The 2024 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

These posts take a while to type and just as I almost finished it, I hit the wrong key and somehow lost it. So here's the abridged version:




Team record: 84-59. After winning the three games in Oakland and after the Orioles were swept in Philly, we actually pulled within 2 games of the division lead. But the sweep in St. Louis and a Baltimore sweep of their own over the weekend brought the lead back up to 5. More troubling is that the Red Sox continued their insane run and tied us for the first wild card. They had won 13 straight before losing and then took the next two to pull even. We do have the tiebreaker going for us, having taken 8 of 13 from the Sox. Next week: A difficult homestand with 3 against Cleveland and 4 against Baltimore.

Players of the Week:

AL: Eloy Jimenez (CHI), 12-24, 3 HR, 3 RBI
NL: Michael Harris II (ATL, again): 12-26, 5 HR, 10 RBI

[Art Deco]

Well I just did the same damn thing again - had the weekly game-by-game recap all typed up except for the last game, and then my finger hit F8 on the keyboard which switches the browser into reader mode and wipes out the post I had typed up. So once again here's the abridged version:




In summary as you can see it was a bad week for the Rays. It was an especially bad week for Pete Fairbanks, who blew or lost 3 games (we did come back and win one of them) and now has a W/L record of 5-11, something you don't want to see in your closer. Seriously considering a change in the position. Junior Caminero had 3 homers during the week to reach 24 and we did make these transactions:

September 9: Placed P Shane Baz on the 10-day IL with a sprained UCL, recalled P Randy Vasquez from Durham. It's supposed to be a 3-4 week injury so we could have Baz back for the playoffs.

September 12: Optioned OF Heston Kjerstad to Durham, recalled 1B/OF Xavier Isaac. Kjerstad has been miserable in the second half and was losing PT. Isaac was hot on his first callup before going into an extended slump which resulted in his demotion, maybe the second time will be the charm like it was for Caminero last season. Isaac was lighting it up with the Bulls (324/413/619).

September 14: Placed 3B Isaac Paredes on the restricted list, recalled IF Nick Loftin from Durham. Paredes was suspended for 2 games after an on-field meltdown following a called third strike against him.

Team record: 86-64. Luckily Boston wasn't so hot this week either, so the teams are tied for the first wild card with the Rays holding the tiebreaker edge. Thanks to losing 3 of 4 to Baltimore the division deficit is 6, so that's over. Getting home field for the wild card round is now the priority. Next week: A day off then 3 in Texas followed by 3 in Anaheim against the Angels.

Players of the Week:

AL: Trey Cabbage (HOU), 12-25, 3 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Stanley Consuegra (NY), 10-21, 2 HR, 6 RBI

On the Farm: 2022 2nd-round pick Brock Jones had a game for the (minor league) ages, homering 4 times and driving in 9 on the 15th for AA Montgomery. Jones is having a great year, hitting a combined 49 HR and 119 RBI between Montgomery (where he's spent most of the season) and High-A Bowling Green. Jones does have something of a future but his big problem is 40 contact with is both current and potential. Ditto however for his 60 power and 60 eye, along with his 60 rating in CF where he has a double-digit positive zone rating, which makes him very interesting and a probable part-time/4th OF.

[Art Deco]

Going to try to not erase one of these posts for the third straight time, although I just did after typing about two games’ worth of recaps. Don’t know why I keep doing it here and not in the other threads and as a result I’m typing this all in Word so I can just copy and paste it into the browser.

September 16: Off-Day.

September 17: at Texas 12-6 W (11). WP-Adam (7-5). Starter-McClanahan (1 1 0 0 0 0 0). HR-J.Lowe 2 (17), Westburg (15), Caminero (26). The good news is that the Rays erupted for 6 runs in the 11^th to grab a much-needed win. The bad news as you can surmise from the abbreviated outing for McClanahan is that he’s hurt, diagnosed with a bone spur which will shelve him for close to a month. So we won’t get him back unless we make a deep playoff run, something which will be unlikely without him. As for the game the brothers Lowe combined to go 4-7 with 2 HR and 4 RBI with Josh scoring 3 runs.

Transaction: Mac goes on the IL and called up from Durham to take his rotation spot is lefty Joe Rock, who has pitched well for the Bulls the last couple of seasons and it’s time to see what he’s got at the big-league level.

September 18: at Texas 2-5 L. LP-Lopez (1-1). Starter-Rasmussen (6 8 2 2 0 5). N.Lowe’s 2-run double gave us a quick 2-0 lead in the first but the Rangers equalized so we went to the 9^th inning tied when lefty J.Lopez gave up a 3-run homer to lefty Evan Carter to lose it.

September 19: at Texas 1-2 L. LP-Springs (9-8, 5.2 5 2 2 0 9). Another fine outing from a starter wasted by anemic offense.

Transaction: The injuries continue to mount on the pitching staff as Anthony Maldonado joined McClanahan and Baz on the IL with a strained forearm and he too will miss a month. Kevin Kelly, who spent most of the last two seasons with the big club, is up for the first time in 2025. Also Paredes came off the suspended list and Nick Loftin was returned to Durham.

September 20: at LA Angels 4-5 L. LP-Lovelady (1-2). Starter-Pepiot (4.2 5 3 3 3 4). HR-Caminero (27). Same crap, different day as the Rays lost their third straight and 11^th in their last 14. Today the bullpen blew it again with Lovelady coming on in the 9^th with a 4-3 lead and lefties due, only to load the bases with nobody out and Fairbanks as usual of late was not the answer as he allowed the tying and winning runs to score albeit after being put in a tough situation.

