The 2024 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Transaction: Hoping to shore up our leaky defense some, Taylor Walls got the call from Durham to play SS while Nick Loftin, who struggled after coming over from the Royals, was sent to Durham.

August 19: at Oakland 3-5 L. LP-Pepiot (10-8, 6 6 4 4 1 7). HR-B.Lowe (12). Pepiot is having a bad second half, allowing 3 homers today and 11 in his last 5 starts.

August 20: at Oakland 9-0 W. WP-Littell (6-7, 9 2 0 0 2 5). HR-Campusano (3/5), Paredes (29). On the other hand Littell has been our best pitcher of late and today he threw the first complete game and shutout of the season on 101 pitches. He had plenty of support with battery mate Campusano going 4-4 with a homer and 4 RBI.

August 21: at Oakland 2-5 L. LP-Springs (0-3, 4 7 5 5 0 5). Getting Springs back has been far from a panacea as he's now 0-3, 6.75 since returning.

August 22: at Oakland 5-4 W. WP-Bradley (6-5, 7 3 1 1 0 7). HR-P.Meadows (3/7), J.Lowe (9). Taj has also been on a roll of late and lowered his ERA to 3.22 with today's gem. Fairbanks gave up 3 runs in the 9th to make it way too interesting.

August 23: at LA Dodgers 3-4 L. LP-Rasmussen (0-2, 5.1 5 4 4 1 2). HR-Walls (1). Ras gave up 4 in the first two innings and although he settled down the damage was done.

August 24: at LA Dodgers 6-10 L. LP-Pepiot (10-9, 2.2 6 6 6 3 2). HR-B.Lowe (13), Pinto (11), Paredes (30). Pepiot's woes continued with 3 more homers allowed and his much-ballyhooed showdown with Tyler Glasnow was a dud as Glas was gone after 4 innings himself. Shohei Ohtani homered 3 times and drove in 6 for LA.

August 25: at LA Dodgers 2-4 L. LP-Littell (6-8, 6 5 3 3 1 6). HR-Paredes (31), Siri (8). The Rays continue to circle the drain. About a month ago these two teams had essentially the same record but since then the Dodgers have finally gotten their act together and are now 67-64 and into the 3rd NL wild card.

Record: 59-71. Next week: 3 in Seattle and then a travel day to return home to play 3 against San Diego.

Players of the Week:

AL: Trayce Thompson (TOR): 7-11, 3 HR, 7 RBI
NL: Sean Murphy (ATL): 9-17, 4 HR, 10 RBI

[Art Deco]

August 26: at Seattle 2-6 L. LP-Springs (0-4, 4.2 6 3 3 2 7). Another mediocre outing for both Springs and the offense, although Yandy pulled his weight going 3-4 with both RBI.

Transaction: Poor Taylor Walls. Finally called up to play SS most ever day after fighting back from injury to start the year and now he tears his labrum, finishing his 2024. Nick Loftin is back up from Durham.

August 27: at Seattle 4-9 L. LP-Adam (2-5). Starter-Bradley (4 7 4 4 1 2, 3 HR). Rays came back to tie it at 4 in the 7th only for the bullpen to allow 5 runs. Loftin was 3-4 with an RBI double in his return from the minors.

Transaction: Finally had it with Spencer Torkelson, who's hit 185/256/331 since the trade so he's down to Durham and back up is Jonathan Aranda to DH against righties. Aranda hit 307/404/623 with the Bulls with 19 HR in 215 AB.

August 28: at Seattle 8-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (1-2, 6.2 4 1 1 1 9). HR-J.Lowe (10), Paredes (32), B.Lowe (14), Aranda (4), Y.Diaz (14). Finally a win as they put it all together today with Ras's best start since coming back and five homers, including one from the just-recalled Aranda.

August 29: Off-Day.

August 30: vs San Diego 6-1 W. WP-J.Lopez (1-0). Starter-Pepiot (4.2 3 1 1 2 6). HR-B.Lowe (15). Another quality game. I quick-played this one and the AI took out Pepiot one out short of a win at 81 pitches. The Lowes knocked in 5 (Brandon 3, Josh 2).

