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Art Deco · 01-17-2025, 12:00 PM

Final Regular Season Record: 100-62 (22-8 for the "month")
1st place AL East, best record in MLB

What a difference a second half of the season makes. Roughly at the midway point of the year the Rays were sitting at 40-39 and hoping for a wild card at best. Fast forward three months and after going 60-23 the rest of the way Tampa Bay is a 100-win team and baseball's best going into the playoffs. In fact had they not had this, that and the other thing go wrong early they could have been a 105-win team according to Pythagoras. What's more they head into the postseason almost fully healthy with only starting pitcher Campbell Ellis on the shelf. The final month wasn't particularly newsworthy as we had a strong hold on the division and one player was added to the fold: IF Edgar Quezada was claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh. Quezada was an interesting pickup as he's very good with the glove (+3.5 ZR in only 25 games at SS with the Rays and Pirates) and has some pop in his bat (50 present/60 potential contact and 55 power, ending a combined 272/328/414 in 184 AB with the two clubs. Incumbent SS Cody Schrier had a massive dropoff in his fielding (an acceptable -0.2 ZR last year became a brutal -10.6 this year), so the job could become Quezada's next season. He won't be playoff-eligble sadly.

Colorado's Joey Wika flirted with history as he came up just short in his bid to be the first played since Ted Williams to hit .400. How short? Wika was at .400 with two games left in the season. Rather than sit out he played, and it cost him as he went 1 for 9 in those games to finish at .395, at least eclipsing George Brett's .390 (as well as Tony Gwynn's strike-shortened .394 in 1994). Meanwhile our Carlos Duran led MLB in wins with 19 and Fernando Tatis Jr. was pipped on the final day for the AL WAR lead by Julio Rodriguez.

The team stats are pretty nice to look at it, especially those July/August/September records. The offense remained contact-challenged all year but it didn't matter as the name of the game when it comes to team offense is runs scored, and the Rays tied for first in that department. Also they were an extraordinary base-running team with Tatis and Subaru leading the way. The pitching meanwhile was magnificent, especially the bullpen (and especially in the second half) and the defense was above-average despite the shaky play at SS from Schrier.

This team is a bit more top-heavy than I like as Tatis and Subaru were both MVP-caliber players and it dropped off quite a bit after that with only Paino having a 3+ WAR season outside the big two. Schmidt was the year's big disappointment, dropping from a 6.4 WAR season in 2031 to a mere 1.2 this year. Here's hoping he makes up for it in the playoffs. Brown was a disappointment as well as he closed poorly with a bad September. And Basallo never did get untracked after being the big offseason acquisition for the offense.

Unlike on offense the big offseason acquisition for the pitching staff was Duran, and he had more than exceeded expectations in becoming our ace and a Cy Young contender. Ashby meanwhile was near-unhittable over the second half and in a move that paid dividends, Porter was moved out of the bullpen and into the rotation during September, excelling in his 5 starts going 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA in 25 IP. He went exactly 5 in each start given his low stamina but they were great innings and he's earned himself a postseason rotation spot with Lambert the likely odd man out. The pen was excellent with Crochet bouncing back from a poor first half to become the lefty weapon we had hoped. Only Jimenez had a bad second half among the bullpen regulars.

Not exactly the deepest or most exciting farm system but there are some bright spots. #5 guy and 2029 1st-round pick Crisp is ready for the big leagues after a massive season (check out his stats) mostly spent at Durham. Top prospect Cerda got his first exposure to baseball stateside joining Charleston after playing in the DSL and did well, hitting 261/352/536 with 13 HR in 44 games and might only be a couple years away.

So now it's on to the playoffs where we await the Rangers-Orioles winner in the ALDS and try to finally win our first World Series in this save.

01-17-2025, 12:00 PM	#219
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,098	September/October 2032 Final Regular Season Record: 100-62 (22-8 for the "month") 1st place AL East, best record in MLB What a difference a second half of the season makes. Roughly at the midway point of the year the Rays were sitting at 40-39 and hoping for a wild card at best. Fast forward three months and after going 60-23 the rest of the way Tampa Bay is a 100-win team and baseball's best going into the playoffs. In fact had they not had this, that and the other thing go wrong early they could have been a 105-win team according to Pythagoras. What's more they head into the postseason almost fully healthy with only starting pitcher Campbell Ellis on the shelf. The final month wasn't particularly newsworthy as we had a strong hold on the division and one player was added to the fold: IF Edgar Quezada was claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh. Quezada was an interesting pickup as he's very good with the glove (+3.5 ZR in only 25 games at SS with the Rays and Pirates) and has some pop in his bat (50 present/60 potential contact and 55 power, ending a combined 272/328/414 in 184 AB with the two clubs. Incumbent SS Cody Schrier had a massive dropoff in his fielding (an acceptable -0.2 ZR last year became a brutal -10.6 this year), so the job could become Quezada's next season. He won't be playoff-eligble sadly. Colorado's Joey Wika flirted with history as he came up just short in his bid to be the first played since Ted Williams to hit .400. How short? Wika was at .400 with two games left in the season. Rather than sit out he played, and it cost him as he went 1 for 9 in those games to finish at .395, at least eclipsing George Brett's .390 (as well as Tony Gwynn's strike-shortened .394 in 1994). Meanwhile our Carlos Duran led MLB in wins with 19 and Fernando Tatis Jr. was pipped on the final day for the AL WAR lead by Julio Rodriguez. The team stats are pretty nice to look at it, especially those July/August/September records. The offense remained contact-challenged all year but it didn't matter as the name of the game when it comes to team offense is runs scored, and the Rays tied for first in that department. Also they were an extraordinary base-running team with Tatis and Subaru leading the way. The pitching meanwhile was magnificent, especially the bullpen (and especially in the second half) and the defense was above-average despite the shaky play at SS from Schrier. This team is a bit more top-heavy than I like as Tatis and Subaru were both MVP-caliber players and it dropped off quite a bit after that with only Paino having a 3+ WAR season outside the big two. Schmidt was the year's big disappointment, dropping from a 6.4 WAR season in 2031 to a mere 1.2 this year. Here's hoping he makes up for it in the playoffs. Brown was a disappointment as well as he closed poorly with a bad September. And Basallo never did get untracked after being the big offseason acquisition for the offense. Unlike on offense the big offseason acquisition for the pitching staff was Duran, and he had more than exceeded expectations in becoming our ace and a Cy Young contender. Ashby meanwhile was near-unhittable over the second half and in a move that paid dividends, Porter was moved out of the bullpen and into the rotation during September, excelling in his 5 starts going 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA in 25 IP. He went exactly 5 in each start given his low stamina but they were great innings and he's earned himself a postseason rotation spot with Lambert the likely odd man out. The pen was excellent with Crochet bouncing back from a poor first half to become the lefty weapon we had hoped. Only Jimenez had a bad second half among the bullpen regulars. Not exactly the deepest or most exciting farm system but there are some bright spots. #5 guy and 2029 1st-round pick Crisp is ready for the big leagues after a massive season (check out his stats) mostly spent at Durham. Top prospect Cerda got his first exposure to baseball stateside joining Charleston after playing in the DSL and did well, hitting 261/352/536 with 13 HR in 44 games and might only be a couple years away. So now it's on to the playoffs where we await the Rangers-Orioles winner in the ALDS and try to finally win our first World Series in this save.