September 19-21, 2022: vs Houston (3)
 

Game 1: 8-7 W (10). WP-N.Anderson (1-0). Starter-Baz (4.1 6 2 2 2 4). HR-W.Franco (18). Rays were resilient in this one, coming back from 5-1 down to tie it at 5 and after Houston scored twice in the 10th to go up 7-5, they scored 3 times in the bottom to win it with Francisco Mejia's 2-run single with 2 out tying it and Arozarena's infield hit (his 4th safety of the game) winning it. Franco and Mejia drove in 3 apiece.

Game 2: 1-3 L. LP-McClanahan (8-9, 5.1 4 2 2 3 9). HR-J.Lowe (3).

Game 3: 5-1 W. WP-Patino (5-6, 5 3 1 1 0 7). HR-B.Lowe (28). Good thing they pitched well because the offense was profligate, only getting 5 runs despite 16 hits, leaving 11 on base and hitting into 2 double plays. Merrifield was 4-4 and Toro 3-3 with an RBI with Franco's 2-run single in the 2nd after the previous two batters whiffed with the bases loaded the big hit.

Team record: 78-71. Still in the third wild card, 1/2 game behind Texas, and 3 ahead of the Jays, our next opponent for 4 games at the Trop and whom we'll need to be better against after dropping 4 of 5 in Toronto last week.

September 22-25, 2022: vs Toronto (4)
 

Game 1: 1-2 L. LP-Fairbanks (3-1). Starter-Rasmussen (6 6 1 1 1 7). The Rays only managed 3 hits and Fairbanks gave up a Vlad Jr homer in the 8th to break a 1-1 tie in Toronto's favor as the Jays pull within 2 of the Rays for the final wild card.

Game 2: 2-1 W (10). WP-Rogers (3-1). Starter-Chirinos (6 5 1 1 1 6). HR-J.Bell (8/27). Josh Bell has been booed mercilessly by the Trop faithful, and with good cause considering he's hit below the Mendoza line as a Ray. But tonight he turned the boos to cheers with a dramatic 9th-inning homer to tie the game at 1, and then Whit Merrifield's sac fly in the 10th won it after Wander came off the bench with a big double and the Rays restored their 3-game lead over Toronto.

Transaction: Chris Gau developed forearm inflammation and heads to the IL while Calvin Faucher is called up from Durham.

Game 3: 5-2 W. WP-Baz (5-9, 5 5 2 2 3 5). S-N.Anderson (1). HR-B.Lowe (29). Lowe's homer and an Arozarena RBI triple were the big hits while Nick Anderson picked up his first save in over a year, and the Rays expanded their lead to 4 over Toronto.

Game 4: 4-3 W. WP-Kittredge (7-4). Starter-McClanahan (5 7 3 3 1 5). HR-J.Bell (9/28). It's taken a long time but Josh Bell is finally paying dividends for the Rays as his RBI single in the 5th tied the game and his solo homer in the 8th won it.

Team record: 81-72. Not only did we knock Toronto out of the playoff race and went from 66% to make the playoffs after losing the opener to 96% after winning the next three, but we moved into the second wild card and are only 1/2 game behind Houston for the first spot and the right to host a series. The rest of the schedule isn't going to be easy though as the final 9 games are on the road. After an off day we're starting with 3 in Cleveland, whose playoff hopes are on life support 4 1/2 behind Texas for the 3rd wild card.

September 27-29, 2022: at Cleveland (3)
 

Game 1: 3-5 L. LP-Patino (5-7, 6 4 2 2 0 7). HR-J.Bell (10/28). It was a 2-1 Cleveland lead going to the bottom of the 8th when Nick Anderson gave up 3 runs, which was unfortunate since the red-hot Bell added to his solo homer with a 2-run double in the 9th. Cleveland creeps within 3 games.

Game 2: 7-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (13-3, 5.1 5 1 1 1 4). HR-Zunino (17). Abraham Toro's 2-run single in the 1st capped a 3-run inning and sent the Rays on their way to a huge win, lowering their magic # to 3 to clinch a wild card and upping their playoff probability to 98%.

Game 3: 2-5 L. LP-Chirinos (5-5, 4.1 4 2 2 3 3). It was scoreless into the bottom of the 5th when Chirinos put a couple of men on and gave way to Andrew Kittredge, who was horrible, giving up 3 straight run-scoring hits and that was that. Whit Merrifield was 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI.

Team record: 82-74. The magic # stays at 3 but we're still 97% to make it. It's primarily about seeding now as Houston is in the #1 spot, 1/2 game up on Texas, which is 1/2 game up on the Rays. We'll have a lot to say about it with 3 games in Houston next on the schedule.

Minor League Playoff Update: Montgomery won the first two games of their playoff series against Biloxi but lost the next three so they're in need of two straight wins to advance to the Southern League finals. Durham dominated the IL with a 93-57 record led by Curtis Mead (.318-11-60), Kameron Misner (.262-19-87) and Luke Raley (.265-25-92) while Tommy Romero (10-4, 2.91) and Chris Mazza (12-7, 304) were their top pitchers. They'll start the Governors' Cup playoffs against Scranton Wilkes-Barre this weekend.

September 30-October 2, 2022: at Houston (3)
 

Game 1: 6-7 L. LP-Baz (5-10, 4.1 9 6 6 2 6, 2 HR). HR-B.Lowe (30), J.Bell (11/29), W.Franco (19). Homers from Bell and Lowe staked them to a quick 3-0 lead in the 1st but Baz was horrible and despite the best efforts to come back they just fell short. Manuel Margot was ejected on a third strike call and went ballistic, arguing with every ump on the field and having to be dragged off. He was suspended for 4 games.

Transaction: With Margot headed to the restricted list we added another arm with Jason Adam coming back up from Durham.

Game 2: 2-5 L. LP-McClanahan (8-10, 5 6 5 5 3 2). Another terrible start as our young starters seem to be wilting from the workload and the pressure.

Game 3: 5-6 (L) (12). LP-Feyereisen (5-6). Starter-Patino (2.2 6 4 4 4 4). HR-Zunino (18). Another brutal start put us in a 4-0 hole, but they climbed out to tie at 4, and after going down again Zunino dramatically homered in the 9th to tie it, only to heartbreakingly lose on an Alex Bregman walk-off homer.

Team record: 82-77. No sugarcoating it here, this was a disastrous series. Cleveland did lose a game to drop the Rays' magic number to 2, but the Guardians are now tied with Toronto and Seattle is a half-game back of those two with a chance to make up a win, so there are three teams ready to step in if the Rays don't get the wins they need in these final 3 games in Boston. Houston clinched the #1 wild card and will host a series while Texas is only 1/2 game up on the Rays so if Tampa Bay does make it it's still not determined whether it well be at Houston or New York. Based on their regular season experiences in these parks it's not going to be pretty either way.

MLB News: The NL field is settled as the only thing left is seeding. Milwaukee and LA clinched their divisions with the Mets 2 behind Atlanta with 3 to go. The Mets have already clinched the first wild card with St. Louis likely to finish 2nd and San Francisco 3rd.

In some player news, Shohei Ohtani and Chris Rodriguez combined on a no-hitter of Texas with Ohtani going 6.2 with 11 whiffs on 98 pitches as LA won 11-0. Also in the game Jo Adell went 5-5 with a HR and 3 RBI while Mike Trout was 3-4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.

Also Joey Gallo tied the Yankees single-season HR record held by Roger Maris with a pair of homers on Sunday giving him 61. He has 3 games left to break it.