September 21: at LA Angels 6-7 L. LP-Rock (0-1, 4.1 6 5 5 2 3). HR-T.Hernandez (28), Paredes (34), Isaac (8). Joe Rock’s MLB debut was one to forget as he put the first man he faced on and gave up a homer to the second, and things didn’t go a whole lot better from there. The bats awoke to make a game of it late after trailing 7-1 with Paredes’ 3-run jack in the 8^th and Isaac’s 2-run pinch-hit homer in the 9^th but they fell short once again.

September 22: at LA Angels 7-2 W. WP-Bradley (15-5, 5 4 1 1 2 8). HR-Campusano (9), Paredes (35). Taj, whom we’ll need to step up In the playoffs with Mac out, was excellent today although it took him 97 pitches to get through 5. Yandy was 4-5 with an RBI and Paredes drove in 3 more including a 2-run homer as the Rays finally got back into the win column and officially clinch a playoff spot.

Team record: 88-68. As you might have guessed with the poor 2-4 week we lost ground to Boston. We're now 3 full games behind them so I’m resigned to playing a wild card series in Fenway, where we’ve fared poorly in the postseason the last couple of times. Next week: We close out the regular season at home with Toronto coming in for 3 after an off-day followed by Cincinnati.

Players of the Week:

AL: Evan Carter (TEX), 10-18, 2 HR, 9 RBI (much of that against us)
NL: Luis Garcia (WSH), 14-24, 3 HR, 7 RBI

Since we’re heading into the final week, here’s a standings update to see where the races stand:



All of the divisions with the exception of the NL Central are spoken for. Cut off by my screen space is the wild card race, where in the AL Texas is actually part of a three-way tie with Seattle and Minnesota for the final slot so that should be a fun one. In the NL 3rd place Milwaukee holds a healthy 4-game lead on the Cubs so no real suspense there barring an epic collapse and therefore the NL Central loser will have the third wild card to fall back on.

[Art Deco]

September 23: Off-Day.

September 24: vs Toronto 10-2 W. WP-Rasmussen (11-5, 5.2 3 0 0 3 6). HR-Isaac (9). Rays romped over the Jays with Isaac belting a 3-run homer and Yanier Diaz driving in 3 on 3 hits while Caminero was 4-4 with an RBI and 4 runs scored. Ras closed out a fine regular season with a 3.72 ERA and will start Game 2 of the Wild Card series.

September 25: vs Toronto 6-5 W (10). WP-Fairbanks (6-11). Starter-Springs (5.1 5 2 2 1 7). Jason Adam blew a 5-2 lead in the 8th but Yandy's RBI single in the 10th won it. While the win brought them within one of Boston for WC1, it was an extremely costly one as Teoscar was hit by a pitch and fractured his thumb, putting him out for close to 4 weeks in another grievous injury blow for the club in the final month.

Transaction: Teoscar goes on the 10-day IL and Parker Meadows is up from Durham. The defensive whiz had a great year at Durham despite missing a couple of months (301/437/537 with 21 HR in 326 AB) and will start in CF against RHP with J.Lowe now manning RF full-time.

September 26: vs Toronto 4-8 L. LP-Kelly (0-1). Starter-Pepiot (5 5 3 3 1 5). A costly loss in the race for WC1 and home-field advantage in the opening round as Boston won to go 2 games back up. Paredes was 3-4 with an RBI and helped them to an early 4-2 lead but Kelly gave up 2 runs in the 6th to lose the lead and Vasquez gave up 3 more in the 8th on consecutive homers, then plunked a Jay to start a brawl and he was suspended.

Transaction: Vasquez goes on the restricted list and Nic Enright is back up for the first time since early in the season.

September 27: vs Cincinnati 9-1 W. WP-Rock (1-1, 7 1 1 1 1 9). HR-Yainer Diaz (12), Mead (8). What a difference a start makes. Joe Rock was rocked in his MLB debut last time out but was brilliant today, retiring the first 12 Reds before giving up a solo homer which turned out to be the only thing he allowed over 7 innings for his first big-league win. He had plenty of support with Yanier going 2-4 with a homer and 4 RBI and Yandy 3-4 with an RBI as the Y.Diazes were raking tonight. And Boston lost to Baltimore so the Rays are back within a game with the tiebreak advantage.

September 28: vs Cincinnati 6-0 W. WP-Bradley (16-5, 6.2 3 0 0 2 6). HR-Caminero 2 (29), Siri (7). Taj was great in his regular season swan song and is lined up for Game 3 of the Wild Card series if necessary. Meanwhile Junior C went deep twice and drove in 3 while Paredes had a 2-run triple. Boston won meaning we'll have to win the regular season finale tomorrow and hope they lose to avoid a trip to Fenway.

September 29: vs Cincinnati 9-8 W. WP-Fairbanks (7-11). Starter-Littell (4 5 2 2 2 1). HR-Mead (9), DeLuca (2), Isaac (10), C.Williams (11). A truly wild one. Littell got the spot start since we wanted to save Rasmussen for the wild card round even though it was a must-win game to keep home field hopes alive. Littell did alright but the bullpen was brutal, losing leads of 3-2 and 7-5. But the bats kept battling back and with the help of a Reds error in the 9th, N.Lowe singled in the equalizer and Paredes' sac fly brought home the walk-off winner. Alas the celebration was bittersweet as Boston beat Baltimore 9-4 so we will have to play the Sox at Fenway in the Wild Card round although it was still nice to close with 6 wins in the last 7.

Final Regular Season Record: 93-69. Next up: The Wild Card Round in Boston with Springs, Rasmussen and Bradley our scheduled starters.

