The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

And it'll be the Mets facing off against the Rays in the Fall Classic as the home team finally won a game in the NLCS:

[Art Deco]

Not bad, for openers...



The Rays overcame injuries and a tough customer in New York's Robert Ahlstrom to take a Game 1 win in the World Series. Starter Dakota Stone left in the 4th with a shoulder strain and it's a one-week "moderate" injury which rules him out of a Game 5 start although we'll keep him on the roster since he should be available for Games 6-7 if necessary. And in the 3rd Carson Williams, who had hit so well he Wally Pipped Isaac Cedillos, had to leave with knee inflammation after doubling although his injury is "minimal" so he'll gut it out and probably be back in the lineup tomorrow. Otherwise, Benjamin Buckman was great in long relief and will likely get the call should there be a Game 5, and Jose Pino had a big RBI triple and 2-run double to lead the offense. Jaheim Lennon will go tomorrow in Game 2.

[Art Deco]

Well we know there'll be a Game 5...



Rays bats were completely silenced tonight managing only two hits, the first of which didn't come until the 6th inning, and as a result the series heads back to New York tied at a game apiece. Jaheim Lennon had a bad second inning in which he loaded the bases and then gave up a double to clear them, and that was all the Mets needed tonight despite the Rays pitching well otherwise, striking out 16 New York hitters. Aldry Acosta will try to right the ship at Citi Field in a couple of days.

[Art Deco]

Back on top...



After being shut out in Game 2 the Rays turned the tables on the Mets by blanking them in Game 3 behind a great outing from Aldry Acosta and the bullpen. And Jose Pino showed why we gave up talent and added to the payroll to acquire him as his 3-run homer in the 3rd was the difference. We'll now go with Danny Fragoso in Game 4 to try to gain a significant advantage as we're now halfway to defending our title.

[Art Deco]

We can taste it...



Another outstanding night of pitching has the Rays one win away from being back-to-back World Series champs. Danny Fragoso pitched the game of his young career and by far his postseason start, the bullpen was dominant once again and the bats managed just enough to win. Jose Pino is the odds-on favorite for Series MVP after another homer tonight in the first to give Tampa Bay a quick lead and Alistair Hardy went deep late for insurance. It was enough to offset a wasted opportunity in the 8th with the bases loaded and nobody out when they couldn't push across a run. So with a chance to clinch it'll be Benjamin Buckman on the mound, pressed into action for the ailing Dakota Stone.

[Art Deco]

Back-to-back champs!...



They did it again, beating the Mets in 5 games to take their second straight championship and fifth overall in the last ten years. And Kevin White put quite the punctuation mark on things with a massive 3-homer game, tying a MLB postseason record and setting a team playoff mark, and he added a double for good measure. And it was Series MVP Jose Pino adding a big RBI double early to put them up 2-0, which it turned would be all they'd need thanks to yet another bravura pitching performance, this time from fill-in starter Benjamin Buckman who fanned 7 in 5 shutout innings. Tampa Bay pitching allowed a mere 7 runs over the 5-game series and only allowed 34 runs in 14 post-season contests, less than 2 1/2 runs/game. A threepeat in '34 is the new motto now. Here's a look at the celebration:

[Art Deco]

I always forget to do a postseason stats roundup but this time I remembered:

(sorted by OPS since WAR is funky in a small sample):



Basically the offense was the Pino Show, although Williams was impressive when he took over Cedillos until he ended up hurt himself. Outside of Pino (and White in Game 5 of the WS) the offense was not what carried this team through the playoffs. Instead it was the pitching:



Just look at those numbers. Total dominance. The only ones who struggled some were Fragoso and Stone with the former pitching a brilliant game in the World Series and the latter seeing most of the damage against him in a brutal Game 1 ALDS start. Buckman was the real unsung hero of the staff, winning twice in excellent long relief outings and then turning in a sterling start in the World Series clincher. As the Martin Scorsese meme says, this is cinema.

