Tampa Bay Rays Trending as Sellers at MLB Trade Deadline

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Joe Rutland | Last updated Jul 17, 2025 12:46 PM ET

While the Tampa Bay Rays positioned themselves in a better way after the start of the 2025 MLB season, that momentum shifted downward toward the All-Star break. The Rays got off to a rough start, steadied their ship, then fell off the cliff.

At one point, it looked like Tampa Bay was going to be in a position as buyers heading into the MLB Trade Deadline. Now, though, that whole situation has moved in a new direction. The Rays lost 11 of 14 games before the break, including a four-game sweep by the Boston Red Sox.

This downward trend also has put their potential American League postseason hopes in jeopardy, too. Rays manager Kevin Cash has a lot of work to do ahead of the season picking back up on Friday, July 18.

Tampa Bay Rays' playoff odds took a nosedive after rough patch of losses heading into All-Star break, including Red Sox sweep

In looking at the Rays' situation, Chad Jennings and Tim Britton of The Athletic have Tampa Bay in a Tier 5 level. This article puts all MLB teams in different tiers depending on their potential moves at the deadline. The Tier 5 level indicates it's for teams "trending to the sell side."

MUST SEE: This sick angle of Junior Caminero crushing a homer pic.twitter.com/0fbRpPClwW
— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2025

"The Rays were trending to the buy side last time we did Trade Tiers, so much so that the league was plotting where they’d host playoff games," Jennings and Britton wrote. "But they lost 11 of 14 heading into the break, including a brutal four-game sweep against the Red Sox — the team directly ahead of them in the standings — in which three of the four losses were by one run.

"The Rays’ playoff odds have gone from 81.4 percent on June 28 to 37.1 percent at the break," Jennings and Britton wrote. "Ha-Seong Kim just made his season debut, the other three Rays infielders are All-Stars, Shane McClanahan finally started a rehab assignment, and the Rays already made a modest addition by trading for reliever Bryan Baker.

"Could they thread the needle by buying and selling? Sure," they wrote. "But the Rays aggressively sold with a similar record at this point last year, and they could decide to take that course again."

Don't expect Tampa Bay to drop third baseman Junior Caminero as he just competed in the Home Run Derby during All-Star week festivities. He's a source of power that the Rays need in their lineup. But the MLB Trade Deadline has been known to have a few surprises. Tampa Bay fans should brace themselves for any sudden changes.

The organization will look to improve its 40-man roster as the postseason push begins in earnest.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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