The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

So yeah, it was a good thing the Jays beat the Yankees in the wild card game. Not that we couldn't have beaten the Yankees, but after going 8-11 vs New York I much preferred Toronto and you can see why. Jack Leiter was brilliant again in pitching us to the sweep, with only one bad sequence where he went single-walk-homer and allowed the Jays to get back within 4-3. But the Rays immediately broke it open again on homers from Jasson Dominguez and Connor Kirkley, who ended up being named Series MVP. Probably shouldn't have pushed Jordan Diaz to a 2nd inning as he gave up a 2-run HR to Aaron Judge to make it briefly interesting at 8-5, but JDLC came on and got a double play on his 3rd pitch to end the game and the series. Still hoping Christian Little is good to go for Game 1 of the ALCS barring any further setbacks. Speaking of injuries, Bobby Witt Jr had to come out with back stiffness, a moderate injury which may or may not lead to him missing Game 1. Of course Isaac DeLeon is a more than capable replacement.



Advantage Rangers as they capitalized on the wildness of Detroit pitchers, who walked 9 in the game including a couple in the decisive 9th inning when Edgar Medina delivered the game-winning hit. Adam Lukas has had a nightmare series as Detroit closer, losing the two games the Tigers have lost. And it's an all-NL West NLCS as the Dodgers complete the series win over the Columbus Lightning who showed their inexperience on the playoff stage. Cristian Rodriguez had a huge series for Columbus, though, and was named Series MVP despite being on the losing end. Surprised Austin Meadows didn't get it as he homered for the third time tonight for the winners.

[Art Deco]

It's deja vu all over again in the AL as the Rays will face the Rangers for the second straight year in the ALCS after the Rangers completed their series win over the Tigers tonight. Wander Franco had a monster game, going 4-5 with a HR and 3 RBI and after last year's sweep at the hands of the Rays he and his teammates will be eager for revenge. Jacob Gonzalez was named series MVP for Texas.

Also, congrats to Chris Sharp:



I'm sure he'd rather be on an MLB bench than MVP of the International League, and as I've chronicled at length before he deserves a shot somewhere. It probably won't be here with Joe Barker and Rodolfo Rivas around, though.

[Art Deco]

And the Diamondbacks continue their roll with their 4th straight postseason win behind a couple of former Rays. Matt Manning went 6 solid innings for the win and 2026 Rays flop Lewin Diaz banged out a pair of homers to lead Arizona. I just know we're going to end up in the Series against Arizona and Diaz will kill us as he's always done since we got rid of him. Speaking of former Rays, Austin Meadows continues his scorching playoff with HR #4 in 5 games.

[Art Deco]

Whew! What looked to be a comfortable Rays win in the middle innings was anything but comfortable at the end as Texas chipped away at the lead and had the tying run in scoring position in the 9th inning before Jose Alvarado struck out Dylan Carlson to finally put an end to the game. It was a matchup of last year's Cy Young winner against the likely Cy Young winner this year, and that matchup was advantage Rays as they jumped all over Wil Diaz with Ricky Widmar leading off the game with a homer against his former organization, and then Dayle Jenkins taking him deep for a 2-run shot which put the Rays ahead for good in his first MLB playoff game. Connor Kirkley went back-to-back with Jenkins in that 4th inning and who had Kirkley leading the team with 3 HRs this postseason on their bingo card? Little, meanwhile, finally ready to go after his back spasms caused him to miss the ALDS, was his usual self although he ran out of gas in the 6th loading the bases with 2 out. Jordan Diaz got a fly ball to get him out of it but Texas wouldn't quit, getting 2 runs off Diaz in the 7th and a Heston Kjerstad homer off Daniel Espino in the 8th. This led to Alvarado coming in for the 9th and he gave up a one-out double to Wander Franco, who went to 3rd on a fly ball for the second out before Alvarado whiffed Carlson. Jenkins was aboard 3 times in 4 trips as the big stage didn't faze him. He's on the short end of a platoon with Jhon Diaz so he may not play that much going forward, but he'll be back in there against Diaz if there is a Game 5.



Rays past and present continue to dominate the postseason and tonight was no exception in Game 2 of the NLCS as the Dodgers evened up the series behind two homers from Nick Gonzales, one of our unlikely postseason heroes in 2026 when Wander Franco was out injured.

