The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

The Cardinals continue on with their superb pitching, having not allowed more than 1 run in any of their 5 postseason games. Today it was Leo Ortega and the bullpen shutting down the Padres after a first-inning CJ Abrams homer. Michael Busch had the big hit with an RBI triple in the 7th which put them ahead to stay. They're now up 2-0 and seem to be relentlessly marching to the World Series.

[Art Deco]

Well that was an interesting game. The Rays blew an early 5-0 lead, blew a 6-5 lead in the 9th, but thanks to Ricky Widmar's leadoff homer in the 10th beat the Rangers 7-6 and now have a commanding 3-0 lead in the ALCS. The story early was Jasson Dominguez, who took Texas starter Ki-Heon Lee deep twice, once with a man on, while Nate Clark singled in a 1st inning run and homered himself. With Christian Little on the mound and a 5-0 lead, what could go wrong? Little was dinged for a run in the 4th but it seemed harmless. Harmless, that is, until the Rangers put 3 up in the 6th thanks to a couple of a familiar faces. Wander Franco tripled in a run and then Keston Hiura took Little deep and suddenly it was 5-4. He got through the inning and things looked up again when Keibert Ruiz singled home a run to make it 6-4. But Alex McKenna's double chased Little in the 7th and Jose Alvarado (making his first appearance of the series because of Texas's heavily righty lineup), gave up an Izaac Pacheco single to make it 6-5 again. With Daniel Espino and JDLC showing tired, it was up to the "B" bullpen. Jack Filby put men on 2nd and 3rd to lead off the 8th but got out of it with a grounder at the drawn-in infield and a strikeout, and Evan Godwin got the call to close it out in the 9th. Godwin got the first two outs but gave up a pair of hits so Mack Anglin was summoned to face Hiura. The former Ray then singled for his 4th hit of the game to tie it up, sending us to extras where Widmar hit his homer. Anglin stuck around and got a 1-2-3 10th to pick up a vultured win and send the Rays just one game away from their 5th World Series in 6 seasons.

[Art Deco]

This game (and series) was over in the 1st inning when the Rays scored 7 times after the first two batters were retired on their way to a 9-2 win over Texas and a series sweep of the ALCS. The Rays now will participate in their fifth world series in six seasons, only missing out last year. Rangers starter Lucas Giolito figured he'd get through the first but after retiring Ricky Widmar and Gavin Lux, Nate Clark (named Series MVP) homered and Yordan Alvarez followed suit for back-to-back blasts, then Rays batters started filling the bases. Judson Fabian walked, Jhon Diaz singled, Jasson Dominguez singled home Fabian, Mike Lammers (seeing his first action of the postseason) walked, Keibert Ruiz singled in a pair, and then Ricky Widmar doubled in two more. Lammers went deep in the 3rd and Lux walked with the bases loaded in the 8th for the other 2 Rays runs. Alec Sachais was obviously happy to get this run support, and he pitched quite well, allowing 1 run through 6. At 96 pitches, I shouldn't have brought him out for the 7th and he allowed a leadoff double which Jack Leiter allowed to score. Leiter finished out the final 3 innings and found himself at the bottom of the dogpile as he and his teammates celebrated another AL pennant. Now we'll have to see who we face, either the Cards or the Padres. More on their Game 3 below the box:



Over in the NL the St. Louis pitching staff proved it was human as they finally allowed more than one run in a playoff game this year, four more than one run to be precise as San Diego climbed back into the series with a 5-0 win. Luis Campusano's pair of 2-run dingers in the 2nd and 6th supplied most of the offense and Jose Hernandez was brilliant, going 7 4 0 0 2 8. The Padres will look to even it up tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

It's still an open question as to whether we'll be getting a rematch of the 2023 World Series (Rays vs Padres) or the 2026 Series (Rays vs Cardinals) as the Padres turned the NLCS into a best-of-3 with a 4-2 win over St. Louis to even up the series at 2. Manny Machado's 4th inning 2-run blast broke a 1-1 tie and sent the Padres on their way to the win as they roughed up Noah Syndergaard, who pitched in both of those World Series referenced above (23 with the Rays, 26 with the Cards). St. Louis has the advantage of starting Jack Flaherty in Game 5, who has this incredibly impressive game log for 2028:



I want to know what happened August 16 against Minnesota. Did he have food poisoning or something?

[Art Deco]

Stop the presses! The Cards lost a game Jack Flaherty started. It wasn't exactly like the Padres to got to Flaherty, though. Up 1-0, he put the leadoff man on in the 7th and was pulled in favor of Seranthony Dominguez, who put another runner on and then gave up a 3-run HR to Padre pinch-hitter Jorge Ona, and Ryan Weathers did the rest on the mound as San Diego won 3-1 and has come from 0-2 down to take a 3-2 lead in the NLCS. They'll now look to close it out in two days in St. Louis and join the Rays in the World Series.

[Art Deco]

And it will be the Padres. San Diego got a dramatic 10th inning homer from CJ Abrams off Josh Hader to beat St. Louis 5-4 and win the NLCS, taking four straight after dropping the first two games of the series. The Cards looked to be in good shape early, taking a 4-1 lead in the 3rd with the big hit being a 2-run HR from former Ray Brandon Marsh. But Leo Ortega, who led the NL in pitching WAR this year and just received a 7-year, $131 million extension the other day, couldn't hold the lead and off to extras we went.

So five years later it's the Rays and Padres again in the World Series. The last time it was a 4-game sweep for the Rays. Much of the current Padre lineup started in that series (Manny Machado, Trent Grisham, Taylor Trammell, Luis Campusano) as well as some of the pitchers (Andres Munoz, Reggie Lawson, Joey Cantillo, Ryan Weathers). The Rays on the other hand have had almost complete turnover thanks to last year's free agent exodus with Keibert Ruiz the only everyday player still around and Jose Alvarado and Shane McClanahan on the pitching staff.

