The game&#8217;s name for MLB offseasons has been about who will dish out the money. Do you know who doesn&#8217;t usually take part in those contests? The Rays. And do you know who doesn&#8217;t care? The Rays.
Tampa Bay is still running business as usual, and they still have the personnel to make things interesting in the American League East. Let&#8217;s look at how they went about their offseason and 2025 outlook after a relatively disappointing season.
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<h2>2024 Season Recap</h2>
Saying that the Rays hovered around .500 last season is no cliché; three games over .500 was their best record, and five games under .500 was their worst. Given the lack of peaks and valleys, Tampa Bay finished with an 80-82 record, marking the first time since 2017 that the franchise finished a season with a losing record. It also halted their playoff appearance streak at five seasons.
Tampa Bay struggled at the plate in 2024, finished 27th in the league in batting average, 28th in the league in home runs, and 29th in the league in runs scored trailing only the Chicago White Sox. The squad overall was carried by their pitching staff, who boasted the 9th best team ERA and tied for 3rd in WHIP.
The big dogs for the Rays didn&#8217;t play like big dogs, and it started with LF  Randy Arozarena. Usually one of the biggest contributors to Tampa Bay&#8217;s offense, Arozarena struggled mightily last season. In his first 56 games of the season, Arozarena slashed a feeble .158/.257/.312 with a .568 OPS, 8 home runs, and 19 RBIs with only three multi-hit games.
Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe (when healthy) were able to steer the ship as best they could. Although it wasn&#8217;t a Silver Slugger-type performance like he had in 2023, Díaz still hit a respectable .281/.341/.414 with a 755 OPS, 14 home runs, and 65 RBIs in 145 games. Although he faced lefties far less than righties, Díaz was elite against southpaws last year, hitting .347 with a .924 OPS against them.
Lowe led the team with 21 home runs, the third time in his Rays career that he had accomplished that feat. Isaac Paredes continued supplying a good deal of power with 16 homers and 55 RBIs, and José Caballero stole an American League-best 44 bases in his first year with the Rays.
The Rays missed the contributions of highly-touted prospects Junior Caminero and Curtis Mead, who made their MLB debuts at the end of the 2023 season. Caminero was able to get some playing time in August and September last year, but multiple quad injuries suffered earlier in the season kept him from hitting the ground running. Mead broke camp with the team, but was optioned to triple-A in early May after hitting .218 with one home run and five RBIs.
On the mound, the Rays had to rely on a couple of their younger arms with Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs, Shane Baz, and Drew Rasmussen either out completely with Tommy John surgery or limited after their recovery from their respective elbow surgery.
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Those aforementioned younger arms were ready for the challenge, with each of them having their own spurts of tremendous production. 23-year-old Taj Bradley had a nine-game stretch in June and July when he posted an ERA of 0.82 and only five earned runs allowed including a seven-inning, one-hit outing against the Yankees and seven shutout innings against the Cleveland Guardians.
Ryan Pepiot, part of the return in the Tyler Glasnow trade, held a 2.69 ERA and a .210 opponents batting average over his final 14 starts, allowing over two earned runs in a start only once. Sure, pointing out those numbers for Bradley and Pepiot are cherry-picking to an extent. But these are the guys that Tampa Bay will be relying on for the future.
With the season looking to be mediocre at best for the Rays, they decided to sell off some of their better players at the trade deadline. A slight uptick in numbers at the end of the first half of the season generated a solid return from the Mariners for Arozarena, high-leverage reliever Jason Adam kicked back three prospects from the Padres, and they cleared off some of their payroll by dealing SP Zach Eflin to the Orioles. Even a trade with the Chicago Cubs for Paredes gave them home run specialist Christopher Morel and a hard-throwing reliever in Hunter Bigge.
Adam&#8217;s departure paved the way for reliever Edwin Uceta, who left a dominant impression on the organization to conclude the season. In his 30 appearances, Uceta posted a 1.51 ERA, 12.3 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, and a 0.82 WHIP. Playing on his fourth team in four years, Uceta <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/edwin-uceta-670955?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb">generated 37% whiff rates</a> on his fastball and changeup.
<h2>Offseason Moves</h2>
The Rays started their offseason by parting ways with their centre fielder from the previous two and a half seasons, trading Jose Siri to the New York Mets in exchange for relief pitcher Eric Orze. Drafted by the Mets in 2020, Orze made his major league debut last season, but only pitched in two contests. Unfortunately, those didn&#8217;t go very well, but his 43 appearances in triple-A last year are likely what caught Tampa Bay&#8217;s eye. In those outings, Orze held a 2.92 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and a 12.3 K/9. His walk numbers have been a concern during the past two seasons, but the Rays are an ideal team to find a remedy for this.
