The Fun of 2018 is Done, So Now What’s Next for the Rays?
The 2018 Rays season will be a memorable one for numerous reasons. There were for openers, plenty of successful openers. The team also had 90 wins, the sixth time that’s happened in team history, the fourth ever 50-win campaign at home, and nine walkoff victories. In addition, the incomparable Jayson Stark says the Rays are the first team to start 3–12 or worse and end up at least 10 games above .500.
As impressive as those accomplishments are, the Rays still have steps toward the next goal, which is playing October baseball. So here are a few thoughts about potential additions/upgrades for 2019.
Starting/Bulk Pitching Depth: Why would a team that had the AL’s second best ERA need more pitching depth? Remember that at the start of the year, the Rays lost prospects Brent Honeywell and Jose De Leon to Tommy John surgery, then had Nathan Eovaldi injured, followed by Tommy John for Anthony Banda and an injury to Jake Faria.
The Rays finished the season with a “rotation” of Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow starting games and Yonny Chirinos, Ryan Yarbrough and Jalen Beeks the other three days providing length. In addition, if Jake Faria returns to form and Wilmer Font comes back healthy, the Rays have some depth. However, based on last year’s injuries, some more insurance to begin the year wouldn’t hurt.
Get RaysRadio’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Right-Handed Hitting: Over the course of the season, the Rays numbers were equal against righties and lefties (.740 OPS). However, as the season progressed, the Rays were much stronger against righties than lefties. Tommy Pham and C.J. Cron provided some balance against lefties, and Matt Duffy and Willy Adames should help too. However, one more imposing figure would provide more balance to the lineup, and there are several available that could fit, either via trade or free agency. Whomever is added could help fill the clubhouse void that Carlos Gomez provided, while also offering more production at the plate.
Veteran Reliever: Since the Rays have payroll flexibility, adding a back-end reliever with experience pitching at the back-end of games would make sense. Having Sergio Romo the past season and change has had a positive influence on the young Tampa Bay bullpen, and someone who can do so in 2019, whether it’s Romo or another individual makes sense. The best Rays teams had some veterans at the back end (ie Troy Percival, Rafael Soriano, and Fernando Rodney), providing some additional calm late in games.
Catching Depth: With Michael Perez and Nick Ciuffo playing games down the stretch, the Rays have two left-handed hitting options. However, if Tampa Bay has a platoon at that spot the Rays could hold onto Jesus Sucre, or see if there’s a potential upgrade. Sucre hit to a .699 OPS last year with seven HR and 29 RBI. This year, the OPS dropped to .500 with one HR and 17 RBI. There do appear to be multiple free agent possibilities on the open market.
Center Field Insurance: When the Rays have Kevin Kiermaier on the field, they are a significantly better team defensively. That said, Kiermaier has played between 88 and 105 games each of the past three seasons. While you can hope to have Kiermaier return to play 150 games, as he did in 2015, you need to be prepared in case that doesn’t happen. A healthy Tommy Pham offers one possibility, but he also appeared extremely comfortable and successful in left. Mallex Smith was much better as a corner outfielder this year, but had some challenges in center. Those are the internal options, with trades or free agency as other ways to provide that depth.
The challenge in addressing these needs, is that the Rays have a full 40-man roster, with several prospects to protect next month in advance of the Rule 5 draft. That’s something we’ll explore further in a future blog post.