[Art Deco]

One thing we know now is this won't be a repeat of the 2023 World Series (which the Rays swept) because the Padres took Game 1 of the 2028 version with a 6-4 win, getting the better of Christian Little and the Rays. Having already won a game against the best pitcher in the NL, Jack Flaherty, in the NLCS the Padres now beat the best pitcher in the AL this season in Little. The Rays righty followed up his mediocre start in Game 3 of the ALCS with an even worse one today, giving up 3 runs with 2 out in the 4th and then 3 more with two out in the 5th on a 3-run blast from Trent Grisham. Little's stuff wasn't as good as normal as he could only manage 5 whiffs in his 5 innings of work, walking three, giving up 6 hits, and committing a balk. This gave San Diego a 6-1 lead after Keibert Ruiz took Jose Hernandez deep in the 3rd. Hernandez kept Rays bats off-balance for the most part, striking out 8 in 5 innings but leaving after Ricky Widmar led off the 6th with a longball. The Padres brought in their one former Ray, Asa Lacy, and Nate Clark took him deep to make it 6-3. They continued to mount a rally, and Jasson Dominguez knocked in a run to cut it to 6-4, but after Isaac DeLeon walked to load the bases with 2 out, Ruiz flied to center to end that threat, and they did little against Lacy in the 7th and Padre closer Alexander Beltre in the 8th and 9th. Some guys who haven't pitched much in the postseason did well for the Rays to keep it close, with Christian Chamberlain throwing two perfect innings and Jeremy Bowers with a clean 1 1/3. The Rays will try to even it up tomorrow behind Shane McClanahan.

[Art Deco]

The Rays evened up the series with a tense 3-1 win over San Diego behind Shane McClanahan, who is having the postseason of his career. Mac went 6 4 0 0 2 7 in shutting down the Padres and is now 3-0, 0.47 during these playoffs, winning crucial Games 2 in both the ALDS and now the World Series after the Rays dropped the opener of each. His combined line of 19.1 8 1 1 8 26 is extremely impressive. The bullpen did its job over the final 3, though not without a scare. Daniel Espino had a drama-free 7th, but Jose Alvarado gave up 3 hits and a run in getting 2 outs in the 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz had to come in for a 4-out save, getting Luis Campusano looking to end the 8th with the tying runs on base before retiring San Diego without much trouble in the 9th. The bats didn't generate a whole lot tonight, but got off to a quick start with Nate Clark hitting his 5th dinger of the playoffs in the 1st and Isaac DeLeon (3-3 on the day) doubling a run in the 2nd. Ricky Widmar beat the relay throw on an attempted double play in the 7th to provide a big insurance run. So it's on to San Diego and we'll see if Blake Money will repeat his dominant ALCS performance or his lousy ALDS one.

[Art Deco]

The Rays blew a 4-0 lead in the 6th inning, but held the fort from there and scored 3 times in the top of the 9th to take a 7-4 win over San Diego and a 2-1 lead in the series. Judson Fabian's 2-run double off Padre closer Alexander Beltre was the game-winner, and Yordan Alvarez followed up with an RBI double of his own to provide the final margin. Jasseel De La Cruz nailed down the save with a 1-2-3 9th and Jose Alvarado got the win after a scoreless 8th which saw him walk two but get out of it. The Rays jumped out to another early lead and it looked like they'd cruise. Gavin Lux, the one Rays hitter who really hasn't contributed this postseason, drilled his 1st homer of the playoffs off Reid Detmers in the 1st and Isaac DeLeon's sac fly doubled the lead in the 4th. They tacked on 2 more in the 5th on Fabian's RBI single and a Jasson Dominguez fielder's choice and with Blake Money cruising, victory looked a fait accompli. But after dominating San Diego through 5, Money ran out of gas big-time in the 6th, leaving with two in and two on and one out. Jack Filby gave up a single to score the 3rd Padre run, and after he loaded the bases Evan Godwin came in to face the lefty CJ Abrams and promptly hit him to force in the tying run. Daniel Espino got through the 7th before Alvarado took over in the 8th. The Rays will try to take a commanding 3-1 lead tomorrow with Alec Sachais on the mound. Sachais won Game 4 in both the ALDS and ALCS and he'll look to continue the trend.

[Art Deco]

Well that was ugly. Alec Sachais had a bad sequence in the 2nd where he gave up a leadoff double, the man went to 3rd on a fly ball, he wild pitched the runner home and then, rattled, gave up a homer, and followed that up by allowing a 2-run HR to Makhi Backstrom to make it 4-1 Padres in the 4th after Yordan Alvarez had homered to put the Rays up briefly in the top of the 2nd. And right after the Rays climbed back in it to make it 4-3 in the top of the 6th after Nate Clark singled and Judson Fabian doubled and both scored on groundouts, Jeremy Bowers imploded in the bottom of the 7th, effectively ending the game. Manny Machado took him deep and then the same-handed Backstrom hit a 2-run shot off him for his 2nd HR of the game, and that was that as the Padres won 10-4 to even up the series and assure us of a Game 6 at the Trop. Game 5 tomorrow will be a rematch of Game 1 with Christian Little against Jose Hernandez and for the Rays' sake it hopefully won't be a rerun.

[Art Deco]

The Rays asserted their power tonight in both phases of the games to take a 5-1 win over the Padres and a 3-2 lead in the series, putting them one win away from their fourth title in six seasons. The power came from the bats tonight, with four homers accounting for their five runs. Judson Fabian homered in the 2nd to give them a 1-0 lead, and after Alexander Vargas homered for San Diego to tie it up in the 3rd, Jasson Dominguez blasted a 2-run shot in the top of the 4th to put the Rays ahead to stay. And in the 5th, Gavin Lux and Nate Clark, who each hit 46 HR during the regular season, went back-to-back as the Rays chased San Diego starter Jose Hernandez, who had vanquished them in Game 1. Meanwhile the Rays displayed their power on the mound as well as power pitcher extraordinaire Christian Little held the Padres down to the tune of 7 6 1 1 0 8 (this was actually a meager strikeout game by his standards), and relievers Jose Alvarado and Daniel Espino each struck out the side in the 8th and 9th. So now we head back to the Trop for Game 6, with Shane McClanahan and his 0.47 postseason ERA getting an opportunity to close it out.

