The 2024 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Transaction: For September roster expansion we called up OF Heston Kjerstad and P Randy Vasquez.

September 1: at Toronto 3-5 L. LP-Senga (3-2, 7 5 3 3 0 6). Toronto snapped a 1-1 tie in the 6th and that was that for the game. Caminero had 3 hits and an RBI.

September 2: at Toronto 6-2 W. WP-Vasquez (1-0). Starter-Springs (1.1 1 0 0 0 2). HR-Mead (9), C.Williams (19). Mead and Teoscar combined to drive in 5 of the 6 runs and they had to piece together an effective bullpen game after Springs left with a minor oblique tweak.

September 3: at Toronto 2-5 L. LP-Bradley (11-7, 7 2 3 3 1 6). HR-Paredes (22). Taj made one bad pitch in an otherwise excellent outing, a 3-run homer to Jose Ramos in the 3rd, and that was enough to do in the Rays tonight.

September 4: at Toronto 3-1 W. WP-McClanahan (9-11, 6.2 2 1 1 4 8). S-Bautista (32). HR-T.Hernandez (29), Caminero (22). Mac was outstanding and Caminero and Teoscar hit back-to-back homers in the 4th.

September 5: at Kansas City 10-7 W (10). WP-Bautista (8-4). S-Hader (3). Starter-Pepiot (2.2 2 2 2 3 1). HR-B.Jones (15), T.Hernandez (30), Kjerstad 2 (2). A remarkable comeback as the Rays trailed 7-1 going into the 7th with Pepiot leaving early due to back spasms and shaky relief from Vasquez who gave up 5 runs. Kjerstad then took over in his first start since being recalled, doubling in the 7th to start a 2-run rally, hitting a 2-run homer in a 4-run 8th to tie it and then blasting a 2-run shot in the 10th off former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks. Meadows also had 2 doubles, a triple and 2 RBI.

September 6: at Kansas City 13-1 W. WP-Senga (4-2, 6 4 1 1 3 10). HR-C.Williams (20), J.Lowe (15), Caminero (23). Senga and the Rays offense were dominant today as they lit up the scoreboard with double digits again. Williams doubled, homered and drove in 4 and J.Lowe added a 3-run homer.

September 7: at Kansas City 9-2 W. WP-Springs (8-10, 7 6 0 0 0 8). HR-J.Lowe (16), T.Hernandez (31), P.Meadows (8). The Rays came to Kansas City and barbecued the Royals, scoring 32 runs in a 3-game sweep. Another brilliant outing from a starter and J.Lowe was 3-4 with a 2-run homer to lead the attack.

Team record: 83-56. The 5-2 week gained them no ground on Baltimore, remaining 4 back with another week off the calendar, but they did solidify the #1 WC as they're up 4 1/2 on both Detroit and Minnesota, who are tied for the AL Central lead. Next week: After a long time without a day off we get two of them sandwiched around a pair of games at the Trop with Atlanta before heading to New York for 3 against the Mets.

Players of the Week:

AL: Izaac Pacheco (DET), 12-25, 1 HR, 8 RBI
NL: Sean Murphy (ATL), 8-18, 3 HR, 8 RBI

MLB News: Cleveland's George Springer announced his retirement effective at the end of the season.

[Art Deco]

Transaction: Randy Vasquez was optioned to AAA Durham and we purchased the contract of 2024 1st-round pick Hagen Smith from the Bulls as it's time to see what he can do at the MLB level. For now he'll pitch in relief.

September 8: Off-Day.

September 9: vs Atlanta 5-2 W (10). WP-Bautista (9-4). Starter-Bradley (7 6 1 1 0 6). HR-Paredes (23), T.Hernandez (32). Teoscar's 3-run homer in the bottom of the 10th walked it off after Robertson gave up a Ronald Acuna homer in the 8th to cost Taj a win after he pitched magnificently.

September 10: vs Atlanta 1-3 L. LP-McClanahan (9-12, 5.2 4 2 2 4 7). Our typical non-support for Mac as the bats were held in check by Atlanta's Sandy Alcantara.

September 11: Off-Day.

September 12: at NY Mets 9-5 W. WP-Robertson (7-4). Starter-Pepiot (2.2 4 5 5 4 4, 2 HR). HR-Yandy Diaz (12), Yanier Diaz (2), J.Lowe (17). A wild one as Pepiot was horrible as you can see from his line, putting the Rays down 5-2 after 3. But the bats battled back and the bullpen held the rest of the way. J.Lowe's grand slam in the 7th was the big one, putting them ahead 7-5 as he capped a 5-RBI day. Hagen Smith made his MLB debut and went 1 1/3 scoreless, fanning a pair although he walked two as well.

September 13: at NY Mets 5-2 W. WP-Springs (9-10, 6 3 1 1 1 4). S-Bautista (33). HR-T.Hernandez (33). Teoscar's 2nd 3-run homer of the week was also a big one putting the Rays ahead 3-1 and to stay in the 6th.

September 14: at NY Mets 5-8 L. LP-Senga (4-3, 3.1 5 5 5 3 2). HR-Caminero (24). Senga struggled mightily against his old team, giving up a Daulton Varsho grand slam and pitching poorly otherwise before leaving with a sore wrist which probably won't keep him from his next start.

Team record: 86-58. Baltimore has won 6 straight and opened up a 6 1/2-game lead in the division so it's time to forget about that. WC1 remains the Rays' to lose though as they're 6 1/2 ahead of Minnesota. Next week: More interleague action with 3 in Miami, a day off and then back home for 3 against Pittsburgh.