October 3-5, 2022: at Boston (3)
 

Game 1: 3-4 L (11). LP-Raley (1-2). Starter-Rasmussen (6 9 3 3 1 9). HR-Zunino (19). Another gut-punch loss in extras after loading the bases with 1 out in the top of the 11th and failing to score, and also losing an early 2-0 lead on Z's homer. Seattle, Toronto and Cleveland all won to pull within a game. Yikes!

Game 2: 1-3 L. LP-Beeks (4-1). Starter-Chirinos (5 3 1 1 1 8). Somehow they could only manage 1 run and 3 hits against Nick Pivetta, who came into the game with a 6.82 ERA, and with Seattle and Cleveland winning, they're now in a 3-way tie for the third wild card as Toronto lost and fell by the wayside. OOTP isn't set up for the new MLB tiebreakers so we will have actual tiebreaker games and the Rays will have to win tomorrow to play in one.

Game 3: 8-4 W. WP-Baz (6-10, 5.1 5 3 3 0 9). S-Rogers (17). HR-Arozarena (20), J.Bell (12/30). And win they did, scoring early and often and hanging on after a brief Boston scare in the 9th. Arozarena came up big, going 4-5 with a HR, 2 RBI and his 35th steal. Cleveland and Seattle both won, though, forcing a 3-way tie. More on the tiebreaker situation in a moment.

Team record: 83-79 (not the final record since there's a tiebreaker to be played). The Rays won the coin toss, meaning Seattle and Cleveland will play each other for the right to host the Rays in a second tiebreaker game. Shane McClanahan will start it.

The winner of this tiebreaker madness will visit the Yankees for a 3-game series while Houston hosts Texas in the other wild card playoff. The Twins and Angels clinched byes.

Over in the NL the Mets went on an amazing run, winning their last 11 games to force a tie with Atlanta for the division. They gained at least 7 games on the Braves as Atlanta finished the year 3-7. The tiebreaker is a big deal too as the winner will take the #2 seed and not have to play a wild card round. Milwaukee will host San Francisco in one wildcard round and the Mets-Braves loser will host St. Louis in the other with the Dodgers and their 105 wins getting the other bye.

And no, Joey Gallo didn't hit HR #62 so he'll share the Yankee team record with Roger Maris.

October 6, 2022: Tiebreaker Games
 

We'll start off with the first AL tiebreaker game for the third wild card to see where the Rays will be traveling to tomorrow:

https://i.imgur.com/ZkT7L48.png

And it's the longest trip possible as we head to Seattle after perhaps the wildest tiebreaker game short of Bobby Thomson with the Seahawks defeating the Browns, I mean Mariners over the Guardians 16-10. It should work to the Rays' advantage that Seattle had to heavily use its bullpen and play 12 innings.

In the NL, they're playing for the East title which comes with a bye as the #2 seed:

https://i.imgur.com/geVvcuq.png

In another game with high drama the Mets recovered from blowing a 2-0 lead late to take a 4-2 win over Atlanta and claim the NL East. Atlanta will now host St. Louis in the wild card round.

October 7, 2022: AL Wild Card Tiebreaker
 

Welp...

https://i.imgur.com/DmT6VEj.png

For the first time in all the years of my various Rays saves, they're going to miss the playoffs. Twice they had leads in this games and twice they couldn't hold him as the game was a microcosm of their season. At about 97-98% to make the playoffs going into the final week they choked it away, losing 7 of their final 8 including today's game. Fortunately they didn't give up too much in the rental deals for the likes of Bell, Rogers and Merrifield and we get Tyler Glasnow back next year, but this turns out to be the worst Rays season since 2017, so good job me for managing this mess. Seattle will now travel to New York to face the Yankees in a wild card playoff round.

Minor League Playoff Update: AA Montgomery ending up falling in 7 games to Biloxi, but Durham holds a 2-1 lead in their best-of-5 opening round series with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The only catch is that in Game 4 SWB will have a rehabbing Gerrit Cole pitch for them so good luck Bulls.

October 9, 2022: AL Wild Card Game 1
 

October 10, 2022: AL Wild Card Game 2 & NL Wild Card Game 1
 

A formality for the Yankees and Astros...

https://i.imgur.com/pbGjAK0.png

Perhaps the Rays losing the tiebreaker game to Seattle was a blessing as they avoided getting housed by the Yankees like the Mariners did. New York will play the Angels and Houston will face Minnesota in the ALDS round. Also some wild action in the St. Louis-Atlanta game where it was 2-2 going into the 8th and ended up 9-6 with Austin Riley's second homer of the game, a 3-run shot, walking it off.

Minor league playoff update: The Bulls lost the Gerrit Cole Game 4 but rebounded to win the decisive Game 5 7-0 behind 7 shutout innings from Chris Mazza. Kameron Misner, who had a great regular season, was named series MVP with a .308-4-7 performance in the 5 games. Durham will face Indianapolis for the Governors' Cup.

October 11, 2022: NL Wild Card Game 2
 

Unlike the AL, the two NL series are going to a deciding third game:

https://i.imgur.com/aZQHUOd.png

October 12, 2022: NL Wild Card Game 3
 

It took a little longer but the result was the same in the NL as it was in the AL in the first year of the new wild card series: the home teams advanced.

https://i.imgur.com/ppBUO8L.png

Milwaukee will face the Mets and Atlanta will square off against the Dodgers in the NLDS.

October 13, 2022: ALDS Game 1
 

https://i.imgur.com/qr0p3t8.png

Wow, Michael Conforto can actually have big games! Who knew? Well he's getting the last laugh after we dealt him off to Houston at mid-season for Michael Brantley. Meanwhile with Anthony Rizzo out for the year with a severe hip strain, Greg Bird comes through big for the Yankees to open their ALDS.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls split the first two games in Durham, getting blasted in the opener 7-1 but coming back for a 3-1 win in Game 2. Some bad news, though: pitching prospect Jacob Lopez suffered a torn rotator cuff in Game 2 and is done through 2023.

October 14, 2022: ALDS Game 2 & NLDS Game 1
 

https://i.imgur.com/CCyxbgF.png

The Yankees win another slugfest thanks to 9th-inning homers from Aaron Judge and Kike Hernandez, the Twins get even, the Mets have us thinking Subway Series after a Game 1 win and Atlanta steals one at Dodger Stadium.

Durham Playoff Update: 4 Bulls errors led to 3 Indianapolis runs, making the difference in a 4-3 loss after they led 3-0. Top prospect Curtis Mead had a 2-run homer as Durham falls behind 2-1 in the best-of-7.

October 15, 2022: NLDS Game 2
 

https://i.imgur.com/PgeucBs.png

The dynamic duo of deGrom and Scherzer now have the Mets out to a 2-0 series lead while the Dodgers even things up before they head to Atlanta.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls are on the brink of elimination after a 5-2 loss to Indianapolis as they now trail in the series 3-1. They were shut down by wily vet Edinson Volquez with only Alika Williams having success, 3-4 with a solo homer.

October 16, 2022: ALDS Game 3
 

https://i.imgur.com/URtqzQI.png

The Yankees are in the ALCS with a surprise sweep of the Angels while the Twins take a step closer to facing New York.

Durham Playoff Update: Things came to a sad end in Indianapolis as the Bulls lost on a Josh VanMeter walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th off Chris Gau to fall 5-4 and lose the IL Championship Series in 5 games. It looked like Durham might pull it out when Luke Raley hit a dramatic 3-run homer in the 9th to tie the game at 4, but Indy responded immediately to end the series and take the Governors' Cup.