August 31: vs San Diego 7-5 W. WP-Contreras (3-0). S-Fairbanks (22). Starter-Littell (5 8 5 5 1 5). HR-Y.Diaz (15). Rays were down 5-3 in the 6th before Yandy's 3-run homer won it for them. Luis Campusano was 3-4 with an RBI against his old team.

Transaction: September Roster expansion saw the recalls of Junior Caminero and reliever Nic Enright, acquired from Cleveland back in June for Harold Ramirez. Caminero will be inserted into the lineup to see what he can do.

September 1: vs San Diego 2-3 L. LP-Adam (2-6). Starter-Springs (5.1 7 0 0 2 3). HR-Paredes (33). Isaac's 2-run homer in the 6th tied it at 2 but Adam once again gave it right back.

Record: 62-74. Next week: Minnesota visits the Trop for 4 before we decamp to Baltimore for 3.

Players of the Month:

AL Batter: Trevor Story (BOS), .372-8-21
NL Batter: Marcell Ozuna (ATL), .281-14-38 (Ozuna leads MLB with 51 HR)
AL Pitcher: Jack Neely (NY), 4-0, 2.16, 33 K
NL Pitcher: Eduardo Rodriguez (ARI), 4-1, 0.85, 39 K
AL Rookie: Marcelo Mayer (BOS), .347-7-21
NL Rookie: Adael Amador (COL), .319-7-20

Players of the Week:

AL: Jose Altuve (HOU), 18-26(!), 1 HR, 9 RBI
NL: Kris Bryant (COL), 11-24, 3 HR, 8 RBI

Also our star-in-the-making Carson Williams was again named SL Player of the Week, going 9-22 with 3 HR and 15 RBI for Montgomery. He's hit 302/391/598 for the Biscuits with a 12.1 ZR at SS and earned a promotion to Durham for the rest of the season. Penciling him in as our SS next season.

MLB Standings as we hit the final month:

[Art Deco]

September 2: vs Minnesota 7-6 W. WP-Maton (4-4). S-Fairbanks (23). Starter-Bradley (4 4 3 3 3 4). HR-Caminero (13). Parker Meadows had a nice game, going 2-3 with a walk, two steals, and two RBI including the winner in the 7th.

September 3: vs Minnesota 6-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (2-2, 6 4 1 1 3 7). S-Maton (2). HR-Caminero (14), Siri (9), Pinto (12). Junior had himself a game, going 3-4 with a couple of RBI including his second homer in as many games. Unfortunately Josh Lowe broke his thumb and will be out 3-4 weeks.

Transaction: J.Lowe goes on the IL and Jonny DeLuca comes back up from Durham.

September 4: vs Minnesota 3-1 W. WP-Contreras (4-0). S-Fairbanks (24). Starter-Pepiot (5 3 1 1 1 9). Jonny DeLuca was the hero in his first game back, hitting a bases-clearing double in the 8th to provide the margin of victory.

September 5: vs Minnesota 9-2 W. WP-Littell (7-8, 5.2 5 2 2 0 5). DeLuca had a double and two more RBI and Parker Meadows broke it open with a bases-clearing double as the Rays actually swept a series! Certainly for the first time since I took over in May and perhaps all season.

September 6: at Baltimore 6-5 W. WP-Springs (1-4, 6 3 2 2 3 7). S-Fairbanks (25). HR-Paredes (34), Aranda (5). Jeffrey Springs picked up his first win in 17 months while Aranda was 3-4 with a homer and 2 RBI as the Rays have an honest-to-goodness win streak going at 5 and have taken 8 of 9 overall. A bit too little, too late but enjoyable nonetheless.

September 7: at Baltimore 9-4 W. WP-Enright (1-0). S-K.Kelly (1). Starter-Bradley (4.1 5 4 2 1 4). HR-Campusano (4/6), B.Lowe (16), Caminero (15). That's 6 straight for Tampa Bay as Caminero has stayed red-hot since his recall with 3 hits and his 3rd homer of the week and Diaz, Aranda and B.Lowe each drove in a pair.

