Rays ‘revolving door’ compromised potential success

TAMPA, Fla. – One criterion for success in a team sport, like baseball, is multiple players having strong seasons at the same time. This addresses the need to be consistent as well as productive at a high level.

The concept of a “revolving door,” in which personnel are rapidly turned over, does not address one cardinal need for consistency among key players.

Consider the Tampa Bay Rays.

Here’s a team that has a successful track record and five consecutive trips in the post-season between 2019 and 2023. Finishing under .500 (80-82) last season, the Rays appeared to have regressed and slid dramatically through the 2025 season. One factor could be the rapid change in personnel and a broken pattern of attempting to maintain an elevated level of play.

On the catching corps and pitching staff, there has been a dramatic transformation.

Beginning the season on the Rays’ major league roster, both Danny Jansen (traded to Milwaukee) and Ben Rorhvedt (designated for assignment) were gone by the late July trade deadline. Also, one-third of the starting rotation, considered a strength of the club, was traded.

Here, Zack Littell was dealt to Cincinnati, and Taj Bradley was traded to the Minnesota Twins. Reliable reliever Kevin Kelly struggled on his return from left gluteal strain and eventually was dispatched to AAA Durham. Manuel Rodriguez was lost for the season in early July when he went down with elbow surgery to repair his flexor tendon. Reliever Hunter Bigge, recovering from a lat strain, was struck in the face with a foul ball on June 20, sustained multiple orbital fractures about the face, and is likely out for the remainder of the season.

Left-handed starter Shane McClanahan, after a spirited spring training, went down during his last spring start against Boston with nerve irritation and never recovered. Now, he is looking at a long and harsh rehab period his winter and hopes to rejoin the Rays next February at Port Charlotte, their spring training site.

Since the star of the season, the Rays attempted to play “small ball” with speed and bat acuity. That dimension was lost at the trade deadline.

Here, Erik Neuaner, president of baseball operation, traded infielder-outfielder Jose Caballero, who led the American League in stolen bases last season and was top of the leader board again this season, was traded to the New York Yankees. Plus, the Rays compromised on speed in the outfield when Kameron Misner, who provided agility in center field, was sent to AAA Durham on June 25.

Injuries also compromised manager Kevin Cash’s need to field a consistent lineup. Shortstop Taylor Walls, filling in until Ha-Seong Kim, who signed a two-year, $29 million deal last winter, recovered from right shoulder surgery. Subsequently, Walls went on the IR with a left groin strain, and thrust Kim into the everyday lineup.

Another factor in driving the Rays’ inability to form any consistent pattern is manager Cash. In the ever-dominating world of analytics, Cash is prominent in matching righty-against-lefties and noted for having pitchers on a short leash. Rarely does Cash acknowledge starters’ effort to go deep into games. Instead, he relies on the bullpen and that falls into an uncomfortable pattern of inconsistency. That is the case for both middle relievers and Peter Fairbanks, the Rays ‘ closer.

Also, Cash rarely presents the same line-up for consecutive games. The only consistent hitters, second baseman Brandon Lower and first baseman Yandy Diaz, hit at the top of the lineup, but not always in the same slot. In the long run, that could affect the role and productivity of hitters upon whom Cash and their teammates depend.

A schedule change  … A three-game series with the Red Birds was scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Aug. 22-24. The Saturday game conflicted with a Tampa Bay Buccaneers home pre-season game with Buffalo, and the Rays game was switched to Thursday. Because George Steinbrenner Field and Raymond James Stadium shared common parking lots, the logistics required one event to be changed. That’s when the Rays moved that Saturday game to Aug 21.

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