October 17, 2022: ALDS Game 4 & NLDS Game 3
 

Houston forces a decisive Game 5, Milwaukee stays alive and Atlanta takes the edge:

https://i.imgur.com/aBImvgW.png

Some interesting names retired, including a few former Rays:

https://i.imgur.com/uT2CCdQ.png

October 18, 2022: NLDS Game 4
 

We're going to have two more Games 5 thanks to Willy Adames' walk-off winner and the heroics of the 3 Dodger sluggers highlighted below:

https://i.imgur.com/va0pRoB.png

October 19, 2022: ALDS Game 5
 

It's the Astros and the Yankees in the ALCS no netural wants to root for:

https://i.imgur.com/CCO9V9B.png

October 20, 2022: NLDS Game 5
 

It's the Brewers....

https://i.imgur.com/RamlvWZ.png

...and Atlanta, whose title defense remains alive thanks to fill-in 2B Luke Waddell who had the big hit of the game, a 3-run homer to put them ahead to stay:

https://i.imgur.com/e1fJtjP.png

October 21, 2022: ALCS Game 1
 

https://i.imgur.com/OLn2KAc.png

Joey Gallo's RBI double in the bottom of the 9th walked it off for New York.

October 22, 2022: ALCS Game 2 & NLCS Game 1
 

The Yankees have yet to lose this postseason, winning both wild card games, sweeping the ALDS in 3 and now going up 2-0 on Houston in the ALCS:

https://i.imgur.com/aI4URrZ.png

October 23, 2022: NLCS Game 2
 

October 24, 2022: ALCS Game 3
 

Thanks to another big homer from Aaron Judge, this time to win it in the 10th, the Yankees are virtually in the World Series for the first time since 2009:

https://i.imgur.com/Slupg47.png

October 25, 2022: ALCS Game 4 & NLCS Game 3
 

The Yankees are rolling through the playoffs like no other team before them in the modern, multi-round playoff era as they swept Houston in the ALCS to go 9-0 so far, while Atlanta takes the advantage in the NLCS:

https://i.imgur.com/mpTEKQn.png

Meanwhile in other MLB news the Dodgers have gotten over their playoff disappointment and extended Clayton Kershaw for 4/77 which will take him through age 38.

October 26, 2022-? (The rest of the NLCS)
 

Since we're down to the NLCS I'll just do the rest of it in one post:

October 26, Game 4:

https://i.imgur.com/e2vRvfX.png

October 27, Game 5:

https://i.imgur.com/Q7zB4zl.png

Have yourself a day, Marcell Ozuna! The Atlanta OF capped a 5-hit day by blasting a walk-off 3-run homer in the bottom of the 16th after Milwaukee went ahead in the top of the inning to put his team up 3-2 in the NLCS.

October 29, Game 6:

https://i.imgur.com/ZWQaKdF.png

Thanks to a huge game from Freddy Peralta, we're going the distance!

October 30, Game 7:

https://i.imgur.com/CHPA4cG.png

So we'll have a rematch of the 1996 and 1999 World Series as Atlanta looks to go back-to-back while the Yankees look for their first title in 13 years after Atlanta shut out Milwaukee on 11 hits in a convincing 6-0 Game 7 win.

November 1, 2022: World Series Game 1
 

With any luck we'll finish up by Thanksgiving, while the Yankees may not lose again until 2023:

https://i.imgur.com/ULZnbvO.png

November 2, 2022: World Series Game 2
 

Well it finally happened: the Yankees lost a postseason game in 2022. It took 8 runs, but Atlanta did it:

https://i.imgur.com/hXr63Wq.png

November 4, 2022: World Series Game 3
 

Suddenly the Yankees have lost 2 in a row and find themselves behind in the series:

https://i.imgur.com/A2cSIu7.png

November 5, 2022: World Series Game 4
 

Now suddenly the Yankees can't win and Atlanta is on the verge of going back-to-back:

https://i.imgur.com/dBFKrbP.png

November 6, 2022: World Series Game 5
 

Gerrit Cole and Joey Gallo to the rescue as the Yankees force the series back to Atlanta for a Game 6:

https://i.imgur.com/SRAuOfK.png

Some Rays news in the meantime
 

We successfully made a waiver claim on former Astro (and former elite prospect) Forrest Whitley. Houston waived him as he was out of options and the luster is off Whitley some as he's had a hard time staying healthy and an even harder time keeping the ball over the plate. He has 65 stuff as a starter but only 45 movement and 35 control. We're hopeful our coaching staff can get him turned around as we've done for many pitchers before him.

November 7, 2022: World Series Game 6
 

This is possibly the first World Series game ever held on Election Day, and the Yankees have made sure the Series is too close to call thanks to a Game 6 win to force a decisive Game 7:

https://i.imgur.com/xLJwpZg.png

November 9, 2022: World Series Game 7
 

Just like 1996 and 1999...

https://i.imgur.com/PdMALK5.png

Josh Donaldson, barely used in these playoffs by the Yankees, came off the bench and hit a 7th-inning grand slam to give the Yankees their 28th World Series title and first since 2009 as he turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 win with one swing of the bat. The Yankees came all the way back from a 3-1 deficit in the series to win it all.

Final 2022 Regular Season Standings and Rays Stats
 

About midway through the playoffs I realized I forgot to post this after the Rays' loss in the tiebreaker game which ended the regular season, so here goes now:

https://i.imgur.com/K4UdNp5.png

Michael Brantley won the AL batting average crown, but that was more to do with what he did in Houston as he hit .290 for us. Randy Arozarena was the AL steals king.

Our team stats:

https://i.imgur.com/C4BVFla.png

Anyone who followed along will not be surprised we were one of the best teams for run prevention and despite several trades to try and improve the offense, one of the worst teams when it came to scoring runs, hence the mediocre record. We were also a terrible road team (and not that great defensively, which is unusual although we did trade away defensive stalwarts like Kevin Kiermaier and Brett Phillips).

The "hitting" stats:

https://i.imgur.com/U4Y0Wt3.png

Wander was fine, and Randy Arozarena had a good second half, but man these numbers are brutal. Brandon Lowe got his homers but nothing else, Mike Zunino regressed as expected, and none of the acquisitions were anything special - if Josh Bell had decided a little sooner than the last 10-14 days of the season to come to life, we might have easily made the playoffs.

The pitching stats:

https://i.imgur.com/cCeGRR8.png

Our young starting corps did the job as you saw above that we were 2nd in the league in runs allowed, even if they were kind of homer-prone and it always seemed those homers came in big spots (although with the lack of offense every spot was a big one). Jalen Beeks had a wondrous year out of the pen, and Taylor Rogers was the one midseason acquisition who really got the job done. This starting group will be joined by Tyler Glasnow next season, so pitching will be a continued strength but man we have to figure out how to build an offense. The payroll will be low, especially since we either deal or non-tender the likes of Ryan Yarbrough and Yandy Diaz, projected for a combined $7M which will leave us projected at $60M and perhaps enough money to bring it a bat or two. We're also going to need a catcher with Zunino a free agent and asking for a ridiculous amount to extend.

2022-23 Offseason: State of the Team
 

Stu Sternberg has given me a $110M payroll limit for 2023, and that will be more than enough considering the current state of our salaries:

https://i.imgur.com/9Ctdbd8.png

This group (plus everyone who's projected to make the minimum) comes in at $67.7 and we're going to shave $14M off that by dealing Whit Merrifield and Yandy Diaz and non-tendering Ryan Yarbrough. That will drop the payroll to $53-54M and give us plenty of money to address our needs at catcher with Zunino gone and a power-hitting bat (preferably RH) to play either 1B, RF or DH.

