The Rays’ regular season dominance showed up again on the All-MLB ballot, and this time it came with three names on the list.
Junior Caminero landed on the All-MLB First Team, while Drew Rasmussen and Bryan Baker were both named to the Second Team when the 2026 All-MLB Team was announced Wednesday night at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas during The MLB Awards presented by MGM Rewards. Tampa Bay had the most selections of any American League club, and only the World Series champion Brewers finished with more overall, with four. No other team matched that total.
The All-MLB teams are based on the full regular season, not league affiliation, and are chosen through fan voting on MLB.com along with a panel of media members, broadcasters, former players and other officials around the game. The Rays entered with eight nominees and came away with three honorees.
That marks a strong showing for a franchise that had only four players make the First and Second Teams combined since the awards began in 2019. Before this year, Nick Anderson in 2020 was Tampa Bay’s lone First Team pick.
Caminero’s selection was no surprise after the season he put together at third base. He hit 42 home runs, drove in 101 runs and posted a .276/.360/.524 slash line while starting all 162 games at the position. At 23, he was the engine behind the AL East champions, powering the Rays to the top of the AL standings with big swings and a flair for the moment.
He was already a Second Team choice last year, but he took another step forward at the plate this season, showing better strike-zone control without giving up any of the thunder that made him one of the game’s most dangerous hitters.
Caminero’s season was packed with highlight moments. He homered in Tampa Bay’s return to a rebuilt Tropicana Field on April 6.
From June 25 through July 1, he went deep in six straight games, part of a run that included 10 homers in nine games and 11 in 11. He started the All-Star Game and participated in the Home Run Derby for the second straight year.
His biggest swing may have come on Sept. 11 at the Trop, when he hit the first walk-off homer of his career to clinch Tampa Bay’s first postseason berth since 2023.
Rasmussen and Baker joined him on the Second Team, giving the Rays three total selections and putting them alongside Caminero (2025), Brandon Lowe (‘20) and Charlie Morton (‘19) as the only Tampa Bay players to earn the honor.
Rasmussen missed out on the First Team rotation, which went to Jacob Misiorowski, Cam Schlittler, Chris Sale, Dylan Cease and Cristopher Sánchez, but he still earned recognition among the game’s best starters. He finished 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA in 172 innings over 30 starts, and the Rays won each of his final 12 regular-season outings. He also delivered a strong Game 1 start against the Yankees in the AL Division Series, helping set the tone for Tampa Bay’s pennant-winning postseason.
Baker’s path to the Second Team was just as impressive. The right-hander tied for the Major League lead with 41 saves and posted a 1.44 ERA in 62 1/3 innings over 65 appearances. He paired with Guardians closer Cade Smith on the Second Team, while Padres closer Mason Miller and Blue Jays right-hander Louis Varland took the First Team bullpen spots.
Baker did not open the year as Tampa Bay’s closer, but by mid-May he had become one of the most dependable finishers in the sport. His last blown save came on May 13 in Toronto, and from there he ran off 30 straight successful save chances in the regular season, then added five more in the playoffs.
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