[Art Deco]

For the second straight year, it's pretty great:



So now it's time to build for a threepeat. The first bit of news we got when the offseason began is that both starter Aldry Acosta and DH Yordan Alvarez opted out of the last year of their contracts. I guess two rings was enough for both of them for now - they want to get paid. Whether it will be from us remains to be seen but it's highly questionable.

Meanwhile owner Stu Sternberg has given me a $180M payroll to work with and here are our projected salary obligations for the coming year:



Keeping everyone listed here would set us back $131M. I can tell you right now that Khattak is going to be traded or non-tendered, so there's $7-8M off that figure, and maybe Kurkowa gets moved as well but his savings would be minimal. So that would give us approximately $55M to play with this winter. What are we going to need it for? Here's the position-by-position outlook:

C: We're incredibly strong here with Rutschman and 2033 rookie Jalen Lowe, who filled in admirably in September and the postseason when Rutschman was unavailable and someone we'd be looking at as a starter if we didn't have Adley.

1B: Another strong position with returnee Haro and another 2033 rookie who shone when pressed into action, Evan Bell. With Yordan opting out, one of these two would be the DH, with Haro more likely since he's not as good a fielder.

2B: Pino is a superstar.

SS: An interesting dilemma. Cedillos is a decent fielder but his bat has been on the decline the last couple years. Carson Williams has the better bat but the worse glove. An upgrade here is a possibility.

3B: Kevin White returns and hopefully will hit for a better average to go with his 40-50-homer power.

IF: Williams or Cedillos would serve as the primary IF backup with Josh Jones figuring in as well.

LF: Solano has been solid but he did regress a bit at the plate last year. Hopefully he bounces back.

CF: Yet another rookie from last season. Gurrola was everything as advertised and looks like a core piece going forward.

RF: Hardy had a major bounceback season to lead the team in WAR and is a fixture.

OF: Jasso raked as a fill-in for an injured Solano for a while last year but stopped hitting off the bench thereafter. Manny Tovar was productive in very limited ABs but the problem here is that both of these guys are LH batters and we could use a righty bat.

DH: As mentioned Haro likely fills in here but we'll want a RH bat to platoon with him and Bell here and at 1B.

Rotation: Here's where we'll need some help as Acosta and Dakota Stone are free agents. This leaves Lennon, Fragoso and Buckman are the sure things with Khattak being non-tendered. Luis Oviedo will be back from a torn flexor tendon around the start of the season so he could be in the rotation provided his stuff and stamina stay relatively intact. We can also move Stevenson to the rotation but that would thin out the pen. That $55M we have to spend is going to buy at least one if not two starters.

Bullpen: In really good shape here, losing the two guys who were the worst in the pen in Green and Watters. Otherwise late-inning guys Ogando and Rodriguez are back as are middleman extraordinaire Vargas. Boyle and lefties Gonzalez and Little (who's tentatively agreed to a modest extension). And if we don't need him in the rotation Stevenson is an excellent long man. One more arm wouldn't hurt but we don't need it to be someone spectacular.

Prospects: Nobody knocking on the door after we promoted Lowe, Bell and Gurrola last year. The guy I'm most excited about is our 2033 #1 pick Vinny Arroyo, a college SS who looked good at Low-A Charleston last year but probably won't be ready to help until 2035.

So the tl;dr version of our offseason goals are thus:

1. Find a starting pitcher or two.
2. Find a righty hitter who can back up in the OF and/or DH.
3. Potentially upgrade on Cedillos/Williams at SS
4. Add a middle reliever.

All in all we're in really good shape with a good amount of money to spend.

[Art Deco]

Retirements:

Notables: Corbin Burnes (MIL retired #39), Matt Olson, Gavin Lux, Tim Anderson, Byron Buxton, Felix Bautista, Ketel Marte, Sean Murphy, Alejandro Kirk, Dylan Cease.

Former Rays: Kevin Kelly, Manuel Margot, Yandy Diaz, Isaac Paredes, Josh Lowe.