[Art Deco]

Once again the Rays opened a comfortable early lead and once again Texas made it close, but once again the Rays hung on and won 5-3 to take a 2-0 lead in the ALCS and make it six straight over Texas in the last two playoffs. Much as the Rays had their way with Texas ace Wil Diaz yesterday, they were all over Texas's other young stud pitcher, Victor Presas. It took until the 3rd today to break through, but they did when Keibert Ruiz executed a perfect hit-and-run, singling to put Connor Kirkley on 3rd and Ricky Widmar followed with a sac fly before Judson Fabian went deep and it was suddenly 3-0. And in the 4th Bobby Witt Jr singled, stole second, went to 3rd on a Jhon Diaz single and scored on a Kirkley groundout, with Widmar later singling in Diaz to make it 5-0. But as yesterday, the Rangers crept back into the game, finally solving Shane McClanahan in the 6th with a run on a wild pitch, and then getting the leadoff man on against him in the 8th before he gave way to Jose Alvarado. Alvarado wasn't as sharp today as yesterday, giving up another hit and then a Keston Hiura 2-run double and the lead was down to 5-3. He got out of it, and JDLC looked the best he's been in a while, getting a 1-2-3 9th capped with a whiff of Heston Kjerstad to end the game. Alec Sachais will look to put the Rays in a commanding 3-0 lead when the series shifts to Texas in 2 days.

NLCS Game 3:



The Dodgers overcame an early lead and literally powered past the D-backs with 4 homers to take a 2-1 series lead. One of them came from - you guessed it - a former Ray (farmhand) as Petey Halpin, who went to LA along with Nick Gonzales in the Gavin Lux trade. Right now we're on track for the Rays to get a shot at avenging their lone World Series loss this decade in 2024.

[Art Deco]

The Rays' failure to score runs after the 5th inning or so finally caught up with them tonight as Texas overcame Tampa Bay leads of 3-0 and 4-3 to come back and beat the Rays 5-4 and pull the series within 2-1. If things get turned around for Texas tonight will be known as the "Wander Franco revenge game" as the former Rays superstar blasted a tie-breaking homer in the 8th off Daniel Espino to give the Rangers the win. The Rays took an early 3-0 lead on another great hit-and-run with Keibert Ruiz as he doubled in Connor Kirkley, Ricky Widmar singled him home and Nate Clark doubled home Widmar. Alec Sachais couldn't do wrong through the first 3 innings and then couldn't get anyone out in the 4th as he gave up 3 runs to let Texas equalize, and after Widmar put the Rays back on top in the 5th with a sac fly, Andy Aparicio was greeted by a double and a single from the first 2 batters he's faced this postseason to tie the game. And while the offense went quiet, Franco took Espino deep to win it. Bobby Witt Jr walked with one out in the 9th but was thrown out attempting to steal to nip any rally in the bud. Jack Leiter will try to keep the Rangers from tying up the series tomorrow.

Over in the NLCS:



Think the Rays blew a lead tonight? The Dodgers were up 6-1 and looking to go up 3-1 in the series before Arizona came back to beat them 9-7 and even it up. And yes, still another former Ray figured into things tonight, albeit in a bad way. Dean Christidis, who was briefly up with the Rays in 2025, was torched for 6 runs in 1 1/3 innings in relief for the Dodgers. Among the hits and runs against him, Gavin Lux had a 2-run homer against his old team.

[Art Deco]

The Rays scored early, and for a change they scored often, in an 11-3 thrashing of the Rangers to take a 3-1 ALCS lead. For a brief minute it looked like Texas would continue the momentum from last night's dramatic win when Dylan Carlson took a Jack Leiter pitch into the RF stands to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead, but that lasted until the next Rays at-bat. And the Rays scored 6 times in the 2nd to put their stamp on the game, as Keibert Ruiz, Ricky Widmar and Judson Fabian hit consecutive RBI singles, and then the middle of the order finally came through in this series with Nate Clark drilling a 3-run homer. And unlike previous games where they grabbed a lead and sat on it, they tacked on 2 more in the 4th and 3 in the 7th to keep the Rangers from getting any ideas of a comeback. Leiter settled down somewhat from the 1st inning but wasn't his sharpest, and left in a slightly precarious situation in the 6th with the bases loaded and the tying run on deck at 8-3. But Jordan Diaz got a fly ball to end the inning and he took the 7th as well. Mike Mooney saw his first action of the postseason with 2 innings to wrap it up, and Christian Little will look to close it out tomorrow night and get the Rays to their sixth World Series in seven seasons.