Players of the Week:

AL: Our own Junior Caminero, 10-20, 2 HR, 7 RBI
NL: Ronald Acuna Jr (ATL), 9-21, 3 HR, 7 RBI

Players of the Month (September):

AL Batter: Evan Carter (TEX), .337-6-24
NL Batter: Michael Harris II (ATL) (who else?), .356-9-24 on his way to NL MVP
AL Pitcher: James Karinchak (CLE), 8 SV, 21 K in 15 IP
NL Pitcher: Kodai Senga (NY), 4-0, 2.61, 53 K in 41 IP
AL Rookie: Connor Cooke (TOR), 3-1, 0.00, 5 SV
NL Rookie: Jacob Berry (MIA), .287-10-23

The Farm Report:

3 of our 4 full-season squads made the playoffs with only Low-A Charleston missing out. High-A Bowling Green lost its playoff series 4-3, AA Montgomery is up 3-1 in their series against Biloxi and AAA Durham is tied 1-1 with Norfolk in their best-of-7. Also a few of our farmhands were named players of the month in their respective leagues:

Brock Jones took the SL honors for Montgomery, capping a season that saw him hit 53 regular season homers plus 3 more so far in the playoffs. Jones hit .294-13-30 for the month.

Antonio Jimenez made it a sweep for the Biscuits as he took Pitcher of the Month honors, going 3-0, 2.60 with 29 Ks in 27.2 IP.

And 2023 #1 pick Braden Taylor was named the SAL Batter of the Month after hitting .393-10-26 in September for Bowling Green. The big month salvaged a weak season batting-average wise as he ended the year at .229 but still slugged 25 homers.

Next up: A regular-season wrapup post with the final standings, playoff matchup and Rays team and individual stats.

[Art Deco]

The third wild card slots in both leagues came down to the final day. In the AL Texas nosed out Seattle by a game on the final day after Minnesota had fallen off during the week after all three came into the final stretch tied. And the NL was even more dramatic. The Cubs started the week 3 behind the Cardinals but swept three games from them head-to-head over the final weekend including scoring 9 runs in the 8th inning of the last game after trailing 2-1 going into the frame. This gives us the playoff tree:



The Rays do end up with the tougher side of the bracket as it seems it always pays to be the 3rd wild card instead of the 2nd - you end up on the road anyway but the 3rd division winner usually has a worse record than the 1st wild card.

Anyway onto the Rays stats:



Excellent run prevention combined with a middle-of-the-pack offense bought us a 93-win season. The bullpen seemed like it blew a lot of games but the overall numbers were good.



And as befits a middle-of-the-road offense we had a lot of decent but no spectacular players. In fact it kind of shows you what batting average means as our two top players by WAR hit .221 and .199 respectively with Paredes doing it with the long ball and decent D while Williams rode his glove (+7.3 ZR).



And there it is - a top four of the rotation as good or better than any in baseball. Mac would have probably cleared 5 WAR had he been able to make his last couple of starts. He and Baz will be missed in the playoffs (unless we get to the ALCS). And WAR kind of shows what I was talking about with the bullpen - superficially it had a good ERA (3.29 overall) but look at Fairbanks with a 2.76 ERA and negative WAR to go with 11 losses (and 6 blown saves).



Xavier Isaac was ranked #15 but graduated off this list as he passed the 130-AB mark and lost rookie status. Smith is a dark horse for next year's rotation and Keegan deserves a look at C although the Campusano/Y.Diaz tandem behind the plate only projects to make $3.8M combined next year and probably isn't going anywhere. Looking forward to seeing what 2-way #1 pick Schoolcraft does next year in his pro debut.

[Art Deco]

[Art Deco]

Ugh...



I just knew it wasn't going to be the Rays' day after they loaded the bases in the top of the 1st and failed to score, and Boston followed suit in the bottom of the inning with a homer to take the lead for good. The Rays left 7 men on base in the first 5 innings while the Red Sox steadily built their lead off Springs, who couldn't keep the ball in the park. And the main reason they couldn't score was that they made James Kaprelian look like Nolan Ryan, whiffing 10 times in 5 1/3 innings to allow him to get out of jam after jam. So it's down to Drew Rasmussen tomorrow to do better than Springs and try to keep the season from ending quickly in October.

Elsewhere the NL series are decided and Jose Ramirez propelled Cleveland to a Game 1 win with a 3-run walk-off homer:

[Art Deco]

Stayin' alive...



Yainer Diaz had his biggest game as a Ray, coming through with a pair of 2-run doubles to lead Tampa Bay to a season-saving win over Boston and forcing a decisive Game 3 tomorrow. The Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a surprise 3-run shot to dead center from Jonny DeLuca off old friend Blake Snell, but Drew Rasmussen gave it back and then some allowing 4 in the bottom of the 4th. Enter Diaz, whose first 2-run double off the Monster put them ahead to stay 5-4 in the 6th, and after Boston got within 6-5 in the 8th he added a 2-run double in the 9th to salt away the game. So tomorrow Taj Bradley will be looking to add to his team-high total 16 wins with an ALDS trip to Baltimore at stake.

This is the only series still going as the Guardians walked it off for the second straight day, this time with former Rays farmhand Kyle Manzardo's 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th to set up Cleveland with a date in Houston for their ALDS:



Also down on the farm the Montgomery Biscuits advanced to the championship round of the SL playoffs after besting Biloxi 4 games to 2. Slugger Brock Jones was named series MVP.

[Art Deco]

Th-th-th-that's all folks...