November 6: Signed P Luke Little to a 2-year, $3.2M extension.

Little was set to become a free agent. He was a valuable member of the pen, giving us a power lefty middleman who could go multiple innings. He put a 2.78 ERA with 91 Ks in 71 IP and was worth 1.3 WAR.

Awards season:

Gold Glove: No winners for Tampa Bay.

Reliever of the Year: R-Rod repeats!



It was a close vote and our Angel Vargas finished fourth. In the NL the winner was Atlanta's Nick Robertson in a fractured vote (4 guys got 3 or more first-place votes) after a 43-save, 2.86 ERA season.

Silver Slugger: We had two winners: Adley Rutschman (C) and Jose Pino (2B).

Rookie of the Year: Boston's Jesus Jimenez was a near-unanimous (29 of 30 first-place votes) choice in the AL after a .297-23-98 season good for 5.1 WAR and Milwaukee's Dave Rivera took 27 first-place votes thanks to a .266-49-118, 5.4 WAR year to win in the NL.

Cy Young: Detroit's Marcus Haynes was the AL winner by a margin of 18-10 and 168-145 over KC's Danny Jackson. Haynes went 12-7, 3.41 and fanned a whopping 306 men in 214 IP. The NL recipient was the Mets' Robert Ahlstrom (whom we got the better of in the World Series), taking 29 first-place votes after a 16-8, 2.78 season in which he led all pitchers with 7.6 WAR. It was the fourth Cy in five years for Ahlstrom after he missed out last year. He's already earned 71 WAR in his 12-season career with the Rangers, Yankees and now the Mets and is HOF-bound.

MVP: In an incredibly close vote former Ray and current Red Sock Wander Franco nosed out Chicago's Justin Still in the AL. The first-place vote margin was 14-13 and 321-310 on points. Franco hit .333-24-66 and earned a league-best 8.4 WAR. Sill had his third straight 50-HR season with 59 and drove in 133 but as a primary DH he earned 5.5 WAR. Our Jose Pino finished third with 3 first-place votes including mine. The Dodgers' Angel Reinas was the NL selection on the basis of a .290-51-128 year with 6.3 WAR beating out Washington's Hector Juarez who had 7.6 WAR so WAR isn't everything in OOTP voting.

November 16: Signed SP Aldry Acosta to a 2-year, $28M deal.

We're trying to keep as much of the gang together as we can afford and Acosta's a quality arm who had a slight down year (4.62 ERA but still 2.2 WAR) but did fan 148 in 127 IP. He missed time, but with a herniated disc and not any arm problems. We still could use a starter though.

November 24: We split our two arbitration hearings, with Carson Williams having to take our offer of $4.2M while Kevin White will get $7.1M instead of the $6.5M we offered him.

December 3: The Dodgers signed 39-year-old SS Carlos Correa to a 2/53 deal which likely won't work out for them since Correa is "wrecked". He did earn 2.8 WAR last but only played 94 games after earning 6.0 and 5.7 WAR in the preceding seasons.

December 10: The Mets were busy today, first signing IF Luis Garcia to a 5/111 deal after a long career with Washington and then signing 1B Oneil Cruz to a 3/44 pact.

December 14: The first of our free agents has signed elsewhere as Dakota Stone got a 3/38 contract with Texas.

December 18: Walt Khattak, in and out of our rotation the last several years, signed a 1-year, $3M deal with the Mets after we non-tendered him.

December 24: Added OF Oliver Valenzuela to the 40-man roster.

Valenzuela was the only Rule 5-eligible player I was afraid of losing, even though he probably wouldn't have been taken having not played above High-A ball. But he does have current 50 contact and power with 70 and 60 potential and is a decent corner OF so why risk it with several spots open.

December 26: Signed 29-year-old Cuban free agent OF Will Perez to a minor league deal.