And we creep closer to a rematch of the 2024 World Series as the Dodgers take Game 5 from Arizona and need only one win in the desert to get back to the Fall Classic for the first time since that series, which had marked their third championship in five seasons. Michel Baez was solid over 6 innings and Petey Halpin hit another homer (he and fellow ex-Ray Nick Gonzales were both 2-4 with an RBI) in the 3-1 win. Former Ray Matt Manning pitched well for the Diamondbacks but strained his oblique in the game and will be unavailable to Arizona should they pull out the NLCS and make the Series.

[Art Deco]

Connor Freakin' Kirkley. The relative weak link in the lineup this season, hitting only .248 and generating a little over 2 WAR, might just be having the best postseason of a single player in Rays history as his 3-3, 2 HR, 4 RBI performance led the Rays to a come-from-behind 12-5 win to take the ALCS from Texas and advance to the World Series. Kirkley, who was MVP of the ALDS, can now add MVP of ALCS to his trophy cabinet after tonight's performance. And not to be overshadowed by Kirkley's exploits is Jasson Dominguez, who tied an AL playoff record with a 5-hit game, including a homer. It was Dominguez' homer and Kirkley's first, a 442-foot blast to dead center off the mighty Wil Diaz, which put the Rays up 2-0 and looking like they'd cruise behind Christian Little. But a funny thing happened: it took Little a long time to get into his groove and the Rangers capitalized, scoring 5 times off him in the 3rd and 4th and it looked like we were heading back to St. Pete for another LCS game rather than Game 1 of the World Series. But the bats came to play, and Keibert Ruiz started off the comeback with a homer on a hit & run with Kirkley aboard to make it 5-4, Dayle Jenkins came through with an RBI single in the 6th to tie it, and Kirkley's 2nd HR of the game gave them the lead to stay. From there they piled on so there would be no Texas comeback, including a Nate Clark longball. Little was his old self in the 5th and 6th, and got an out in the 7th before giving way to Jose Alvarado, who pitched through the 8th and Blake Money made his first postseason appearance with a scoreless 9th and a spot at the bottom of the dogpile. Now we sit back to see who the opponent will be as the likes of Shane McClanahan, Ruiz and Alvarado look for "one for the thumb".

By the way, here are Kirkley's numbers through two rounds of the playoffs. Unreal. Just in these 8 games he's amassed almost half as much WAR as he had the entire season (2.3):

[Art Deco]

And it is a rematch of 2024 after all (and 2020 IRL, the Dodgers won the series that year in this save as well but over the Astros). Brusdar Graterol threw 7 innings of 2-hit ball (albeit with 5 walks) and Austin Meadows' 2nd inning homer stood up to give LA the series win.

The tentative pitching matchups for the Series:

Game 1, October 21 at Tampa Bay: Shane McClanahan vs Kyle Whitten
Game 2, October 22 at Tampa Bay: Alec Sachais vs Justin Koehler
Game 3, October 24 at Los Angeles: Christian Little vs Michel Baez
Game 4, October 25 at Los Angeles: Jack Leiter vs Brusdar Graterol

if necessary:
Game 5, October 26 at Los Angeles: Game 1 pitchers
Game 6, October 28 at Tampa Bay: Game 2 pitchers
Game 7: October 29 at Tampa Bay: Game 3 pitchers

[Art Deco]

Late night with the Rays as the World Series went past everyone's bed time tonight (except maybe on the west coast) but the Rays ended up prevailing 4-3 in 14 innings. And who was the hero once again? Yep, that man Connor Kirkley, whose RBI single sent everyone home at 1:42 AM local time. It was a tough, tight game and the Rays were lucky to get a Judson Fabian homer off Kyle Whitten as he 2-hit them through 6 innings. Shane McClanahan pitched decently, but got himself into trouble twice and got out of it. First was in the 4th: after Fernando Tatis Jr's homer off him, he loaded the bases with one out but got a popup and a fly ball to escape, and then in the 5th he left with two on and two out and at 96 pitches so Andy Aparicio got Pete Alonso on strikes. Aparicio then gave up a homer to Stanley Rosario (once a Rays property, big surprise) but in the 7th Joe Barker singled, stole second and scored on Jasson Dominguez's single. And from there we went. Jose Alvarado was pushed two innings but got the job done with five whiffs, and then Evan Godwin in his first appearance of the postseason gave up his obligatory homer in the 11th to Rio Ruiz (he allowed 10 longballs in 50 innings, not great Bob). But Fabian and Nate Clark led off the bottom of the inning with singles, and Barker's sac fly scored Fabian to keep the Rays alive and that sent us to the 14th, when Barker led off with a double, went to third on Bobby Witt Jr's fly ball and scored on Kirkley's clutch single. Mike Mooney got the win. Alec Sachais will look to put us up 2-0 tomorrow, and will hopefully give us some length as Jordan Diaz, Romulo Canelon and Blake Money were the only pitchers not used tonight.