Despite a heroic effort from Nathaniel Lowe the Rays dropped the deciding game of their Wild Card series with Boston and saw their 2025 season come to an end. Lowe hit a pair of solo homers over the Monster to stake them to a 3-1 lead but Taj Bradley couldn't hold it in the bottom of the 4th and ended up throwing so many pitches to get through 4 that he had to leave early, forcing us to turn to the bullpen. And that was where it all went wrong as every reliever the Rays used allowed at least one run. Lowe once again came through with an RBI single in the 6th to tie it up but the pen gave the lead right back and that was the ballgame. This season was a nice bounceback from last year's sub-.500 playoff-missing team but the end result was like every other Rays postseason except for 2008 and 2020, eliminated at the first time of asking. (I'm counting series here, not the single-game wild card wins in 2013 and 2019).

[Art Deco]

Marcelo Mayer, 7-22 with 1 HR and 9 RBI, was named Series MVP as the Orioles will not be defending their World Series title.



Yet another Boston-Houston ALCS.






On the farm: Durham was destroyed by Norfolk in their IL opening round playoff series, losing games by scores of 24-7, 21-10 and 10-1 after going up 2-1 in the series. Not sure they weren't playing football. Meanwhile Montgomery are SL Champions after being Tennessee in the final round by 4 games to 2. Brock Jones' incredible 2025 concluded with him being named MVP of the series, thanks largely to a 5-5, 3 HR, 7 RBI performance in Game 4. Jones hit 7 more homers in the playoffs to give him an even 60 on the season (42 with the Biscuits, 18 at Bowling Green). Also prize pitching prospect Hagen Smith had outings of 6 5 0 0 1 8 and 6.2 3 0 0 0 7 in the series.

[Art Deco]

[Art Deco]

Devers was 10-27 with 2 HR and 3 RBI in the series.

[Art Deco]

We're not looking at a tremendous amount of turnover from last season's 93-win team, at least for now. Stu Sternberg has given us the green light to raise payroll to $120M, which is about $35M more than we spent last season so I'll see what can be done to boost the offense. Our only free agents of note are Zack Littell, who lost his starter's job and won't be missed much, and Teoscar Hernandez, whom we got for the bargain-basement price of $1.7M after he wasn't able to secure a deal elsewhere. It paid off with 28 HR, 79 RBI and 2.2 WAR so we may try to bring him back again. The position-by-position outlook:

C: Long a franchise black hole, the position is in surprisingly good strength now after the acquisitions of Luis Campusano in 2023 and Yainer Diaz last winter with the two combining for 21 HR, 74 RBI and 2.3 WAR. And for a change we have real depth with Rene Pinto hitting 307/383/557 with 28 HR at Durham (granted, everybody seemed to hit there), and slugging prospects Dominic Keegan and Cade Hunter, who are both a bit iffy with the glove.

1B: With the extra money to spend we picked up the $12M club option on Yandy Diaz's contract as he remains our most consistent hitter. Xavier Isaac should be a full-time member of the team but he'll have to get most of his at-bats in LF and at DH again.

2B: Junior Caminero returns and while he has hit for power (29 HR) the rest of his game hasn't been exciting and he's a question mark with the glove. No other place to put him right now though.

SS: Carson Williams was at the Mendoza line in his rookie season but his defense and power (38 XBH) made him a 3-WAR player. I expect the bat to improve.

3B: Isaac Paredes had a 3.2 WAR season despite hitting .221 thanks to his third straight 30-homer season and pretty good D at the position. He's getting expensive but still worth it.

IF: Jordan Westburg was our super-sub last year although he tailed off at the plate late in the year and only played decent D at 3B with lousy numbers at 2B/SS.

LF: This is probably where Isaac goes, although he may need a platoon partner (Jonny DeLuca?)

CF: Josh Lowe played the position primarily last year but he's not a good defensive CF. Jose Siri is, but we're likely going to non-tender him since he can't hit and is now the wrong side of 30. Instead his job should go to Parker Meadows, who was great at Durham and seems ready to play full-time with Lowe moving to RF.

RF: Right now it looks like Lowe but we may re-sign Teoscar.

OF: Meadows and DeLuca are the front-runners for the 4th/5th OF role.

DH: Nathaniel Lowe will be too expensive in arbitration despite hitting very well for us down the stretch after he was acquired as well as in the playoffs, so we will try to deal him. It's time to turn the job over to Curtis Mead, who took a leap forward as the DH against lefties last year and hit righties OK when he had the chance. He projects as a .300 hitter with 40 doubles/15 homer power and we need to let him eat. Isaac may get some ABs here as well.

Others: Heston Kjerstad spent 90% of the season as our LF against righties but didn't hit. He may ticketed for Durham this year given how crowded the OF is. Another OF knocking on the door is Brock Jones and his 56 homers in the minors last season. And we still have the likes of guys with MLB experience like Nick Loftin, Jose Caballero and Richie Palacios at Durham and the long-forgotten Spencer Torkelson who had 25 HR, 94 RBI and hit about .290 between Durham and Montgomery but whose MLB ship seems to have sailed. The only thing going for him is that he's a RH bat in a sea of lefties in our system.

Rotation: The strength of the team and one of MLB's best returns intact with McClanahan/Springs/Rasmussen/Bradley/Pepiot back for an encore. Shane Baz could also start but will probably be used as a multi-inning reliever and Joe Rock dazzled in one of his two starts in September so there's depth as well with Reese Olson and Randy Vasquez 8th and 9th on the depth chart.