We found the righty-hitting backup OF we wanted, just to the south of Florida. Perez does everything well except contact (45) but has 55 power, a 55 eye, 65 speed and is a 60 (70 potential) LF as well as a 50 CF and 50/60 RF. In other words the perfect 4th OF.

December 27: We lost Aruban minor league catcher Ulbert van Hell (what a metal name) to St. Louis in the Rule 5 draft. He was once considered a top prospect when signed as an IFA but lost his luster over the years and was stagnating at Montgomery. I'd be surprised if he isn't returned to us.

[Art Deco]

January 2: There goes Yordan Alvarez. He took his two rings he won with us to Detroit, where they'll pay him $45M over 3 years.

January 3: Jacob Watters, who flat-out stunk for us last season, somehow finagled a 3/11.5 deal with Atlanta. Good luck!

January 4: The Hall of Fame voting is in, and it was a big ol' shutout. Here's who came close:



Despite a weak first-year class (Yasmani Grandal at 10.7% was the top vote-getter!) nobody got in. Maybe Goldy, Wainwright and Yadi split the Cardinal vote.

January 20: Made a couple of international amateur free agent signings: 16-year-old 3B Danny Moroyoqui from Venezuela (75 power potential, 55 contact) and 17-year-old 1B Alex Garibay from the Dominican Republic (80 contact, 55 power potential).

January 23: Elly De La Cruz is right back where he started as the Reds re-acquired the 32-year-old from San Antonio for a prospect. He's a 30-homer guy in this save but not the all-around player he actually became.

January 27: Major trade incoming!



We needed a starter, and we got one of the best in Najera, who led baseball with a 2.11 ERA last year and earned 5.2 WAR. He was only 7-3 in 32 starts, primarily since he pitched 166 innings, which averaged 5 a start. He had 4.4 and 5.1-WAR seasons in the preceding years so last year wasn't a fluke. The price was a franchise fixture of late in Solano, but he had declined from 4 WAR in 2031 to 3.4 in 2032 to only 2.2 last year and he's now 28. We also have depth in the outfield to replace him, although his speed and defense will be missed. The only negative is that Najera apparently isn't a great clubhouse guy, something I never look at but got the "players leery" message after the acquisition. Oh well as long as he does his job every fifth day.

January 30: Another reliever who struggled with us last year, lefty Max Green, signed with Milwaukee for 2/7.2. For some reason the fan reaction decreased slightly, thought they'd be happy to see him gone.

March 1: Our first monthly development report came in and newly-acquired Hugo Najera saw his stuff upgraded from 60 to 65, his movement from 75 to 80 and his control from 55 to 60, so he should be even better!

Time to head into the exhibition season and try to stay healthy.

[Art Deco]

One move made as preseason opened: we signed international free agent to a minor league deal with an MLB option:



This is a pretty good profile for a catcher and he would get $2.3M if and when he's promoted to the big club. We don't need a catcher now with Adley Rutschman and promising youngster Jalen Lowe behind him, but I couldn't pass up signing a quality guy at this price and if nothing else he gives us a trade chip.

We had some nagging injuries to the rotation as Danny Fragoso (herniated disc) and Benjamin Buckman (back tightness) both start the year on the IL but will be back by mid-April. Jaden Stevenson and Luis Oviedo move into the rotation. Also Christian Rodriguez, up for a few cameos in the past, makes the team as the long man and rookie Manny Echevarria squeaks onto the roster temporarily.

Finally, closer Randy Rodriguez has a tired arm and will miss the first couple of regular season games but not go on the IL.

The Opening Day Roster:

C-Rutschman, Lowe
1B-E.Bell
2B-Pino
SS-Cedillos
3B-K.White
IF-C.Williams, J.Jones (out of options)
LF-Jasso
CF-Gurrola
RF-Hardy
OF-W.Perez
DH-Haro

Jasso and W.Perez will platoon, as will Bell and Williams with White shifting to 1B and Williams at 3B.