September 8: at Baltimore 6-10 L. LP-Rasmussen (2-3, 3 8 6 6 1 3). HR-Caminero (16). Ras and the pen just didn't have it today as the Rays missed out on a perfect week and saw their 6-game win streak snapped. Caminero did complete a 4-homer week though.

Record: 68-75. No shot at the playoffs, but if they stay hot they can make a run at. 500. Next week: They'll have to get it done on the road with 3 in Philly followed by 4 in Cleveland.

Players of the Week:

AL: This guy:



NL: Marcell Ozuna (ATL), 8-21, 5 HR, 6 RBI. Ozuna's ridiculous season continues as he has 56 HR and 149 RBI with three weeks still to go.

[Art Deco]

September 9: at Philadelphia 5-3 W. WP-Pepiot (11-9, 6 6 3 3 2 5). S-Fairbanks (26). HR-Siri (10). Paredes was 3-3 with 3 RBI as the Rays' good run continues.

September 10: at Philadelphia 6-4 W. WP-Littell (8-8, 5.2 3 3 3 3 2). S-Maton (3). HR-Siri 2 (12), DeLuca (2). Siri homered twice and knocked in 3 while DeLuca homered and drove in the other 3 as the Rays won again.

September 11: at Philadelphia 1-2 L. LP-Maton (4-5). Starter-Springs (5.2 8 1 1 0 2). Rays drop a heartbreaker when Philly scores in the 8th off Maton.

September 12: at Cleveland 1-3 L. LP-Bradley (6-6, 6.2 5 2 2 2 3). HR-Y.Diaz (16). Tough night as the offense only managed three hits.

September 13: at Cleveland 7-3 W (10). WP-Cleavinger (6-1). Starter-Rasmussen (7 6 2 2 0 4). Loftin's pinch-RBI double in the 9th tied it up and 4 in the 10th with DeLuca's RBI single the winner.

September 14: at Cleveland 3-4 L. LP-Pepiot (11-10, 6.1 5 4 4 2 7). HR-Palacios (7), Loftin (1/3). Rays had a 3-2 lead in this one but Pepiot's bugaboo the homer came back to haunt him when he gave one up in the 7th to lose it, his 32nd allowed in 159 IP this year. Nick Loftin had his first Rays homer, a 2-run shot, to put them ahead.

September 15: at Cleveland 0-2 L. LP-Littell (8-9, 6.1 3 1 1 0 3). It was scoreless before the Guardians broke through for 2 in the 7th. Another tough night for the bats with only 4 hits.

Record: 71-79. Next week: The final homestand of the year with Monday off before 3 against Boston and 3 vs Toronto.

Players of the Week:

AL: Brent Rooker (OAK), 7-13, 3 HR, 7 RBI
NL: Matt Olson (ATL), 9-19, 2 HR, 3 RBI

[Art Deco]

September 16: Off-Day.

September 17: vs Boston 13-4 W. WP-Springs (2-4, 6 3 3 3 4 6). HR-Siri (13), Pinto (13), Caballero (6), Caminero (17). Caminero was 4-5 with the homer and 5 RBI, Mead & Pinto knocked in 3, and Paredes was 3-3 with 4 runs scored in the rout.

September 18: vs Boston 1-9 L. LP-Bradley (6-7, 5 5 4 4 1 6). HR-Campusano (5/7). Red Sox returned the favor of last night's rout.

September 19: vs Boston 5-9 L. LP-Rasmussen (2-4, 2.2 5 6 6 5 4). HR-Aranda (6). Brutal outing by Ras and 4 errors made it a long night.

September 20: vs Toronto 1-2 L. LP-Pepiot (11-11, 5.2 5 2 2 4 7). Rays got the pitching for a change but not the hitting.

September 21: vs Toronto 9-6 W. WP-Vasquez (2-1). S-Fairbanks (27). Starter-Littell (3.1 7 5 5 3 1). HR-DeLuca (3), P.Meadows (4/8). Littell put them in an early 5-1 hole but they rallied back thanks in large part to a career game from Jonny DeLuca, who was 3-4 with a homer and 4 RBI while Curtis Mead was 3-5 with 2 RBI as well.