Players of the Week:

AL: Gunnar Henderson (BAL), 10-23, 3 HR, 7 RBI
NL: Endy Rodriguez (PIT), 8-17, 1 HR, 6 RBI

MLB News: Never thought we'd live in a universe where the Yankees were eliminated from playoff contention on September 14, but at a dismal 58-86 that's where we are.

[Art Deco]

September 15: vs Miami 5-2 W. WP-Bradley (12-7, 7.2 3 2 2 2 5). S-Bautista (34). HR-Campusano (4), J.Lowe (18). Taj lowered his ERA to 3.09 and Campusano was the hitting star, going 2-3 with a homer and 3 RBI.

September 16: vs Miami 2-4 L. LP-McClanahan (9-13, 5 8 4 3 2 5). HR-J.Lowe (19), Yandy Diaz (13). Mac wasn't his best and the bats were mostly dominated by Eury Perez.

September 17: vs Miami 4-7 L. LP-Pepiot (12-10, 4.2 5 5 5 5 5, 2 HR). HR-J.Lowe (20), Yandy Diaz (14). Pepiot has struggled of late and today he was terrible. Miami was up 7-1 before 3 late Rays runs so the scoreline flattered them. J.Lowe and Yandy homered for the second straight day to no avail.

September 18: Off-Day.

September 19: vs Pittsburgh 1-2 L. LP-Adam (3-4). Starter-Springs (6 1 1 1 2 7). A brilliant start from Springs was wasted as the bats could do next to nothing, scoring their only run on a bases-loaded walk. Adam gave up a 2-run homer in the 7th to Edward Olivares to lose it.

September 20: vs Pittsburgh 2-3 L. LP-Robertson (7-5). Starter-Senga (7 6 1 1 0 2). HR-Rutschman (24). Another slender lead lost in the late innings and another weak day at the plate send the Rays to their 4th straight loss.

September 21: vs Pittsburgh 1-3 L. LP-Bradley (12-8, 7 6 3 3 1 6). This Groundhog Day of a series continued as the Rays led once again 1-0 going into the 7th, this time Taj ran out of gas and lost the game instead of the bullpen as a miserable homestand concluded.

Team record: 87-63. Their grip on WC1 is loosening as Minnesota has pulled to within 3 1/2. That there are only 12 games left in the season and they hold the tiebreaker over the Twins are consolation, but it would behoove them to start winning again. Next week: 3 games in Anaheim then 4 in Baltimore.

Players of the Week:

AL: Yordan Alvarez (HOU), 11-26, 3 HR, 7 RBI
NL: Michael Harris (ATL), 10-18, 2 HR, 9 RBI

The reason Harris had so few at-bats in his big week is that he strained a groin muscle on the 20th and is out five weeks, a tough blow for first-place Atlanta's hopes come playoff time.

[Art Deco]

Transaction: In another attempt to get some production at DH, the revolving door has come full circle with Xavier Isaac back up from Durham and Yanier Diaz sent back to the Bulls. Isaac had the job the first half of the year, lost it to Hunter Owen who flopped, and then we went with Diaz, who didn't hit that much either.

September 22: Off-Day.

September 23: at LA Angels 1-0 W. WP-McClanahan (10-13, 6 3 0 0 3 5). S-Bautista (35). Mac and the bullpen made Rutschman's 1st-inning RBI groundout hold up for the duration and a much-needed win.

September 24: at LA Angels 7-3 W. WP-Pepiot (13-10, 5 3 0 0 3 4). The offense came to play with J.Lowe leading the way, driving in 3 runs on a pair of triple while Pepiot shook off his recent slump.

September 25: at LA Angels 3-6 L. LP-H.Smith (0-1). Starter-Senga (0.2 1 1 0 0). HR-Rutschman (25). Tough night for the Rays as Senga left in the first inning with a strained back and the rookie Smith was blasted for 5 runs in 2 1/3 IP.

September 26: at Baltimore 1-8 L. LP-Bradley (12-9, 5 5 6 6 2 5). HR-Paredes (24). Taj had one of his worst starts in an otherwise-excellent season as the Rays were routed by the O's, who clinched the AL East with the win.

September 27: at Baltimore 7-6 W. WP-Robertson (8-5). S-Bautista (36). Starter-Springs (3 5 6 6 3 3, 2 HR). HR-Isaac (12), Caminero (25), T.Hernandez (34). Things started off rough with Springs struggling while battling the flu but Caminero (a 2-run shot) and Teoscar (solo) went back-to-back in the 8th to give the Rays the win.

September 28: at Baltimore 3-2 W (10). WP-Bautista (10-5). S-M.Rodriguez (1). Starter-McClanahan (6 3 1 1 2 8). HR-C.Williams (21). After Adam gave up a solo homer in the 8th to Gunnar Henderson to let the Orioles tie it up the Rays got the winning run in the 10th on an error and fortunately did not waste a brilliant start from Mac while taking a rare series from Baltimore.

Team record: 91-65. In the race to secure WC1 the Rays reduced their magic number to 2 with the wins over Baltimore and with a week left in the season are strong favorite to host either Detroit or Minnesota to open the playoffs, as those two squads continue to trade first place in the AL Central. Next week: We wrap up the regular season at home with 3 against Toronto and 3 against Washington sandwiched around an off-day.

