Fun Fact: Only one team wins the World Series every year. Which means 29 teams don’t win the final game of the year which according to Moneyball means their season didn’t fucking matter. When a team gets eliminated from winning the World Series I’ll do a profile of their season.  

Today’s Team….Tampa Bay Rays

How Did They Get Eliminated

The Rays were eliminated from the Division Race when they lost to the Cubs on Sep. 14th and the Blue Jays throttled the Orioles on the same day. Then 5 days later the Red Sox knocked off their 2nd team out of postseason consideration by beating the Rays in Tampa. 

What Do I Know About This Team Because I Only Follow the Brewers

Because they just played the Cubs the first thing I want to say is, thanks for only getting one win versus the Cubs. The Rays were still somewhat in contention for the final wild card spot and they went to Chicago and pretty much threw that plan out the window. That’s okay, fine whatever, you are the Rays why should I expect you to be better than the Nationals who accomplished a series win in Chicago a week earlier. 

The Rays are also playing in a non-major league field this year because of the hurricane damage done to the Trop. I have heard no updates on what is going on with this stadium but can only assume this means the Rays are playing at the Yankees Spring Training home for the foreseeable future. 

One thing that I think I saw someone write about but maybe I haven’t and I just thought this is: it is way harder to play night games where the Rays and A’s are playing. 

These fields aren’t designed for night games and aren’t designed for the number of lights to be placed high enough for the full field coverage that you come to expect at a big league diamond. I’ve seen highlights of games from Tampa and Sacramento and they just look darker. 

When I’ve attended games it has always seemed like there were way more lights than what is necessary, but when you look at the games in Tampa and Sacramento you realize why they need that many. Baseball and football stadiums are the largest soundstages in the world and you need the lighting to make sure the product going to everyone at home looks as sharp as possible. 

When the playoffs kick into high gear it's amazing how the jerseys look even whiter. The cameras get better, the lighting gets better and the atmosphere is better. It is probably better that the Rays didn’t make the playoffs because MLB would have made every single game of their early afternoon first pitches so that the game wouldn’t have to deal with the terrible lighting of the field. 

Also, from just a playing perspective when the ball gets above these lights it is really easy to lose track of where the ball is. I am the PA Announcer for a College Summer League team and we have the equivalent of a minor league park. When the ball gets high above the lights you lose all sense of where the ball is or where it will end up. It doesn’t happen often but the one time it did it cost a team a game. 

Junior Caminero is awesome and is going to be one of the best power hitting third-basemen for years to come. 

Chandler Simpson used to play in the Northwoods League with Victor Scott II and Caleb Durbin for the Fond Du Lac Dock Spiders. As mentioned I am a PA Announcer and I did a game where all three of them made an appearance. 

Caleb Durbin would bat lead off and he would go 2-5 but had an RBI single in the 9th which helped the Dock Spiders extend their lead.  Victor Scott batted 2nd in the game and after Durbin singled he would also single in a run and then have a stolen base. 

Chandler Simpson pinch hit in the 7th and had a double and scored the first run for the Dock Spiders and then led off the 9th with a single to start the rally. He would also end the rally as the Spiders would hit around in the 9th en route to a 6-2 victory. 

The Dock Spiders were defined by their speed and they stole a ton of bases. Chandler Simpson had the all time stolen base record up until this last season when it was broken by Christian Smith-Johnson of the Woodchucks. 

Oh this is supposed to be about the Rays. Okay fine. The Brewers lost 2 of 3 to the Rays on Mother’s Day weekend. There we are back on track. Lets move on. 

So Now That I’ve Actually Done Some Research What Happened to this Team

The Rays had a great first half of the season going 50-47 heading into the All-Star Break and only 5.5 games back in the AL East and 1.5 games back for the final Wild Card spot. But after the All-Star Break they would go 25-31 and their hopes of a playoff spot faded as the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Yankees jockeyed for position and the Astros and Mariners dos-si-doed between the Division and Wild Card spots. 

