With the Rays back in the American League Championship Series for the third time in franchise history, the debate practically writes itself: which version of this club was best?
That answer may still be a moving target, because what happens in the next week or two will shape the final verdict. Advancing to the World Series matters, and winning it would matter even more. But with the Rays now chasing another pennant after trips in 2008 and 2020, there’s enough history on the table to compare the three.
The 2008 team remains the standard for the franchise’s original breakthrough. Under Joe Maddon, that group went from worst to first, won 97 games and the AL East, then knocked out the White Sox in the ALDS, 3-1.
The ALCS was a roller coaster from the start: a loss to Boston at home, an extra-inning win in Game 2, then a surge through Fenway Park with 9-1 and 13-4 victories and a 7-0 lead in the seventh inning of Game 5 before the lead vanished. That collapse, according to people from that team, helped shape what came next.
The Rays returned home, dropped Game 6, then survived Game 7 in dramatic fashion, finishing with Dave Wills’ unforgettable call: “This improbable season has another chapter to it! The Rays are going to the World Series!”
That first trip to the Fall Classic didn’t end the way Tampa Bay wanted. After splitting the first two games at home against the Phillies, the Rays lost three straight on the road in brutal cold, with Game 5 pushed back two days.
The ALCS starters for that club were James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and Andy Sonnanstine. The top relievers were Grant Balfour, Chad Bradford, JP Howell, Trever Miller, David Price and Dan Wheeler.
The key names in the lineup: Willy Aybar, Jason Bartlett, Carl Crawford, Akinori Iwamura, Evan Longoria, Dioner Navarro, Carlos Peña and B.J. Upton.
The 2020 team took a different path to the same stage. The regular season was cut to 60 games, the postseason expanded, and most of the schedule was squeezed into neutral sites because of the pandemic.
Tampa Bay still finished 40-20, the equivalent of 108 wins, then swept the Blue Jays in the added Wild Card Series and beat the Yankees 3-2 in the ALDS. The ALCS against Houston, played in San Diego, became a gut-check series.
The Rays won the first three games behind Randy Arozarena’s historic run, then dropped three straight by scores of 4-3, 4-3 and 7-4 before pulling out Game 7. Arozarena and Mike Zunino homered in the clincher, and Charlie Morton carried a shutout into the sixth inning.
That club’s second World Series trip produced one of the franchise’s great highs and one of its most painful lows. Brett Phillips’ walkoff in Game 4, capped by his airplane run, became instant Rays lore.
But Game 6 turned into the moment everyone remembers for the wrong reason: Kevin Cash removed Blake Snell with a 1-0 lead, one on and one out in the sixth, and Nick Anderson then struggled badly as the Dodgers grabbed a 2-1 lead and turned it into a 3-1 Series-clinching win. The starters for that team were Blake Snell, Charlie Morton, Tyler Glasnow and Ryan Yarbrough.
The top relievers were Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo, John Curtiss, Pete Fairbanks and Aaron Loup. The key players included Willy Adames, Randy Arozarena, Ji-Man Choi, Yandy Diaz, Kevin Kiermaier, Brandon Lowe, Austin Meadows, Joey Wendle and Mike Zunino.
Now Cash’s latest group has put itself in position for another run. The Rays won 98 games to finish atop the American League, earned a first-round bye and then swept the Yankees in the ALDS.
The makeup of this team is different from the earlier versions, built around a clubhouse and spring-training camaraderie that feed a team-first approach. On the field, that has shown up in a group that wins in plenty of ways.
The offense blends power with small-ball elements like bunting, stealing and putting the ball in play, all of it designed to create problems for opponents. Add in the Rays’ usual strong defense and a starter-led pitching staff with a dominant closer in Bryan Baker, and the formula looks familiar in one important way: it’s built to make life miserable for whoever is on the other side.
The starters listed for this team are Drew Rasmussen, Freddy Peralta, Nick Martinez and Griffin Jax. The top relievers are Bryan Baker, Cam Booser, Kevin Kelly, Ian Seymour, Cole Sulser and Tyler Wells. The key players: Jonathan Aranda, Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz, Jonny DeLuca, Liam Hicks, Victor Mesa Jr., Chandler Simpson and Taylor Walls.
Around the club, there have been a few notable side stories. The Rays offered discounted $49 upper-deck tickets for ALCS Games 1 and 2 to military members, first responders and teachers, with the deal available until Sunday night.
Bench coach Rodney Linares was listed by Shannon Drayer of SeattleSports.com as one of five candidates for the Mariners’ managerial opening. After the ALDS sweep, MLB Network’s Kevin Millar said, “They’re tougher than tough.
They are getting their exposure that they deserve. They are a team that nobody wants to play.”
Baseball America said No. 2 overall pick Grady Emerson was rated the best pure hitter, fastest runner, best defensive player and best athlete among the Rays’ draft class. Taylor Smith, who spent seven years in the Rays’ front office before joining the Red Sox in October 2024 as an assistant GM, is reportedly a leading candidate for the A’s head of baseball operations job, while former Rays outfielder Sam Fuld, now a top executive with the Phillies, declined that job.
Starter Ryan Pepiot, who missed the entire season after hip surgery, has begun bullpen sessions and is expected to have a normal offseason and be ready whenever the 2027 season begins. And in international signing news, Baseball America reported the Rays are in line to land Jesus Arteaga, a switch-hitting catcher from Venezuela, once the rules and timing are settled under the next labor agreement.
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 🡒]
Red Sox Catcher Search Keeps Pointing To One Familiar AL East Name
The Rays have spent the offseason reminding the rest of the AL East how quickly roster-building can pay off when the right mix of trades, a Rule 5 Draft swing and a targeted free-agent addition come together. It was the sort of formula that helped fuel their run to the ALCS, and it is also the backdrop for any club around the division looking for ways to solve a weakness without overcommitting long term.
Bostons search for catching help has already taken one familiar path through the division, with Hunter Feduccia once a Red Sox target before landing with the Dodgers and settling in as a backup. The Orioles, meanwhile, could be heading into their own bullpen churn, with Andrew Kittredge and Keegan Akin both in line to reach free agency and Akin still working back from Tommy John surgery, a reminder that the AL Easts roster chessboard never stays still for long. [Read more 🡒]