Players of the Week:

AL: Ryan McMahon (MIN), 9-21, 4 HR, 8 RBI
NL: Gabriel Moreno (ARI), 14-20, 1 HR, 9 RBI

MLB News: A couple of milestones were reached as Philly's Bryce Harper hit career homer #400 and the Mets' Francisco Lindor #300.

[Art Deco]

September 29: vs Toronto 5-7 L. LP-Robertson (8-6). Starter-Pepiot (5.1 5 4 4 0 4, 3 HR). HR-C.Williams (22). Robertson blew his 7th save of the season by giving up 3 runs in the 9th and sending the Rays to defeat.

September 30: vs Toronto 5-7 L. LP-H.Smith (0-2, 5 3 5 4 4 5). HR-T.Hernandez (35), Paredes (25). Hagen Smith struggled in his first MLB start and a good Paredes game (3-5, HR, 2 RBI) went for naught. Despite the loss the Rays clinched WC1 and a home playoff series tonight.

October 1: vs Toronto 0-3 L. LP-Bradley (12-10, 6 8 2 2 0 7). Rays are closing out the regular season in ugly fashion as they're swept at home by a going-nowhere Toronto team and nowhere was where the offense went tonight with only five hits.

October 2: Off-Day.

October 3: vs Washington 3-6 L. LP-Springs (9-11, 5 4 4 3 1 9). HR-Rutschman (26). The Rays' funk continued as they lost their fourth straight.

October 4: vs Washington 13-5 W. WP-Pepiot (14-10, 5.1 6 5 5 4 4). HR-B.Jones (16), C.Williams (23), Isaac (13). The Rays took out a week's worth of frustration on the Nats today, scoring 13 runs on 16 hits. Jones was 3-4 with 3 runs scored, a homer and 2 RBI, while Williams and Isaac knocked in 3 apiece.

October 5: vs Washington 4-6 L. LP-Bautista (10-5). Starter-H.Smith (5 4 0 0 0 5). Smith was brilliant in his second big league start and Campusano knocked in pair to give the Rays a 4-0 lead after 7 but Lovelady, Robertson and Bautista combined to allow 6 runs over the final 2 innings to end the Rays' regular season on a sour note, closing out a sour week. Hopefully they turn it on next week in the Wild Card series.

Final Regular Season Record: 92-70. Next up: The Wild Card Series at home against Detroit, which was overtaken by Minnesota for the AL Central crown.

Players of the Week:

AL: Jo Adell (LA), 10-23, 4 HR, 12 RBI
NL: James Wood (WAS), 11-25, 2 HR, 8 RBI

Minor League Update: Our AAA (Durham) and AA (Montgomery) affiliates both made the playoffs, with the Biscuits winning the opening round against Pensacola 4-2 and facing Tennessee for the Southern League Championship. C Dominic Keegan was named series MVP. The Bulls were up against Iowa in the International League first round and they're set to play a decisive Game 7 in that series.

[Art Deco]

Not shown here is that the Cubs took the 3rd NL wild card, winning tiebreakers over Arizona and Mets as they all finished 84-78 while San Diego did win the NL West. The playoff tree:



And we get "rewarded" for having the 2nd-best record in the AL by getting to play the #1 team in the ALDS should we advance.



Not too much to complain about here as we were pretty solid all-around. Finished 3 below our Pythagorean record but that still wouldn't have gotten us past Baltimore. The final month+ was mediocre but by then we were essentially locked into a wild card.



Rutschman was everything we hoped he'd be and then some as one of MLB's top players this year while Williams made a nice leap in his second season and is on track to become one of the game's top SS. But oh that DH slot - Isaac, Mead, Yainer Diaz and Owen combined for -0.9 WAR.



The big 3 of Taj, Mac and Springs were about as good as combo in the league but Pepiot had a miserable second half and ended up a replacement-level pitcher despite leading the team in wins. Senga will be the 4th starter should we advance to the ALDS. Meanwhile in the bullpen Bautista also made that massive deal with Baltimore (which also brought Rutschman) a huge winner for us even if Rasmussen was one of the league's best pitchers with the Orioles.



A decent system. Top prospect Moreno looked good in the DSL while Smith and Cermak were up with the big club for a bit. 2023 1st-round pick Taylor may get a crack at the 3B job next year as Paredes was a disappointment this year and we may be moving on from him as he gets much more expensive in arbitration.

[Art Deco]

Doing just enough...



Offense took a holiday at Tropicana Field as the Rays opened their Wild Card Series with Detroit but Tampa Bay prevailed 1-0 thanks to Josh Lowe hitting a triple to lead off the 9th and scoring on Isaac Paredes' sac fly to center. As a result one of Shane McClanahan's best-ever starts did not go for naught and the Rays are up 1-0 in the best-of-3 affair. But boy was it tense and tight before that. Jeffrey Springs will try to help us complete the sweep tomorrow.

Not much scoring in the other AL Wild Card opener either:




Minor League Update: Unfortunately Durham lost Game 7 of its opening-round series 4-2 to Iowa and the Bulls' season is over.

[Art Deco]

U-G-L-Y...



The Rays were crushed by the Tigers in Game 2 and worse yet we lost Jeffrey Springs to injury as the star lefty suffered a partially torn labrum which ends his 2026. With him leaving early the bullpen had to throw a lot of pitches, which won't help us for tomorrow's decisive Game 3 started by Taj Bradley. One highlight was a 3-run pinch-homer from Hunter Owen who was added to the roster for this series for just such a situation, but we didn't anticipate being down 10-0 when it materialized.

