Jon Morosi thinks the rest of baseball ought to take a long look at how the Tampa Bay Rays put their roster together.
On Friday during an MLB Network segment shared on X, Morosi pointed to the Rays’ heavy use of trades as a model other clubs should examine. Tampa Bay entered the ALDS with 14 players acquired through trades, a number that underlines just how central that part of the market has become to the way the organization builds.
“It's time to study what the Rays have done,” Morosi said on Friday during an MLB Network segment shared on X.
The Rays have long leaned on a different kind of team-building than the sport’s biggest spenders. Rather than depending mainly on expensive free-agent additions, they have made the trade market a key source of talent, using it to fill needs and add players who can help while keeping costs in check.
That approach has been especially important for a club that has operated with a smaller payroll than many of MLB’s top teams. The trade route has allowed Tampa Bay to shape its roster in a way that fits its budget and still stay competitive.
Morosi’s point was simple: there’s value in studying a front office that keeps finding ways to construct a postseason roster through deals. The 14-player figure makes that case plainly.
For Tampa Bay, it’s less about one offseason and more about a long-running strategy. Now that strategy is front and center with the Rays’ ALDS roster as they prepare for the upcoming ALCS.
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Bostons latest hunt at catcher keeps drifting toward familiar territory, too. The Red Sox had shown interest in Hunter Feduccia before he landed with the Dodgers, where he is now working as a backup, and that kind of detour only adds to the sense that the AL Easts front offices are chasing overlapping answers again. Even Baltimore could be part of the same offseason chain reaction, with bullpen changes expected as Andrew Kittredge and Keegan Akin move toward free agency and Akin continues working back from Tommy John surgery. [Read more 🡒]