Our All Time Top 50 Tampa Bay Rays have been revised to reflect the 2024 Season.
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we 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 and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2024 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 the American League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.
Please note that our algorithm has changed, which yielded minor changes throughout the baseball lists.
Last year, the Rays finished 80-82 and missed the playoffs. There were two new entrants and multiple elevations coming from the 2024 season.
As always, we present our top five, which saw one change.
3. Ben Zobrist
5. David Price
You can find the entire list here.
Based on the revisions, Kiermaier overtook Price for #4.
Brandon Lowe moved up from #16 to #9.
Third Baseman Yandy Diaz was not able to move past last year’s #10.
Outfielder Randy Arozarena, who was traded to Seattle during the season, advanced two spots to #17.
Pitcher Zach Eflin, who was traded to Baltimore during last season, enters at #50.
We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.
The 2028 Baseball Futures are up!
As always, at Notinhalloffame.com, we are moving forward. Our Baseball Futures Section now includes those eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2028.
The entire list of candidates in 2028 is here, but individually, they are:
Albert Pujols: A lock for the Baseball Hall as a potential unanimous pick, Pujols won two World Series Rings with the St. Louis Cardinals, won three MVPs, six Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, and was an 11-time All-Star. He left the game with 703 Home Runs, 2,218 RBIs, and 3,384 Hits with a lifetime .544 Slugging Percentage.
Alcides Escobar: A Shortstop who won a World Series Title with the Kansas City Royals, Escobar was a one-time All-Star. He is also a former ALCS MVP and had nearly 1,500 Hits.
Andrelton Simmons: Simmons was an excellent defensive Shortstop who won four Gold Gloves a Platinum Glove, and was a three-time league leader in Defensive bWAR.
Anibal Sanchez: Sanchez had his best years with the Detroit Tigers but won a World Series with the Washington Nationals in his last season. The Venezuelan Pitcher had a lifetime record of 116-119 and 1,774 Strikeouts.
Chris Archer: Archer was a two-time All-Star as a Pitcher who fanned 1,454 batters.
David Price: A Cy Young winner with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012, Price was also a five-time All-Star who later won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox. He had an overall record of 157-82 with 2,076 Strikeouts.
Dee Strange-Gordon: Strange-Gordon won three Stolen Base Titles, was twice named an All-Star, and won a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove. DSG also captured the NL Batting Title in 2012.
Greg Holland: A three-time All-Star on Kansas City’s 2015 World Series Championship, Holland was The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year in 2013 and the Mariano Rivera Award winner in 2014. He had 220 career Saves.
Jed Lowrie: Lowrie went to one All-Star Game and had 1,185 career Hits.
Joe Smith: The long-time middle reliever appeared in over 800 Games and had 176 Games Finished.
Justin Upton: Upton was a four-time All-Star, compiling 1,754 Hits, 325 Home Runs, and 1,003 RBIs.
Kurt Suzuki: Suzuki went to one All-Star Game, and the Catcher would win a World Series with Washington in 2019. He had 1,421 Hits.
Lorenzo Cain: Cain was a two-time All-Star, winning a Gold Glove and a World Series Title with the Royals in 2015.
Mark Melancon: Melancon twice led his league in Saves and was named by The Sporting News as their NL Pitcher of the Year in 2015. He is also a four-time All-Star.
Oliver Perez: Peres pitched for 20 seasons in the Majors and was the NL leader in 2004 in SO/9.
Robinson Cano: Cano had a long career where he won a World Series with the Yankees, was an eight-time All-Star, and won five Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves. He also had 2,639 career Hits.
Sean Doolittle: A relief pitcher who twice was an All-Star, Doolittle retired as a champion with the Nationals in 2019. He had 112 Saves.
Sergio Romo: Best known for his three World Series rings with the San Francisco Giants, Romo was a one-time All-Star who appeared in 821 Games.
Steve Cishek: Cishek had a long career coming out of the bullpen where he appeared in 737 Games.
