Our All-Time Top 50 Tampa Bay Rays Have Been Revised to Reflect the 2023 Season
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out, and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our post-2023 revision of our top 50 Tampa Bay Rays.
As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in Major League Baseball.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.
Last year, the Rays went off to a torrid start and made the playoffs but was unable to get past the first round. There are two new entrants and several elevations, some of which are significant. However, this is more of a reflection of the franchise’s relative youth and Tampa Bay’s propensity to unload tenured players.
As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:
3. Ben Zobrist
4. David Price
You can find the entire list here.
Yandy Diaz, who went to his first All-Star Game, and won his first Batting Title, skyrockets from #29 to #10.
The enigmatic Outfielder, Randy Arozarena, also made a huge jump. An All-Star last season, Arozarena climbed to #19 from #30.
Now a two-time All-Star, Pitcher Shane McClanahan also had a giant rise in the rank. He went from #43 to #20.
Another Pitcher, Tyler Glasnow, who is now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, went from #45 to #30.
The controversial and likely MLB-banned Wander Franco debuts (and likely ends) at #32.
Manuel Margot moved to #43 from #50 and is no longer with the Tampa Bay Rays.
The last new entrant is Isaac Parades, who enters the list at #47.
We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.
19. Wander Franco
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 had the world by the balls. Or so we thought. We will get there soon.
Franco missed time in 2022 with hand injuries, though he still batted .277 with 87 Hits in 83 Games. He got off to a torrid start in 2023, making the All-Star team as an injury replacement for Aaron Judge and showcasing sparkling defence at Short. His power was up (17 Home Runs), and he had 30 stolen bases by early August, but he was placed on administrative leave due to alleged sexual activities with an underage girl.
Franco is unlikely to return to the Majors, and if we based this solely on character, he would not be here at all. That is not how we work here, so Franco is ranked and will be until he is pushed out.