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 2023 season.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
Austin Meadows was part of the trade that sent Chris Archer to the Pirates at the 2018 Trade Deadline, and the young Outfielder is showing the skills to be the top player of the transaction. Meadows became an All-Star in 2019 on the strength of a 32 Home Run/.291/.346/.558 year where he was 14thin MVP voting. Meadows helped Tampa reach the World Series the following year, and in 2021, Meadows was a large part of the team that went back to the playoffs, as he had 27 Home Runs and 106 RBIs, although he had a less-than-desirable Batting Average (.235), and…
Toby Hall made his Major League debut in Tampa in 2000, where the Catcher appeared in four games. Hall would progressively play more in the next two seasons for the Rays, and he would play at least 119 Games each year from 2003 to 2005. Hall was not the best hitter, as he struggled to get his On Base Percentage to .300, but he was solid defensively. He was in the top five Runners Caught Stealing, and in 2005, he was first in Defensive bWAR. Hall left Tampa when he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the summer…
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…
From Japan, Akinori Iwamura played for years with the Yakult Swallows before he joined the Tampa Bay Rays in the Majors. Iwamura played at Second Base and Third Base and had 140 Hits as a Major League rookie in 2007. Iwamura had a better second season in the NL, with 172 Hits, and he would do well until the next year, where his age and injuries caught up to him.
Manuel Margot played four seasons in San Diego before he was traded to Tampa, where he again played four years, before he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Margot played in all three Outfield positions. While he was a light hitter, batting only .264 with 320 Hits and 19 Home Runs as a Ray, his defensive versatility made him valuable for Tampa Bay. He shined brightest in the 2020 Playoffs, where he had four Home Runs and made an incredible catch in foul territory in rightfield, falling six feet to make the catch. The stay for Margot in Tampa…
After two uneventful years with San Diego, Brad Boxberger was traded to the Rays, and in 2014 he had a good year coming out of the pen with a 2.37 ERA with 104 Strikeouts in 64.2 Innings. Boxberger would be given the closer’s job when Jake McGee went down to injury, and while he had an ERA of 3.71, he led the American League in Saves with 41.
If you just look at the back of a baseball card, the Major League career of Rolando Arrojo looks like a one-year wonder. That is true, but there is a lot more to digest with the Cuban defector.
Before his arrival to Tampa, Greg Vaughn had three 40 plus seasons of Home Runs. While this was late in his career, and the Outfielder would still have pop in his bat and would go to his fourth and final All-Star Game in 2001 as a Ray.
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. Last year, Paredes broke out with 31 Home Runs, 98 RBIs, and a Slugging Percentage of .488. This could be a future All-Star.
Tommy Pham was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals at the 2018 trading deadline, and at the time, he was batting .248. With the Rays, he finished the season batting .343, with a Slugging Percentage of .622. Pham played the entire 2019 season at Leftfield for the Ray, belting 21 Home Runs with 25 Stolen Bases with a .273 Batting Average.
A First Round pick in 2004, Jeff Niemann would reach the main Tampa roster in 2008, and from 2009 to 2011, he was a regular on the Rays’ rotation. In each of those seasons, Niemann had at least 11 Wins, with the first two seeing him eclipse 170 Innings Pitched.
Steven Souza Jr. played three of his five Major League seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, where he showed decent power. Souza Jr. had 16 and 17 Home Runs in 2015 and 2016, respectively, and he would nearly double that with a 30 Home Run year in 2017. As good as his power was, he never batted over .250, and his defense was just average.