[Art Deco]

CHAMPIONS AGAIN! Shane McClanahan continued his brilliant postseason and the Rays got just enough offense tonight to beat San Diego 3-2 and win their fourth World Series title in six seasons. Mac went 6.2 5 2 2 0 11 to complete an outstanding postseason in which he was 4-0, 1.07 in his 4 starts. Nate Clark was named series MVP for his 8-24, 3 HR performance but I would have given the award to McClanahan. Jasson Dominguez started the scoring in the 2nd with another one of his patented 500-ft homers, this one to deep LCF off the "D" ring catwalk. We stayed that way until the 5th when after Drew Burress beat out an infield hit, Alexander Vargas homered for the second straight game off Mac and the Padres were up 2-1. But the Rays answered right back in the bottom of the inning. After Dominguez flew out to start the inning, Spencer Torkelson, Isaac DeLeon and Keibert Ruiz singled to load the bases. Ricky Widmar's sac fly to center scored Tork, and then a Ryan Weathers wild pitch with Gavin Lux at bat allowed DeLeon to score what proved to be the series-winning run. From then on out, it was a tense affair with Mac pitching strong until two out in the 7th when Widmar threw away a grounder to put a man on the 2nd. Daniel Espino was summoned from the pen and struck out Luis Campusano to end that mini-threat and he stayed on to strike out the side in a perfect 8th. The offense couldn't get any insurance so we went to the 9th, where things got very interesting. Jose Alvarado came in with two lefties due, and after whiffing the leadoff man he walked Manny Machado and gave up a single to Trent Grisham. Jasseel De La Cruz relieved him and whiffed Luis Campusano but walked Makhi Backstrom to load the bases with two out. But JDLC caught Mario Martez looking, and the celebrations were on:



So the Rays back up their record-setting 122-win season with a World Series title, as anything less would have been considered a disappointment. They went from the backs-to-the-wall situation in the ALDS down 2-1 to the Yankees, to a sweep of the Rangers in the ALCS to an extremely hard-fought 6-game World Series against a Padres team that never let them get comfortable. It will be an interesting offseason in which we'll have to deal with (and deal) our talent surplus at several positions. But for now, it's time to celebrate!

[Art Deco]

First off, here's our World Series trophy:



Also managed the "Delivered a Dynasty" achievement:



Now to get down to business. I had a rude surprise once the season ended, as when I acquired him I missed the fact he had a opt-out on his contract after this season:



Whoops! There goes 8 WAR of talent. At least we'll get a compensatory draft pick. So hello starting 2B Connor Kirkley. He ain't gonna put up 8 WAR but the editor shows his resulting stats at 280/409/515, with 32 HR and 116 BB so we're not exactly hurting there. It does free up about $9M and our payroll can be up to $180M but I'm going to self-impose a much lower payroll given how many good players we have and to make it a bit more of a challenge.

The main problem is a surplus of good players, not only in the context of the starting lineup and our regular roster, but the 40-man as well with way too many good players possibly subject to Rule 5, including some top 100 prospects. Right now I'm only looking at two openings on the 40-man (Lux and Ryan Jeffers, whom I'm going to non-tender since Carlos Perez is out of options and deserves a callup), and one of those goes to Julio Cedillo, currently on the 60-day IL. So this is the situation:

Players who are definitely on the 2029 Opening Day roster (17):
C-Ruiz, C.Perez, 1B-Barker, 2B-Kirkley, SS-Widmar, SS/3B-DeLeon, 3B-B.Witt, OF-J.Dominguez, Clark, J.Diaz. SP-Sachais, McClanahan, Little, Money. RP-JDLC, Alvarado, Aparicio.

Players who should be on the OD roster but I may trade (12):
1B-Y.Alvarez, OF-Fabian, Torkelson, Cedillo. SP-Anglin, Leiter. RP-Espino, Filby, Johns, Chamberlain, Bowers, Godwin.

Others on the 40-man who could go either way (10):
C-Burkes, 1B-Barillas, Sharp. 3B-Lammers, IF/OF-Ayers. OF-Berdin. P-Bienick, Patten, Gough, Bayley.

Burks and Barillas are definitely ticketed for Durham.

Then I have these guys who are eligible for Rule 5 and not on the 40-man:

Top 125 prospects: Danny Ceja, Jose Gonzales, Jesus Pelaez, Dayle Jenkins.
Very Good prospects: Malachi Benford, Steve Saucedo, Jon Whiteleather, Stan Collier, Ian Haley, Aiden Meola, Travis Luensmann, Amari Smith, Daniel Olarte, Caleb Picciotti.

So everyone except those in that first group of 17 I may end up trading, and that's a lot of players. The goal will be to get young non-Rule 5 eligible prospects and I'm prepared to do a lot of 3-for-1 or more deals, preferably with teams in the NL.

November 1: Some big names retired: Andrew McCutchen, Gerrit Cole (Yanks retired #45), George Springer, Trea Turner, Jose Altuve (Astros retired #27), Liam Hendriks, Xander Bogaerts, and Casey Mize. Surprised the Yankees retired Cole's number, he had a few good years with them, but wasn't anything special over his last few.

November 6: Let the dealing begin:



The get here is Hardaway, the #3 overall pick in 2027 and the #1 rated prospect by BNN. He's a 2B, which fills a fairly thin position in the organization, whereas the key guy we traded, Jose Gonzales, plays a position we're deep at right now, SS. We have Widmar and DeLeon at the MLB level, and Jesus Pelaez, a 90-100 ranked prospect, behind him, along with recent draftees Erik Batchelder and Jeff Leininger. Gonzales is the #31 prospect, and Olarte is well-regarded by OSA as a potential mid-rotation starter but I'm not as personally high on him. Patten deserves to be in MLB and has shown in stints he can pitch, so I expect him to do well with the Giants. As for the other guys in the deal we received, Saldana is further along than Olarte and has mid-rotation potential himself, he'll pitch at Montgomery or Durham next year. Robles is an interesting guy, massive power, cannon for an OF arm, but really can't play the OF and can't run, making him a born DH type.

Meanwhile here's a look at Hardaway's ratings, kind of mouth-watering:



Right now he's only a 35 at 2B, but I imagine those numbers will go up in time. He'll probably start the year at high-A Charlotte and I'm looking for him to be ready by 2031. As for the effect on the roster crunch, Saldana takes Patten's spot on the 40-man so no help there, while Gonzales and Olarte were Rule 5-eligible and now I don't have to worry about them.

November 9: Blake Money won the Gold Glove for pitchers in the AL. Had no idea he was a frontrunner.

November 10: Espino won this award in 2025 as well:



November 11: Gavin Lux (2B), Jasson Dominguez (CF) and Nate Clark (DH) won the Silver Slugger award at their respective positions. Dominguez's was particularly impressive given he only played about 2/3 of the season in the bigs with 404 AB.