Elsewhere in Wild Card action:

[Art Deco]

A sad end...



The Rays went out with a whimper not a bang as they were shut out in the decisive Game 3 of their Wild Card Series with Detroit. They couldn't generate anything all night and it was emblematic of the entire series as they were very fortunate to eke out Game 1 1-0. At least they were spared a beatdown from Baltimore.

In the NL:



This set up a Game 3 decider for Chicago and Atlanta:



There was some good news in the Rays organization:

[Art Deco]

Tigers looking like a team of destiny after upsetting the Rays then knocking off the 101-win Orioles.



And it'll be Detroit-Seattle in the ALCS after the Mariners made quick work of the Twins.



Series MVP was Milwaukee's Tyler Black.



And the series MVP here was San Diego's Jose Ramos.

[Art Deco]

No stopping those Tigers, a team of destiny:



Max Clark was named series MVP after 3 HR and 9 RBI, including 2 and 7 in the clincher.




And Detroit will take on Milwaukee in a battle of the upper Midwest. The Lake Michigan Series, anyone?

[Art Deco]

A good one that went the distance, even if Game 7 was anti-climatic a la 1985:

[Art Deco]

We're getting into a bit of a Groundhog Day situation here as for the second straight year we finished 2nd to Baltimore in the AL East despite having one of the game's better records and lost in the Wild Card Round. It's kind of the story of Tampa Bay playoff baseball outside of the World Series runs of 2008 and 2020 - not counting single-game wild card wins in 2013 and 2019, the Rays have not won a playoff series outside 08 and 20.

Anyway the good news is that Stu Sternberg has seen fit to give me a $160M payroll which will go a long way to helping remedy things. There were two option decisions made. Teoscar Hernandez opted out of the second year of his 2-year deal signed last winter and will test the free agent waters. We'll miss the 63 homers he hit the past two seasons but they didn't come with a lot of WAR and he's not getting any younger. The other option was of the team variety and it was a tough call with Jeffrey Springs due $15M this year coming off a torn labrum. When healthy he's one of the better pitchers in the league and the prognosis is for him to be ready for spring training but the great unknown is whether he'll retain his excellent ratings. In the end I exercised the option since even with his $15M on the books we'll still have a healthy amount to spend based on a couple of other players I probably won't bring back. More on that in the position-by-position outlook, which starts now.

C: Adley Rutschman had an MVP-caliber season last year and we're prepared to pay him a team-record $29-30M in his final arbitration year for a (hopeful) repeat. Luis Campusano returns as an overqualified backup and we still have Yanier Diaz who may make the team as a 1B/DH type.

1B: That's because the other Y.Diaz, Yandy, is now a free agent. Xavier Isaac should be the man but it's questionable whether he'll hit lefties enough so Yanier will likely be kept up to platoon with him if necessary.

2B: Junior Caminero is the incumbent but we might move him to his more natural position of 3B which you'll read about more in a moment. If Caminero is moved there then we could go with Jordan Westburg or prospect Brayden Taylor, who belted 26 HR at Montgomery last year but could have BA/contact issues.

SS: No need to overthink this one - Carson Williams is developing into one of the game's better players at the position after a leap forward to a 4.2 WAR season last year.

3B: Isaac Paredes is still around, but is due $14M+ for his final year of arbitration and was somewhat underwhelming last year so I'll be trying to deal him. If I keep Caminero at 2B, Westburg or Taylor could play here too.

IF: Westburg was the primary IF backup and Curtis Mead can fake 2B/3B when we need him to. Mead was mostly the DH against LHP last year but continues to disappoint us - He's rated 65 contact and gap power and 50 power and the editor says he should hit .296 with an .831 OPS but his career numbers are a pedestrian 245/316/383 and that's not going to cut it for a bat-first guy. Might see what I can get for him or hope that long-delayed positive regression finally kicks in.

LF: This is where Teoscar primarily plied his trade so he'll have to be replaced. There are numerous internal candidates: Brock Jones, who also played a lot of CF and had a 775 OPS and 1.4 WAR in about half a season; Heston Kjerstad, who spent most of the year at Durham after struggling in 2025 but hit well there; and Isaac can play there too if we don't have him at 1B and don't mind sacrificing a little D. One issue though is that they are all LH bats who don't hit lefties all that well while Teoscar was our only RH OF bat.

CF: Parker Meadows got most of the play thanks to his superior defense and he was good for 2 WAR in a little more than the equivalent of half a season. His bat isn't great and we often went with Jones for a bit more punch, and he too is a lefty hitter. Meadows will still probably get about a 60% share of the job unless we acquire another true CF.

RF: Josh Lowe had a very good season (3.1 WAR, 20 HR, 52 SB) and will return to the job.

OF: Whoever doesn't start or is playing on that particular day could be the 4th/5th OF with righty-hitting prospect Ryan Cermak, who had a cup of coffee during the season, an outside possibility.

DH: A lot of possibilities here. Mead and Diaz could get some run as a couple of the few RH bats we have, and another RH bat with light-tower power, Hunter Owen, could get a longer look after crushing 57(!) dingers at Durham.

Others: In addition to Diaz, we had another bat-first catcher at Durham last year in Cade Hunter, who hit 303/386/603 with 29 homers. I'd like his odds better if he were a righty hitter though considering the team construction. If we really need a RH OF, Jonny DeLuca is still around as well.

