Money talk for the Yankees. Whisper to the Rays.

st. PETERSBURG — Outside of Tampa Bay, money flows freely.

Some might say it’s reckless. Others will admirably argue. Whichever side of baseball’s economic fence lands, there is little doubt that inequality continues to rise.

The top 10 players in the majors spent just over $3 billion in free agency this offseason, compared to less than $700 million for the other 20 teams combined. That equates to about $300 million each for the big shots and $35 million for him per team otherwise.

So what should low-revenue teams do?

If you’re a raise, try to stay one step ahead.

In relative terms, Tampa Bay continues to have its own spending this week. Yandi Diaz, Jeffrey Springs and Pete Fairbanks have signed multi-year deals in recent days, joining previous deals with Tyler Glasno, Manuel Margot, Brandon Lowe and Wonder Franco.

If you don’t count the players whose contracts will be renewed in the coming weeks, the Rays are actually committing more money to their 2024 roster than their current team for all their multi-year deals.

Is this a change in philosophy? The current owner has been doing this since 2008, when Evan signed his Longoria to his nine-year contract in his first month in the big leagues.

The difference is that the current roster is top-heavy with players entering the year of arbitration, and the Rays are aggressive about locking in salaries before the market gets even more expensive.

Essentially, the Rays are offering players a guaranteed short-term income in exchange for buying out a season or two of free agency.

Springs’ deal bought two seasons of free agency for $10.5 million each, with an option for the next season at $15 million. Diaz is also giving up one free agency season and choosing another option, with Margot giving up his second year and option. Fairbanks gave up his one option his season.

Free agency costs were so high this winter that the Rays were less active than expected and had more salary flexibility than they otherwise would have.

“This is a really good team. This is a really good roster,” said baseball president Eric Neander. “Last year wasn’t our best year, and we make no excuses for that, but the potential for this roster is to play much better than last year.

“There hasn’t been a lot of trading activity this winter. Maybe in a way that’s what gave the group the chance to stay together a little longer. Interested in making that happen.” I’m lucky to have a player who has it.”

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The Rays also lost $45 million from their salaries with Kevin Kiermaier, Mike Zunino, Corey Kluber, Ziman Choi, Ryan Yarbrough, Brooks Reilly and David Peralta leaving via trade or free agency awarded Zac Eflin a three-year, $40 million deal, allowing him to retain several of the arbitration candidates.

The trick to these deals is to make them win-win. Rays usually have this kind of contract negotiation before players start making big money in arbitration. By offering multi-year contracts, they give young players tens of millions of dollars and set them up for life, even if their careers are cut short.

Conversely, the Rays are more likely to get them at a lower-than-market salary with two years of free agency.

Even if the players didn’t stay under contract and the Rays traded Blake Snell, Chris Archer, Matt Moore, James Shields, Ben Zobrist and Longoria in those circumstances, the deal would put them in the trade market. to make it more valuable.

“We open up and listen to conversations to understand what’s most important to our players. What considerations are most important,” Neander said. “I think there are different ways to structure and balance things.

“Determine if a particular path or concept is preferable to the status quo. That’s how we really go about these. No, but that’s the approach: just get to know each other the best and go from there.”

So Aaron Judge will make $40 million a year by the time he’s 40. Good for him. And for Yankees fans, it’s good for at least a handful of those seasons.

This is the cost of doing business with cross-generational talent in a large market. Things are different here. So is the price.

Still, the Rays have won 226 games over the past three seasons. The Yankees have 224 wins.

Contact John Romano at: jromano@tampabay.comFollow @romano_tbtimes.

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