Also here are our top prospects:

https://i.imgur.com/u76FznU.png

Wander (SS), B.Lowe (2B), and Arozarena (LF) are set (the latter two need to regress positively), although if I can add a better-fielding SS I could move Wander to third. Other positions:

C-Need a solid vet here, may make a free agent move for someone like Christian Vazquez if the price and term aren't ridiculous. Rene Pinto looks like the backup as he's a better fielder than Francisco Mejia and almost as good a hitter.

1B-I want to give first crack here to Curtis Mead, who as you can see from above had a great season at Durham even if he isn't the prototypical slugging first-sacker. He had 5.2 WAR at Durham but if he can give me 3 in the bigs next year I'll be happy. Lars Nootbaar is also a possibility here, maybe Alec Bohm will hit given another chance.

3B-Abraham Toro is the front-runner for now, he's as good as Yandy but if I an can upgrade here through an acquisition or moving Wander here, I will.

CF-Josh Lowe is the front-runner, and I hope he can put it together and stay healthy. Estuery Ruiz factors in here as well.

RF-Nootbaar could go here, so could Ruiz, and Kameron Misner (see above among prospects) could figure in as well, although I might go outside the org for someone with more impact.

DH-Again this could be an acquisition, it could be Bohm/Nootbaar, it could be a slot I just rotate people through.

Bench: Taylor Walls likely returns as the IF backup although he'll have to hold off Vidal Brujan. Neither has proven they can hit at the MLB level despite their speed and versatility.

As it stands now the offense is functional and has potential to be at least league-average, but it needs to be better than last year and that's where the attention is going to be paid. I'd like to have a decent offense without bringing in one rental after another like we did with Bell, Brantley and Merrifield this year.

Little attention needs to be paid to the pitching side of things as we welcome Tyler Glasnow back to a staff that was one of the league's best. The rotation of Glasnow, Rasmussen, McClanahan, Baz and Patino is the envy of most of MLB and Yonny Chirinos is ready to step in after doing very well after returning from injury in the second half. The pen is deep as well even if we don't have the classic lockdown closer as everyone returns and we possibly get full seasons from Nick Anderson and Pete Fairbanks. Youngster Chris Gau should have a role after rocketing through the system last year, and Forrest Whitley is a wild card who'll be in the pen if he makes the team.

2022-23 Offseason, Part 1
 

First order of business: shipping out Yandy and Merrifield:

https://i.imgur.com/goAjD3v.png

Well I'm more enthusiastic than our AGM. We get the power-hitting (and righty-hitting) RF in Ramos, who was an impressive 281/346/562 with 10 HR and 33 RBI in 39 games for SF in his major league debut as well as the slick-fielding Lewis, whom the Giants had acquired from Minnesota last year for Wilmer Flores. Ramos projects to be a .275, 25-HR guy and of course is under team control for several years to come and is a solid defensive RF who's capable of playing center at a not-terrible level. Lewis is a possibility at SS to allow Wander to move to 3B, but how much he's going to hit is a question mark. He put up a +4.4 ZR in 74 games at the MLB and MiLB level last year at short. Schmitt can hit (probably .280 with 25 HR), but he's a lousy defensive 3B (35-40). He could figure into the DH mix as a righty hitter.

As for what we gave up aside from Diaz and Merrifield, Carson Williams was our #1 pick in 2021 but has not hit at all in the minors (188/271/299 in 73 games in A ball). The other two were one-star "make it work" guys.

A couple of other trades around MLB: Toronto shipped Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to Texas for former Ray reliever Hunter Wood and pitcher Johan Oviedo, and the Giants dealt another of their prospects, Hunter Bishop (whom I had acquired in my two other Rays saves) to Kansas City for veteran lefty reliever Ryan Buchter as they're in "win now" mode coming off consecutive playoff appearances which fell short.

We also had a wave of signings of arb-eligible players which always include multi-year extensions - the ones of note were Shane Bieber (CLE) at 7/171, LaMonte Wade (SF) for 5/39, Bo Bichette (TOR) for 8/155, Jesse Winker (SEA) 5/102, Carson Kelly (ARI) 4/45, Frankie Montas (OAK) 3/33, Tyler O'Neill (STL) 4/51, Mitch Garver (CLE) 5/82, Tyler Mahle (CIN) 3/38, Yordan Alvarez (HOU) 8/152, Cedric Mullins (BAL) 7/134, Ramon Laureano (OAK) 4/48, and former Ray Nate (sorry Nathaniel) Lowe (TEX) at 5/32.

November 19: Another former Ray is on the move as Detroit dealt Austin Meadows to Texas for OF prospect Garrett Mitchell. Also the Gold Gloves were awarded and as expected no Rays were winners.

November 20: Minnesota's Caleb Thielbar, who had 35 saves and a 1.61 ERA, was named AL Reliever of the Year while Josh Hader, who had 38 saves and 144 whiffs in 72 IP, took the nod in the NL.

November 22: Spencer Torkelson, who blasted 45 homers in his MLB debut, was the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year. Geraldo Perdomo, a slick-fielding SS who earned 3.4 WAR for Arizona, won the NL version. In a trade, Oakland swapped OF Seth Brown to Boston for former Rays IF Christian Arroyo.

November 24: To say the AL Cy Young voting was fragmented would be an understatement, and to make it even more crazy was seeing who finished fourth:

https://i.imgur.com/vC6UOXy.png

Congrats to Thor who was 15-5, 3.39 (I voted for Bieber), but how in the heck did Jalen Beeks end up with 6 first place votes? I mean he had a great season but didn't even figure into the Reliever of the Year voting. No, I didn't have him on my Cy ballot.

The NL voting was a jumble as well:

https://i.imgur.com/bDYJWJn.png

I voted for Woodruff, who no-hit the Rays in June, but Peralta's 14-4, 2.94 took it. deGrom nearly won despite missing over half the season but he was so good when he pitched (9-2, 1.52 with 126Ks in 100 IP) that he led the NL in pitcher WAR at 4.8.

November 25: Death, taxes and Mike Trout winning MVP. He did it again with 29 of 30 first-place votes after a .289-44-127-10.3 WAR season. LA's Trea Turner was the runaway winner in the NL, also taking 29 of 30 first-place votes thanks to his .337-34-120 year which was good for 8 WAR.

December 5: The Royals traded CF Michael Taylor Jr, who just won the Gold Glove, to Milwaukee for a prospect.

December 6: More trades: Miami sent former Rays favorite Joey Wendle to Detroit for a minor leaguer and more importantly we made one:

https://i.imgur.com/eJUtoyk.png

Garcia has intriguing tools (power, speed, defense) but can't hit for average and won't draw walks, plus he was out of options and I didn't want to be handcuffed to him. DeLoach meanwhile offers more of a broad skill set and most importantly doesn't have to go on the 40-man:

https://i.imgur.com/xWo64XD.png

December 14: Major trade in MLB as the White Sox send ace Lucas Giolito (and retained 90% of his salary) to Milwaukee for #37 overall prospect, 2B Brice Turang.

December 15: Miami shipped slugger Jorge Soler (and retained 45%) to Cincinnati for a minor leaguer.

December 16: The Reds sent veteran starter Luis Castillo to Texas for a couple of prospects.