SP-Najera, Lennon, Acosta, Stevenson, Oviedo
LR-C.Rodriguez
MR-Boyle, A.Salazar, Little, Vargas, Echevarria
SU-Ogando, L.Gonzalez
CL-R.Rodriguez

With our rotation depleted on Opening Day, the preseason picks may be a bit off:



Not bad, as OOTP forecasts a 3-way battle for AL East supremacy. We open at home for 3 with one of those teams we're supposed to battle, Boston.

[Art Deco]

Opening Day:



The Rays' first game in quest of a threepeat did not go very well as they were beat 8-3 by Boston the season opener at the Trop. They jumped out a 3-0 first-inning lead but new acquisition Hugo Najera couldn't hold it and then Luke Little let it get away in the 7th.

Game 2: 4-3 W. WP-Lennon (1-0, 6 6 1 1 1 13). S-Ogando (1). HR-Pino (1), K.White (1), Haro (1). 3 solo homers and Cedillos' RBI double were enough to back some dominant pitching from Lennon, who struck out a career-high 13 and showed why he was picked as one of the league's top pitchers in the preseason predictions.

Game 3: 5-3 W. WP-C.Rodriguez (1-0). S-R.Rodriguez (1). Starter-Acosta (0.2 0 0 0 0 2). HR-Pino (2), E.Bell (1). Rays had to win a bullpen game as Acosta left with a minor injury in the 1st and scoring all their runs in the 1st on Pino's 2-run homer and Bell's 3-run blast made things a bit easier.

Game 4: 1-0 W. WP-Vargas (1-0). S-R.Rodriguez (2). Starter-Stevenson (6 7 0 0 3 3). Tampa Bay opened 2034 with a series win thanks to eking out today's game. Rutschman's RBI single in the 7th won it as did the pitching although Stevenson had to get out of repeated jams with 3 double plays behind him helping immensely.

Team record: 3-1. Next up: Off to Oakland for 3 games.

Rays News: Benjamin Buckman's return to the rotation has gotten cloudier as he suffered a small setback, and we lost OF Manny Tovar to Kansas City on waivers when he didn't make the Opening Day roster.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 0-5 L. LP-Oviedo (0-1, 2.1 4 5 5 5 5). Aside from the strikeouts Oviedo was brutal in his first game back in the better part of a year while the offense could only scratch out four hits.

Game 2: 6-2 W. WP-Najera (1-1, 5.1 6 1 1 0 7). S-Boyle (1). HR-Hardy (1), Gurrola 2 (2), Jasso (1). Najera looked more like the ace we thought we acquired in winning his first game for Tampa Bay while Hardy's 3-run homer and Gurrola's pair of solo shots paced the offense.

Transaction: Danny Fragoso was activated off the IL and Manny Echeverria was optioned back to Durham. Oviedo will move to the bullpen for now.

Game 3: 1-2 L (11). LP-Little (0-1). Starter-Fragoso (6 4 1 1 1 5). Fragoso was excellent in his return but the offense most certainly wasn't again, getting only 5 hits and making it one run or fewer in three of their last four games. Little gave up a walk-off homer to the first man he faced in the 11th to lose it.

Team record: 4-3. Next up: 3 games in Detroit.

MLB News: Longtime Atlanta superstar and current Phillie Ronald Acuna Jr. hit career homer #500.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-2 W. WP-Lennon (2-0, 6 7 2 2 2 5). S-Ogando (2). HR-Hardy (2). Hardy's solo homer in the 7th broke a 2-2 tie and the Rays took the opener in the Motor City.

Game 2: 2-3 L. LP-R.Rodriguez (0-1). Starter-Acosta (5 5 2 2 1 8). The mirror image of yesterday's game as this time Detroit got the late winning homer, a walk-off shot in the bottom of the 9th from none other than former Ray Yordan Alvarez. The team is really struggling on offense now, hitting a collective 195/257/349 while Yordan is batting 485/514/848 for his new club. Coincidence?

Game 3: 3-5 L. LP-Stevenson (0-1, 4.1 4 5 5 3 5). The sluggish start to 2034 continues as the Rays couldn't hold an early 3-0 lead. Rutschman was 2-3 with a triple.

