Top 50 Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays began as an expansion team in 1998, and have been in the loaded American League East, which also houses the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Despite this, this is a team that is well run and has made the playoffs five times, won the division twice, and in 2008 would win the Pennant. They did not win the World Series, but it was a massive accomplishment for them to get there. The Rays again made the World Series in the COVID-19-reduced season but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This list is up to the end of the 2023 season.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
The career of Shane McClanahan has been brief thus far, but he has been another arm in the continuing reloading of the Tampa Bay Rays. Taken with the 31st Pick of 2016’s Amateur Draft, the southpaw, who played his college ball at South Florida, could stay in state. McClanahan debuted for Tampa in late April of 2021, earning a spot on the Starting Rotation. He finished the season with a strong 10-6 Record and was seventh in Rookie of the Year voting. McClanahan went to the All-Star Game as an MLB sophomore, completing the year going 12-8 with a 2.54…
After having been named an All-Star four times in his career, Fred McGriff was left available in the 1998 Expansion Draft, and the Tampa Bay Rays were able to have the hometown star as an inaugural Ray.
Matthew Joyce played his first 92 Games of his Major League career with the Detroit Tigers (2008), and he would be traded after to Tampa, where he spent most of 2009 honing his craft in the Minors.
The best three seasons of Jason Bartlett’s career were with the Tampa Bay Rays (2008-2010), the second of what would be three Major League teams that he would play for.
YANKEE STADIUM PREGAME TOUR
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Yankee Stadium Pregame Tour HERE!
PREGAME GLIMPSE OF GREATNESS
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Pregame Glimpse of Greatness HERE!
CLASSIC TOUR AT YANKEE STADIUM
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Classic Tour at Yankee Stadium HERE!
TOURS: TRUIST PARK
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Tours: Truist Park HERE!
Rocco Baldelli had an excellent rookie season in 2003 when he debuted in the Majors with the Rays. Finishing third in American League Rookie of the Year voting, the Centerfielder was seventh in Stolen Bases (27) and tenth in Hits (184), and he would bat .289 with 11 Home Runs. The 2004 season was also good, with him having a career-high in Home Runs (16) and RBIs (74), and he was first among the AL Centerfielders in Assists and Range Factor per Game. That was sadly the beginning of the end for Baldelli.
With the Tampa Bay Rays for three seasons (2008-10), Matt Garza started 94 Games. The righthander would win 11 Games in his first year there, but his crowning achievement was in the ALCS, where he won two Games with a 1.38 ERA, an effort that took Tampa to play in their first World Series.
A Tampa Bay Ray for the first six seasons of his career, Jake McGee debuted in the Majors in 2010. The southpaw only played eight Games for the parent club that year, but he managed to hurl more innings in 2011, and by 2012 he was a permanent player in the Rays bullpen. From 2012 to 2014, McGee appeared in at least 69 Games, peaking with a 19 Save and 1.89 ERA year in 2014.
Randy Winn was a switch-hitting Outfielder who was plucked from the Florida Marlins in the Expansion Draft. Winn had yet to break into the Major League level, and his debut at Baseball's highest level occurred in Tampa.
It seemed so strange to us to rank Charlie Morton after only two seasons with the Rays, but we place an equal premium on seasonal dominance as we do the overall picture. As such, here he is.
Logan Forsythe may not have been considered a utility player, but it is hard not to think of him that way. When he was traded from San Diego before the 2014 season, Forsythe's first year as a Ray saw him play at least one game at Second, Short, Third, First, Left, and DH. He didn't move around because he was poor defensively, as he never had a negative Defensive bWAR year in Tampa. It sounds like quite a versatile player!
Tyler Glasnow was one of three players traded for Chris Archer in 2018, and he had a rough finish to his Tampa-half of the season, going 1-5 with an ERA over four. Glasnow had a great start in 2019, winning the American League Pitcher of the Month in April, but arm strain took him out through the meat of the season. He came back before the playoffs, finishing the year with 12 Starts, a 6-1 record and a 1.78 ERA. Glasnow was off in the COVID-19 reduced season, who while he had a 5-1 Record, had a 4.08 ERA. He again helped the…
Jake Odorizzi played two Games with the Kansas City Royals in 2012, and he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2013 season. He played in the minors for most of that year, and he became a part of Tampa's starting rotation the season after. That year, with his four-seam fastball, he would go 11-13 with a 4.13 ERA and was eighth in American League Rookie of the Year voting.
What a shame. Before we get to why that is, let’s look at what Wander Franco was supposed to be. Franco was signed by the Rays in 2017 from the Dominican Republic and dominated in the Minors. He was called up in 2021 and did enough in only 70 Games to finish third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. Tampa was so impressed that they did something that they never do: they made a long-term investment in a player. The Rays inked Franco to an 11-year contract extension worth 182 million. He was only 20 years old and…
Signed as an Amateur Free Agent in 2007, Dominican Pitcher, Alex Colome, would reach the main Tampa Bay roster in 2013. He would play only a handful of games for the Rays in 2013 and 2014, and while he had yet to have a defined role in 2015, he remained on the roster for the bulk of the season, starting 13 Games and throwing for 109.2 Innings.
In the up and down career of Fernando Rodney, the two seasons that the Dominican closer spent in Tampa Bay were mostly up.
There were two Pitchers named Roberto Hernandez, who threw for the Rays. This "Roberto Hernandez" was the first one with that name and by far the best one.
With the fun (or demonic?) nickname of “Hellboy," Jeremy Hellickson debuted for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2010 after being a fourth-round pick in 2005. He appeared in eight games, winning four of them, and as he did not exceed rookie limits, he was classified as one in 2011. As a rookie, Hellickson would have his best season in the Majors, going 13-10, with a career-best 2.95 ERA, and would win the American League Rookie of the Year.
An eighth round pick in 2007, Matt Moore was called up late in 2011 and was called up late in 2011. He only played three Games for Tampa that regular season, he was on the post-season roster, winning a game in the playoffs.
Willy Adames was traded early in his fourth MLB season from Tampa to Milwaukee, and it remans to be seen whether this is a transaction that the Rays will regret in the future.