[Art Deco]

A little less drama tonight as the Rays take a 2-0 series lead with them to Los Angeles. Alec Sachais was brilliant once he got past his obligatory HR allowed, this one to Nick Gonzales in the 1st inning, going 6 5 1 1 2 8. After the Rays took a lead in the 4th when Judson Fabian homered for the second straight night and Jasson Dominguez had an RBI single for the second straight night, Sachais got into some trouble in the 5th, loading the bases with a walk in front of Cody Bellinger, not a recommended move. But Sachais got Bellinger on a fly ball to left, and that was the last time the Dodgers threatened all night. And then Ricky Widmar and Joe Barker launched 2-run homers in the 7th and it was game over. Fabian had a 4-hit night, and Keibert Ruiz 3 against his old team. With the win the Rays have exceeded the number of wins they had in the 2024 series, which they lost in 5. Christian Little will try to keep LA from getting back in the series in two days.

[Sevsdast]

who are the new teams in this universe?

[Art Deco]

Originally Posted by Sevsdast

who are the new teams in this universe?

The only "new" team is the Columbus Lightning, who are the relocated Miami Marlins. Haven't had expansion yet.

[Art Deco]

One win away. That's what the Rays are from their second straight World Series win and fifth in seven years after Christian Little's 6 dominant innings helped bring them a 2-1 win to take a 3-0 series lead. Little, who came back from injury and returned in a couple of middling outings in the ALCS (games the Rays still won), was his more typical overpowering self today with only 3 hits, 0 runs and 9 whiffs over his 6 innings. And the Rays needed that kind of outing because Brusdar Graterol was almost as tough, holding the Rays to 5 hits and 1 run over 7 innings with Keibert Ruiz's hit-and-run RBI double in the 5th the only run through 7. And Ricky Widmar took advantage of Graterol's absence, drilling a solo HR leading off the 8th against Dean Christidis to give the Rays an insurance run they'd end up needing. Jose Alvarado and Daniel Espino got them through the 7th and 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz came on for the save in the 9th. But he was immediately greeted by a Rio Ruiz homer and then more trouble happened when Keibert misplayed Mebrys Viloria's squibber in front of the plate and Petey Halpin had an infield single with 1 out. JDLC whiffed Nick Gonzales but with 2 on and 2 out and the dangerous lefty-hitting Cody Bellinger due, lefty Mike Mooney was summoned from the pen and he got Bellinger to hit a weak infield pop to end the game. (Side note: the second and a half it took from seeing Bellinger was going to put the ball in play with a 1-0 count until it was rendered by the animation and PxP was the longest second and a half I've spent playing this game). So now the Rays can go for the sweep tomorrow behind Jack Leiter.

[Art Deco]

World Champs Again! The dynasty continues as the Rays swept the Dodgers to take their 5th World Series in 7 seasons with a 4-2 win. Judson Fabian, named World Series MVP, drilled a 3-run homer in the 3rd that would prove to be all the runs the Rays would need as a great start from Jack Leiter coupled with some strong bullpen work were enough to ensure victory. As they did every time except for Game 2, the Dodgers kept it close and Fernando Tatis Jr's homer and a run scored on a Connor Kirkley error (he's human after all) made it 3-2. And in the 6th with a man on and Cody Bellinger up, Albert Hammond was proved wrong as it does rain in Southern California and we endured a 57-minute rain delay. Evan Godwin came in and got Bellinger on a grounder back to the box to end that threat, Daniel Espino struck out the side in the 7th and after he stayed in and allowed a hit in the 8th, Andy Aparicio came in with Jose Alvarado and JDLC tired and got out of that inning before getting a 1-2-3 9th including a whiff of Pete Alonso to end the game and start the celebrations. Of the five series wins this was clearly their most dominant run as they went 11-1, losing only the one game to Texas in the ALCS by one run on an 8th-inning homer. We'll be saying goodbye to some players and hello to others as we head into a new decade with some big news to reveal shortly.

