"With the wild World Series finally over, the Rays have some key decisions to make in the next few days.

By midnight Monday, Tampa Bay will have to either pick up options on RHP James Shields ($7.5 million), RHP Kyle Farnsworth ($3.3 million) and C Kelly Shoppach ($3.2 million) or buy them out and allow them to be free agents.

Not all of them are clear-cut. Here's a breakdown.

• Shields: This one would seem like the no-brainer of the three. The 29-year-old is coming off a remarkable bounceback season in which he made his first All-Star team, racked up a major-league-high 11 complete games and set career highs in wins (16), strikeouts (225) and innings (249?). While his option could escalate to $8 million based on his finish in the AL Cy Young voting, it'd still be a reasonable deal for a front-line starter and staff leader who has been one of the most durable pitchers in baseball (five straight seasons of 200-plus innings).

Shields wants to be back and believes he will.

Said agent Page Odle: "Nothing has been said to Jamey or myself to indicate that he won't be coming back for next year."

• Farnsworth: It would seem as though the team is likely to pick up his option (rather than pay a $650,000 buyout). He exceeded expectations in his first full year in the closer's role, racking up a career-high 25 saves (after having 27 in his first 12 seasons), including five of four or more outs. Quality closers aren't cheap, and executive VP Andrew Friedman spoke at the end-of-the-year news conference as if the 35-year-old would be back. The only question remains whether the right elbow issue that put him out a couple of weeks in September is a concern.

• Shoppach: He would be the first to tell you he had a disappointing year offensively, hitting .176, including .241 against left-handers. While the Rays could choose to buy out his option for $300,000, the 31-year-old veteran catcher has said he'd still be open to coming back. It's what he did behind the plate that could draw similar interest from Tampa Bay."