Rotation: Shane McClanahan, Taj Bradley, Ryan Pepiot and Springs return so we're solid here unless Springs is a shell of himself after he comes back from injury. The penciled-in 5th starter now is rookie Hagen Smith, who alternately looked great and terrible in his brief trial during September but the time has come for him to put up or shut up. Technically we still have Kodai Senga, but he's due $23M in arbitration and will be moved or non-tendered. Other possibilities are Joe Rock, who pitched adequately in our rotation before Senga was acquired but has a low ceiling, and Reese Olson, down at Durham the last couple of seasons but who's coming off a fine year with the Bulls (16-6, 3.93 ERA, 3.6 WAR, 195 Ks).

Bullpen: We lose longtime setup guy Jason Adam, who had a nice bounceback year, and veteran lefty Josh Hader, who wasn't what he used to be. Closer Felix Bautista returns, but Nick Robertson struggled at times (especially with the long ball) as the main setup guy and we'll want someone more reliable. Otherwise middle guys like Manny Rodriguez and Anthony Maldonado did good jobs and lefties Jacob Lopez and Richard Lovelady (surprisingly good last season), are back as well. Sometime starter Randy Vasquez (terrible in his brief time up) is a long relief possibility.

Here's the salary situation:



Keeping everyone listed clocks in around $149M but as mentioned Senga and Paredes will be moved and/or non-tendered, freeing up $35M so at a $160M payroll we'd have $44M to play with.

The TL;DR then:

1) find a RH bat for the OF, secondarily a 2B or 3B that's an upgrade over Westburg or the rookie Taylor.

2) Beef up the bullpen, preferably a strong lefty and a setup righty.

[Art Deco]

Retirements:

Notables: Clayton Kershaw (LA retires #22), JD Martinez, Craig Kimbrel, Chris Sale, Anthony Rendon, George Springer, Yu Darvish, Patrick Corbin, Kirby Yates, Marcus Stroman, Max Muncy, Matt Carpenter, James Paxton, Kenley Jansen, Yasmani Grandal.

Former Rays: Kevin Kiermaier, Charlie Morton, Harold Ramirez, Hunter Strickland, Wil Myers, Brad Boxberger, Brad Miller, Chris Devenski, Matt Duffy, Manuel Margot, Matt Moore, Corey Dickinson, Shawn Armstrong, David Peralta, Avisail Garcia, Christian Bethancourt, Michael Wacha.

Well we traded the two guys I said we were going to trade and one of the trades is objectively hilarious:



Was glad to move the soon-to-be-very-expensive Senga and even gladder to get Gasser. While Gasser doesn't fill a need, he's a big upgrade on the guys we were looking at for the #5 starter role, coming off a 13-7, 3.61 year with a World Series ring he was largely responsible for, going 7 1/3 scoreless to win Game 7 of the Fall Classic. In fact he was 3-0, 0.69 in the postseason. He's only due for $2.8M in arbitration as well.

Now, the amusing deal:



Yes those of you who follow real-life MLB will notice that this is essentially the identical deal made at the 2024 trade deadline between these two teams in real life, only 2 1/2 years later. I was ready to move on from Paredes as noted in the previous post and Morel fits the bill of a right-hitting outfielder, his best defensive position although we can use him as needed at 2B/3B. He has the power and speed along with the contact issues but he should be a decent addition, as long as he doesn't hit like the did with the 2024 Rays IRL. Guerrero was the necessary sweetener to get the deal done - he may hit for power but not do much else, seems like a marginal big leaguer to me.

Awards Season:

Gold Glove: No Rays were winners. Thought Rutschman had a chance but he was beaten out by Texas' Jonah Heim.

Reliever of the Year: OOTP's voting in this category remains incredibly inscrutable as somehow Baltimore's Cionel Perez won the AL award. He had a good season with 7 wins, 5 saves and a 1.82 ERA but wasn't particularly valuable with only 1.3 WAR. Jhoan Duran finished 2nd and led the league with 49 saves and had 2.1 WAR so that was defensible but the third place guy, our Felix Bautista, should have been the winner with 10 wins, 36 saves, a 2.41 ERA and 2.8 WAR. In the NL the Mets' Alex Lange was a clear winner with 28 first-place votes off a 39-save, 1.96 ERA year.

Silver Slugger: Our Adley Rutschman got the AL catcher nod.

Rookie of the Year: Baltimore's Rutschman replacement Silas Ardoin took the award, hitting .253-5-41 with excellent defense and was good for 2.9 WAR. He narrowly edged out 33-year-old "rookie" Victorio Pineda of Boston 16-13 and 120-105. The NL winner was the son of Rays legend Carl Crawford, Philly's Justin Crawford who hit .272-9-53 and stole 39 bases in a season very like one of his dad's. Crawford had 26 first-place votes.

Cy Young: Cleveland's Gavin Williams was the runaway AL winner with 24 first-place votes to 5 for our Taj Bradley, who finished second. Williams was 18-4, 2.42 and worth 4.1 WAR. Shane McClanahan finished 4th and Jeffrey Springs was in an 8th-place tie. The NL nod went unanimously to Chicago's Justin Steele, who went 15-7, 2.54 and led the NL with 6.8 WAR.

MVP: Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson easily took the AL honors with 26 first-place votes, beating out teammate Jackson Holliday. Henderson hit .305-42-130 and earned 7.8 WAR which was actually second to Holliday's 8.3. Their former teammate Rutschman finished 3rd. The NL winner was LA superstar Shohei Ohtani, who hit .275-48-130 as a DH and was middling on the mound at 9-11, 4.88 but still earned 2.4 WAR as a starter along with 5.6 as a hitter.