Tampa Bay has filtered through several catchers since the beginning of the 2020s, and they&#8217;re adding another one to the list after signing former Blue Jay catcher Danny Jansen to a one-year, $8.5 million deal with a mutual option for the following year. The team is hoping Jansen can stay healthy and provide some pop to their lineup. After missing the first few weeks of the season with a wrist fracture, Jansen slashed .205/.309/.349 with a .658 OPS, 9 homers, 24 RBIs, and 13 doubles between Toronto and Boston. Again, health is the name of the game for Jansen, but his legit power and experience of great rapport in the pitcher&#8217;s room makes this a great deal for the Rays.
Signed to a similar deal, the Rays acquired INF Ha-Seong Kim on a one-year, $13 million contract with a player option for 2026. Kim&#8217;s last four seasons were with the San Diego Padres, most recently hitting .233/.330/.370 with a .700 OPS, 11 home runs, 47 RBIs, and 16 doubles last year. His season was cut short in mid-August due to a tear in his labrum that would require surgery, and his absence will bleed into the beginning of this upcoming season. Once he does return, though, the former Gold Glover will offer the Rays positional flexibility in the infield as well as a bat that posted good plate discipline last season.
The Rays attacked the trade market as well, first off with the surprisingly active Athletics. In mid-December, the Rays sent SPs Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez to the A&#8217;s in exchange for SP Joe Boyle, first base prospect Will Simpson, pitching prospect Jacob Watters, and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick this year. This was a solid haul back for Springs and Lopez, with the draft pick putting the icing on the cake.
Boyle is a high-velo righty with legitimate command issues, however he has options remaining, so the Rays don&#8217;t need to rush him into their rotation. With a fastball averaging at 98 mph, Boyle has held a 5.23 ERA in his 16 major league appearances between &#8217;23 and &#8217;24. Simpson is coming off an .853 OPS season with 16 home runs and 81 RBIs in High-A Lansing, and Watters had far better success out of the bullpen than he did as a starter at the same level last season. At 23 and 24 years old, respectively, Simpson and Watters had flirted with relatively high prospect status with the A&#8217;s, which is nothing to scoff at given how much that pool has been flooded over the past several seasons.
Tampa also acquired RP Alex Faedo from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for catching prospect Enderson Delgado. Faedo pitched in multiple roles with the Tigers since his debut in 2022. 24 of his first 27 career appearances were starts, but the majority of his outings last season were out of the &#8216;pen. In total, Faedo pitched to a 3.61 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, and 4.4 BB/9 in 37 total appearances. Figuring to slide into a middle relief role with the Rays, Faedo is primarily a fastball-slider pitcher with the latter pitch generating a 43% whiff rate last season.
Among Tampa Bay&#8217;s minor league deals, their most notable add in that category was Eloy Jiménez, the former top prospect in the White Sox farm system. Since his .858 OPS season in 2022, it&#8217;s been slowly going downhill for Jiménez, so the Rays are hoping to be the spot where he figures everything out.
<h2>My take on Tampa Bay&#8217;s 2025 outlook</h2>
Health permitting (particularly with the rotation), I think the Rays have a high ceiling, and they&#8217;ve got to be believing in themselves a little more now that Baltimore and New York are going through significant pitching injuries of their own. I don&#8217;t think their chances of winning the division are that far from Boston&#8217;s. What have the Red Sox proved yet?
I have some doubts with their hitting, although a fresh and healthy start to the season for Caminero and Mead might be the injection of life that the team needs, and they&#8217;ll have an opportunity to spearhead their offensive success. Speaking of Mead, he&#8217;s off to a ridiculous start in Spring Training, slashing .696/.741/.870 through nine games. Yeah, it&#8217;s Spring Training, but I think it means something.
The Rays will have a unique season on and off the field. Due to damage to Tropical Field from Hurricane Milton last fall, the Rays will be <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/five-series-to-circle-on-the-toronto-blue-jays-2025-schedule">playing their home games</a> at George M. Steinbrenner Field, normally home of the New York Yankees&#8217; Single-A affiliate. The team and city also have decisions to make on The Trop, as well as a potential new ballpark later this decade. Furthermore, reports have also recently circulated that Rays ownership is being pressured to sell the team, with an unclear decision on said new ballpark being a driving factor.
Regardless, prepare yourselves for the Rays to be a good team in some capacity this year and still annoying to play against. The sooner you accept it, the less it&#8217;ll hurt later.
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The game's name for MLB offseasons has been about who will dish out the money. Do you know who doesn't usually take part in those contests? The Rays. And do you know who doesn't care? The Rays.

