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.
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…
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.
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Joey Wendle led the West Chester Golden Rams to a Division II Championship in 2012, and he followed it up with a pro career, first with the Oakland Athletics, where he played minimally before he was traded to Tampa. Wendle won the Second Base job out of Spring Training in 2018, and the versatile defensive player was fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting while batting an even .300. Wendle was hurt through much of 2019, but was a top player on the 2020 team that won the Pennant. In 2021, Wendle had another good year with Tampa, going…
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.
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.
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.
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…
Isaac Paredes arrived in Tampa in a straight-up trade for Austin Meadows, which was an excellent opportunity for the versatile infielder. Playing at Third, Second and First, Paredes, who only had 2 Home Runs over 57 Games in Detroit, had 20 in 2022 in 111 Games. In 2023, Paredes broke out with 31 Home Runs, 98 RBIs, and a Slugging Percentage of .488, and he looked to be a future All-Star, and that would be the case in 2024, when he made it to the mid-season event. However, the slumping Rays traded Parades to the Chicago Cubs before the trade…
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sean Rodriguez was a bona fide utility player in every sense of the word. He suited up at Second, Third, Short, First, and in the Outfield, and he could be plugged in anywhere to suit the defensive needs of the Rays. In his first season in Tampa, he was fifth in the American League in Defensive bWAR (2.3). He would play with the Rays until he was traded to the Pirates after the 2014 season. Rodriguez never had 400 At Bats in a season with Tampa, but his overall value with his glove made him a player that Tampa wanted…
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.
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.