While the Yankees were sleeping, there was a whole lot of commotion in the American League East behind them, made mostly by those pesky, perennial payroll-compromised Tampa Bay Rays.
A month ago, when the Yankees were riding high in full command of the division with no serious challengers in sight, nobody was paying any attention to the Rays, who were struggling along as the Yankees’ tenants in Steinbrenner Field. They were 21-26 in fourth place on May 19 and looking at a second-half schedule that has them playing only 14 home games after the All-Star break in July and August. It sure looked like all their yearly dumping of their highest-salaried players had finally caught up to them. But that was before third baseman Junior Caminero began emerging into a potential superstar, Jonathan Aranda has become an offensive force at first base, and with all his interchangeable parts, Rays manager Kevin Cash has been able to embark on a more aggressive slash-and-speed style of play, and striking out far less frequently, to back what has so far been one of the more superior pitching staffs in baseball. Over the last month the Rays lead the majors in runs, ERA, RBI and stolen bases, while ranking 11th in the majors in strikeouts as opposed to sixth all last season.
The Rays’ 20-7 resurgence since May 19 culminated Wednesday night when they overcame an 8-0 second inning deficit to beat the Orioles, 12-8, and close to a game-and-a-half of the slumping Yankees. It matched the biggest comeback win in their history. Even more amazing, in over 450 games in modern baseball history in which a team allowed eight-plus runs to open the game, this was the first time they came back to win and also didn’t allow another run or hit to the opposing team. All that happened on the same day it was announced that much reviled team owner Stu Sternberg was in advanced talks to sell the team to a Jacksonville homebuilder, Patrick Zalupski, and a group of prominent Tampa-area investors for an estimated $1.7 billion. The fact that Sternberg bought the team in 2004 for $200 million was of no matter to the Rays’ fan base. His potential departure for a more deep-pocketed ownership group that would expectedly spend considerably more on payroll was welcome news. The Rays’ 2025 payroll of just over $88 million according to Spotrac’s MLB payroll tracker is currently the 28th lowest in baseball.
Of course, left up in the air was where exactly the Rays would be playing after their lease runs out after the 2027 season at Tropicana Field, which is currently undergoing extensive repairs from the hurricane damage suffered last October. The only thing certain is that Major League Baseball has made it clear they want the Rays to remain in Tampa Bay.
Despite Sternberg’s penuriousness, the Rays have managed to get to the postseason nine times under his stewardship including trips to the World Series in 2008 and 2020. For that, credit is due to his astute general managers, Andrew Friedman (2006-2014) and Erik Neander from 2014 until now. Neander has done an especially efficient job, working the edges, in putting together this present Rays team, again on a shoestring budget. The 21-year-old Caminero was acquired from the Guardians in November 2021 for since much-traveled right-hander Tobias Myers. Aranda was an international free agent from Mexico, outfielders Kameron Misner, Jake Mangum (who as of Thursday led all major leaguers with a .487 average with runners in scoring position), catchers Matt Thaiss and Danny Jansen, and handyman speedster Jose Caballero, who leads the team in steals, were all also acquired in under-the-radar trades
It’s the same with the Rays’ bullpen where almost every one of their relievers was picked off other teams by Neander and as of Thursday led all teams with a 3.04 ERA. A running joke in baseball is when Neander comes calling about a marginal player or minor leaguer the rival GM would best be advised to hang up and run the other way. But what should be considered particularly concerning to the Yankees is that the Rays could be even more improved in the coming weeks without Neander having to do anything.
Taj Bradley, the victim of the bulk of that eight-run second-inning Oriole uprising Wednesday night and the weak link in the Rays’ starting rotation because of his maddening inconsistency, is likely to be replaced the next time around with Joe Boyle, the goliath (6-8, 250 pounds) righty whom Neander got from Oakland for starter-reliever Jeffrey Springs last December and is leading the International League in ERA (1.83) and WHIP (0.95) and is second in strikeouts. And though Taylor Walls has performed exceptionally well at shortstop, particularly defensively, he’s hitting just .212 and in the wings is Ha-Seong Kim, the free agent shortstop the Rays signed to a one-year deal over the winter who is just about recovered from shoulder surgery. Kim would provide a double-barreled upgrade over Walls in that he won a Gold Glove with the Padres in 2023 and has 28 homers and 107 RBI over the last two seasons.
But perhaps the biggest “free” upgrade the Rays may be getting is from their erstwhile ace Shane McClanahan, still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery but due back by Aug. 1. Time will tell if the Rays can withstand the over-abundance of July-August road games, but they are a young team, playing with a verve and confidence, with an emphasis on pitching, speed and defense, and a newly-energized fan base at the prospect of new ownership.
IT’S A MADD, MADD WORLD
Speaking of AL East commotion, Red Sox Nation is still trying to make rhyme or reason out of the Rafael Devers trade last week that sent shockwaves not only through the division but all of baseball. That the Red Sox were just starting to finally make a move in the AL Least with a sweep of the Yankees in Boston last weekend when the trade went down has understandably outraged a good percentage of Red Sox fans — especially since, like their trade of Mookie Betts to the Dodgers in February 2020, none of the players they got back from the Giants, left-hander Kyle Harrison, closer-turned-failed starter Jordan Hicks and prospects Jose Bello and James Tibbs, figure to be high-impact players. Harrison, the key player for the Red Sox insofar as immediate return, has been a mediocre (4.48 ERA in 35 starts) mid-rotation starter for the Giants. The Red Sox’s best hope for a more-than-decent return is Tibbs, a lefty-swinging first baseman/outfielder who was the Giants’ No. 1 draft pick out of Florida State in 2024 who’s shown decent power in 86 High-A minor league games. Nevertheless, the Red Sox brass felt the trade became a necessity after Devers refused at first to shift from third base to DH and then adamantly refused to even consider playing first base when Sox first baseman Triston Casas went down for the year. This was after Red Sox owner John Henry flew all the way out to Kansas City to make a personal appeal to Devers. Though Sox officials insisted the roughly $250 million left on Devers’ contract through 2033 had nothing to do with the decision, here’s the way a respected, veteran baseball person put it to me: “No matter how good Devers may be right now, that contract is not going to age well with his body type, even as a DH the rest of his career. It now frees up a lot of money for them next winter, although they better re-sign [Alex] Bregman.” For now, however, the trade would appear to be a steal for Giants GM Buster Posey, landing one of the game’s best left-handed hitters — after so many free agent swings and misses by the Giants in recent years (Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto) — without giving up any players of consequence. You have to admire Posey’s aggressiveness, going for it all now and worrying about Devers’ body later.
