Rays’ biggest mistake after 2026 MLB trade deadline

One of the team’s great strengths has been the team’s starting pitchers. The foursome of Nick Martinez, Drew Rasmussen, Shane McClanahan and Griffin Jax have been able to give the Rays the kind of consistency that few teams have from their pitching staff.

None of the four dominate opponents with an overwhelming fastball, and that’s a rarity in today’s game. Martinez, for example, has just 73 strikeouts in 129.0 innings. Nevertheless, he has an 11-3 record with a 2.65 earned run average while making 22 starts for the team.

The Rays wanted to add the dominant Skubal to the rotation but they came up short. The Dodgers are the richest team in Major League Baseball while the Rays are not close. They appeared to have the prospects to entice the Tigers to make the deal, but it was not to be.

The Rays are used to falling short in many of the off-the-field measurements and they use that as fuel for their on-field performance. This team has a chip on it’s shoulder and the loss in the Skubal competition just increased that chip size dramatically.

Peralta must establish himself quickly

Neander went out and got Peralta from the sluggish New York Mets. After three quality seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, Peralta struggled badly after coming to the Mets. He started 22 games for New York and he had a 5-9 record with a 4.99 ERA. He struck out 113 batters in 113.2 innings while pitching in New York.

The Rays believe he can get back to top form while pitching for a true contender in Tampa. However, his first foray on the mound for Tampa was nearly disastrous. He started in Denver Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies and allowed 9 hits and 7 earned runs in 3.2 innings on the mound. He struck out 3 and walked 1, while giving up 2 home runs in his brief outing.

Nobody is going to come to a conclusion based on one appearance in the hitter’s paradise of the Mile High City, but Martinez had no trouble less than 24 hours later when he blanked the Rockies in 5.2 innings on the mound.

While the Rays may come up short with Peralta if he doesn’t straighten things out quickly, they made an underrated move by acquiring catcher Liam Hicks from the Miami Marlins at the deadline.

Hicks is not a stellar defensive catcher, but he has an excellent bat. He is slashing .282/.364/.439 with 15 home runs and 66 runs batted in. Hicks mashed a home run and drove in 4 runs in his debut with the Rays Tuesday night.

Adding this bat to the Diaz-Aranda-Caminero troika at the top of the lineup may pay dividends for the Tampa Bay offense. He could help turn the dangerous Rays atack into something of a wrecking crew.