ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays are back in offseason mode after a year that ended one round short of the prize they wanted most, and Erik Neander made it clear Tuesday that the work has already started.
Before spending nearly an hour fielding questions about Tampa Bay’s run to the World Series and what comes next, Neander looked back at how different this same exercise felt a year ago. In 2025, his year-in-review press conference came at the end of September at George M.
Steinbrenner Field after a 77-win season. This time, it happened in early November at Tropicana Field after the American League champion Rays reached Game 5 of the World Series.
Less than a week earlier, the Brewers were still in the building, celebrating the first championship in franchise history. The Rays were left to absorb a third World Series loss since 2008.
“Amazing how much can be accomplished in one year, and next time, we need to make sure we’re the team celebrating at The Trop,” Neander said. “But we were close.
It was an unbelievably special year in so many ways. A disappointing ending.”
Now the focus shifts to the questions hanging over the roster as the Rays try to get back there and finish the job.
The biggest one starts with Drew Rasmussen, and it’s hard to overstate how central he is to what they want to do next. Neander said the Rays have “every intention” of keeping him at the top of the rotation, even with a franchise-record $20 million due after the club picked up his option for 2027.
That kind of number matters for a team that has never paid that much for a single season to one player. Still, Rasmussen’s case is easy to make.
He went 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA in 172 innings over 30 regular-season starts, then followed that with a 2.20 ERA in 28 2/3 innings across five playoff starts. When he’s healthy, he’s been that good for years.
Pitching coach Kyle Snyder called Rasmussen “ the standard.” That’s the kind of label that tells you how the Rays view him, and how difficult it would be to imagine their rotation without him.
The rotation picture gets more complicated beyond that. Nick Martinez and Freddy Peralta are free agents, and Shane McClanahan is entering his final year before free agency, which raises the possibility of another major decision. Neander laid out Rasmussen, McClanahan, Griffin Jax, Ian Seymour and the returning Ryan Pepiot as the starting options to open next season.
That group has plenty of intrigue. Rasmussen and McClanahan bring top-of-the-rotation stuff when they’re right.
Jax was limited in workload but excellent in run prevention as a starter. Seymour flashed strikeout ability even while dealing with home run problems and a rough postseason.
Pepiot missed the entire year with a hip injury, but before that he had been a dependable innings source with an above-average ERA for the Rays.
On offense, Tampa Bay’s lineup is mostly expected to come back, which is not exactly a problem after how dangerous it looked during the regular season. It was athletic, it defended well, and it fit the way the Rays want to play. The question is whether there’s a way to get more production from the bottom third of the order without giving up those strengths.
The bullpen looks steadier on paper. Bryan Baker is back as closer, and so are Tyler Wells, Kevin Kelly and Cam Booser, among others.
That group got the job done in the regular season even without the kind of overpowering velocity and swing-and-miss stuff Milwaukee had in October. A full season from Wells should help, and the Rays have a track record of uncovering useful arms like Booser.
That leaves one final question: whether this winter brings a bigger swing.
It does not sound likely, at least not because the roster is full of obvious holes. But that may be what makes the offseason more interesting. With a strong core already in place, the Rays could have room to get creative.
They’ve shown they can do that before. At this year’s Trade Deadline, they added Peralta, Wells and Liam Hicks, and they have been more willing to push when they believe a move can move them closer to winning the franchise’s first World Series.
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