December 18: The first of big free agents signed with Trevor Bauer (boo!) going to Philadelphia for 5/92. He was reinstated in the game last summer with the Dodgers.

December 19: SS Xander Bogaerts signed a 6/135 deal with the Cubs.

By the way, we made a 4/24 offer a couple of weeks ago to Christian Vazquez, we're still waiting to hear back.

December 20: A couple of vets in the latter part of their careers were on the move with longtime Rockie Charlie Blackmon headed to Texas and James Paxton traded from Boston to the Mets. Both deals involved salary retention and both involved minor leaguers going the other way.

December 21: Christian Vazquez tells me he's "basically settled" on coming here but he's keeping his options open. OK then. Also some really big free agent signings: Joey Gallo parlayed his 61-homer season into a 7/253 deal with Atlanta, the team he vanquished in the World Series. And the Yankees have another hole in their OF as Aaron Judge went to the Cubs, who are breaking out the checkbook this offseason, for 6/128. Meanwhile Miami did their usual fire-sale thing, shipping C Jacob Stallings (whom I was eyeing as a possible pickup) to Minnesota for a couple of prospects.

December 22: The White Sox shipped closer Liam Hendriks to the Angels for 4 prospects.

December 24: Mike Zunino signed a 2/22.8 deal with the Astros, who also acquired Zack Wheeler from the Phillies for a prospect.

December 25: Teams were wheeling and dealing on Christmas as Boston sent Rafael Devers (retaining 95%) to Cincinnati for a couple of prospects, including 2021 first-round pick Matt McLain.

December 26: Added IF Curtis Mead, IF Jonathan Aranda and P Taj Bradley to the 40-man roster.

Rule 5 time again and of course Mead and Bradley are two of our top prospects with Mead projected for the big club.

7 guys were taken in the Rule 5 draft, nobody of ours.

December 27: The Yankees filled one of their outfield holes by shipping a couple of prospects to the Blue Jays for Teoscar Hernandez, and Josh Bell signed a 4/49 deal with the Red Sox, where he'll probably thrive after stinking for us.

December 28: Another former Ray is on the move as the Padres sent Blake Snell to St. Louis for a couple of prospects and Texas, having already acquired Luis Castillo, beefed up their rotation by signing Mike Clevinger to a 2/31 deal.

2022-23 Offseason, Part 2
 

January 1: Go figure the Marlins. After selling off guys like Jorge Soler, they turn around and sign Michael Brantley to a 3/59.6 deal. Houston also inked former Mets closer Edwin Diaz to a 2/21 pact.

January 2: Perhaps the biggest trade of the offseason to date as the Dodgers sent Max Muncy and his 51 homers to the Astros for starter Framber Valdez, coming off an 11-6, 3.42 season. Houston also swung a deal to acquire Patrick Corbin from Washington, he had been converted to closer last year by the Nats.

And...the Christian Vazquez deal is done!

https://i.imgur.com/q2snxN7.png

The clubhouse is excited because he's a captain type, and his 70 catcher defense will keep the staff going as Zunino was a 70 too. The fourth year is a player option, and he ain't no spring chicken so this could age badly later but it's not an AAV that's going to break us. We still have plenty of money to play with ($49M) so another big-ticket acquisition is not out of the question.

January 5: Some more free agent signing, including our buddy Taylor Rogers who went to Arizona for 3/34. $11M/season was a luxury we couldn't afford (although technically we could this year), given our deep pen. Also Chris Bassitt, who spent 2022 with the Mets after a career in Oakland, signed for 5/94.6 with Boston.

January 6: Another Yankee joined the team they beat in the Series as Aroldis Chapman will be closing out games for Atlanta on a 2/15.9 deal. His season ended in August win a torn labrum so we'll see what he has left.

January 7: Having lost Rizzo, Gallo and Judge, the Yankees made up for some of those missing homers by signing veteran slugger Jose Abreu to a 3/60.4 pact.

January 10: The Cardinals dealt young prospect 3B Nolan Gorman to Arizona for reliever Kevin Ginkel.

January 12: Lance Lynn, who started Game 7 of the World Series for the Yankees, joined Texas's beefed-up rotation on a 3/32 deal.

Well we made that trade for a RH bopper we promised:

https://i.imgur.com/ZOdcNRb.png

Those following along will know I've soured on Brujan and he was able to bring us Vaughn. I was willing to spend some $ on a RH slugger but we didn't need to as Vaughn's under team control for 4 more years. He launched 24 last season as part of a 267/346/477 season with Chicago and has potential to hit even more. Peoples was a "make it work" guy, nothing special. Vaughn will likely DH, but can play some 1B and LF as well.

January 18: The big-spending Cubs made another splash today, picking up top-notch starter Aaron Nola to a 6/135 deal. Also the Hall of Fame voting came in:

https://i.imgur.com/shcSkXr.png

A-Rod interestingly goes from sub-75% to nearly unanimous. I voted for all those listed above except K-Rod.

January 19: Tyler Naquin had a breakout year with the Reds (305/350/466) and parlayed it into a 4/66.4 deal with the White Sox.

January 21: Another former Ray found a new home as Ryan Yarbrough signed a minor league contract with the Angels.

January 24: A couple of pitchers joined new teams as former Braves reliever Will Smith went for 2/9 to the Mets and Zach Eflin signed for 4/28 with the other New York team, the Yankees.

January 26: A surprise deal between the Yankees and Angels as LA sent promising young OF Brandon Marsh (who will definitely need a shave) to New York for Jonathan Loaisiga.

2022-23 Offseason, Part 3
 

February 20: A pair of former Rays OFs are on the move as Tommy Pham signed a 2/23 deal with the Dodgers to be their DH and Manuel Margot signed a minor league contract with Kansas City.

February 23: Anthony Rizzo has surfaced in Cleveland on a 2/20 deal.

February 25: Veteran closer Ken Giles is now an Angel on a 2/10.5 pact.

March 2: An interesting trade of young players as Atlanta sent C William Contreras to Detroit for P Casey Mize.

March 5: Matt Wisler, whom we let go after last season, signed a 3/14.3 contract with the Dodgers.

March 10: The Cubs swapped IF/OF Ian Happ to the Guardians for SP Aaron Civale.

We made another sizable trade:

https://i.imgur.com/vj2KyMa.png

Brendan McKay was out of options, and although he was finally healthy (for the moment) there really wasn't a place for him as we're already 6 starters deep with Glasnow back and the bullpen is full. So we dealt the oft-injured former 2-way player (his hitting ratings are in the toilet now) for another potential impact RH bat in Reyes. His ratings are still good (70 power, 50 contact) but he is coming off a dismal year in Cleveland in which he was worth -2.3 WAR as he dropped to 21 HR and offers no defensive value, but he's one year off a 30-HR, 3-WAR season. We'll probably use him as a DH against lefties and perhaps play Andrew Vaughn a bit more in the OF with Heliot Ramos shifting to CF as Josh Lowe isn't much of a hitter against LHP. Reyes' acquisition also probably means Lars Nootbaar will start the year in Durham.

March 16: Notable free agents still unsigned: Jean Segura, Michael Conforto, Lorenzo Cain, Yuli Gurriel, Mitch Haniger, Enrique Hernandez, Jose Iglesias, Andrew McCutchen, Joc Pederson, Hunter Renfroe, Miguel Sano, Jonathan Schoop, Gary Sanchez, Adam Wainwright, Jackie Bradley Jr, Nelson Cruz, Ji-Man Choi, Didi Gregorious, Josh Harrison, Kevin Kiermaier, Corey Kluber, Evan Longoria, J.D. Martinez, Charlie Morton, Carlos Santana.