In the meantime, enjoy the celebrations!

[Art Deco]

Thanks to our success over the last decade we were finally able to solve the stadium problem in Tampa Bay and we have a new ballpark. It's called Publix Park (thanks to user eriqjaffe who created this back in 2019), and it's the open-air, natural-grass stadium Rays fans have clamored for over the last few decades. It plays as a much better hitter's park than the Trop, so expect higher-scoring games. And they even serve Publix subs at the concession stands. Here are some pictures:




It's in downtown Tampa on the Hillsborough River and you can see the city's skyline behind it.

[Art Deco]

(keep checking this post if interested over the next 24-36 hours as it will be frequently updated)

A look at this year's World Series trophy:



Bossman Stu Sternberg has given us a $160M payroll, but I'm not going anywhere near that to try to keep a bit more of a challenge. We'll probably end up somewhere in the $120-130M range. Right now, most of the young core of this team still isn't arbitration-eligible with only Jhon Diaz and Blake Money eligble this offseason. Next year will be fun when Nate Clark, Jasson Dominguez, Joe Barker, Alec Sachais, Ricky Widmar, Andy Aparicio and Isaac DeLeon all become eligble but for now we can still play on the cheap. We'll be losing Shane McClanahan and Keibert Ruiz (they'll both get qualifying offers but I doubt they take them). Mac was great over the past decade and he has the 5 rings to show for it, but we have plenty of pitching depth. Ruiz on the other hand will be creating a bit of a hole as the jury's out on Carlos Perez as a full-time catcher, and we're kind of thin at the position especially after Robbie Burkes' decision to play in the NFL (again, WTF?). So look for a deal to pick up a catcher as our top prospect at the position, Will Quintana, probably needs another year in the minors and even then I see him more as a backup. Daniel Espino is also gone as he's exhausted his arbitration years. He'll be missed too but we have plenty of arms in relief too (I'm thinking Tim Siqueiros can take his role). Elsewhere there are some guys on the 40-man who may get dealt for the next crop that has to go on, I'm looking at Chris Sharp, Tyler Gough, Mike Lammers, Jeremy Bowers etc.

Also we have the perennial outfield glut, and Spencer Torkelson will probably be going as he's been the odd man out due to his inability to stay healthy over the last 3 years and the ill-advised contract we gave him which still has two years at $14.1M on it. Judson Fabian is in his final year of team control as well and could be dealt as we have Dayle Jenkins and Victor de Jesus ready to go. Also Nate Clark could be the leftfielder and his DH slot can be turned over to Isaac DeLeon and others.

Some notable retirements around MLB: Manny Machado, Andrelton Simmons, Blake Snell.

Let the trading begin:



We take care of our outfield glut and our hole at catcher in one fell swoop. Now this is only a temporary solution at catcher since Moreno is going into his final year of arbitration eligibility and we'll have to pay him $12-13M this year, but that's $1-2M less than what we were paying Tork to ride the bench when he wasn't getting himself hurt. Hopefully he gets healthy and gets at-bats in Detroit (the team he currently was recently drafted by IRL). And getting Angeac in the deal isn't too shabby either, the #2 overall pick in 2027. He hasn't quite developed or put up the numbers to justify that selection but he still projects as at least a 65 power hitter. The fact that Detroit was willing to deal him probably says something, though. Parker was a B-/C+ prospect who can play 2B and OF but isn't anything that exciting.

In awards news, we dominated the Platinum Stick awards with Joe Barker (1B), Ricky Widmar (SS), Judson Fabian (LF) and Jasson Dominguez (CF) taking the honors.

Texas's Wil Diaz won the AL Cy Young as expected, but amazingly Christian Little finished second and got 13 first-place votes despite only pitching 88 innings this season. Weird. Jack Flaherty won for the third time in four years over in the NL, with the one year he didn't (last year) being the one in which he missed most of the season with injury.

