ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays released James Loney on Sunday, prior to Major League Baseball's deadline for clubs to set their 25-man rosters.
Earlier in the week, the Rays told Loney he would not be on the team, but they waited until Sunday to see if a trade might come to fruition before the deadline.
"It was a difficult decision, but especially for a guy, he did a lot of good things for this organization over the last couple of years," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He was a leader for us. He had some good seasons.