December 1: Rutschman got $31M in arbitration, which might be an arb record and is certainly a team record for salary. He's a FA next year. Our currently salary obligations now sit at $124M, so we'll have about $30M to play with this winter.

December 5: A trade to address the bullpen:



With Josh Hader gone we needed a quality setup lefty and got one in Hentges, who had a 2.95 ERA in 65 innings last year with Cleveland and had 1.9 WAR seasons in both 2024 and 2025 before dropping off a bit last year. The cost was minimal in DeLuca, who had spent most of the last couple of years at Durham.

December 8: Longtime Blue Jay Alek Manoah was traded to the White Sox for a minor league prospect.

December 12: In a blockbuster trade of power for power the Mets sent Pete Alonso to the Dodgers for OF Andy Pages.

December 16: The Cardinals shipped C Willson Contreras to Washington for a prospect.

December 17: And St. Louis replaced Contreras with an even older catcher, signing longtime Royal and 36-year-old Salvador Perez to a 1/5.3 deal.

December 18: Longtime Astro hurler Jose Urquidy was dealt to Seattle and we had the first major free agent signing with Miami splurging for Luis Robert Jr to the tune of 7/194.

December 19: A slew of big free agent signings on the first day of the Winter Meetings: former Ray Drew Rasmussen (PHI, 5/136), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (CWS, 4/52), Sandy Alcantara (SD, 5/122) and Walker Buehler (NYM, 4/89).

December 23: Added 2B/3B Brayden Taylor, OF Luis Lara, and Ps Keyshawn Askew and Jacob Misiorowski to the 40-man roster.

Rule 5 Draft time. Taylor of course will get a chance at winning a job with the big club this season. We have a 40-man slot open in case we find someone interesting tomorrow.

December 24: We did lose one player in the Rule 5 Draft, C Dominic Keegan to St. Louis.

[Art Deco]

January 8: After spending a season with the Angels and another with Texas Anthony Santander has returned to the Orioles on a 1/3.8 deal. But Baltimore made an even bigger sign, inking Cuban free agent starter Luis Orta to a 6/180 - the 28-year-old is rated 5 stars.

January 15: Two-time former Ray Nate Lowe is on the move to the Yankees for 1/3.3.

January 16: After spending 10 seasons with Arizona Ketel Marte is headed back to where he started as the D-backs traded him to Seattle for a minor leaguer.

January 20: The Hall of Fame voting is in, and nobody was enshrined this year:



CC was agonizingly close, as was Beltran while Mauer and A-Rod made gains. Andruw Jones deserved a better fate.

January 21: The other big professional IFA signed as Korean bullpen ace Ha-Joon Kim signed for 3/59 with Texas. We did some negotiating with him at the outset but his price became prohibitive.

January 23: The White Sox dealt slugger Marcell Ozuna to Seattle for a prospect.

January 26: After 8 years with the Rays Yandy Diaz has moved on, signing a 3/56 deal with the Twins. And we also signed an interesting amateur IFA:



We're talking superstar if he lives up to his potential but he's a long, long way away.

January 27: It was a day for former Rays and/or sluggers to sign new deals. Teoscar Hernandez joined Seattle on a modest 1/3.7 deal, Randy Arozarena surfaced in Texas for 1/3.2, and Jorge Soler returned to Kansas City for 1/3.6.

January 28: We bagged another interesting amateur IFA:



Maybe he'll man the hot corner for us in 5-6 years.

February 6: The top remaining free agent on the board since as SP Lance McCullers Jr. joined Atlanta on a 5/128 contract.

February 27: Signed P Zack Littell and OF Jose Siri to minor league contracts.

Time to bring back a couple of familiar faces for some depth. Not expecting either to make the team but they'll be good to have at Durham.

[Art Deco]

We had one serious injury in spring training as Jeffrey Springs suffered another torn labrum and will be out at least three months. As a result both Ryan Pepiot and rookie Hagen Smith will make the rotation.

To cut down to 26 we had to waive the following who were out of options: Richie Palacios, Spencer Torkelson and Randy Vasquez. Also Cincinnati returned Rule 5 pick Dominic Keegan to us and he was assigned to Durham.

The roster:

C-Rutschman, Campusano
1B-Isaac
2B-Westburg
SS-C.Williams
3B-Caminero
IF-Mead
LF-Morel
CF-B.Jones
RF-J.Lowe
OF-Kjerstad, P.Meadows
DH-Yanier Diaz

There'll be a fair amount of mixing and matching in the OF and Morel can serve as a backup IF too. DH Hunter Owen and rookie IF Braden Taylor were the last cuts.

SP-McClanahan, Bradley, Gasser, Pepiot, H.Smith
LR-Olson
MR-Contreras, Lovelady, M.Rodriguez, N.Robertson
SU-Hentges, A.Maldonado
CL-Bautista

Reese Olson made the team as he was out of options.

What does BNN think? Not that much:



Once again the Orioles look like a juggernaut.

[Art Deco]

April 1: The opening day box:



As Steve Martin might have put it, it was a wild and crazy game between the Jays and Rays to open the 2027 season. Neither pitching staff could keep the ball in the park with each team blasting 5 homers, and the Rays nearly won a game they trailed 8-2 at one point. There was plenty of drama in the 9th with Bautista giving up the go-ahead homer only for Yanier Diaz to lead off the bottom of the inning to tie it right back up but unfortunately Toronto's ghost runner scored in the 10th and Tampa Bay's didn't so the Rays started the year off with a loss despite getting 2 pinch-hit homers in the same game (Isaac and Jones), something they've probably never done before.