Vlad Guerrero Jr. was named AL MVP once again, his first time as a Yankee. It's the 6th time in the past 8 seasons he's won and the second straight. Jasson Dominguez finished 3rd and Bobby Witt Jr 4th in the voting, with Nate Clark, Ricky Widmar and Joe Barker finishing 7-8-9. Victor Mesa Jr. of Columbus won in the NL, with a 318/378/553 season with 39 HR, 125 RBI and 7.6 WAR.

November 10: Traded 27-year-old minor league third baseman Aidan Meola to the Chicago White Sox, getting 25-year-old minor league reliever Ed Thomas in return.

Meola was taken by the White Sox in the Rule 5 draft but returned to us and then we put him on the 40-man, but they want him back and were willing to part with the lefty Thomas, their #1 pick in 2027 who's probably miscast as a starter but throws in the high 90s and should make a decent lefty reliever.

November 12: More big trade news:



Au revoir, Judson. The World Series MVP, who was going to be a free agent at season's end, is headed to Philly in a deal that brings us our catcher (or co-catcher depending on how Carlos Perez pans out) of the future in Corpus, who projects to be a .260-.270, 25-30 HR guy and was impressive during a brief callup with the Phillies last year (11/7 BB/K ratio in 44 AB, 3 HR). With Gabriel Moreno on board, Corpus will probably play at Durham this year and job-share with Perez in 2031. Fabian's spot will be taken by either Dayle Jenkins or Victor de Jesus or some combination thereof.

November 28: First big FA signings of the winter, with JJ Bleday, whom we once had and dealt back in 2022 to San Diego to get Chris Paddack and then turned into a star in Colorado, going to Milwaukee on a 5/109 deal, while SS Adael Amador went to Philly on an 8/190 deal. Amador's only 26 and earned 11 WAR over the last two seasons as he's emerged as one of the NL's top shortstops. He's another Rockie refugee. Also in former Ray news the Mets and Yankees hooked up on a deal which saw Emerson Hancock return to the AL in a deal for JT Schwartz. And finally one more former Ray in the news as Nate Lowe re-signed with Philly on a 4/82 deal.

December 2: Two massive deals incoming!



Well we found Chris Sharp a home, and thanks to an MVP season in the IL last year his trade value increased to the point where he became the centerpiece in a deal to land of the league's best starting pitchers. That of course would be Jon Hayes, who's put up seasons of 4.6, 6.5 and 4.8 WAR the last three years. He was 6th in MLB in WAR, 3rd in strikeouts. We'll have him for the next two seasons before he's eligible for free agency, and apparently the Twins wanted the deal from a cost-cutting perspective (and they need a 1B). Bowers is a solid lefty reliever who's been hurt but should be back early in the season, and Navarro is a flyer of a prospect included to get the deal over the line.

Of course now we have a real surplus of starters, hence this deal:



So in a neat bit of symmetry, we traded away a 1B prospect, a lefty reliever and a 19-year old CF prospect for a frontline starter, and now we traded away a frontiline starter for a 1B prospect, a lefty reliever and a 19-year-old CF prospect. Of course Hayes > Anglin, and the centerpiece of this deal, Harms is about 4 years behind Sharp and doesn't need to go on the 40-man. Morfin is a decently lefty reliever and I like Bonds better than Navarro, whom we dealt to Minnesota, as he has much more power potential. Some more details about Harms, aptly named for what he does to baseballs:



Yes, we really don't need another 1B prospect with Joe Barker entrenched, Rodolfo Rivas at Durham and Caleb Picciotti having a great year at AA Montgomery. But he was the best prospect offered for Anglin and I'm all about value. Meanwhile, the Phillies have become the new Cubs as this is our second deal of the offseason with them and fifth or sixth in the last year or two, with separate deals bringing in Rivas, Dayle Jenkins and Romulo Canelon coming to mind. I'll miss Anglin a little as he was someone we drafted and brought through the system and turned into a top-notch pitcher. But he was frustrating over the last two years as his performances didn't match his stuff and his WAR. He was probably a victim of our mediocre defense but he's put up two straight years of ERAs closer to 5 than 4. My guess is he thrives in Philly, getting to pitch to the pitcher instead of a DH and probably has better defense behind him.