November 12: Another award for Dominguez:



It's funny, I thought Widmar was going to win it because I was always looking at Dominguez's numbers solely with the Rays, but if you add his Yankees stint he had 5.3 WAR to Widmar's 5.1.

November 13: This came as no surprise, but great to see nonetheless:



They're going to need to rename the AL Cy Young to "Tampa Bay Rays Pitcher of the Year" as this marks the 5th time in the last 6 seasons a Rays starter has won it, with Tyler Glasnow taking the honors in 2023 and 2026, Matt Manning in 2024 and Shane McClanahan in 2027. Speaking of Manning, he ended up having a great season with the Diamondbacks (much better than his last 2 with the Rays, which were decent), and got my vote for the NL version. Unfortunately though he ended up finishing 3rd to Davis Sharpe of the Cardinals (13-7, 2.38).

November 15: Vlad Guerrero Jr. took the AL MVP over Gavin Lux, getting 29 out of 30 first-place votes (guess who voted for Lux?). I thought it would be a bit closer given how close their numbers were and how close they were in WAR, but so be it. Down ballot Nate Clark finished 6th and Jasson Dominguez 7th. The MVP award was Vlad's 5th in the last 7 years, having won in 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026. Over in the NL Juan Soto won unanimously, a .324-60-148 season with 113 walks will do that. It was the third time Soto won after doing so in 2022 and 2026.

November 25: More tradin':



I really, really, really didn't want to trade Johns, but there's just no place for him with 6 starters (plus Andy Aparicio!) on the roster already, and because of all those starters there's no place in long relief for him either. I love his combination of control and whiffs (you can see the MLB numbers above in the story). But in exchange we get our 1B of the future and #33 prospect in MLB in Rivas and we get to open up 2 40-man spots in the deal as Barillas was taking the other and he's completely expendable now with the Rivas acquisition. Barillas has great power and can hit - but only against righties, he can't hit lefties to save his life so his ascension to the MLB roster was always going to be problematic. The other two guys I traded (Krull and Reynoso) are 1/2 star nobodies to get the deal to complete. More on Rivas: he's 70 gap power, 65 current power, 75 potential power, 45/55 contact. He would hit 267/329/555 in the bigs today with 46 2B and 35 HR, and has some room to develop, and is rated 50 defensively, which is fine at that position. The other two guys we got have interesting bats with Hodges 80 current gap power and 60/65 HR power, but he's a mediocre OF. He's ticketed for AA. Tuley was Philly's 2nd round pick in 2027 and looks to be an all-around decent hitter and fielder and the scouts like him a lot.

Well, this stinks: He'll end up missing most of the 2029 season:

[Art Deco]

December 4: The first two big free-agent signings took place, both involving a couple of superstars who are on their 2nd free agent contract after signing big deals early in the decade. 36-year-old Mookie Betts went back to the Dodgers on a 3/72.6 deal after 8 years with the Braves, and 35-year-old Francisco Lindor inked a 3/79.2 deal with the Cubs after spending the last 6 in Philly.

December 5: Big deal incoming!



The trade really isn't for Barreto, I had to take him so the Cubs could afford to take Alvarez. Anyway it was time to move on from Yordan after two disappointing years capped by a pretty good postseason. He only hit 62 HR in his 2 years in Tampa Bay, dropping to 30 last year in an offensive environment that was enhanced. We're retaining $7.1M/year, which will save us $9M/year (once we get rid of Barreto and his $6.9M not-so-nice contract). It's time to turn over the reins at 1B to Joe Barker, who hit in his limited at-bats last year and actually projects better at the plate than Alvarez after his eye, contact and power ratings were upgraded by the scouts which translates to 298/401/618 with 46 homers. He's a downgrade defensively, a 40 to Yordan's 60, but 1B defense isn't critical. What we get in return here are two premier bullpen arms I've been coveting for about a year now in Jordan Diaz and Mike Mooney. Diaz finished second in the reliever of the year voting, with a 29/113 BB/K ratio in 79 innings and 37 saves for the Cubs. 70 stuff, 60 movement, 55 control, all good stuff. And Mooney is the power lefty I've wanted since Evan Godwin has become less reliable. He's 60/55/50 but 70 potential stuff and has pitched well even with those ratings this year, with a 1.89 ERA and a 22/68 BB/K ratio in 66 innings. Both Diaz and Mooney throw 98-100 and we now have a truly sick bullpen with Diaz, Espino and JDLC from the right side and Alvarado and Mooney from the left for the late innings. Andy Aparicio, who has 80 stuff as a reliever and will pitch in the pen this year, will man the middle innings with Godwin and Jack Leiter is the likely long reliever as things stand. Of course this still leaves us with Jack Filby, Jeremy Bowers, Christian Chamberlain, not to mention AAA/MLB tweeners like Tyler Gough and Mike Bayley. So look for more deals, and look for one involving Barreto as well. Spencer Torkelson will serve as the backup 1B now when he isn't playing the OF or DHing, although the OF is still a crowd with Tork, Clark, Dominguez, Jhon Diaz (now we have two J.Diazes), Fabian and Cedillo (which is why Berdin was included in this deal). Berdin will probably be this year's Bramdon Perez, who will become a stud with his new team after we didn't have any room for him (and who ironically went to Houston for Yordan Alvarez in the first place). The only problem for Berdin is that the Cubs already have two pretty good corner OFs in Brian Reynolds and Austin Hays. Oh well, that's their problem now.

December 6: The Barreto shoe drops:



Turned Barreto into a couple of useful prospects. Barreto isn't garbage by the way, he was a 3 WAR player last year with 23 HR and is an upgrade over George Arias at 2B for Boston. Hate dealing with a division rival but they had the best offer between Jackson, who was their top pick in 2025 but has slipped some as a prospect, a decent but not overpowering lefty, and Andrade who could be the real steal here, their 2027 #1 pick whom the scouts think will be a power-hitting CF. Jackson is eligible for the Rule 5 draft and if he's taken, he's taken. Lambeth has some mild potential as a 3B, but nobody I couldn't part with.

December 9: Jack Little, who won 20 for the Dodgers a couple of years ago but missed most of 2028 due to injury although he came back effective, signed a 2-year, $29.2M deal with Philadelphia. The Phillies had also acquired Kyle Seager from the White Sox earlier to fill the hole at SS when Francisco Lindor left.