September 22: vs Toronto 2-1 W. WP-Springs (3-4, 7 4 1 1 3 8). S-Adam (6). Springs pitched his best game of the year and Brandon Lowe had 3 hits as the Rays won their final home series of the season.

Record: 74-82. Earlier in the week we were officially eliminated from playoff contention, confirming what's been known for months. Next week: We close out the regular season on the road with 3 in Boston and 3 in Detroit after an off-day on Monday.

Down on the Farm: AA Montgomery was our only affiliate to make the playoffs, and they likely won't be for long as they're down 0-3 in their first round series against Biloxi.

Players of the Week:

AL: Yoan Moncada (CHI): 13-22, 0 HR, 4 RBI
NL: Pete Alonso (NY): 11-24, 4 HR, 11 RBI

[Art Deco]

September 23: Off Day.

September 24: at Detroit 9-2 W. WP-Bradley (7-7, 7 4 2 2 1 9). HR-Paredes (35), Aranda (7), Campusano (6/8). Rays coasted behind a great Taj outing and Aranda's 4-4, 2-RBI day.

September 25: at Detroit 6-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (3-4, 7 2 1 1 2 5). HR-DeLuca (4), P.Meadows (5/9). Ras finished the regular season on a high note while DeLuca was 3-5 with a homer and 3 RBI.

September 26: at Detroit 3-5 L. LP-Cleavinger (6-2). Starter-Pepiot (6.1 6 1 1 0 5). Rays took a 2-1 lead into the 8th before Cleavinger gave up a 3-run homer to lose it.

September 27: at Boston 2-7 L. LP-Littell (8-10, 4 8 3 3 1 5). HR-Caminero (18). Rays were never in this one.

September 28: at Boston 6-17 L. LP-Springs (3-5, 4 10 5 5 2 5). HR-Loftin (2/4), Caminero (19). Oof. Rays were down 16-0 in this one before getting on the board.

September 29: at Boston 10-2 W. WP-Bradley (8-7, 5 7 2 2 1 6). HR-Aranda (8), B.Lowe (17), Paredes (36), Siri (14). Tampa Bay closed out its regular season in fine fashion, getting 4 in the first and rolling from there, including a Siri slam.

Final Regular Season Record: 77-85. Next will be a full season-ending stats and standings post.

For some reason OOTP doesn't do Players of the Week for the final week of the regular season, so we don't have those this time. But we do have Players of the Month for September:

AL Batter: Henry Ramos (BOS), .347-12-28
NL Batter: Marcell Ozuna (ATL), .392-15-30
AL Pitcher: Chris Paddack (MIN), 3-0, 1.33, 23 K in 27 IP
NL Pitcher: Aaron Nola (PHI), 3-0, 0.94, 27 K in 28.2 IP
AL Rookie: Wyatt Langford (TEX), .361-8-20
NL Rookie: Cole Henry (WAS), 4-1, 2.79, 29 K in 29 IP

Ozuna just capped a power year not seen in decades, finishing with 66 HR and 173 RBI. The 66 homers tied Sammy Sosa for the third-most in a single season all-time, and the ribbies were the most since Jimmy Foxx's 175 in 1938, and the 7th-best single-season total in MLB history!

[Art Deco]

The shocking thing here is how few ERA qualifiers there were - apparently Aaron Nola was in the only one in the NL and there weren't too many in the AL as Ryan Pepiot finished 3rd despite a 4.31 ERA. Meanwhile the Yankees squeaked in as the third wild card, tied with Houston but getting the nod since they swept the Astros 7-0 in their season series.



This is pretty ugly all around, looking at those team stats I wonder how we won 77 games. Aside from running the bases well and having halfway-decent starting pitching with a good BB/K rate there's nothing here to like.



I don't know why OOTP 25 puts all the pitchers in the batting report as well, especially since none of them came to the plate. Paredes was the clear team MVP, continuing to improve each year. Yandy had a dreadful first half but reverted to his 2023 form in the second to have a fine season. After that it was a lot of ugly although nobody than the two above had much more than 100 games player or 350 at-bats as injuries, trades, and platoons kept us from having a set lineup. One bright spot is that three of our young hitters had big Septembers: Caminero hit 337/379/600 with 7 HR, Aranda 321/400/513, and Mead 348/426/391.