Bullpen: As deep and solid as the rotation is, our pen isn't. Closer Pete Fairbanks is due $7M and he tailed off badly last year, ending up just below replacement value and losing 11 games to go with several blown saves. I will try to shop him as I don't want to spend that kind of $ for an unreliable closer. Jason Adam bounced back to have a nice season as a setup game and Anthony Maldonado had his moments but was a bit homer-prone. Lefty Jacob Lopez was a pleasant surprise and Richard Lovelady is an OK lefty while Luis Contreras provided adequate middle relief. But we need to upgrade and this is probably going to be my offseason focus.

Others: Not much help at Durham, although Manuel Rodriguez is intriguing and will be added to the 40-man roster once the free agents go. And of course our top prospect Hagen Smith is coming off a brilliant season at Montgomery and is extremely close to being MLB-ready which might prompt us to move one of the more established starters for an impact bat and/or bullpen help.

The TL;DR version:

1. We need bullpen help and a fair amount of it.
2. Could use an impact bat and may trade a starter for one.

[Art Deco]

Retirements:

Notable players: Justin Verlander (Detroit retired #35), Max Scherzer, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, Aroldis Chapman, Charlie Blackmon, Jose Abreu, Jason Heyward, Paul Goldschmidt (from Durham)

Former Rays: Evan Longoria (we retired his #3), Corey Kluber, David Robertson, Tommy Pham, Joey Wendle, Kameron Misner, Austin Pruitt

November 4: We didn't waste any time making a couple of trades. In the first one we shipped out our closer of the last few years:



So long Pete, traded as advertised in the state of the team outlook. In return we get an intriguing power bat in Owen, who is also a two-way player. On offense he's basically a DH but the rookie boasts 70 power and that's now, not potential. He hits 56 HR in 262 minor-league AB (not a typo) in rookie and A-ball and found himself getting a brief cup of coffee (2 AB) with the Royals at the end of the season. He has a 55 eye and 45 contact but could step right in at DH and he's a RH bat. He's also a lefty pitcher but has middling 45-50 ratings across the board so he might only be tabbed for mop-up duties. But an interesting addition and we could use that power.

And another promised deal:



Lowe's good season made him a useful trade commodity and he brought us back some pitching including a much-needed late-inning guy to replace Fairbanks in Robertson. He's rated 60/55/55 and pitched to a 3.79 ERA with the Twins. Not ready to anoint him the closer as we'd still like someone with better stuff, but he gives us a good 7th/8th inning guy. And Headrick gives us even more starting pitcher depth to deal from as the lefty fanned 122 in 128 IP last year over 27 starts with a 4.64 ERA and earned 1.5 WAR. Not a bad fifth starter type.

Also an interesting trade between San Diego and Pittsburgh with Jake Cronenworth heading to the Pirates and former #1 overall pick Henry Davis going to the Padres.

November 6: Signed OF Teoscar Hernandez to a 2-year, $8.8M deal.

Teoscar remains a Ray after a solid 29-homer season last year and doesn't break the bank for us.

We also settled with all our arbitration-eligibles except Shane McClanahan and Josh Lowe, who both want long-term contracts I'm not prepared to hand out.

November 7: Pittsburgh pulled the plugged on the exciting but disappointing Oneil Cruz, shipping him to St. Louis for OF Michael Siani and a minor leaguer. Cruz hit only 202/273/328 with 15 HR last season.

Awards season:

Gold Glove: We had a winner! It was Jeffrey Springs, taking the AL pitcher award for fielding.

Reliever of the Year: AL-Felix Bautista (BAL), 43 SV, 1.99 ERA. NL-Former Ray Jose Alvarado (PHI), 35 SV, 1.07 ERA.

Silver Slugger: No Rays winners.

Rookie of the Year: AL-Coby Mayo (BAL), .242-30-117. Our Carson Williams placed third. NL-Jeferson Quero (MIL), .279-22-86

Cy Young: AL-Gerrit Cole (NY), 19-5, 2.31 ERA, 242 Ks. Our Shane McClanahan was 4th and Jeffrey Springs 7th. NL-Justin Steele (CHI), 16-7, 3.21, 224 Ks.

MVP: AL-Jackson Holliday (BAL), .295-22-68, 7.6 WAR. No Rays had downballot votes. NL-Michael Harris II (ATL), .346-41-136, an MLB-best 8.6 WAR.

November 14: The Phillies traded 3B Alec Bohm to the Angels for Mickey Moniak, reuniting the OF with the team which drafted him #1 overall back in 2016.

November 20: Pittsburgh dealt OF Bryan Reynolds to the Dodgers for 2B Austin Gauthier and a minor leaguer.

November 23: We split our two arbitration cases. McClanahan gets $10.3M instead of the $9.3M we offered while J.Lowe will have to take the $3.6M we offered rather than the $4.0M he wanted.

November 25: Free agency time, and it's a pretty weak class with only these players rated above three stars:



Pineda and Yamamoto are international free agents newly available. Devin Williams would look nice in our pen but we only have $29M to spend.

November 29: The Mets traded SP Kodai Senga to San Diego for OF Joshua Mears and a prospect.

December 2: Super-mega-massive blockbuster trade incoming!



I did allude to trading a starter for a big bat, but I didn't think it would come together like this. We get the closer we need in AL Reliever of the Year Bautista and a superstar 5-WAR catcher in Rutschman at the cost of a top starter (Rasmussen) and a top arm who can start or relieve (Baz). It costs us some salary as Rutschman is making $22.2M but Baltimore is picking up 35% of that (we're on our own next year when he goes to arb for the last time though). We actually were deep at catcher put neither Campusano nor Diaz can hold a candle to Adley, so one of them may be dealt. The deal throws the 5th starter job wide open for one of Joe Rock, Brett Headrick, Randy Vasquez, Reese Olson or rookie Hagen Smith. Despite what you see above, the deal really leaves us with about $18M in payroll flexibility.

