The Rays’ latest run to the ALCS came with a familiar Tampa Bay twist: a handful of under-the-radar moves turning into real October value.
Bryan Baker, Kevin Kelly, Victor Mesa Jr., Liam Hicks and Nick Martinez all played major roles in the club’s postseason push, and The Athletic’s Will Sammon dug into how the Rays went about finding and landing that group. Kelly arrived as a Rule 5 Draft pick from the Rockies in 2022.
Martinez was the outlier in cost, signing a one-year, $13MM free-agent deal last winter. Baker came from the Orioles for a Competitive Balance Round draft pick in July 2025, Mesa was acquired from the Marlins in a quieter deal last February, and Hicks came over from Miami again at this year’s trade deadline.
Martinez is the only one of that group carrying a meaningful price tag. The other four are set to make less than $4MM combined in salary in 2026.
For a team that has built its identity on finding value where other clubs don’t, it’s a striking return - and a reminder of how well Tampa Bay’s scouting, analytics and development machine keeps humming. If the Rays can finish the job and win the franchise’s first World Series this fall, that process will have paid off on the biggest stage possible.
Elsewhere in the division, Boston apparently had its eye on another catcher before making the bigger splash for Adley Rutschman. WEEI’s Rob Bradford reports the Red Sox pushed to acquire Hunter Feduccia before Tampa Bay sent him to the Dodgers. Feduccia became available once Hicks was added, and he would have been a fit only in a limited role in Boston anyway, given his .205/.303/.284 line across 370 Major League plate appearances.
Feduccia had spent a long stretch in the Dodgers organization before Tampa Bay dealt him there at the 2025 deadline. Los Angeles then brought him back amid injuries to both Will Smith and Dalton Rushing.
He has stayed in the backup role behind Smith through the NLDS, while Rushing has been unable to catch because of a partial UCL tear in his throwing elbow. Feduccia is under team control through 2031, which leaves open the possibility that Boston could circle back this winter if it wants to move on from Connor Wong as Rutschman’s backup.
On the Orioles’ side, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko looked at the bullpen picture and suggested both Andrew Kittredge and Keegan Akin may be on their way out in free agency. Akin’s situation is complicated by the Tommy John surgery he underwent this past July, and Kubatko noted he may not pitch at all in 2027. Even so, that could give Baltimore a reason to consider a low-cost two-year deal that pushes most of the money into 2028, when Akin would presumably be healthy again.
Kittredge, meanwhile, missed the first month because of shoulder inflammation but still turned in a strong year, posting a 3.54 ERA over 48 1/3 relief innings with a 5.1% walk rate. The concern is that his strikeout rate fell sharply from 2025 to 2026, and he’s heading into his age-37 season.
In Other News...
Rays Just Created An ALCS Edge Fans Will Argue About
The Rays spent the ALDS doing what they do best, keeping the Yankees from ever finding a foothold and moving through the matchup in a clean sweep. By the time they wrapped up on Oct. 7, Tampa Bay had already put itself in position to sit back, reset and wait for its next opponent, whether that ends up being the Guardians or the White Sox.
That pause matters in a postseason where every bullpen decision gets magnified, and it could leave Tampa Bay with a real edge when the ALCS begins on Monday at Tropicana Field. The Rays did not have to lean hard on their pitching staff in the first round, which means the group should be fresher than the club waiting on the other side of the bracket, and that is the sort of advantage opposing fans will debate right away if the series starts going their way. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Young Bats Are Showing Why October May Not Be Too Big
Junior Caminero and Jonathan Aranda did not play like young hitters blinking under October lights during the Rays' sweep of the Yankees in the ALDS. Both turned in notable offensive contributions, helping Tampa Bay control a series that could have felt bigger than their age or experience level, and manager Kevin Cash pointed to the work they had already banked earlier in the year as part of the reason they looked so steady.
The World Baseball Classic gave them a setting with real edge and real pressure, and Cash credited those games with helping prepare them for the postseason atmosphere. For a Rays club that leaned on youth and needed immediate production, the sight of Caminero and Aranda looking comfortable in a playoff setting offered more than just a nice October subplot, it hinted at how little stage fright this group may carry into whatever comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Where This Rays Team Already Stacks Up Against 2008 And 2020
The Rays are back in the American League Championship Series again, and that alone puts this group in rare company. It is only the third time in franchise history theyve reached this stage, which makes the natural comparison with the 2008 and 2020 clubs hard to avoid. Those earlier teams each carved out their own place in Rays lore, one built on the clubs first breakthrough and the other on a pandemic-shortened season that still demanded a ton of poise, talent and resilience.
This current group has already done enough over the course of the season and early October to belong in that conversation, with a strong regular season and a convincing run through the postseason so far. The question now is not whether this Rays team is worthy of standing next to those others, but whether it can keep going far enough to leave its own permanent mark on the franchise timeline. [Read more 🡒]