April 2: vs Toronto 9-1 W. WP-Bradley (1-0, 6 3 1 1 1 5). HR-Morel (1). Rays put up big numbers on the scoreboard again and won this time thanks to Taj. 4 players drove in 2 apiece, including Morel who hit his first Rays homer.

April 3: vs Toronto 10-4 W. WP-Gasser (1-0, 5 6 2 2 3 6). Either Toronto's staff is terrible or the Rays are suddenly an offensive juggernaut as they scored at least 9 for the third straight game to open the season. Morel knocked in 4 including a bases-clearing double, and C.Williams also hit a 3-run 2-bagger while Rutschman was on base all 5 times up with 3 hits and 2 walks, scoring a couple and knocking one in. Gasser won his Rays debut although needed 100 pitches to get through 5 and coughed up a couple of homers.

April 4: vs Toronto 11-1 W. WP-Pepiot (1-0, 5.1 2 0 0 5 5). HR-Westburg (2), Morel (2), B.Jones (2). The Big Ray Machine rolled on, taking 3 of 4 from Toronto and scoring 40 runs in the process. Today the big bat was Westburg's as he doubled, homered and drove in 5 on the day while Morel knocked in two more, giving him 8 in 4 games to start his Rays career.

Team record: 3-1. Next week: Home for 3 vs Texas then a day off to travel to Coors Field for 3 against the Rockies where they might score 50 runs at this rate.

The three waiver guys (Torkelson, Palacios, Vasquez) all cleared and were assigned to Durham, and I neglected to mention in the previous post that we also traded a guy who was out of options for one who wasn't:



I probably like Schwellenbach better than Headrick anyway.

[Art Deco]

April 5: vs Texas 2-3 L. LP-H.Smith (0-1, 5 5 3 1 1 1). A tough one as a key Caminero error led to 2 unearned runs, the difference in the game after Mead's pinch 2-run single in the 8th made it close.

April 6: vs Texas 4-3 W. WP-Bautista (1-1). Starter-McClanahan (7 7 1 1 0 7). HR-Rutschman (1), Mead (1), Caminero (1). Rays blew a 3-1 lead in the 8th but walked it off in the 9th on Mead's RBI double after he had earlier homered. Mac bounced back nicely from a rough Opening Day start.

April 7: vs Texas 10-1 W. WP-Bradley (2-0, 7 4 0 0 0 4). HR-B.Jones (3), Isaac (2). Taj was great again as he has an 0.69 ERA through his first two starts and the bats came to play with Isaac knocking in 4 including a 3-run homer off Jake deGrom while Mead continued his blazing start by going 3-4 with 3 RBI and Brock Jones was 3-4 with 4 runs scored including a solo homer.

April 8: Off-Day.

April 9: at Colorado 2-1 W. WP-Robertson (1-0). S-Bautista (1). Starter-Gasser (6.1 4 1 1 2 9). A shocking game at Coors as neither team scored until the 7th when the Rockies got on the board and the Rays were held a mere 1 hit while striking out 15 times against Rockies pitching through the first 8 innings. But they rallied in the 9th and who else but Mead came through again with a 2-run single to win it.

April 10: at Colorado 2-12 L. LP-Pepiot (1-1, 3.2 7 6 6 2 3). HR-Kjerstad (1). This more like it from a Coors Field perspective but not a pleasant day for Tampa Bay. Their only bright spot was Kjerstad, who was 3-3 with a walk, double and solo homer in his first start of the season.

April 11: at Colorado 8-0 W. WP-H.Smith (1-1, 6 3 0 0 4 9). HR-Isaac (3), J.Lowe (2), Caminero (2). Rays returned the favor of yesterday's rout as Hagen Smith was brilliant in his first MLB win and 6 shutout innings at Coors is quite a way to earn it. Isaac's 3-run homer in the first got them going and Yainer Diaz was 4-5 with a ribbie.

Team record: 7-3. That's good enough for first in the AL East, 1/2 game up on Baltimore. Next week: 3 games in Anaheim against the Angels and then a day off to fly back home where we'll play 3 against the Giants.

Players of the Week:

AL: Marcelo Mayer (BOS), 10-28, 4 HR, 13 RBI
NL: Jung-hoo Lee (SF), 13-25, 2 HR, 3 RBI

[Art Deco]

April 12: at LA Angels 8-4 W. WP-McClanahan (1-0, 6 3 3 3 4 8). HR-B.Jones (4), Morel (3), C.Williams (1). Rays actually trailed 3-0 in this one early before a 6-run 4 keyed by Morel's grand slam turned it around and Williams broke out of an early-season slump to add a 2-run homer.

April 13: at LA Angels 7-4 W. WP-Bradley (3-0, 6 2 1 0 2 2). S-Bautista (2). HR-Rutschman (2), Yainer Diaz (2). Isaac was 3-5 with 4 RBI to lead the offense and Taj was dazzling again in lowering his ERA to 0.47. It was 7-1 before Olsen gave up 3 runs and Bautista had to close it out.

April 14: at LA Angels 5-9 L. LP-Gasser (1-1, 4 6 7 7 3 3). HR-Caminero (3), Isaac (4). Caminero's 2-run homer in the 1st gave the Rays a quick lead but Gasser was gassed by Angels hitters thereafter and they couldn't complete the sweep.