December 4: Milwaukee dealt prospect Brock Wilken to Seattle for veteran SS JP Crawford.

December 6: Miami traded one-time Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara to Atlanta for 3 prospects including Nacho Alvarez Jr.

December 7: Another interesting trade as Detroit ships Tarik Skubal to San Diego for 3 prospects.

December 9: The first consequential free agent signing was closer Devin Williams to the Yankees for 2/36.

December 10: And the logjam was broken as several free agents signed deals - Brandon Woodruff to the Dodgers (5/142), LaMonte Wade Jr (HOU, 2/17), Eduardo Rodriguez (TEX, 5/118), Joey Gallo (TOR, 2/21), and Danny Jansen (ATL, 1/8).

December 12: Oakland won the draft lottery, moving up from 3 to 1. The big riser was Cincinnati from 12 to 6.

December 13: After a year in Toronto Alex Bregman returns to Houston for a modest 1/3 contract.

December 15: Former Ray Brandon Lowe found a new home in Seattle on a 2/18 deal.

December 16: Added C Cade Hunter, 2B Chandler Simpson and OF Brock Jones to the 40-man roster, designated Ps Andrew Saalfrank and Kevin Kelly for assignment.

The annual shuffle before the Rule 5 Draft. We still have some players I would have liked to protect and hope won't be taken.

December 17: Only 13 players were taken in the Rule 5 Draft but two of them were the guys I waived as Kelly went to the Angels and Saalfrank was selected by Colorado. Ironically Kelly was acquired by us originally in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft from Cleveland.

December 19: The Tigers dealt C Dillon Dingler to the Yankees for veteran OF Max Kepler.

December 25: Justin Turner is still kicking around, the 41-year-old signed a 1/6.7 deal with the Nationals.

December 26: Texas sent 4 minor leaguers to the Angels for OF Anthony Santander in a Boxing Day deal while the Jays shipped C Alejandro Kirk to Houston for a pair of prospects.

December 27: The Blue Jays continue to shed vets as they sent Daulton Varsho to the Mets for a shortstop prospect.

December 28: Miami has sent Jazz Chisholm Jr. to Oakland for Esteury Ruiz and Tyler Soderstrom in a deal of some significance.

December 29: Veteran C JT Realmuto signed a 1/8 contract with Houston.

December 31: Former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber joins the Cubs on a 1/8 deal. His stuff diminished after his 2024 surgery.

[Art Deco]

January 1: Brendan McKay, taken from us by Oakland in last winter's Rule 5 draft and who turned in a decent 2-WAR season despite a rough 2-12 record (but with a 4.13 ERA), is on his way to Philly in a trade for a 16-year-old prospect.

January 2: After 15 seasons with the Royals Salvador Perez will be wearing a different uniform as he joined the Giants on a 1/11 deal. Also veteran OF Michael Conforto is on his way to Philly for 2/17.

January 3: A big signing today as Marcell Ozuna, who has hit a whopping 146 homers over the last three seasons, inked a 3/65 pact with the White Sox.

January 5: Veteran closer Edwin Diaz has left the Mets for division rival Atlanta on a 3/30 deal.

January 10: A big signing for the Dodgers as they welcome lefty starter Framber Valdez to the fold for 5/148.

January 12: Boston dealt Nick Yorke to the Cardinals for Sonny Gray.

January 13: A couple of more free agent deals as Japanese closer Yoshinori Yamamato joins Atlanta for 3/47, giving them a 1-2 punch with newly-signed Edwin Diaz, and it's blasphemy in Boston as Yaz joins the Yankees with Mike signing for one year at $9.7M.

January 19: Perennial .300 hitter Luis Arraez joins Boston for 1/4.4.

January 20: We signed one of the top international amateur free agents:



"Pogo" has a shot at becoming a superstar SS if he lives up to that 80 power potential and the above-average defensive ability he has.

Meanwhile Atlanta's quest to build a super-pen continues apace as they signed Paul Sewald for 2/32.

January 21: The Hall of Fame voting results were announced.



Well-deserved congrats to Beltre. CC and Mauer inch closer while we say goodbye to the controversial Manny Ramirez. Speaking of controversial, Ryan Braun was the top vote-getter among first-timers but only managed 24%.

Also an update of the OSA Top 100 prospects list sees newly-signed Ray Vincent Moreno ranked a lofty 21st.

January 27: Preseason officially began and Stu Sternberg decided to up my budget by $14M. Bumped up the scouting and player development budgets.

January 28: Cincinnati made a splash, signing long-time Atlanta starter Max Fried to a 5/81 deal.

February 8: Victorio Pineda, the top international free agent, signed with Boston on a 5/185 contract. The 32-year-old lefty from Cuba has been touted as a Cy Young candidate already and I'm not thrilled to see him in the division.

February 25: We made a run at the top free agent remaining on the board, former Ray and lefty reliever Jose Alvarado, but he ended up signing a one-year deal with San Francisco for $9.6M. I didn't want to go higher than 8 after he was receptive to our original offer of 7.

[Art Deco]

A fairly uneventful spring with no injuries of note. We had to make a lot of tough cuts which speaks to the depth at the upper levels of the organization and even explored trades for Isaac Paredes and Yandy Diaz to free up some room on the infield corners and DH and maybe upgrade on the 5th starter slot in the process, but decided to stay the course for now. And with good reason as you'll see later with the preseason predictions.

