The Rays are up next in MLBTR's team-by-team look at the upcoming trade deadline. Tampa Bay has weathered an uneven start to the season and emerged in the thick of the division race. The Rays are currently six games over .500, good for third place in the American League East but sole possession of the American League's second Wild Card spot. They're five games back of the division-leading Blue Jays.
While most clubs tend to pick a buy or sell lane, the Rays are always open to a bit of a mixed-bag approach. They're constantly working to walk the line between rebuilding and contending and are never afraid to trade from the major league roster. President of baseball operations Erik Neander and his staff will be looking to add to the roster ahead of what looks like a very likely playoff run, but the Rays will probably still get some calls on some of their pricey veterans with dwindling levels of club control.
Record: 49-43 (57.3% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)
Other series entries: Rockies, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins, Athletics, Orioles, White Sox, Nationals, Cubs
Buy Mode
Potential needs: Outfield, catcher, right-handed bat, another reliever
It's always tough to identify exact needs on a well-rounded club. That's the Rays in 2025, but the outfield has been a revolving door of less-than-ideal options. Kameron Misner has seen the most plate appearances of any Ray in the outfield this year, and he's batted .214/.274/.347 in 216 plate appearances there. He faded badly after a hot start and was optioned to Triple-A Durham in late June.
Each of Jake Mangum, Josh Lowe, Christopher Morel and Chandler Simpson has received between 166 and 206 plate appearances in the outfield. Mangum and Morel have hit well but done so with the help of plenty of good fortune on batted balls. Simpson is getting his second look in the majors and using his speed and elite contact skills to produce solid offense. He could lead the majors in stolen bases but has 20-grade power (on the 20-80 scale), a well below-average walk rate and shaky defense in center. Lowe was terrific in 2023, pedestrian in 2024, and is somewhere in between in 2025.
The Rays have enough outfield options that they could mix-and-match for the rest of the season, playing the hot hand and rotating outfielders based on matchups they deem favorable. It's a tactic we've seen before from manager Kevin Cash (at various places on the roster), but some more stability and more power, in particular, might be welcome. Rays outfielders have been about league-average offensively on the whole, but they're benefiting from a .339 average on balls in play and rank 27th in the majors with a .121 isolated power mark (slugging percentage minus batting average). Only the Guardians and Royals have received fewer home runs from their outfield than the Rays' total of 21.
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Morel has hit well? Are you sure about that? statistics may tell you part of a story, but there is this old thing called the eye test…it was quite something back in the day, you probably would not understand.
And downplaying Simpson’s value because “hE hAs nO pOwEr” only further demonstrates your inability to view baseball with perspective and context. A little secret for you: one does not need power to be effective. And yes, he would have been considered much more valuable decades ago when speed and baserunning were more emphasized. I am not saying he is an all-star (yet), but focusing on that is similar to when writers such as yourself write something like “he has an e.r.a. over five, but his strikeouts!” lol. Me? I’ll take a player that helps you win games, as…statistics lie. Mangum and Simpson earn many infield hits–because of that outdated thing called speed–maybe this affects babip…if so, it just shows this is yet another statistic that should be viewed with caution.
There is an old saying “there are three types of lies: lies, d*mned lies, and statistics”
There is something to be said for bat to ball skills and Mangum has it in spades.
All power teams slump as a team.
The Mets and Yankees could use a Mangum type, IMO.
That is some rant Sideline, but I’m not sure the offense justified it. At the end of the day, Morel has a just slightly above league average bat at 103 wRC+ and Simpson does have a just slightly below league average bat at 96 wRC+. Sure, Simpson is improving and appears to be a big part of the Rays’ plans going forward, while the Morel Experiment can’t end soon enough, but come on, nothing in the article justified that sort of venom.
The Rays need to get this sale done quickly. If they can get it approved before the trade deadline, perhaps the new ownership will decide to spend some money and keep Fairbanks, B Lowe, and others. If they keep dragging their feet, expect $ternberg to let Fairbanks, Diaz, Rasmussen, Kim, and B Lowe go to the first bidder, and the Rays will finish in 3rd place in the East, with a record around .500, just missing the playoffs. Not that they could beat Detroit or New York if they added any talent before July 31, but it would boost their chances.
The sale won’t close by the deadline, but I doubt that matters for purposes of Fairbanks, B.Lowe, Diaz, Ras, Kim and just about every other productive member of the active roster not named Littell (who is more likely than not getting traded). At least so long as the Rays remain in the playoff hunt. If they lose 15-20 games in July, then all bets are off. BTW – Rays are 3-3 against Detroit this year, swept the Mets, and the mighty Yankees look like paper tigers (even with Judge). Rays aren’t afraid of any of them.
The Rays are the best illustration that you don’t need a huge payroll to win. Smart management and an excellent development system beat throwing around cash like an Angels’ GM on a bender.
Imagine what they could do with a 150M payroll or better. Add 2 quality free agents to their teams and they probably go deeper into the post-season at the least.
The Rays just do a great job of squeezing the most value from their players. They tend to best utilize their players’ skills and minimize the weaker aspects of their game as much as possible.