An uncharacteristically bad performance from the pitching staff in 2024, although Taj took a step forward this year and Littell looks like the real deal as a starter. With McClanahan coming back and Rasmussen and Springs with a full winter to prepare, hopefully the rotation will be strong and deep next year. The bullpen needs a big-time makeover, though.



There is some hope for the future. Williams will get the chance to win the SS job next season, Isaac will probably be at AAA but could help the team, and Smith has an outside shot at the big club although with our starting depth he'll likely be in the minors.

Next up: The Wild Card round of the playoffs.

[Art Deco]

Minnesota advances to face Baltimore in the ALDS.



Big series for Stanton (4 HR) as he leads the Yankees to move on and play Cleveland in the ALDS.



Cards made quick work of the Cubs at Wrigley and now will have to go up against mighty Atlanta in the NLDS.



Is there another WS run in Arizona's future? There could be after they dispatched the Dodgers, ending a season LA fans thought would be a big one after adding Ohtani and Glasnow. Instead the D-Backs will advance to face Milwaukee in the other NLDS.

[Art Deco]

Andres Gimenez was named MVP of this series.





Rookie Jackson Chourio was named MVP of the series.

[Art Deco]

In the end it went chalk as the top team in each league advanced to the Fall Classic, although Atlanta had to come back from 3-1 down in the NLCS.

[Art Deco]

Congrats, Baltimore!

[Art Deco]

With the 2024 version this is the first time I've taken over a mediocre team in a Rays save so it's going to be a bit of a challenge. While there are some good players in the pipeline and the staff should be better next year with everyone back from injuries, the bullpen is pretty bad and the offense is going to be a work in progress.

First of all, according to the email I got from Stuart Sternberg he wants the payroll slashed to $75M. What I've noticed in OOTP 25 is that despite what the owner says I should have for payroll it appears that under "money for free agents" it shows availability up to the full budget amount. Nevertheless I'm still going to try and honor Stu's wishes and keep the payroll in the $75-80M range. The options of Phil Maton ($7.5M) and Chris Devenski ($2M) were not picked up, and we're going to non-tender Tyler Alexander, Colin Poche, and Taylor Walls which should save a combined $6M. With that in mind, here's how things shake out position-by-position:

C: Outside of Mike Zunino's career year in 2021 this position has been a black hole for the franchise ever since it famously took Tim Beckham ahead of Buster Posey in the 2008 draft. It's not quite horrible as midseason acquisition Luis Campusano and holdover Rene Pinto give us a halfway-decent combo. The two combined for 19 HR and 67 RBI and 1.3 worth of WAR. Down the road we could hear from Dominic Keegan, who hit 312/410/566 with 26 HR at AA Montgomery. Keegan's only a 40-rated catcher with 45 potential though, so he's a true bat-first guy.

1B: Yandy Diaz's 3-season run of 12.6 WAR is one of the best at the position in baseball and the 33-year-old is slated to make $10M in 2025 which makes him a big-money guy on this team. While it would give us some financial flexibility to deal him (he has a 2026 $12M team option so he wouldn't be a rental), I hold out hope we can at least contend for a wild card in 2025 so Yandy will stay. His heir apparent though is one of our top prospects, Xavier Isaac (ranked #23 overall by OSA), who hit 43 homers between A+ and AA last year and has potential 70 power. So if things go badly in 25, we deal Yandy and if they go well, Isaac takes over in 2026.

2B: Although he's not a great fielder at the position, 2B looks like the domain of our top young player Junior Caminero. Junior had a literal up-and-down season in 24, hitting well after a late May recall then slumping so badly he was sent back down in July, only to return red-hot in September. He still managed 19 HR and 51 RBI in 88 games at the MLB level, so he's up to stay now.