Tampa Bay is still running business as usual, and they still have the personnel to make things interesting in the American League East. Let's look at how they went about their offseason and 2025 outlook after a relatively disappointing season.
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<h2>2024 Season Recap</h2>
Saying that the Rays hovered around .500 last season is no cliché; three games over .500 was their best record, and five games under .500 was their worst. Given the lack of peaks and valleys, Tampa Bay finished with an 80-82 record, marking the first time since 2017 that the franchise finished a season with a losing record. It also halted their playoff appearance streak at five seasons.

Tampa Bay struggled at the plate in 2024, finished 27th in the league in batting average, 28th in the league in home runs, and 29th in the league in runs scored trailing only the Chicago White Sox. The squad overall was carried by their pitching staff, who boasted the 9th best team ERA and tied for 3rd in WHIP.

The big dogs for the Rays didn't play like big dogs, and it started with LF  Randy Arozarena. Usually one of the biggest contributors to Tampa Bay's offense, Arozarena struggled mightily last season. In his first 56 games of the season, Arozarena slashed a feeble .158/.257/.312 with a .568 OPS, 8 home runs, and 19 RBIs with only three multi-hit games.

Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe (when healthy) were able to steer the ship as best they could. Although it wasn't a Silver Slugger-type performance like he had in 2023, Díaz still hit a respectable .281/.341/.414 with a 755 OPS, 14 home runs, and 65 RBIs in 145 games. Although he faced lefties far less than righties, Díaz was elite against southpaws last year, hitting .347 with a .924 OPS against them.

Lowe led the team with 21 home runs, the third time in his Rays career that he had accomplished that feat. Isaac Paredes continued supplying a good deal of power with 16 homers and 55 RBIs, and José Caballero stole an American League-best 44 bases in his first year with the Rays.

The Rays missed the contributions of highly-touted prospects Junior Caminero and Curtis Mead, who made their MLB debuts at the end of the 2023 season. Caminero was able to get some playing time in August and September last year, but multiple quad injuries suffered earlier in the season kept him from hitting the ground running. Mead broke camp with the team, but was optioned to triple-A in early May after hitting .218 with one home run and five RBIs.

On the mound, the Rays had to rely on a couple of their younger arms with Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs, Shane Baz, and Drew Rasmussen either out completely with Tommy John surgery or limited after their recovery from their respective elbow surgery.
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Those aforementioned younger arms were ready for the challenge, with each of them having their own spurts of tremendous production. 23-year-old Taj Bradley had a nine-game stretch in June and July when he posted an ERA of 0.82 and only five earned runs allowed including a seven-inning, one-hit outing against the Yankees and seven shutout innings against the Cleveland Guardians.

Ryan Pepiot, part of the return in the Tyler Glasnow trade, held a 2.69 ERA and a .210 opponents batting average over his final 14 starts, allowing over two earned runs in a start only once. Sure, pointing out those numbers for Bradley and Pepiot are cherry-picking to an extent. But these are the guys that Tampa Bay will be relying on for the future.

With the season looking to be mediocre at best for the Rays, they decided to sell off some of their better players at the trade deadline. A slight uptick in numbers at the end of the first half of the season generated a solid return from the Mariners for Arozarena, high-leverage reliever Jason Adam kicked back three prospects from the Padres, and they cleared off some of their payroll by dealing SP Zach Eflin to the Orioles. Even a trade with the Chicago Cubs for Paredes gave them home run specialist Christopher Morel and a hard-throwing reliever in Hunter Bigge.

Adam's departure paved the way for reliever Edwin Uceta, who left a dominant impression on the organization to conclude the season. In his 30 appearances, Uceta posted a 1.51 ERA, 12.3 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, and a 0.82 WHIP. Playing on his fourth team in four years, Uceta <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/edwin-uceta-670955?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb">generated 37% whiff rates</a> on his fastball and changeup.
<h2>Offseason Moves</h2>
The Rays started their offseason by parting ways with their centre fielder from the previous two and a half seasons, trading Jose Siri to the New York Mets in exchange for relief pitcher Eric Orze. Drafted by the Mets in 2020, Orze made his major league debut last season, but only pitched in two contests. Unfortunately, those didn't go very well, but his 43 appearances in triple-A last year are likely what caught Tampa Bay's eye. In those outings, Orze held a 2.92 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and a 12.3 K/9. His walk numbers have been a concern during the past two seasons, but the Rays are an ideal team to find a remedy for this.