December 11: Some big free agent news as Pete Alonso trades in the Big Apple for Hollywood as he signs a 4/105 deal with the Dodgers, who lost 1B Josh Bell to free agency. Also the A's dealt catcher Will Smith to the Cardinals for 3 minor leaguers, a year after signing him as a free agent.

December 12: More free agent fun as Josh Bell signs a 1-year, $9.7M deal with the Giants, while the Brewers snapped up two of the top FA starts on the market in Noah Syndergaard (down to 45 stuff but still effective) on a 2/46 deal and Nick Lodolo at 4/65.

December 13: Makin' some room on the 40-man:



Always like Bayley's arm but his control is horrendous and recently was downgraded further by my scouts. Speaking of my scout, he likes Moorehead better than OSA which is a rare occurrence, so perhaps I'm getting an underappreciated asset here. Rob Metzler thinks Moorehead could have 60 power and 50 contact eventually. Not bad for clearing a 40-man spot, which is going to Malachi Benford.

December 17: Another free agency double-dipper signed as Austin Meadows opted out of the deal he originally signed with Milwaukee a few years back and became a free agent again, this time joining the Dodgers in a 5/115 deal as they've loaded up in free agency after being eliminated as a wild card last year. Meadows joins Mookie Betts and Pete Alonso as their big acquisitions. They also earlier gave Nick Gonzales a 5/33.4 extension after he had a middling debut season with them, going .272/339/401 and accumulating 2.5 WAR.

December 19: OK, this should be our final deal for a while:



Filby became expendable of course with the relievers acquired from the Cubs in the Yordan Alvarez deal, and Saucedo was Rule 5-eligible. Opening up a 40-man with this deal also allows me to protect top reliever prospect Jon Whiteleather, and we acquire another fireballing reliever in Carter with 70 current and 80 potential stuff who doesn't have to be protected. Also Rouse might be a useful piece somewhere down the line.

This has been the most exhausting offseason I've had so far. Usually I have a deal or two lined up in advance or in my head and I make it, and the roster is pretty set. But this year with a much better cadre of Rule 5-eligible players and various surpluses among the big-league talent I've had to deal with a lot of moving parts. Right now the only thing left to address is the OF glut, but I want to wait to see how things shake out in spring training. For example, Julio Cedillo would seem to be prime trade bait but Jasson Dominguez went on the DL twice last year and I had to play Jhon Diaz there out of position. And Spencer Torkelson has yet to prove he can stay healthy for more than a month or two over the last two years, so I'm going to hang on to my depth there for now.

December 21: The Yankees' lineup got a little more fearsome with the signing of Miguel Sano to a 3/61 deal. He'll be an upgrade over Alfonso Rivas for sure, even if he is 35.

December 22: Time for the Rule 5 Draft. We lost 3B Aidan Meola to the White Sox. Not a tremendous loss, but he'll be missed. We're covered at 3B with Witt, DeLeon and Lammers so it would have taken a cascade of injuries for him to be needed.

December 26: Milwaukee continued its starting pitcher free agent binge by signing Touki Touissant to a 5/84 deal on the heels of signing Noah Syndergaard and Nick Lodolo. Touissant has WAR #s of 3.3, 3.3 and 2.9 the last 3 seasons so he's been consistent.

December 27: Amed Rosario moved across town in Chicago as he left the Cubs to sign with the White Sox on a 4/65 deal to fill the hole left when they traded Corey Seager to the Phillies, and old friend Yonny Chirinos signed a 1/1.9 deal with the Red Sox.

December 30: After over a decade in Milwaukee, Christian Yelich signed a 2/33 deal with Seattle. The 37-year-old superstar had a down (by his standards) year with only 3.3 WAR, off a couple of 5-WAR seasons.

December 31: And there it is - Gavin Lux signs a 5/98 deal with Arizona. That's actually a pretty good bargain as big-name free agents go and I might have been interested in something like that had I known that's what he would settle for, but the last time I checked in he was wanting over $30M/year. Oh well, we'll take the compensatory pick.

January 7: Old friend Diego Castillo signed a 2/9.4 deal with the Yankees, so we'll be seeing a bunch of him next season.

January 10: Hall of Fame balloting revealed, congrats Robinson Cano!



Spring Training Update: One big injury so far, Ricky Widmar tore his quadriceps and will be out 7 weeks, putting him on the shelf until at least mid-May. Isaac DeLeon will become an everyday player again, and Mike Lammers should make the team. Shane McClanahan strained his back early in ST and is out 2 weeks, setting him behind in getting ready for the season so Jack Leiter may make a start or two in his place at the beginning of the season.

Some veteran big names signed 1-year FA contracts: Matt Chapman with the Giants, Aaron Judge with the Blue Jays, Matt Olson with the Pirates.

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With Widmar and McClanahan on the IL, here's the opening day roster:

C-K.Ruiz, C.Perez
1B-Barker
2B-Kirkley
SS-DeLeon
3B-B.Witt
IF-Ayers
OF-Fabian, Dominguez, Jhon Diaz, Torkelson, Cedillo.
DH-N.Clark

SP-Little, Money, Sachais, Anglin, Leiter
RP-Chamberlain, Godwin, Aparicio, Mooney, Alvarado, De La Cruz, Jordan Diaz, Espino

Chamberlain is out of options, otherwise I would have had Jeremy Bowers make the team in Mac's place. When Mac comes back, Chamberlain will be dealt or waived.

Here are the preseason predictions, big year expected out of Joe Barker (now you know why I dealt Yordan Alvarez):

How about those Columbus Lightning?

