Rays’ Freddie Freeman takes an interest in a Yankees problem

It seems you can add another team to the Freddie Freeman Sweepstakes – and it’s surprising.

According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the Rays made an offer to Freeman before the league-imposed suspension, which began Dec. 2.

The notoriously low-paid Rays appear to be an unlikely target for Freeman, one of the best free agents remaining on the market, and their interest in the 32-year-old could complicate things for the Yankees.

Not only would the Yankees like to avoid seeing Freeman in their division, Tampa Bay would almost certainly only be able to land Freeman if he can’t get a five- or six-year contract elsewhere — and that’s how the Yankees might choose to go for the Left handed.

Long believed to return to Atlanta, Freeman was unexpectedly still on the market more than a month at liberty, which offered interested teams – like the Yankees and Dodgers – an opening.

Freeman is believed to be targeting a contract close to six years and $180 million.

And he’s not the only first baseman who might be on the move once the MLB lockdown ends and transactions are allowed again.

Anthony Rizzo is also a free agent and could be set for a reunion after a solid performance in the Bronx following a midseason trade from the Cubs. He would cost less and for fewer years than Freeman, who led the Braves to a World Series title in October.

Then there’s Oakland’s Matt Olson, who is expected to be moved sooner rather than later by the always cost-cutting A’s.

The Yankees are also seriously interested in Olson, who would give them another left-handed hitter like Rizzo and Freeman.

As of now, Luke Voit remains the sole first baseman in the Yankees’ 40-man roster. He’s confident he’ll be healthy after one season He was plagued by problems with his left knee. Voit would be entitled to approximately $5.4 million in arbitration.

With the lockout now in its fourth month and MLB and the Players Association locked in a standoff, the work stoppage seems far from over.

And what the financial situation of sport looks like on the other side will play a role in the development of the first basic market, because the most important sticking point between the two sides in the fight for a new collective agreement is the competitive equalization tax.