Tampa Bay has filtered through several catchers since the beginning of the 2020s, and they're adding another one to the list after signing former Blue Jay catcher Danny Jansen to a one-year, $8.5 million deal with a mutual option for the following year. The team is hoping Jansen can stay healthy and provide some pop to their lineup. After missing the first few weeks of the season with a wrist fracture, Jansen slashed .205/.309/.349 with a .658 OPS, 9 homers, 24 RBIs, and 13 doubles between Toronto and Boston. Again, health is the name of the game for Jansen, but his legit power and experience of great rapport in the pitcher's room makes this a great deal for the Rays.

Signed to a similar deal, the Rays acquired INF Ha-Seong Kim on a one-year, $13 million contract with a player option for 2026. Kim's last four seasons were with the San Diego Padres, most recently hitting .233/.330/.370 with a .700 OPS, 11 home runs, 47 RBIs, and 16 doubles last year. His season was cut short in mid-August due to a tear in his labrum that would require surgery, and his absence will bleed into the beginning of this upcoming season. Once he does return, though, the former Gold Glover will offer the Rays positional flexibility in the infield as well as a bat that posted good plate discipline last season.

The Rays attacked the trade market as well, first off with the surprisingly active Athletics. In mid-December, the Rays sent SPs Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez to the A's in exchange for SP Joe Boyle, first base prospect Will Simpson, pitching prospect Jacob Watters, and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick this year. This was a solid haul back for Springs and Lopez, with the draft pick putting the icing on the cake.

Boyle is a high-velo righty with legitimate command issues, however he has options remaining, so the Rays don't need to rush him into their rotation. With a fastball averaging at 98 mph, Boyle has held a 5.23 ERA in his 16 major league appearances between '23 and '24. Simpson is coming off an .853 OPS season with 16 home runs and 81 RBIs in High-A Lansing, and Watters had far better success out of the bullpen than he did as a starter at the same level last season. At 23 and 24 years old, respectively, Simpson and Watters had flirted with relatively high prospect status with the A's, which is nothing to scoff at given how much that pool has been flooded over the past several seasons.

Tampa also acquired RP Alex Faedo from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for catching prospect Enderson Delgado. Faedo pitched in multiple roles with the Tigers since his debut in 2022. 24 of his first 27 career appearances were starts, but the majority of his outings last season were out of the 'pen. In total, Faedo pitched to a 3.61 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, and 4.4 BB/9 in 37 total appearances. Figuring to slide into a middle relief role with the Rays, Faedo is primarily a fastball-slider pitcher with the latter pitch generating a 43% whiff rate last season.

Among Tampa Bay's minor league deals, their most notable add in that category was Eloy Jiménez, the former top prospect in the White Sox farm system. Since his .858 OPS season in 2022, it's been slowly going downhill for Jiménez, so the Rays are hoping to be the spot where he figures everything out.
<h2>My take on Tampa Bay's 2025 outlook</h2>
Health permitting (particularly with the rotation), I think the Rays have a high ceiling, and they've got to be believing in themselves a little more now that Baltimore and New York are going through significant pitching injuries of their own. I don't think their chances of winning the division are that far from Boston's. What have the Red Sox proved yet?

I have some doubts with their hitting, although a fresh and healthy start to the season for Caminero and Mead might be the injection of life that the team needs, and they'll have an opportunity to spearhead their offensive success. Speaking of Mead, he's off to a ridiculous start in Spring Training, slashing .696/.741/.870 through nine games. Yeah, it's Spring Training, but I think it means something.

The Rays will have a unique season on and off the field. Due to damage to Tropical Field from Hurricane Milton last fall, the Rays will be <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/five-series-to-circle-on-the-toronto-blue-jays-2025-schedule">playing their home games</a> at George M. Steinbrenner Field, normally home of the New York Yankees' Single-A affiliate. The team and city also have decisions to make on The Trop, as well as a potential new ballpark later this decade. Furthermore, reports have also recently circulated that Rays ownership is being pressured to sell the team, with an unclear decision on said new ballpark being a driving factor.

Regardless, prepare yourselves for the Rays to be a good team in some capacity this year and still annoying to play against. The sooner you accept it, the less it'll hurt later.

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