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Game 1: It was Opening Day at the Trop and the Rays received their World Series rings for 2028 in a pre-game ceremony. The dignitaries were there, the stadium was sold out, but the bats failed to show. Christian Little and Bryar Johnson put on a show but the Rays managed to make the 2 hits they got off Johnson count while Little mowed down 15 Orioles via the whiff in a 2-0 win. The game was scoreless into the bottom of the 5th, and the Rays had yet to get a hit off Johnson. But Jo Adell dropped Isaac DeLeon's fly ball, and after Bobby Witt Jr. forced DeLeon at first, Keibert Ruiz doubled into the gap to score Witt and end the no-hitter and shutout simultaneously. And in the 6th Nate Clark deposited Johnson's 0-2 pitch into the LF stands to make it 2-0. Little meanwhile was dealing, going 6.2 3 0 0 1 15 and issuing his first walk with 2 out in the 7th. Daniel Espino came on and whiffed Hudson Potts and then struck out the side in the 8th, giving the Rays 19 strikeouts as a staff. With two lefties leading off the 9th it was Jose Alvarado time, and although he gave up a leadoff single he erased it on a double play and got Adley Rutschman to pop out to end the game and get the save. Ruiz and Connor Kirkley singled in the 8th to double the team's hit output.

By the way, Christian Little's projected 2029 numbers off this one start are entertaining (540 Ks! 19.1 WAR!):



Game 2: Rays pitching was dominant again, and this time the offense didn't wait to get going in a 7-0 rout of Baltimore to start the year 2-0 and to stay unscored upon. Today it was Blake Money's turn to shine, and shine he did as he went 7 5 0 0 1 11 and stayed strong through the end striking out the final two batters he faced. Mike Mooney made his Rays debut with a scoreless inning and 2 whiffs, and Christian Chamberlain duplicated that in the 9th to give Rays pitching 34 strikeouts in 2 games so far. Maybe the Orioles are just a bad contact team. Unlike yesterday the offense didn't start slow. Connor Kirkley led off the game with a double, Judson Fabian walked, Nate Clark reached on an error to load the bases and Joe Barker cleared them with a double. Baltimore's defense continued shaky as a booted Jhon Diaz groundball scored another in the inning and Bobby Witt Jr's groundout made it 5-0 after 1. Barker hit into a 2nd-inning double play to bring home another run and Keibert Ruiz singled in the 7th run in the 3rd. The offense then took the rest of the game off but their work was done.

Game 3: Unlike the first two games this one was a back-and-forth affair but thanks to Nate Clark's 2nd HR of the game in the 8th they pulled out a 5-4 win to sweep the opening series of 2029. Clark, who also homered in the first to put the Rays up 1-0, and Isaac DeLeon were the offense tonight as after Baltimore moved ahead 2-1 in the 2nd, DeLeon doubled in a run in the bottom of the frame and then blasted his first round-tripper of the year in the 4th with a man on to make it 4-2. DeLeon's heroics with the bat made up for his costly error in the 2nd as Alec Sachais would have been out of the inning otherwise before two runs crossed the plate. Sachais was very pitch-inefficient and the error prolonging the inning didn't help; he had to leave after 4 having thrown 98 pitches and going 4 5 2 0 2 8 in a schizophrenic outing. Andy Aparicio took over in the 5th with a shot at a win, gave up a CJ Chatham homer in his 2 innings of work, but left with a 4-3 lead. Jordan Diaz made his Rays debut with a scoreless 7th before Daniel Espino came on for the 8th and was immediately greeted by a Gunnar Henderson homer to tie the game. Espino proceeded to put two more on base but got out of it, and Clark gave him a vultured win with his 3rd homer in 3 games in the bottom of the 8th. Jasseel De La Cruz made his season debut and got the Orioles 1-2-3 to get the save.

Team record: 3-0. Next up: 3 more at home vs Cleveland.

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Game 1: The Rays rolled in this one, clobbering Cleveland 12-2. They were up 6-0 by the 4th and kept pouring it on, blasting 4 homers in the process. Joe Barker's fielder's choice put them on top to stay in the 1st, and then he added his first homer of the year, a 2-run shot in the 3rd to make it 4-0. Keibert Ruiz had a big game, continuing his hot start by going 3-4 with 2 RBI tonight, including an RBI double in the 2nd. He's now 7 for 11 in the young season. Also cleaning up was Isaac DeLeon, on base all 4 times tonight with 3 hits and a walk, homering for the 2nd time this season and scoring 4 runs. Joining the party with his season debut tonight was Julio Cedillo, starting in CF for Jasson Dominguez and doing his best Dominguez impression by homering, driving in 2 and scoring 3 runs. Throw in RBI triples from Nate Clark and Bobby Witt Jr. and it was all Rays. Mack Anglin was the beneficiary of all this run support, and held up his end by shutting out Cleveland through 6 before allowing a 2-run inside-the-park homer to Bo Naylor in the 7th. He finished 6.1 6 2 2 2 8 and Christian Chamberlain (1 2/3 scoreless) and Evan Godwin (1 inning) closed it out as the Rays went to 4-0.

Game 2: The Rays' roll continues with a 10-3 win over Cleveland that was over when the Rays put up a touchdown and extra point in the first inning. Cleveland starter Cristian Javier was wild, walking a pair and hitting a man to load the bases for Spencer Torkelson, whom he walked to force in a run. Isaac DeLeon followed with an infield single to make it 2-0 and then Bobby Witt Jr. sent everyone home with a grand slam, his 1st HR of the season. Keibert Ruiz then went back-to-back with Witt and it was 7-0 before many of the Trop faithful were even in their seats. Tork added a 2-run double in the 4th and then pulled up lame, hyperextending his knee, a moderate 5-day injury. Nate Clark singled in a run in the 5th to cap the scoring. Tork wasn't the only injury, though; Jasson Dominguez continues to have back issues, straining it for a moderate 1-2 week injury so he'll go on the IL. This is why I didn't rush to deal Julio Cedillo despite Dominguez taking his job. Jack Leiter got the start today and went 5 4 0 0 1 4. That looks like an efficient line but it actually took him 92 pitches, so Andy Aparicio came on in the 6th and served up a HR again and gave up another run in his 2 2/3 which saw him strike out 4. Aparicio has had a bad habit of giving up HRs despite being rated an average 50 in movement, as he's now allow 10 in only 28 1/3 MLB innings. Mike Mooney pitched the final 1 1/3 and gave up a dinger of his own for the 3rd Cleveland run. So the Rays are now 5-0, but so are the Yankees who we'll face off with in a little over 2 weeks.

April 8: Placed OF Jasson Dominguez on the 10-day IL with a strained back, recalled OF Dayle Jenkins from AAA Durham.

With Tork also hurting, I figured we needed another outfielder so hello Dayle Jenkins, ranked by BNN as the #69 prospect in MLB. With Durham not starting its season for four more days he hasn't played since Spring Training, where he hit very well and opened a lot of eyes. Cedillo will start in center primarily, but we'll get Jenkins into a few games.