So this is the Opening Day roster:

C-Rutschman, Campusano
1B-Yandy Diaz
2B-Caminero
SS-C.Wiilliams
3B-Paredes
IF-Westburg, Mead
LF-J.Lowe
CF-P.Meadows
RF-T.Hernandez
OF-DeLuca
DH-Isaac

SP-McClanahan, Springs, Bradley, Pepiot, Headrick
MR-Bickford, M.Rodriguez, L.Contreras, J.Lopez, A.Maldonado
SU-Adam, N.Robertson
CL-F.Bautista

We really don't have a long reliever - Lopez is probably most qualified but he's our sole lefty in the pen so he'll need to be used more strategically. There were several tough cuts - Yainer Diaz doesn't deserve to be in the minors but he was the odd catcher out after I couldn't get anything satisfactory or useful to me in trade, and I really wanted to use Hunter Owen and his 70 power in the DH role but Isaac and Mead need that slot. Joe Rock will get consideration as the 5th starter if Headrick doesn't improve on his poor spring and rookie slugger Brock Jones hit 5 homers in March and was pushing for the CF job that went to the superior defender in Meadows. Also last year's primary starter in LF, Heston Kjerstad, finds himself back at Durham after being sent down in September following a season of struggles.

But the main reason we didn't need these guys is because we have a strong 26-man roster as BNN seems to think:



That's about as rosy a prediction as I've seen in a long time in one of these. I share its optimism about Caminero as based on his ratings he should hit better than he has so far.

We'll quickly know where we stand as the season opens with 4 games in Baltimore, a homecoming for Adley Rutschman.

[Art Deco]

April 3: at Baltimore. The opening day box:



The AL East champs of the last two years said not so fast, team predicted to win 106 games as the Orioles destroyed the Rays on Opening Day. After Adley Rutschman delivered an RBI single in his first at-bat as a Ray against his old team in the top of the 1st things went downhill quickly as Shane McClanahan gave up a touchdown and extra point in the bottom of the frame and didn't get any better after that. The lone bright spot was a 3-hit game including a pair of doubles by Carson Williams, who is hopeful of improving on his .199 average from 2025.

April 4: at Baltimore 1-6 L. LP-Springs (0-1, 4 6 5 5 3 3, 2 HR). HR-C.Williams (1). Another ugly day in Baltimore and once again C.Williams was the bright spot.

April 5: at Baltimore 6-1 W. WP-Bradley (1-0, 5.2 2 0 0 1 7). HR-Rutschman (1). Tampa Bay finally got into the win column as Taj took a no-hitter into the 6th and they jumped all over former teammate Shane Baz for 3 in the first and four overall including Rutschman's first Rays homer, a solo shot in the 3rd as he and Xavier Isaac plated a pair.

April 6: at Baltimore 4-6 L. LP-Pepiot (0-1, 4.1 5 4 0 0 4). Rays were unable to salvage a split of the series as a dropped fly ball by Parker Meadows (also off to an 0-13 start at the plate) opened the door for 4 unearned Oriole runs in the 3rd. They did rally late but fell short with Rutschman going 3-4 with an RBI and Yandy 2-4 with an RBI double.

Team record: 1-3. Next week: A tough early schedule with 3 games in Texas and 3 in Boston sandwiched around an off-day.

[Art Deco]

April 7: at Texas 7-6 W (11). WP-Bautista (1-0). S-N.Robertson (1). Starter-Headrick (3 5 6 6 3 3). HR-Paredes (2), Westburg (1), P.Meadows (1). It looked like "here we go again" when Texas went up 6-2 after 4, but the offense chipped away while the pen held, and the ghost runner scored the winner on a wild pitch in the 11th after Campusano's RBI single in the 8th tied it.

April 8: at Texas 0-2 L. LP-McClanahan (0-2, 7 3 2 2 1 6). Mac was much better this time out but the offense wasn't, managing only 3 hits and shut down by Jacob deGrom.

April 9: at Texas 3-5 L. LP-Springs (0-2, 5 6 3 3 2 7). HR-Rutschman (2), T.Hernandez (1), Isaac (1). The miserable start to 2026 continued as they came up wanting in all phases tonight.

April 10: Off-Day.

April 11: at Boston 9-11 L. LP-Bradley (1-1, 4.2 7 6 6 3 6). HR-Rutschman (3), Isaac (2), T.Hernandez (2), Caminero (1). An early 4-0 lead turned into an 11-5 deficit as Taj was the polar opposite of his previous start. The offense got them back into it late but it wasn't enough. Caminero's homer in the 9th snapped an amazing 0-28 start to the season.

April 12: at Boston 4-3 W (10). WP-Bautista (2-0). Starter-Headrick (5.2 3 2 2 2 8). HR-Paredes (3). Finally back in the win column but it wasn't easy as Bautista blew a 3-2 lead in the 9th before Yandy's RBI single in the 10th restored the lead and gave them the win. Bautista stayed on to hold Boston off the board in the bottom of the inning.

April 13: at Boston 8-3 W. WP-McClanahan (1-2, 5.2 5 1 0 2 8). HR-Rutschman (4), Isaac (3), Yandy Diaz (1). Yandy was 3-5 with the homer and 3 RBI while Rutschman, Isaac and Teoscar all had 3 hits as well and drove in a run as the Rays won consecutive games for the first time this season. Mac was fantastic as we skipped Pepiot because of Boston's lefty-heavy lineup.

Team record: 4-6, 3 behind Baltimore in the early going. Next week: We finally get some home games as we take on the other Bay Area with Oakland and San Francisco each coming to the Trop for 3 games sandwiched around an off day.

