The Rays have re-signed veteran outfielder Austin Slater to a minor league contract, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Ballengee Group client is headed to Triple-A Durham. Tampa Bay designated Slater for assignment earlier in the month, and he elected free agency after clearing waivers last week.
Slater went 6-for-22 with a pair of doubles, three steals, three walks and six strikeouts in 25 plate appearances with the Rays prior to his DFA. Tampa Bay marked the journeyman outfielder’s eighth major league team in the past three seasons alone.
Now 33 years old, Slater spent seven-plus seasons with the Giants to begin his career. He’s since bounced to the Reds, O’s, White Sox, Yankees, Marlins, Mets and Rays. He’s slashed just .215/.301/.308 in 446 big league plate appearances dating back to 2024.
Prior to this difficult stretch, Slater had a nice run in San Francisco as a short-side platoon bat. He’s a career .263/.353/.420 hitter against lefties, even including a downturn in production over the past three seasons. From 2020-23, Slater hit .259/.352/.421 in 942 trips to the plate. He played a decent corner outfield, though his overall defensive grades with the Giants are skewed by a 2022 season in which he logged a career-high 537 innings in center field out of necessity. He was stretched thin at the position then and is at best an emergency option there now; he played only three innings there in 2025 and hasn’t played center at all in 2026.
The Rays’ outfield mix currently has Cedric Mullins, Victor Mesa Jr. and Chandler Simpson as lefty-swinging options, with Ryan Vilade and Jonny DeLuca providing right-handed complements. Gavin Lux and Jake Fraley are both on the injured list. Prospect Jacob Melton missed significant time on the minor league injured list but has caught absolute fire of late and could soon push for a call to the majors — though he’d be yet another left-handed option.