Game 3: Another day, another rout as the Rays beat Cleveland 10-2 and outscored them 32-7 in the 3-game series. Julio Cedillo took advantage of his return to the lineup with Jasson Dominguez out, and had a big day which started with a 2-run single in the 2nd. After Bobby Witt Jr. stroked a 2-run homer, his 2nd of the season, in the 4th to make it 4-0, the Rays added 4 more in the 5th to blow it open. That rally included another RBI single from Cedillo to go with an RBI single from Judson Fabian and a Jhon Diaz RBI double as well as an Isaac DeLeon groundout. Cedillo then had an RBI groundout in the 7th to give him 4 for the day and Joe Barker added an RBI double in the 8th. Christian Little wasn't quite as dominant as he was on opening day, but 6 5 2 2 1 9 will always play as he went to 2-0. Only a 2-run Austin Hendrick homer in the 6th blemished his day. Christian Chamberlain, Evan Godwin and Jordan Diaz threw scoreless innings to finish the game. Dane Ayers saw his first action of the season and went 1-4 with a steal while Dayle Jenkins came on as a pinch-hitter in the 8th and struck out in his first MLB at-bat.

Team record: 6-0. Next up: We head to Arlington for 3 vs the Rangers in an ALCS rematch. At 0-6 it's been a brutal start for Texas, but don't blame Wander as he's hitting .476 with a homer and 4 RBI.

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Game 1: With Texas at 0-6 and the Rays at 6-0, regression had to kick in sometime and sure enough each team now has a "1" in its W/L record after the Rangers won tonight 4-2. The primary culprit for the Rays tonight was the bats, which didn't manage a hit until the 6th inning when Joe Barker singled off Victor Presas. They had actually scored a run before that as Presas was wild and walked a pair in the 5th leading to a Keibert Ruiz sac fly. Presas ended his outing with a weird 6 1 1 1 5 1 line. Isaac DeLeon's sac fly in the 8th got the Rays within 3-2, but that was it as they went meekly in the 9th against Texas closer Jeff Lavender. Blake Money got the start and pitched well but was undone by one sequence in the 4th when he issued his only walk to Wander Franco, Adrian Ramos doubled, and Eric Herman went deep. Money ended 6 4 3 3 1 7 and ended up taking only his 2nd loss in the last 2 seasons after last year's 21-1 record. Jordan Diaz got through the 7th but I pushed him to a 2nd inning and that didn't work as he allowed a run and Evan Godwin had to get the last two outs. Fortunately the Yankees lost so both teams are 6-1.

Game 2: After the aberration of last night's loss the Rays were back to winning ways again with a 5-3 triumph over Texas. Nate Clark's 2-run double in the 5th broke a 2-2 tie, and Alec Sachais pitched 7 strong innings to lead the way. After Isaac DeLeon singled in Clark to give the Rays a 1-0 lead in the top of the 4th, Sachais ran into his only trouble of the night in the bottom of the inning. He gave up a Wander Franco infield single and an Adrian Ramos double, and then Ray-killer Eric Herman doubled them both home. Outside of that sequence, though, Sachais was brilliant in going 7 6 2 2 1 6 and nabbing his first win of the new season. Daniel Espino had a rough 8th inning allowing a run, but Jasseel De La Cruz got the Rangers in order in the 9th to net his 2nd save. The Rays took the game over in the top of the 5th when Judson Fabian singled in a run before Clark's 2-run double, and Joe Barker added some heft to the lead with HR #2 in the 6th inning. Dayle Jenkins made his first MLB start in LF and went 0-3 with a walk and run scored.

Game 3: After some early hiccups the Rays asserted themselves and took an 8-3 win to Meat Loaf the Rangers and improve to 8-1. Mack Anglin, like Blake Money and Alec Sachais in the two games before him, had one bad sequence but otherwise pitched great. For Anglin it came on four consecutive hits in the 1st inning which produced 3 Texas runs. But he was largely untouchable after that and finished 7 7 3 3 0 6 to make it 2 wins in 2 starts this year. Andy Aparicio finished with 2 scoreless innings and managed not to give up a homer for the first time this season. The offense didn't waste any time in getting Anglin off the hook, immediately tying the game in top of the 2nd. With two out, Julio Cedillo singled in a run and then Carlos Perez had his first real contribution of the season with a 2-run double to even things up. And then they took over the game with 3 more in the 3rd, first on Isaac DeLeon's second double of the game bringing home a run, then Bobby Witt Jr's groundout added another before a wild pitch allowed the third to score. Judson Fabian's 446-foot homer to dead center (#1) made it 7-3 in the 4th, and later Nate Clark hit HR #4 in the 8th for the final run. The Yankees were off today so the Rays take sole possession of first, 1/2 game up on the 7-1 boys from the Bronx.

Team record: 8-1. Next up: A scheduling quirk gives us two consecutive off-days, including a Friday, before we open a 3-game set at Boston that wraps around to the Patriots' Day game on the following Monday.

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Game 1: After two days off the Rays got off a bit of slow start but they persevered and got a not-as-close-as-it-looked 8-6 win over the Red Sox at Fenway. Christian Little started and didn't have his strikeout pitch in the first couple of the innings, and that combined with a Keibert Ruiz throwing error on a ball hit in front of the plate gave Yoan Moncada the opportunity to wrap one around the Pesky Pole with a man on to make it 2-0. And then after Bobby Witt Jr hit HR #3 (he's off to a great start this year unlike last) to cut the lead to 2-1, Franklin Barreto, whom we offloaded to Boston after getting him in the Yordan Alvarez deal, doubled in a run and they found themselves down 3-1 to Tyler Glasnow after 2. But this is no longer the Tyler Glasnow who pitched for the Rays, since his injury last year he's down to 50 stuff and Boston is stuck paying him $30M/year for this year and two more after that (which is always why you never sign 30+ pitchers to long-term contracts). Isaac DeLeon doubled in a run in the 4th, and it could have been tied had Joe Barker not been thrown out at the plate. But Jhon Diaz finally tied it in the 7th off Glasnow with his 1st HR leading off the inning and they put a couple of more on for Keibert Ruiz to give them the lead with a single. They then tacked on 4 more in the 8th on a Diaz RBI single, a 2-run double by Ruiz, and a Connor Kirkley RBI double. Little meanwhile found his groove and ended 6 4 3 1 1 8 to get his 3rd win in 3 starts, Daniel Espino struck out the side in the 7th when it was still close, and after Mike Mooney got the side in the 8th he stayed on in the 9th, got 2 outs and then just couldn't get the final out. He gave up 2 singles and I should have pulled him when righty Ryan Mountcastle came to the plate, but I didn't and of course Mountcastle went deep to make it 8-6. Jose Alvarado came in to face lefty Pierson Gibis who singled to bring the tying run to the plate in the person of Moncada, but Alvarado got him looking to end the game and get his 2nd save in his first appearance since opening day 11 days ago. The Yankees meanwhile dropped a pair of games at home to Baltimore, so the Rays are two up on them at 9-1.