Players of the Week:

AL: Taylor Ward (LA), 10-22, 4 HR, 8 RBI
NL: Graham Pauley (SD), 16-26, 2 HR, 5 RBI

Rays news: Houston released lefty reliever Josh Hader, and we signed him to a minor league contract. Hader still has 70 stuff albeit with 40 control but he could give us a second lefty in the bullpen especially with Jacob Lopez off to a horrible start (7 runs in 1 2/3 innings over his last two appearances).

[Art Deco]

April 14: vs Oakland 5-1 W. WP-Pepiot (1-1, 6 1 1 1 3 5). HR-Mead (1), Yandy Diaz (2). Pepiot was magnificent and Mead had the game of his career, going 3-4 with an RBI single and a 3-run homer as the Rays took their 2026 home opener.

April 15: vs Oakland 6-5 W. WP-Bautista (3-0). Starter-Springs (6.1 6 3 3 0 5). HR-Isaac (4), C.Williams (2). Rays scored 5 in the first to take a 5-0 lead (largely on Isaac's 3-run homer) which they managed to fritter away in the late innings before Carson Williams got them off the hook with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th.

April 16: vs Oakland 2-4 L. LP-Bradley (1-2, 5 7 3 3 1 5). HR-T.Hernandez (3). Rays went up 1-0 in the first but that was it for the offense until Teoscar hit a consolation homer in the 9th.

April 17: Off-Day.

April 18: vs San Francisco 8-17 L. LP-Headrick (0-1, 4 7 6 6 3 1). HR-Paredes (4). Oof. The pitching, thought to be a strength coming into the season, has been wildly inconsistent and Headrick has had two disastrous starts in three as the new 5th starter. But while he may have allowed 6 runs the bullpen gave up 11 more. Most of the Rays scoring came after the outcome was decided but Mead was 2-5 with 3 RBI and Isaac was 3-5 with 2 knocked in as he continues his blistering start to the season.

April 19: vs San Francisco 4-3 W. WP-McClanahan (2-2, 6.2 6 2 2 0 10). S-Bautista (1). HR-Rutschman (5), Caminero (2). Mac is back as he's put his Opening Day disaster far behind in the rear view mirror, and after picking up 3 wins new closer Felix Bautista finally notched his first save although it was a shaky one in which he loaded the bases but escaped. Caminero is shaking off his brutal start to the year as he singled in a run and homered.

April 20: vs San Francisco 3-0 W. WP-Pepiot (2-1, 5.2 2 0 0 4 5). S-Robertson (2). Ryan Pepiot continues to dazzle, lowering his ERA to an MLB-best 0.56 after today's excellent outing as the Rays got back to .500. Caminero was 3-4 with an RBI to lead the offense.

Team record: 8-8, 4 games behind who else but Baltimore, off to a blazing start at 12-4. Next week: The opening homestand concludes with 3 against Boston before an off-day to travel to Arizona for 3.

Players of the Week:

AL: Jose Altuve (HOU), 13-23, 2 HR, 4 RBI
NL: Pete Alonso (NY), 11-28, 6 HR, 18(!) RBI (including a 3-HR, 8-RBI game)

MLB News: Good news and bad news for NL first basemen. The good: Atlanta's Matt Olson hit career homer #300. The bad: Arizona's Christian Walker was lost for the season after breaking a bone in his elbow.

[Art Deco]

April 21: vs Boston 1-5 L. LP-Springs (0-3, 6 7 5 5 2 5, 3 HR). Brutal night for Springs (3 more homers allowed) and the offense (4 hits).

April 22: vs Boston 3-2 W. WP-Adam (1-0). S-Bautista (2). Starter-Bradley (5.2 6 2 2 2 4). HR-Paredes (5), T.Hernandez (4). Teoscar's solo homer in the bottom of the 8th broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Rays a much-need win.

April 23: vs Boston 10-7 W. WP-Headrick (1-1, 5.2 7 2 2 2 8). Rays saw their 6-2 lead dwindle to 6-5 before scoring 4 in the 8th to put it away. Headrick got his first Rays win and J.Lowe was 3-5 with 3 RBI to lead the offense.

April 24: Off-Day.

April 25: at Arizona 2-5 L. LP-McClanahan (2-3, 6 4 2 1 1 6). HR-Mead (2). The offense wasn't any great shakes but the defense let them down with key errors from Paredes and C.Williams leading to four of the five Arizona runs being unearned.

April 26: at Arizona 4-7 L. LP-Pepiot (2-2, 4.2 7 4 4 2 1). HR-Rutschman (6), Caminero (3). More bad pitching and the offense didn't show up until late.

April 27: at Arizona 4-6 L. LP-Springs (0-4, 5.1 7 5 5 0 4, 3 HR). HR-Rutschman 2 (8). The Rays debacle in the desert concluded with another loss and a sweep by Arizona. Springs has been downright awful this year, allowing 9 homers in his first 26.2 innings and 3 more yielded today made him 0-4. Rutschman is doing everything he can though as he's hitting 371/421/743 and leads the AL in OPS (1.164) and WAR (1.5). Too bad the rest of the team is slumbering through April.

Team record: 10-12. Luckily Baltimore is on a 5-game losing streak of their own so the Rays are only 2 1/2 out in the division: Next week: 4 games in Chicago against the White Sox before returning home for 3 against Colorado.

Players of the Week:

AL: Marcus Semien (TEX), 12-23, 2 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Graham Pauley (SD), 16-30, 1 HR, 4 RBI

Also Hunter Owen was named the IL PotW after going 10-25 with 5 HR and 13 RBI for Durham.