Steven Strasburg: Strasburg was the World Series MVP for Washington when they won their first World Series. The oft-injured hurler went to three All-Stars and had a record of 113-62.
Tyler Clippard: Clippard was a 16-year veteran who was a two-time All-Star Relief Pitcher.
Yadier Molina: Molina played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals, where the Catcher won two World Series Titles, nine Gold Gloves, four Platinum Gloves, one Silver Slugger, and was a ten-time All-Star.
Zack Britton: Britton won the 2016 Sporting News Pitcher of the Year in 2016 as well as the Rivera Reliever Award. The two-time All-Star had 154 career Saves.
You know what we want you to do!
Your votes and opinions are crucial in shaping the future of these candidates. We value your input and look forward to hearing your thoughts!
As always, we thank you for your support.
David Price
David Price was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays as the first overall pick in 2007. He made his debut a year later in September, helping the Rays make it to the World Series. Although the team didn't win, Price had a win and a save in the playoffs, and this marked the beginning of his professional career.
In 2009, Price joined Tampa Bay's starting rotation, and in 2010, he became an All-Star, finishing the season with a 2.72 ERA, 19-6 record, and 188 strikeouts. He was second in Cy Young voting, and the Rays' belief in his potential had been proven right. Price was an All-Star again in 2011 and 2012, with the latter being the best season of his career. He won the American League Cy Young, with a league-leading 20 wins and a 2.56 ERA.
As was typical for the Rays, they traded Price (whose contract was set to expire after the 2015 season) during the 2014 campaign to Detroit. Despite the trade, Price had another excellent year, finishing sixth in AL Cy Young voting (15-12) and topping the league in strikeouts (275). The Tigers had a tough year in 2015, but Price performed well, beginning the year with a 9-4 record and a 2.53 ERA. He was even better in the second half with the Blue Jays, helping them reach the playoffs. In that year, he won his second ERA title (2.45) and was the runner-up to Dallas Keuchel for the Cy Young.
Price signed with the Boston Red Sox in 2016, but he was no longer a Cy Young contender. He still ate up a lot of innings, but his ERA started to rise, and he had elbow issues. Nonetheless, he played a significant role in Boston's 2018 World Series Championship. Price was shut down with elbow problems in 2019 and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020, although he sat out the COVID-shortened year. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series that year without him, and he was awarded a ring despite having no on-field accomplishments.
Price spent two more years in the bullpen for the Dodgers and compiled an overall career record of 157-82 with 2,076 strikeouts.
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.
Our All Time Top 50 Tampa Bay Rays have been updated to reflect the 2022 Season
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 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 2022 revision of our top 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 the American League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Last year, Tampa was not able to make the playoffs, but they were contenders. On a young team, this allowed, four new entrants on our Top 50.
As always, we present our top five, which was not affected by the last season:
3. Ben Zobrist
4. David Price
5. Kevin Kiermaier
You can find the entire list here.
Kiermaier, who is now a Toronto Blue Jay, did not do enough to move past his number five spot.
Brandon Lowe, moved up one rank to #15.
Of the highest four new entries, we have Infielder, Yandy Diaz, who enters this list at #29.
2021 American League Rookie of the Year, Randy Arozarena, debuts at #30.
An All-Star last year, Shane McClanahan enters at #43, and fellow hurler, Tyler Glasnow moved up two spots to #45.
Outfielder, Manuel Margot debuts at #50.
We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.
Our All-Time Top 50 Tampa Bay Rays are now up
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Entering the American League as an expansion team in 1998, the Rays were originally the “Devil Rays”, before dropping the demonic portion of their name in 2008. Saddled in the ultra-competitive American League East, Tampa has managed to make the playoffs five times, including an American League Pennant in 2008. They have yet to win the World Series to date.
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 the American League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.
This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.
The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article. They are:
3. Ben Zobrist
4. David Price
We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.
Look for our All-Time Top 50 Boston Red Sox coming next!
As always we thank you for your support.
5. David Price
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.