Game 2: The Rays had their first true stinker of the 2029 season as they fell behind 11-0 after 3 to Boston and ended up losing 13-5. Jack Leiter simply did not have it, going 2.1 7 9 8 2 1, with the last couple of runs scoring after Christian Chamberlain gave up a grand slam to Ryan Mountcastle. Earlier in the game Mountcastle had a bases-clearing double, and on top of yesterday's 3-run 9th inning homer he had 10 RBI in 3 consecutive at-bats against the Rays. Andy Aparicio pitched the final 3 innings mixing the good (6 whiffs) with the bad (3 walks, 3 hits, 2 runs). Connor Kirkley had a 3-run HR, his 1st of the year, to put the Rays on the board, Isaac DeLeon hit #3, and Nate Clark doubled in a run for the Rays' offense today. The Yankees were swept by Baltimore so no ground lost.

Game 3: And now the Rays have dropped 2 in a row as they fell 7-4 to Boston in the Patriots' Day matinee. It was Blake Money vs Yonny Chirinos, a mismatch on paper that turned out to be advantage Boston as the 35-year-old Chirinos largely befuddled his old team in a 6 7 2 1 0 5 performance while Money was hit for 3 runs in 5 innings on 8 hits. He walked 1 and whiffed 7 but suffered his 2nd straight loss, already exceeding his total from 2028 when he was 21-1. The Rays tried to hang in it, cutting Boston's lead to 3-2 and 4-3 before Jordan Diaz melted down in the 8th, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and a pair of homers, including one to none other than Ryan Mountcastle, who drove in 3 today and 13(!) in the 3-game series. The Rays runs came on a Boston error, a pair of RBI singles from Connor Kirkley, and an RBI double by Nate Clark. The Yankees were idle so they pull within 1 1/2.

Team record: 9-3. Next up: 3 games in Baltimore.

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Game 1: The Rays returned to winning ways with a 9-4 decision at Camden Yards propelled by a 4-homer, 6-run 5th inning. Spencer Torkelson and Joe Barker had RBI singles in the 1st and 3rd to put them up 2-0, but they really took control of the game in the 5th when Connor Kirkley and Judson Fabian led off the inning with their 2nd HRs of the season, Tork hit his first of the year with a man on, and rookie Dayle Jenkins (who had earlier picked up his first MLB hit & steal) blasted his first MLB homer, a 2-run shot. Jenkins went 3-4 on the day as he was given a start against a lefty and given a chance to play as he's ticketed for Durham as Jasson Dominguez is about to come back. Alec Sachais started and was outstanding through 6 innings, allowing only a Sam Hilliard homer, but I probably shouldn't have brought him out for the 7th as he put a man on and gave up another homer. Evan Godwin made a mess allowing another run, and he left with the bases loaded and Adley Rutschman at the plate as the tying run. Daniel Espino got Rutschman to fly out to end the threat and pitched through the 8th, and Jose Alvarado got some work with a scoreless 9th after the Rays added a run on a wild pitch in the top of the frame.

Game 2: Mack Anglin had a lousy outing and despite 14 hits, the offense could only push across 4 runs in a 6-4 defeat in Baltimore. Anglin looked sharp early, breezing through the first 3 innings with only a Druw Jones solo HR against, and when Julio Cedillo singled in Jhon Diaz to tie it in the top of the 4th it looked like things would start going the Rays' way. But Anglin gave up 3 runs on 5 hits in the 4th, including another homer from Jones, and then couldn't find the plate in the 5th, walking 3 and hitting a man to force in another run and he ended an ugly 4.2 7 5 5 4 5. Andy Aparicio had his best outing of the season (2.1 1 0 0 0 5) in relief of Anglin, and he allowed the Rays to climb back within 5-4 on Isaac DeLeon's leadoff HR in the 6th (#4), a Keibert Ruiz RBI single in the 6th, and Bobby Witt scoring on a wild pitch after tripling in the 8th. But Jordan Diaz struggled again, giving up a leadoff double and wild-pitching him home to make it 6-4, and the Rays couldn't do anything around a Nate Clark single in the 9th. The Clark hit meant everyone in the lineup had at least one, but they couldn't get the key hits at the right time as they've now dropped three of four. Arizona beat the Yankees so the lead remains 1 1/2.

Game 3: The Rays hoped to get out of their mini-slump with Christian Little on the mound tonight, and after Dane Ayers led off the game with his first MLB homer and Isaac DeLeon hit #5 in the 4th to make it 2-0, things were looking good. But Little gave up a 2-run HR in the 4th to Hudson Potts to allow Baltimore to tie, and then Jo Adell took him deep in the 6th to give the Orioles the lead, and a 3-run Gunnar Henderson homer off Daniel Espino in the 7th killed any comeback hopes in a 6-3 loss. Little went 6 5 3 3 1 7, pitching well outside the homers, but that was little consolation. Christian Chamberlain came on in the bottom of the 7th and didn't help matters by walking a pair, and instead of bailing him out, Espino threw gasoline on the fire with the Henderson homer. Ayers homered again in the 8th for the final run while Bryar Johnson shut the Rays down aside from the homers he allowed, going 8 6 3 3 0 7. Ayers and DeLeon had 5 of the team's 7 hits tonight in another overall uninspired performance. The Yankees beat Arizona so the division lead is down to 1/2.

Team record: 10-5. Next up: Hopefully a return to the pitcher-friendly Trop will be the cure for all these HRs allowed lately as Oakland comes to town for the weekend.