SS: Jose Caballero and Nick Loftin played the position for us in 24 and were kind of a weak link with neither spectacular defensively and the way this team is built we need good SS play. Fortunately it just so happens we have the overall #4 prospect in baseball hopefully ready to take over in Carson Williams. He should relegate Caballero and Loftin to utility roles after a season which saw him hit 302/391/598 with 32 HR at Montgomery and add 6 more homers at Durham for good measure in 67 at-bats (albeit with a .209 average). His defense is way above average, and if he can hit .230 or better with 25-homer power at the big-league level, he'll be valuable indeed with a ceiling higher than that.

3B: Team MVP Isaac Paredes mans the position, and he'll be getting a raise to $8M but is well worth it, after a 5-WAR, 36 HR, 109 RBI year.

IF: Caballero, Loftin, and Richie Palacios (2B) are in the mix, as is Curtis Mead, who can play 1B, 2B and 3B but not that well but he has the best bat of the lot (still considered MLB's #46 prospect) and could figure in at DH. Palacios plays the OF so his versatility and good eye make him a likely roster candidate.

LF: Brandon Lowe was moved here to make room for Caminero at 2B and the one-time MVP vote-getter has fallen off due to injury the last few years. He's a prime candidate to be dealt as he'll make $10.5M next season. Consequently, we'll be looking for someone to man this spot.

CF: After we picked up Parker Meadows mid-season he platooned with Jose Siri. They're both outstanding defensive CFs but neither can hit much above the Mendoza Line. They did hit 23 HR and steal 45 bases between them so they're not total offensive zeroes at least.

RF: Josh Lowe had a breakout year in 2023 but injuries set him back last season and he ended up 245/320/401 last year. Some of the reduced numbers were due to playing more against lefties but we're going to need him to bounce back next year.

OF: One of Meadows/Siri will be on the bench and we also have Jonny DeLuca, who also hit well after coming back up late in the season and can spell J.Lowe against lefties in RF and play some in LF.

DH: Yet another guy who hit a lot better in his second call-up was lefty-swinging Jonathan Aranda, but he needs a platoon partner at DH. This is where Mead could come in, but we only have so many roster spots.

Others: I haven't even mentioned Spencer Torkelson, acquired from Detroit and who had a miserable season which concluded in Durham. He'll be in the mix again for the LF job if B.Lowe is dealt, but he's going to have to hit a lot better to overcome his poor defense. C Alex Jackson hit 36 homers at Durham but is rated a poor 35 behind the plate so he's really an emergency option. OF Kameron Misner is similar to Siri & Meadows with good D but iffy contact.

Rotation: This could be a strength next season as we welcome the return of Shane McClanahan, one of the game's better pitchers. Of course after Tommy John surgery we have to be careful to see if he's downgraded in his ratings, including stamina. Ryan Pepiot and Zack Littell had solid seasons, although Pepiot was somewhat homer-prone, Taj Bradley was very good in his first full season after missing most of April and May with a muscle injury, and then we have Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmsussen, who were great in 2022-23 and had mixed results after returning in the second half of 2024. Both are still rated well and hopefully will be a better a year further removed from surgery, so we have potentially six starters and that's not including Shane Baz, who was a mixed bag in his return from injury and spent much of the season at Durham. Further down the depth chart are a couple of guys we acquired in trade, Randy Vasquez and Reese Olson. Vasquez pitched in long relief and probably will return to that role while Olson likely starts the year at Durham to give us depth.

Bullpen: The pen was horrible last year, although closer Pete Fairbanks did his job and will return. It's getting to him that's the problem. We'll likely give his erstwhile setup man Jason Adam another shot, he still has good ratings including 65 stuff but had a terrible year (5.62 ERA, 11 HR in 56 IP). Maton had taken over the primary setup role and had a good season, but $7.5M was just too much to pay for him. Garrett Cleavinger is a solid option from the left side, but with Poche being shown the door the next lefty up is Jacob Lopez, who looked good at times and is more a multi-inning guy. After that though it's a jumble of mediocrity with righties Luis Contreras, Nic Enright and Kevin Kelly all options but all with their warts. It's possible we try to turn someone who's out of the rotation like Baz into a power reliever and we'll definitely need to add a quality arm or three. Unlike on offense where we have some elite prospects, the once-legendary Rays pitching pipeline has run mostly dry, except for 2024 first-rounder Hagen Smith, who struck out a whopping 69 men in 45 pro innings between low and high-A ball but was also touched for a whopping 12 homers in those innings. He'll need some refinement.