April 15: Off-Day.

April 16: vs San Francisco 0-2 L. LP-Pepiot (1-2, 7 4 2 2 0 7). Pepiot and Logan Webb traded zeroes for 6 innings before Pepiot blinked and gave up a 2-run homer in the 7th to lose it. Tampa Bay batters were held to 5 hits.

April 17: vs San Francisco 10-4 W. WP-H.Smith (2-1, 7 3 0 0 1 4). HR-Caminero (4), Isaac (5). Hagen Smith continued his brilliant rookie run and lowered his ERA to 0.50 while Caminero was 2-4 with a homer and 4 RBI. After starting off his MLB career 0-17, Brayden Taylor was 2-3 with 2 walks, 3 runs scored and an RBI double.

April 18: vs San Francisco 11-2 W. WP-McClanahan (2-0, 7 7 2 2 1 7). HR-Morel 2 (5), Rutschman (3), Yanier Diaz (3). Another offensive explosion from the Rays as they've already scored in double digits 6 times and 8 or more in 9 times in the season's first 16 games. Morel was 3-5 with a pair of solo shots and Rutschman was 3-4 with a homer and 4 RBI while Mac rolled to another win.

Team record: 11-5. Baltimore had a poor week and has fallen 2 1/2 back but the Yankees have matched the Rays and are tied for first with them. Next week: 4 at home against the Angels followed 3 in the Bronx against those New Yorkers.

Players of the Week:

AL: Luis Baez (HOU): 9-16, 2 HR, 8 RBI
NL: Ronny Mauricio (NY): 15-26, 5 HR, 8 RBI

Also at AAA Durham (off to an 11-4 start themsevles), Ryan Cermak was named IL PotW after going 10-22 with 5 HR and 10 RBI.

MLB News: Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani hit career homer #300.

[Art Deco]

Transaction: Designated P Reese Olson for assignment, recalled P Jacob Lopez from AAA Durham. Olson had been downright horrible (a 13.94 ERA in 10.1 with 6 ! homers allowed) pitching in low-leverage situations (I don't think he cost us any games, just made them bigger losses or closer wins) so he goes on waivers as he was out of options (which is why he made the team in the first place). Also forgot to mention last week that Curtis Mead went on the IL with a foot contusion (he should be back next week) and DH Hunter Owen was called up.

April 19: vs LA Angels 6-5 W (11). WP-Bautista (2-1). Starter-Bradley (6.2 5 4 4 2 3). HR-B.Taylor (1), Kjerstad (2). Taylor had quite the game with a double, his first MLB homer and 2 RBI though the Rays blew the lead in the 7th. No problem though as J.Lowe's RBI single won it and Bautista went 3 scoreless for the win.

April 20: vs LA Angels 7-1 W. WP-Gasser (2-1, 8 3 1 1 3 7). HR-Morel (6), Caminero (5). Gasser pitched his best game as a Ray, Morel had a 2-run homer and a 2-run double, and Caminero was 4-5 with a solo homer and 3 runs scored.

April 21: vs LA Angels 5-1 W. WP-Pepiot (2-2, 6.1 4 1 1 2 4). HR-Isaac (6), Owen (1). Isaac belted a 3-run homer to break the game open while Owen drove in the other two with a double and a solo shot to back a fine Pepiot outing.

Transaction: Brayden Taylor sprained his ankle badly enough to go on the IL so the rookie's trial period was cut short. Fortunately it was on the day Jordan Westburg was eligible to come off the IL.

April 22: vs LA Angels 2-1 W. WP-Bautista (3-1). Starter-H.Smith (7 2 1 1 1 9). Smith has become MLB's rookie sensation with another brilliant outing and Rutschman figured in both runs, driving in the first and scoring on Isaac's walk-off double in the 9th to give the Rays the sweep and an eye-popping 15-5 record.

April 23: at NY Yankees 6-4 W (10). WP-Bautista (4-1). Starter-McClanahan (6 5 2 2 2 4). HR-Campusano (1), B.Jones 2 (6). Jones' 2nd 2-run homer of the game came in the 10th to win it after the Rays lost a 4-2 lead in the 7th and 8th. Bautista picked up his third win in six days and leads the league with 4 as the Rays extended their division lead over the Yankees.

April 24: at NY Yankees 3-1 W. WP-Robertson (2-0). S-Maldonado (1). Starter-Bradley (6 3 1 1 1 8). HR-Morel (7). Westburg's 2-run triple in the 8th was the game-winner as the Rays made it 8 straight victories and went 3 1/2 up on New York.

April 25: at NY Yankees 2-5 L. LP-J.Lopez (0-1). Starter-Gasser (5.2 1 2 2 4 8). HR-Rutschman (4), Owen (2). Right after the Rays came back to tie it at 2 on Owen's solo shot in the top of the 7th the Yankees struck back with a 3-run Jasson Dominguez homer off Contreras with Lopez's man aboard, ending their 8-game win streak.

Team record: 17-6, still 2 1/2 up on the Yanks. Next week: Back home for 3 vs Detroit then an off-day to head to Chicago to play 3 against the Pale Hose.
Players of the Week:

AL: Rafael Devers (BOS), 9-26, 4 HR, 7 RBI
NL: Jackson Chourio (MIL), 16-29, 1 HR, 11 RBI

MLB News: LA's Mookie Betts banged out career hit #2000.

Here's a look at the standings, with the Rays not only dominating but individual Rays all over the leaderboards, especially Adley: