offset by whatever another club pays him this year. A released player is not post-season eligible for any club this year.; Release waivers and termination pay · Which rate a split contract pays at release
trade himBLOCKED: Not now: players on major-league contracts cannot be traded after the Aug 3 deadline until the day after the World Series.; Trade deadline · 10-and-5 rights · June 15 no-trade for free-agent signees
Decide his contract option: 2027 Club Option: the decision must be made inside the five-day quiet period after the World Series. If declined and he has six years of service, he is a free agent immediately.; Article XX-B free agency

What the rules say about him

Article XIX-A: five years, no forced assignment
Crossed 5 years of service on Jun 13: can now refuse optional or outright assignment.
A player with five or more years of Major League service cannot be assigned anywhere but another Major League club without his written consent. 2022-2026 Basic Agreement, Article XIX(A)(2), p. 94
Option years and the 20-day rule
2 option years left entering 2026.
A season with fewer than 20 days on optional assignment does not count as an option year, and those days count as Major League service. 2022-2026 Basic Agreement, Article XIX(E) and XXI(B), p. 98 (the number itself is in Major League Rule 7(c))
Five optional assignments per season
Optioned 0 times this season that count toward the cap of 5: 5 left.
A player can be optioned at most five times in a season; a sixth trip requires outright waivers. 2022-2026 Basic Agreement, Article XIX(E), p. 98 (the number itself is in Major League Rule 7(c))
Article XX-D: the right to walk
4+092 of service (3+): may elect free agency if outrighted, now or deferred to season's end.
A player with three or more years of service (or a Super Two), or any player being outrighted for the second time in his career, may elect free agency instead of accepting the outright. 2022-2026 Basic Agreement, Article XX(D)(1)-(2), (4), p. 110
Injured players cannot be sent down
On the Major League injured list: cannot be optioned or outrighted until he is healthy and reinstated, so an injured fringe player keeps his roster spot by default.
No assignment to a minor-league club while a player is on a Major League injured list, and an injured player who cannot play cannot be optioned or outrighted. 2022-2026 Basic Agreement, Article XIX(C)(1)-(2), p. 96
Post-season roster eligibility
On the 40-man before noon ET Sep 1. He stays eligible as long as he remains on the 40-man or 60-day IL through the post-season; an outright after the cutoff would end automatic eligibility.
The post-season eligibility list is fixed at noon ET on September 1: everyone on the 40-man, the 60-day IL or the military list at that moment, who then stays there without interruption. 2022-2026 Basic Agreement, Attachment 25, p. 253 (the number itself is in Major League Rule 40)
Rule 5 clock
On a 40-man roster (would first be exposed after 2020 otherwise).

Option years, season by season

Season	Days on option	Option year used	Stints
2021	104	yes	Mar 16, 2021 to May 22, 2021 (51d, spring training)Jul 24, 2021 to Sep 1, 2021 (39d)Sep 7, 2021 to Sep 11, 2021 (4d)Sep 24, 2021 to Oct 4, 2021 (10d)

Transaction log

Sep 8, 2026	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays placed SS Taylor Walls on the 10-day injured list retroactive to September 6, 2026. Right hip flexor strain.
Apr 6, 2026	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays activated SS Taylor Walls from the 10-day injured list.
Mar 24, 2026	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays placed SS Taylor Walls on the 10-day injured list retroactive to March 22, 2026. Strained right oblique.
Nov 6, 2025	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays activated SS Taylor Walls from the 60-day injured list.
Sep 17, 2025	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays transferred SS Taylor Walls from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Left groin strain.
Aug 12, 2025	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays placed SS Taylor Walls on the 10-day injured list. Left groin strain.
Jun 7, 2024	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays activated SS Taylor Walls from the 60-day injured list.
Apr 20, 2024	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays transferred SS Taylor Walls from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Right hip surgery.
Mar 27, 2024	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays placed SS Taylor Walls on the 10-day injured list. Right hip surgery.
Sep 18, 2023	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays activated SS Taylor Walls from the paternity list.
Sep 16, 2023	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays placed SS Taylor Walls on the paternity list.
Sep 1, 2023	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays activated SS Taylor Walls from the 10-day injured list.
Jul 22, 2023	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays placed SS Taylor Walls on the 10-day injured list retroactive to July 21, 2023. Left oblique strain.
Jul 31, 2022	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays activated SS Taylor Walls.
Oct 4, 2021	Recalled	Tampa Bay Rays recalled SS Taylor Walls, , , and from Durham Bulls.
Sep 24, 2021	Optioned	Tampa Bay Rays optioned SS Taylor Walls to Durham Bulls.
Sep 11, 2021	Recalled	Tampa Bay Rays recalled SS Taylor Walls from Durham Bulls.
Sep 7, 2021	Optioned	Tampa Bay Rays optioned SS Taylor Walls to Durham Bulls.
Sep 1, 2021	Recalled	Tampa Bay Rays recalled SS Taylor Walls from Durham Bulls.
Jul 24, 2021	Optioned	Tampa Bay Rays optioned SS Taylor Walls to Durham Bulls.
Jul 3, 2021	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays activated SS Taylor Walls from the 10-day injured list.
Jun 24, 2021	Status change	Tampa Bay Rays placed SS Taylor Walls on the 10-day injured list. Right wrist tendinitis.
May 22, 2021	Recalled	Tampa Bay Rays recalled SS Taylor Walls from Durham Bulls.
Mar 16, 2021	Optioned	Tampa Bay Rays optioned SS Taylor Walls to Durham Bulls.
Nov 20, 2020	Contract selected	Tampa Bay Rays selected the contract of SS Taylor Walls from Durham Bulls.
Jun 19, 2017	Signed	Tampa Bay Rays signed 3B Taylor Walls.

Service through 2025 per FanGraphs RosterResource; options and this-season service reconstructed from the MLB transaction log (reconstruction; FanGraphs shows n/a). Rule 5 exposure deadline Nov 17, 2026.