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 2024 season.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
Evan Longoria came in the Tampa Bay Rays organization as the 3rd Pick of the 2006 Amateur Draft, and two years later, he would be the starting Third Baseman. It was an excellent debut for Longoria, who had 27 Home Runs, was an All-Star and won the American League Rookie of the Year Award. He would help them reach their first World Series, though they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Carl Crawford was a second round pick in 1999 and would debut for Tampa in 2002 playing 64 Games. The following season would be his coming out party as he would collect 177 Hits and had an American League leading 55 Stolen Bases. The Leftfielder would remain one of the better hitters and better base stealers over the next few seasons. From 2004 to 2010, he would have at least 180 Hits, with the exception of 2008, where he was reduced to 109 Games due to injury. Crawford would have four seasons where he led in Triples and had another…
When you talk about versatile players, Ben Zobrist often comes to the forefront of the mind. Zobrist arrived in 2006 in a trade from Houston, where he was able to make his Major League debut with the Rays. Zobrist was a role player for the next two years and would become the starting Shortstop for Tampa, but he would often play Second Base and Outfield and fill in where ever he was needed.
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Kevin Kiermaier might go down in hstory as the greatest defensive player in Tampa Bay history.
David Price was the first overall draft pick in 2007, and he would make his highly anticipated Rays debut in September of 2008. He played in the Rays' postseason run to the World Series in a relief capacity, but come the next season, and he was ready to take on his intended role as a starter.
James Shields made his Major League debut for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006, and he would play there until 2012. Starting 217 of his 218 Games, a Ray, Shields became an upper-end starter and certified innings eater for the team.
Carlos Pena would play 14 seasons in the Majors with the best run of her career coming with the Rays. It was especially noteworthy, considering that it happened when most pundits wrote him off the game entirely.
Known for his four-seam fastball and slider, Scott Kazmir fanned many batters in a Tampa Bay Ray uniform.
Brandon Lowe is still early into his career but he has been very impressive thus far. Playing at Second Base, Lowe debuted in 2018, but still qualified as a rookie in 2019, where he was third in Rookie of the Year voting, batted .336, and was an All-Star. It was especially impressive considering that Lowe missed nearly half the season due to shin and quad issues. In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Lowe was an All-MLB Team 2 Selection, showing that he is poised for greatness in a full season. That is what he gave Tampa in 2021, with a tenth-place finish in…
Yandy Diaz defected from Cuba at the age of 21, and the prospect joined the Cleveland Indians organization, and he would make his first appearance with the team in 2017. Two years later, Diaz was part of a three-team trade that landed him with the Rays, where he found a better fit and opportunity. Playing at Third Base and First, Diaz was a starter, but missed a lot of time in 2019 and 2020 due to injuries. Healthier since, Diaz has been a solid producer both offensively and defensively, and has had 624 Hits to date for Tampa. In 2023,…
Call him Melvin Jr, or B.J., but we think the former Upton who played for the Rays was a pretty damned good baseball player.
Blake Snell began his career with the Tampa Bay Rays, where he played for five years, where it can be argued that he had one monster season and the rest being average to mediocre.
A bona fide flamethrower during his time with Tampa, Chris Archer debuted with Tampa in 2012, a year after he was in the minors and traded from the New York Mets. Archer would begin an inconsistent career as he was often brilliant and often shellacked.
The Major League career of Aubrey Huff began when in Tampa Bay, where he would play his first six seasons.
Julio Lugo played for Tampa after the Houston Astros released him early in the 2003 Season. It turned out to benefit both Lugo and the Rays, as he would be their starting Shortstop for the next three seasons.
Desmond Jennings played all seven of his seasons in the Majors with the Tampa Bay Rays, first debuting in 2010.
Finding a home in Mexico after defecting from Cuba, Randy Arozarena impressed in the Mexican League to get signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017, playing well enough to get a late-season callup two years later. St. Louis traded him to Tampa the year after, and in the Sunshine State, he would become a star. Arozarena played only 23 Games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but he was a starter in Outfield during Tampa’s playoff run, where he won the ALCS MVP, blasting nine Home Runs in the post-season and winning the Babe Ruth Award. Still rookie eligible in…
Alex Cobb was a fourth round pick in 2006, and he would work his way up the ranks to the big club in 2011, where he would start nine games, impressing the brass enough to be named a member of the starting rotation early in 2012.
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…