Team record: 5-5. Next up: After an off-day we're in Cincinnati for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 11-4 W. WP-Najera (2-1, 6 4 3 3 1 8). S-C.Rodriguez (1). HR-Pino 2 (4), Haro (2), K.White (2), Cedillos 2 (2), Rutschman (1). The offense finally came to life and in quite a big way with 7 homers including a pair from Pino and Cedillos although Haro was the only Ray to drive in 3.

Game 2: 3-1 W. WP-Fragoso (1-0, 5 5 1 1 1 4). S-R.Rodriguez (3). HR-K.White (3). Fragoso and the pen were magnificent and White was 3-4 with a solo homer.

Game 3: 1-2 L. LP-Lennon (2-1, 6 5 2 2 0 7). HR-Pino (5). The opening-game explosion looks like the outlier as the offense struggled again, this time with getting people home as they left 8 on base in addition to hitting into 3 double plays, saddling Lennon with a tough-luck loss.

Team record: 7-6, a game behind New York and Baltimore. Next up: Back home for 4 against those Orioles.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-2 W (11). WP-Little (1-1). Starter-Acosta (6 4 2 2 3 10). HR-Pino (6), K.White (4). After two solo homers in the first the Rays didn't score again until the 11th when Will Perez's first MLB RBI, a sac fly, brought home the walk-off winner. In between Acosta and the bullpen (a combined 5 1 0 0 2 7) were dominant.

Transaction: Benjamin Buckman comes off the IL to rejoin the rotation, with Jaden Stevenson moving back to the pen and Christian Rodriguez being DFA'd to make roster space.

Game 2: 2-1 W. WP-Buckman (1-0, 6 6 1 1 1 5). S-R.Rodriguez (4). HR-J.Jones (1), C.Williams (1). The Rays continue to struggle to score runs this year (27th in MLB) but keep eking out low-scoring wins thanks to excellent pitching. Today it was Buckman in his season debut and the bullpen pitching 3 perfect innings behind him.

Game 3: 0-3 L. LP-Najera (2-2, 6 4 1 1 2 5). You can win low-scoring games but you can't win no-scoring games and the Rays reached their offensive nadir today as they scratched out a mere two singles in losing.

Game 3: 4-2 W. WP-Fragoso (2-0, 5.1 5 2 2 3 5). S-R.Rodriguez (5). HR-Pino (7). The way things have gone lately 4 runs is a scoring orgy for Tampa Bay with Pino's homer and RBI doubles from Haro and Rutschman enough to beat Baltimore and win the series. The bullpen remains unbelievable, going 3.2 0 0 0 1 9 to close out another win.

Team record: 10-7, 1/2 game behind Toronto. Next up: off to Seattle for 3 games.

MLB News: Houston's Luis Robert picked up his 2000th career hit.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 0-4 L. LP-Lennon (2-2, 5 8 3 3 1 7). The offensive woes continue as the Rays were shut out on only five hits.

Game 2: 7-1 W. WP-Acosta (1-0, 5 3 1 1 1 6). HR-Hardy (3), Rutschman (2). Finally some runs as Hardy's 2-run homer in the 4th put them on top and Rutschman's 3-run blast in the 8th put it away and capped a 4-RBI day for the backstop.

Game 3: 3-2 W. WP-Buckman (2-0, 5 3 0 0 2 3). S-R.Rodriguez (6). Buckman impressed again in his second start off the IL and they held on when R-Rod made a mess in the 9th, giving up a 2-run homer and putting two more on before getting a whiff to end it. Haro's 2-run double was the game's big hit as the Rays scored all 3 runs in the 5th.

Team record: 12-8, 1 1/2 behind Toronto. Next up: We trek cross-country to play 3 in Baltimore.

MLB News: Former Rays great Wander Franco and Giants infielder Luis Garcia each picked up their 2000th career hit.