If we hadn't traded for Franmil Reyes, a year of J.D. Martinez at $6.5M (or less if we wait longer) wouldn't have been a bad pickup.

March 19: A few of those free agents listed above signed minor league deals - Sanchez (Marlins), Haniger (Angels), Renfroe (Orioles).

March 20: Michael Conforto signed for 1/3.2 with the Pirates. Good luck with that Pittsburgh!

March 21: Good news and bad news in Milwaukee: they signed newly acquired starter Lucas Giolito to a 6/161 extension and then announced he'd miss 3 months with elbow inflammation.

March 25: Longtime St. Louis Cardinal ace Adam Wainwright appears to be finishing his career in LA as he signed a 2/22.4 deal with the Dodgers.

March 26: Andrew McCutchen is a Tiger on a 1/5.2 contract.

March 27: Miguel Sano joins the Pirates on a 1/1.8 deal while Seattle's Jarred Kelenic will be out 6 weeks with a concussion.

March 28: J.D. Martinez returns to Detroit on a 1/4.8 pact. Meanwhile OOTP has the grim reaper out in full force as it's killed off Orioles owner Peter Angelos, weeks after doing the same to Washington's Tom Lerner and two other owners over the winter.

March 31: Two of the bigger remaining free agents signed with Lorenzo Cain going to Philly on a 1/6.8 deal and Enrique "Kike" Hernandez joining Kansas City for 1/5.8.

April 1: Two more significant free agents signed on the eve of the season with Jean Segura off to the Cubs for 1/5 and Joc Pederson to Kansas City for 1/3.8.

2023 Opening Day Roster & Preseason Predictions
 

Spring training concluded without any injuries (yay!) and Curtis Mead confirmed his winning of the 1B job by hitting 324/405/541 with 2 HR and 7 RBI. Brandon Lowe had a big spring with 5 HR and 12 RBI to go with a .375 average so hopefully that portends some positive regression after his miserable 2022.

Among the pitchers, Shane Baz had a rough spring with 6 homers allowed in 11 innings but Luis Patino was a combined 13 7 0 0 4 19 in his 3 starts (I only play a 3-week schedule of exhibition games).

Anyway, here's the roster. We had to DFA Josh Fleming and Luke Raley due to their being out of options.

C-Vazquez, Mejia
1B-Mead
2B-B.Lowe
SS-W.Franco
3B-Toro
IF-Walls, A.Vaughn (DH)
OF-Arozarena, J.Lowe, H.Ramos, E.Ruiz, F.Reyes (DH)

SP-Glasnow, Rasmussen, McClanahan, Baz, Patino
MR-Beeks, Gau, Raley, Feyereisen
SU-Kittredge, Springs, Fairbanks
CL-N.Anderson

Anderson is the nominal closer but I will use any of those listed under setup to close as well.

The preseason predictions:

https://i.imgur.com/Ez0jztF.png

We're considered the best of a bad lot in the AL East with the defending champ Yankees really looking down after all their losses this offseason. We'll find out just how down they are as we open the new season with 4 games at Yankee Stadium.

April 6-9, 2023: at NY Yankees (4)
 

One note: Luke Raley was claimed on waivers by the White Sox, then they ended up claiming Eddie Rosario and putting Raley on waivers, so we now have a claim in to get him back. Josh Fleming did clear.

The Opening Day box (it's not pretty):

https://i.imgur.com/B47tHPO.png

Tyler Glasnow's first start since 2020 started off well, but he ran out of steam in the 5th and then the bullpen let it get away, not that Gerrit Cole was going to give them an opportunity to come back.


Game 2: 9-5 W. WP-Kittredge (1-0). Starter-Rasmussen (3.1 7 5 5 2 3, 2 HR). HR-B.Lowe (1), Vaughn (1), H.Ramos (1), Vazquez (1). A home run barrage overcame an early 5-2 deficit with Ramos's homer tying it and Vazquez's giving them to lead for good in the 6th.

Game 3: 2-7 L. LP-McClanahan (0-1, 4 6 4 3 1 3). Luis Severino held them in check after a 2nd-inning, 2-run double from Abraham Toro.

Game 4: 9-4 W. WP-Kittredge (2-0). Starter-Baz (5 4 2 1 3 5). HR-H.Ramos (2), Toro (1), Vaughn (2), B.Lowe (2), Mejia (1). Very similar to Game 2, this time the Rays homer-infused comeback came later as they trailed 4-2 in the 8th after Stanton homered off Kittredge in the 7th. Toro's 2-run shot in the 8th tied it, Vaughn's won it in the 9th, and Lowe and Mejia blew it open later in the inning. A side note: Curtis Mead is off to a rough start at 2-17 in his first 4 MLB games.

Team record: 2-2. Next up: We have our home-opening series against Toronto, which comes in for 3.

April 10-12, 2023: vs Toronto (3)
 

Game 1: 6-1 W. WP-Gau (1-0). Starter-Patino (4.2 1 0 0 0 4). HR-B.Lowe (3), Mead (1). Rays took their 2023 home opener but unfortunately Luis Patino had to leave in the 5th after dealing, he has a sore shoulder (moderate) so he'll go to the IL and miss a few starts. Curtis Mead has his first MLB homer.

Transaction: Patino goes on the IL and should be ready when his time is up. Calvin Faucher is called up to give us a bullpen arm for a few days until Patino's turn comes up when we'll bring back Yonny Chirinos.

Game 2: 3-4 L. LP-Anderson (0-1). Starter-Glasnow (6 1 2 1 1 5). HR-J.Lowe (2), B.Lowe (4). Glasnow had a no-hitter through 5 and the Rays had a 3-2 lead going into the 9th but Nick Anderson melted down and allowed a pair of runs to blow the game.

Game 3: 10-5 W. WP-Feyereisen (1-0). Starter-Rasmussen (6 6 5 5 1 6). HR-Toro (2), J.Lowe (3), H.Ramos (3). Rasmussen had a 4-0 lead and a 1-hit shutout going into the 6th when he suddenly couldn't get anyone out, giving up hits to the first 5 batters capped by a Vlad Jr 3-run shot. But the Rays fought right back on a J.Lowe homer to tie and then scored 5 in the 7th capped by Heliot Ramos' 3-run jack to pull out the win.

Team record: 4-3. Next up: Boston comes to the Trop for 4 games; they're in first place after a 5-2 start.

Noticing a lot of homers so far this year, although even by those standards we're 2nd in MLB in homers with 17 in 7 games, a far cry from last year's offensive poverty.

April 13-16, 2023: vs Boston (4)
 

Game 1: 5-0 W. WP-McClanahan (1-1, 6 3 0 0 3 6). McClanahan became the first Rays starter to win a game this season and Wander had a big game with a 2-run triple and RBI single.

Game 2: 0-3 L. LP-Baz (0-1, 6 4 2 2 1 5). The bats were held to 2 hits by Tanner Houck and 3 Boston relievers.

Transaction: Calvin Faucher was optioned to Durham and Yonny Chirinos recalled to fill in for the injured Luis Patino in the rotation.

Game 3: 0-12 L. LP-Chirinos (0-1, 5.1 7 4 4 2 3). Just a brutal day all around although it was only 1-0 Boston until the 6th when Chirinos ran out of gas and then the bullpen was horrendous.