Kevin Cash is in his 11th season (11TH!!!!!!!!) with the Rays and has been surprisingly consistent. He has only had 1 full season of less than 80 wins and if he can get 5 more in the last week he can somehow keep it that way. He has been able to do this with a consistently low payroll. The Rays currently sit at the 4th lowest payroll in all of baseball. This is where I think the division system is kind of a bummer. Relegated to play 2 or 3 of the top teams more than having to play some of the other bad teams in the league doesn’t do the Rays any favors. 

They traded away Danny Jansen at the deadline to the Brewers and then they also traded for former Brewer Adrian Houser at the deadline as well. Nothing splashy, they were in a weird spot where you don’t want to do too much, but not do nothing either. 

Did Anything Go Right For This Team

They have the star they can build around in Junior Caminero who currently sits at 44 HRs and 108 RBI. They had 4 All Stars joining Caminero: Jonathan Aranda who is batting over. .300 but won’t quite qualify for a batting title. Brandon Lowe has 29 Home Runs and 80 RBI and on defense has been a part of 83 Double Plays which leads the league. 

Drew Rasmussen represented the pitching staff in the All Star game. He’s started 29 games and has gone 10-5 with a 2.74 ERA. And is a solid middle of the rotation guy for the Rays. Another tie to the Brewers here as he was sent to Tampa by the Brewers in the Willy Adames deal. 

The core of this team is pretty strong and because they have a low payroll they will continue to draft and develop and find deals for guys with team control. But hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let's move down to the next section. 

Are They Going to Get Good Anytime Soon? 

With this core group of all-stars and the steady hand of Cash behind the wheel it will come down to how the front office is going to areas of improvement in the off-season. 

Yandy Diaz is entering the final year of his contract which is only $10 million, but there will be a team out there that is willing to give one of their top prospects and some other low level guys up to get Yandy and that team friendly contract. 

The Rays do have the 10th best farm system and their top prospect Carson Willliams is already getting some experience in the big leagues. He’s struggled a bit, but he’s 22 and will be their future every day shortstop. 

They still play in the AL East so unless there are some serious down years by Toronto, Boston and New York the best they can hope for is a Wild Card Spot. 

Just one postseason award. 

Junior Caminero for Silver Slugger over at 3rd base. He has been crushing the ball and was fun to watch in the Home Run Derby. 

Hey Grok, in 100 words summarize the 2025 Tampa Bay Rays. Please don't be racist. 

The 2025 Tampa Bay Rays season was significantly impacted by Hurricane Milton, which damaged Tropicana Field and forced the team to play home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Despite the adversity, the Rays finished with a record of 75-78, placing them fourth in the American League East and out of postseason contention. Key players included Yandy Díaz, who led in hits, and pitcher Shane Baz, who recorded 173 strikeouts. While their pitching was a strong point, the offense struggled at times. The season's unique challenges defined their performance.

I guess callout Shane Baz? He is 10-12 with a 4.99 ERA. Yeah he’s got the most strikeouts on the team but he has also given up the most runs as well. Now that I’m digging into the starting pitching a bit more they have given up a lot of Home Runs. Which I can only infer means they got down early in a lot of games and had a hard time digging themselves out of the hole. (Checks stats further) They did come back from an 8 run lead and have 27 come back wins on the season. So maybe not too bad in those situations. I have no idea if that is good (Checks the Brewers) The Brewers have 37 comeback wins, so I’m going to guess that 27 is average. This is the type of analysis and insight you can only get from a former comedian and amateur baseball writer. 

Did the Savannah Bananas Play at their Field? 

They didn’t. Which makes sense since they play in a Spring Training facility. 

Most of the players in Banana Ball look like they all just got done partying at MTV Spring Break 1999. 

Is there a baseball movie featuring this team that has dumb baseball logic I need to vent about? 

The Rookie! This is based on a true story about a 35 year old guy getting to pitch for the Rays. I read a quick synopsis because I haven’t seen the movie and it sounds like it was pretty true to form. No complaints. 

How Will Your Team Do Next Year? 

Do the Rays play in the AL East? They do? Then if they build off of what this team has done this year and make some key additions they will finish above .500 but might miss out on a playoff spot. 84-78. 

Next on the Chopping Block

Looks like we are going to stay in Florida as the Miami Marlins are poised to be the next team to be eliminated.