The Rays Were Surprise Buyers at This Year’s Deadline

While it would’ve made sense for the Rays to lean into a soft-sell at this year’s deadline, they elected to go against the grain. By now this is hardly a surprise, but let’s take a closer look at the pieces that changed hands and determine where the club goes from here.

Breaking Down the Rays’ Moves

Even if the Rays didn’t go wild and move a ton of pieces, they found a way to remain active. They do as good of a job adding and subtracting at the same time as any other team in the league.

Here’s a quick breakdown of all of the moving parts surrounding this team at this year’s deadline (all players mentioned below are only ones with MLB experience):

In:

• C Nick Fortes
• RHP Adrian Houser
• RHP Griffin Jax

Out:

• C Danny Jansen
• C Ben Rortvedt
• UTIL Jose Caballero
• RHP Taj Bradley
• RHP Paul Gervase
• RHP Zack Littell

Just like we drew it up, right?

By quantity, the Rays lost more than they got at the deadline. By sheer quality, though, they just might be sitting pretty.

The fact of the matter is that this team is built like one that should be playing above .500 ball. They’re only one game under right now, and the roster is still full of upside.

Chandler Simpson is a firecracker atop the lineup. Lowe, Diaz, Jonathan Aranda, and Junior Caminero are a rock-solid two-through-five in the lineup. The bottom-half could use some work, but Fortes is a nice get behind the plate.

Houser, 32, has only made 11 starts for the White Sox this year, but he’s got a sparkling 2.10 ERA and 198 ERA+ through 68.2 innings of work. He added some velocity this past offseason and has looked like a whole new pitcher this year. The Rays were able to land him without giving up a major package in return, which is a win in itself.

Then there’s Jax, who’s a strikeout machine and a top-tier high-leverage arm. The 30-year-old is under control through the 2027 season and has a 2.00 FIP through 50 appearances this season, striking out over 14 batters per nine innings in the process. He immediately becomes one of the best arms on the Rays’ pitching staff, slotting in nicely alongside Fairbanks, Edwin Uceta, and Garrett Cleavinger.

Where Do the Rays Go From Here?

The honest answer is who the hell knows with this team? The Rays are always a hot streak away from making up serious ground in the AL East, and this year is the exact same situation. A 10-game deficit sure sounds like it’s going to be hard to make up, but the team doesn’t have to win the division to sneak into the postseason.

In fact, this team is only 3.5 games back of the third and final Wild Card spot. The current postseason format leaves the door open for way too many teams to have playoff aspirations, but the Rays are absolutely within striking distance.

To earn a Wild Card berth, Tampa doesn’t even need to rattle off a 10-game winning streak like the Red Sox did around the All-Star break. All they need to do is play their brand of baseball by piecing together wins in any and every way they can.

This team is talented enough to make a wild-card push down the stretch. Adding Houser to the rotation and Jax to an already solid bullpen is big for them. They were never going to make any of the massive splashes like other teams did around the league, but the Rays did exactly what they were supposed to do. Now it’s just time to put the new player to the test and see if they have a run in them.