Game 4: 8-7 W (14). WP-Kittredge (3-0). Starter-Glasnow (5 4 5 2 4 5). HR-Walls (1). Heliot Ramos, who dropped a fly ball that led to 3 unearned runs and then was picked off after getting aboard to lead off in extras, saved his day by doubling in the winning run in the 14th. The Rays trailed most of the game until seldom-used Taylor Walls hit a 3-run blast in bottom of the 8th to tie it up. Walls was on base 5 times with 3 hits and 2 walks and also stole a base.

Team record: 6-5. Next up: Back on the road for 3 in Baltimore.

MLB News: A tough blow for the Dodgers as reigning NL MVP Trea Turner will miss 2-3 months with a torn groin.

April 17-19, 2023: at Baltimore (3)
 

Game 1: 6-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (1-0, 6 3 1 1 4 6). HR-F.Reyes (1), B.Lowe (5). Franmil Reyes' 2-run pinch-hit homer, his first as a Ray, broke a 2-1 game open in the 8th.

Game 2: 2-6 L. LP-McClanahan (1-2, 4.2 5 5 4 5 2). HR-Vazquez (2), B.Lowe (6). Rays were dominated by John Means (7.1 2 1 1 0 8) in a game they were never in.

Game 3: 9-3 W. WP-Baz (1-1, 6.2 4 2 2 0 5). HR-F.Reyes (2). Rays busted open a 2-1 game in the 6th by starting the inning double, triple, double, double and scoring 4 times. The triple was from Wander and unfortunately he hurt himself on it; he'll miss 2 weeks with back stiffness. Heliot Ramos was 2-4 with one of those doubles and 3 RBI, Andrew Vaughn doubled, tripled and drove in 2, and Curtis Mead heated up with a 3-hit game.

Transaction: After the game we put Wander on the 10-day IL and recalled Royce Lewis from Durham.

Team record: 8-6. Next up: An off-day then 3 over the weekend in Cleveland.

April 21-23, 2023: at Cleveland (3)
 

Game 1: 5-1 W. WP-Chirinos (1-1, 6 5 1 1 3 3). HR-H.Ramos (4), Arozarena (1). Ramos' homer put them ahead to stay in the 4th while Arozarena added a double to his homer as part of a 3-hit day and Curtis Mead had 3 hits including 2 doubles. After the Ramos homer, Abraham Toro was plunked by Mitch Keller precipitating a benches-clearing brawl and was suspended for 4 games.

Transaction: Toro was placed on the restricted list for his suspension and Alec Bohm was recalled from Durham.

Game 2: 4-8 L. LP-Raley (0-1). Starter-Glasnow (5 5 4 4 2 8, 3 HR). Taylor Walls had a pair of RBI hits to put them up 4-2 early, but Glasnow couldn't keep the ball in the park and Raley and JP Feyereisen combined to allow 4 runs in the 6th which cost them the game.

Game 3: 9-2 W. WP-Rasmussen (2-0, 6 6 2 2 1 4). HR-F.Reyes (3). A pair of bases-loaded walks broke a 2-2 tie in the Rays' favor in the 5th and then Curtis Mead cleared the bases with a double to break the game open. Josh Lowe also drove in 3 with a 2-run double and one of those bases-loaded walks.

Team record: 10-7, 1 1/2 games behind Boston. Next up: We return home for 3 vs the Yankees.

April 24-26, 2023: vs NY Yankees (3)
 

Game 1: 8-3 W. WP-McClanahan (2-2, 5.1 5 2 1 0 7). HR-Mead (2), B.Lowe (7). Brandon Lowe had a huge game with a 2-run double, 2-run homer and 5 RBI total to lead the Rays.

Game 2: 4-3 W. WP-Feyereisen (2-0). Starter-Baz (6 6 0 0 1 9). Andrew Kittredge blew a 3-0 lead in the 8th but the Rays won on a Taylor Walls RBI single in the bottom of the 9th. Franmil Reyes was 3-4 with 2 RBI including a leadoff single in the 9th before departing for a pinch-runner.

Transactions: Abraham Toro came off the restricted list and Luis Patino came off the IL, so Alec Bohm and Yonny Chirinos were optioned to Durham.

Game 3: 2-3 L (12). LP-Gau (1-1). Starter-Patino (6 2 2 1 2 8). Luis Patino was excellent in his return but got very little support - 6 hits, with half of them coming from Randy Arozarena who drove in both runs. Gau gave up a 12th-inning homer to Aaron Hicks to allow the Yankees to win.

Team record: 12-8. Next up: 4 games in Toronto. The Blue Jays are off to a dreadful 6-14 start and the Rays will hope to keep them down.

April 27-30, 2023: at Toronto (4)
 

Game 1: 1-4 L. LP-Glasnow (0-2, 5 4 4 4 4 6). HR-Mead (3). Tyler Glasnow has not looked great since coming back from TJS this year and he's now allowed 8 homers in 26 IP. Couple that with 15 walks and it's no surprise he's 0-2, 5.19 so far. Kevin Gausman held the bats to 4 hits.

Game 2: 8-7 W (12). WP-Springs (1-0). Starter-Rasmussen (3 7 5 4 3 2). HR-J.Lowe (4), H.Ramos (5), Mead (4). Rays scored 5 times in the 8th including a Curtis Mead slam to go up 7-5 but Nick Anderson gave up a 2-run HR to George Springer to blow the lead in the 9th. So it was up to Mead again, who capped a 5-RBI day with a run-scoring double in the 12th. Josh Lowe had 4 hits including his homer, a double, a steal and 2 RBI.

Game 3: 6-3 W. WP-Beeks (1-0). S-Kittredge (1). Starter-McClanahan (5 3 3 2 2 6). HR-F.Reyes (4), B.Lowe (8). Brandon Lowe's 2-run homer in the 7th broke a 3-3 tie to propel the Rays to victory.

Game 4: 12-8 W (10). WP-Fairbanks (1-0). Starter-Baz (4 9 6 6 1 4). HR-Vaughn (3), Toro 2 (4), Arozarena (2). Just like Game 2 the Rays fought back from an early deficit with Abe Toro homering in the 6th to get them within one then launching a 2-run shot in the 8th to put them up 7-6. And just like in Game 2 they blew the save, this time with Fairbanks allowing his first run of the year in the bottom of the 9th. So they went out and won it again in extras on a Heliot Ramos double and Arozarena's grand slam.

Team record: 15-9, now 1/2 game up on Boston for the division lead. And it's those Red Sox we play next with 3 games in Fenway. The Rays are up to #2 in the power ratings, and are 4th in the majors in run scored and 4th in homers, a far cry from last year's offensive poverty.

Some minor league news: Alika Williams, our supplemental first round pick in 2020, now has a 31-game hitting streak going back to last season. He's hitting .429 at AA Montgomery. Also our 3rd round pick last year, starter Parker Messick, was named the Southern League pitcher of the month for April, going 3-0, 1.23 while Jonathan Aranda was named IL hitter of the year for his .348-4-16 month at Durham. And Josh Mears, acquired from San Diego in the Xavier Edwards deal last summer, was the Southern League Player of the Week after going .364-3-9. The slugging prospect is hitting 346/500/788 with 5 HR and 16 RBI in 52 AB so far this year.

