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
The phrase "what could have been" hardly captures the complete demise of Wander Franco’s baseball career. Among modern prospect evaluations, few players arrived in the majors with as nearly flawless a projection. Signed from the Dominican Republic by the Tampa Bay Rays for $3.825 million in 2017, the switch-hitting shortstop dominated minor-league pitching and secured consecutive consensus No. 1 prospect rankings across baseball. When he finally debuted in June 2021, he appeared to be a once-in-a-generation talent, setting an historic 43-game on-base streak that tied Frank Robinson's all-time record for a 20-year-old. Despite only 70 games played, he finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.
Tampa Bay was so confident they saw the future face of the sport that they broke their strict, low-payroll philosophy. In November 2021, they signed the 20-year-old to an extraordinary 11-year, $182 million extension, a franchise record. This bold financial commitment was rare for a small-market team, giving Franco control of the organization even before completing a full year in the major leagues.
The initial returns from that historic investment showed remarkable success but also early signs of physical weakness. Franco missed much of the 2022 season due to a fractured right hamate bone and repeated quad strains, yet he still demonstrated elite bat-to-ball skills by hitting .277 over 83 games. He started the 2023 season strongly, impressing with his aggressive play and smooth, efficient defense at shortstop. By July, he earned his first career All-Star invite as an injury replacement for Aaron Judge. By early August, his power and speed were fully on display, with 17 home runs, 30 stolen bases, and a 5.3 bWAR, helping the Rays move confidently toward October.
Then, everything changed dramatically. On August 13, 2023, social media revealed serious allegations of an illegal relationship between the 22-year-old star and a minor in the Dominican Republic. Major League Baseball promptly put Franco on administrative leave, while international authorities initiated a broad criminal investigation. By July 2024, he was moved to the restricted list, losing his salary and service time, as prosecutors accused him of sexual abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking.
The legal saga concluded definitively in the Dominican court system. Franco was convicted of both sexual and psychological abuse of a minor, and this conviction withstood appeals. Although a three-judge panel later pardoned him, citing that he was under an extensive extortion and blackmail scheme by the minor's mother, the conviction remains permanently on his record. No team in the Majord will touch him again.
His MLB career concluded with 292 hits, 30 home runs, and a .282/.340/.454 slash line over just 265 games.