December 4: More free agent signings as Jack Little, who led the league in ERA for Philly last year, signs a 6/138 deal with the Rockies where I can assure you he won't lead the league in ERA. Quality leadoff-type guy Jarren Duran signed a 5/42 deal with Atlanta, and the well-traveled reliever Edwin Diaz went for a 1/4.5 deal with Washington.

December 5: Not thrilled to have to face Heliot Ramos 18-19 times a season but we will as the Blue Jays signed the hard-hitting former Giants OF to a 4/77.6 deal. Ramos was worth 5.1 WAR last year off a 313/372/482 season and that was in a tough hitters' park.

[Art Deco]

A little wistful seeing this, but baseball is a business:



Seems weird seeing that face with a different cap. Anyway, we get a supplemental 1st-round pick out of it, and I wish him the best of luck except for the 1 or 2 times a year we'll be facing him.

In other free agent news, the excellent SS Ronny Mauricio signed a 4-year, $52.3M deal with San Francisco, and the Blue Jays continue to tool up by signing another top-notch OF, this time Riley Greene, formerly of the Tigers, to a 7/74.3 deal.

December 21: Added C Will Quintana, 1B Rodolfo Rivas, 1B Caleb Picciotti, OF DeAndre Hodges and P Jeff Baker to the 40-man roster.

Rule 5 Draft coming tomorrow, the toughest to leave off were OF Stan Collier, our #1 pick in 2024, who has 75 HR power and could hit 40 in the majors right now but is a lousy (40) defensive OF, hard-throwing reliever Eric Carter with 75 stuff, and OF Pat Brown who was our 2nd round pick in 2024 and probably would be a decent 3rd/4th OF right now. If I had to predict, I'd think Carter is the mostly likely of those 3 to be taken, with an outside shot of a relative vet like Shane Sasaki or slick-fielding SS Melvin Gutierrez going.

December 22: Nobody taken in the Rule 5 draft which as usual I get more concerned about than I should. The best player we've lost over the years in Rule 5 was C Zach Britton, whom the White Sox took in the 2025 draft and traded to the Phillies, where he's become one of the top catchers in baseball with three seasons of 3.3 WAR or better over the last four years and just signed a 5/52 extension this offseason.

December 23: Austin Riley, who's been one of the more consistent power hitters over the last 4-5 years, signed a 4/68 deal with the Dodgers to play 3B after Rio Ruiz left, and the Blue Jays continue to bolster their team with Corey Seager on a 3/54 deal. Although he's now 35, Seager continues to be productive. And an old friend, Asa Lacy, signed a 1/4 deal with the Dodgers after finding his niche as a lefty reliever.

December 24: The Angels signed Josh Bell to a 1-year, $9.2M deal to play 1B for them. The 37-year-old is still productive, coming off his 4th straight 100-RBI season.

December 25. First, Merry Christmas. A couple of teams found new relievers under their trees as Mitchell Verburg, once a Ray and the key player sent to then-Miami for Judson Fabian four years ago, signed a 1-year, $3M deal with the Giants and longtime Yankee Luis Severino joined up with the Dodgers on a 2/7.5 contract.

December 28: And the other Rays free agency shoe drops:



Oof, that's a lot of money and a lot of years for a 31-year-old C with a lot of mileage on him. He seemed to play much better this year for us when I rested him every third game or so, we'll see how much the Giants use him. Meanwhile, I'll gladly take the extra first-round pick.

January 9: Max Scherzer was voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year at 91.8%. He was the only inductee as Joe Mauer inches closer at 65.8% in his 7th year on the ballot, and Joey Votto at 52.6% in his second year were the only players to clear 50%.

January 24: Another Rays free agent finds a new home:



Interesting rules change (guess the MLBPA is weaker come 2030):



This of course has real significance for us, as we're more about team control than signing free agents, meaning we'll get an extra year from just about everyone in the roster.

February 10: Apparently it was "Sign Former Rays Pitchers Day" for the St. Louis Cardinals as they inked Shane Baz and Aaron Ashby for 1-year deals.

[Sevsdast]

Part 3: Expansion to Miami, Montreal, Portland, Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Nashville this decade. (Just a prediction.)

[Art Deco]

Originally Posted by Sevsdast

Part 3: Expansion to Miami, Montreal, Portland, Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Nashville this decade. (Just a prediction.)

That kind of stuff usually is announced to me at the start of the offseason, so no news on that front until next year. I am considering adding the DH to the NL, in real life it'll probably already have been in place well before 2030.