A look at our stats through April:

https://i.imgur.com/RpyoQ0I.png

Batting stats:

https://i.imgur.com/BUk0rBp.png

Curtis Mead has come on strong after a slow start and looks like a middle-of-the-order force, while Taylor Walls has been brilliant filling in for the injured Wander Franco with a better WAR in the same number of games thanks in large part to his uncanny ability to draw walks. And just when I thought Brandon Lowe couldn't get more three-true-outcomes than last year, he's doing this. The pitching numbers:

https://i.imgur.com/XUXQVwt.png

Have to feel good about being 15-9 after horrible seasons-to-date from last year's ace Drew Rasmussen, and the past and presumed present ace Tyler Glasnow. Chris Gau has an impressive 29 whiffs in 16.2 IP and has been the victim of some bad BABIP luck.

May 1-3, 2023: at Boston (3)
 

Game 1: 3-2 W. WP-Feyereisen (3-0). S-Springs (1). Starter-Patino (5.1 4 2 1 1 6). HR-Vazquez (3). Christian Vazquez tormented his former team with a homer and an RBI single, and Heliot Ramos and Brandon Lowe hit back-to-back doubles in the 8th to break a 2-2 tie and put the Rays up 1 1/2 in the East.

Game 2: 0-2 L. LP-Glasnow (0-3, 6 3 2 2 1 8, 2 HR). Bryan Mata no-hit the Rays for 7 1/3 before Taylor Walls broke it up with a single, their only hit on the night. Glasnow can't stop giving up homers (10 in 32 IP now) but pitched his best game of the year.

Game 3: 4-3 W. WP-Rasmussen (3-0, 6 5 3 3 3 3). S-Fairbanks (1). The Rays built a 4-1 lead and hung on for the final 3 innings to go back up 1 1/2 on Boston. Curtis Mead was 3-5 with an RBI and Taylor Walls continued to impress filling in for Wander with an RBI double.

Team record: 17-10. Next up: We head back to the Trop for 4 games against Baltimore.

MLB News: The bad season for the Blue Jays got worse when they lost Vlad Jr. for 3 weeks with a hip strain. Although they swept Baltimore they still sit in last in the AL East at 10-17.

May 4-7, 2023: vs Baltimore (4)
 

Game 1: 11-0 W. WP-McClanahan (3-2, 5 6 0 0 2 5). S-Gau (1). HR-H.Ramos 3 (8), Vaughn (4). It was the Heliot Ramos show as he tied the team single-game record for homers with 3 and drove in 6. Andrew Vaughn was no slouch either, driving in 4 on a 3-run homer and sac fly. Chris Gau went the final 4 innings for the save.

Game 2: 5-1 W. WP-Baz (2-1, 6 3 1 1 3 9). HR-Walls (2). Baz was electric and Taylor Walls continued to do his best Wander impression with a homer, double, steal and 3 runs scored.

Game 3: 10-3 W. WP-Patino (1-0, 6.1 2 2 2 1 7). HR-H.Ramos 2 (10), Vaughn (5). Luis Patino no-hit the Orioles through 6 1/3 and Heliot Ramos made it 5 homers in 3 games with another pair. A 7-run 4th inning broke the game open, including a 2-run double from Curtis Mead, who twisted his ankle on the play and will head to the IL.

Transactions: Mead was put on the 10-day IL and Royce Lewis optioned to Durham while Wander Franco was activated and Alec Bohm was recalled.

Game 4: 5-1 W. WP-Glasnow (1-3, 6 2 1 1 1 10). Glasnow couldn't help but give up a homer but was otherwise dominant in his first win of the year and he's looked like his old self the last two starts as the Rays swept Baltimore by a combined 31-5 score. Wander was 1-4 with an RBI double in his return.

Team record: 21-10, now 3 games up on Boston in the East and #1 in the power rankings. Next up: An off-day then 3 at home vs Cleveland. Also impressive - our rankings among all of MLB:

https://i.imgur.com/xDwm9BU.png

Not sure I've ever had a team 1st in DE. I blame the low team batting average on Brandon Lowe, who's not only not flirting with the Mendoza Line, he's been put in its friend zone with a .120 average (13-108). At least 8 of those 13 hits are homers and he has 22 RBI in 27 games.

News and notes: We signed veteran 1B Yuli Gurriel to a minor league contract with a $340K bonus. Lord knows we have enough 1B types (Mead, Vaughn, Bohm, Nootbaar) in MLB or Durham but he was too good to let sit out there and be picked up by someone else. He still has a 75 contact tool (although only 45 power and eye).

Also Alika Williams can't stop raking as he extended his hitting streak to an astounding 37 games with AA Montgomery.

And some recognition from the league office:

https://i.imgur.com/BatvAZc.png

May 9-11, 2023: vs Cleveland (3)
 

Game 1: 6-4 W. WP-Rasmussen (4-0, 5.1 7 2 2 3 6). S-Fairbanks (2). HR-H.Ramos (11). That man Ramos came through again, this time with a first-inning grand slam that was the game's big hit.

Game 2: 0-3 L. LP-McClanahan (3-3, 6 3 2 2 1 6). Mac pitched great but he gave up a 2-run first-inning homer to Mitch Garver and that was it as the Rays' 6-game win streak was snapped. They were shut down by old friend Brendan McKay, who relieved an injured Joe Ross in the 3rd and held them to 1 hit over 3 2/3 IP.

Transaction: Optioned Alec Bohm to Durham and called up 1B/OF Lars Nootbaar, to give us a lefty-swinger.

Game 3: 2-1 W. WP-Baz (3-1, 5.1 2 1 0 3 4). S-Fairbanks (3). Shane Baz and 3 relievers held Cleveland to 3 hits and Heliot Ramos had the big hit again, an RBI single in the 5th to break a 1-1 tie. Brandon Lowe had a rare 2-hit game and singled in the other run.

Team record: 23-11. We're 3 up on now-2nd place New York as the Yankees swept the same Orioles we swept with Baltimore on a 12-game losing skid. Next up: Our first interleague action of the year as Colorado visits for 3 games.

Minors note: Alika Williams' hitting streak was finally snapped at 37 games. He's still hitting about .420 though.

May 12-14, 2023: vs Colorado (3)
 

Game 1: 7-1 W. WP-Patino (2-0, 6 3 1 1 4 7). HR-H.Ramos (12). Brandon Lowe's 2-run triple keyed a 4-run 6th which got the Rays the win, and Ramos added another 2-run homer later.

Game 2: 3-2 W. WP-Feyereisen (4-0). S-Fairbanks (4). Starter-Glasnow (5 4 1 1 5 7). For the first time his year Tyler Glasnow didn't allow a homer (which was good considering how many he walked) and Wander Franco and Brandon Lowe had RBI doubles in the 8th to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win.

Game 3: 3-1 W. WP-Springs (2-0). S-Fairbanks (5). Starter-Rasmussen (5 5 0 0 3 10). The Rays left it late again with Andrew Vaughn's 2-out, 2-run double in the 8th breaking a 1-1 tie after Springs gave up a homer in the top of the 8th.

Team record: 26-11. We're now 5 games up on the Yankees and Boston as this great start to 2023 continues. We'll get a serious test with a west coast road trip which starts with 3 in San Francisco.

MLB News: An interesting trade which saw Minnesota send proven .300 hitter Luis Arraez to Cleveland for Steven Kwan and SS prospect Yordys Valdes. Arraez paid immediately dividends for the Guardians with a walk-off RBI single in his debut. Elsewhere, Nolan Arenado hit career HR #300, the Jays lost Yusei Kikuchi for the season and while Cleveland added Arraez they lost their superstar 3B Jose Ramirez for 4 weeks after he broke his foot after it was hit with a pitch.