So in short the goals for the offseason are

*Trade some more salary, likely B.Lowe
*Find an impact OF bat if possible
*Get some quality arms for the bullpen

[Art Deco]

We kicked the offseason with a big trade:



It was no secret we were looking to deal Brandon Lowe and deal him we did, obtaining a promising young outfielder in return. I'm not sure what plans the defending World Series champs have for Lowe but it's not my problem. Kjerstad will slide into LF and have a shot at playing every day since his platoon ratings aren't that bad. So with the guys we're non-tendering the payroll should clock in at about $71-72M.

Notable retirements around MLB: Joey Votto, Elvis Andrus, Yuli Gurriel, Adam Wainwright (Cards retired #50), Johnny Cueto, Carlos Carrasco, Dallas Keuchel. Also managers Bruce Bochy (Texas) and Ron Washington (Angels) called it a career.

In other big Rays news, I allow my AGM to handle team personnel and Erik Neander fired pitching coach Kyle Snyder and batting coach Chad Mottola after 2024's disappointing season, the first time we've missed the playoffs since 2018.

November 6: The Red Sox traded Jarren Duran and a minor leaguer to Texas for C Sam Huff and pitching prospect Kumar Rocker.

Another deal:



We were going to non-tender Poche anyway so why not get something for him? Lara is a 19-year-old prospect who has 60 contact potential, 60 eye, and 70 avoid Ks (but only 40 power) with above-average OF ability and speed. In other words in an ideal world he'd make a great leadoff hitter. He now slots in as our #8 prospect and #247 overall. Also our batters will look forward to homering off Poche in division games.

November 7: Cincinnati shipped Christian Encarnacion-Strand to Pittsburgh for a couple of prospects.

Awards Season:

Gold Gloves: We have a winner! Zack Littell won the AL pitcher award.

Reliever of the Year: Minnesota's Jhoan Duran was a unanimous winner in the AL, off a 34-save, 1.55 ERA, 3.1-WAR season. Pittsburgh's Carmen Mlodzinski won in the NL for a 32-save, 2.06 ERA year, garnering 27 first-place votes. Finishing second was former Ray Andrew Kittredge, who split the year between the Cards and Cubs.

Silver Slugger: No Rays won. Paredes had the best chance at 3B, but he was beaten out by Rafael Devers.

Rookie of the Year: Baltimore's Jackson Holliday was the unanimous AL choice, thanks to a .305-30-88, 7.5-WAR performance that has him in the MVP race as well. The NL nod went to San Diego's Jackson Merrill in an extremely tight race over Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes. Skenes actually got more first place votes (14-10) but lost on points 104-92. Merrill hit 274-10-63 and earned 1.8 WAR while Skenes was 7-7, 2.87 with 146 Ks in 141 IP and earned 4.4 WAR which actually led the NL among pitchers so he seemed clearly more deserving.

Cy Young: The surprise winner was Baltimore's Bruce Zimmerman, who was 11-5, 3.20 and only pitched 132 innings. He nosed out Cleveland rookie Daniel Espino, who was 9-4, 3.42 in 134 IP, by a 158-152 margin and 15-13 on first-place votes. The NL winner was Chicago's Justin Steele, who took 27 first-place tallies after a 12-4, 2.91 year. He too was not an ERA qualifier at 142 IP as across the board very few pitchers seemed to throw 162+ innings.

MVP: Gunnar Henderson was the runaway AL winner, getting 28 first-place votes after a .278-42-141, 7.4 WAR season. Rookie teammate Jackson Holliday was a distant second. Marcell Ozuna took the NL MVP after his historic 66-homer, 173-RBI season with 27 first-place votes.

November 15: The Pirates dealt Reliever of the Year Carmen Mlodzinski to the Dodgers for a couple of prospects.

November 16: The Dodgers continued to add relievers as they acquired Mason Miller from the A's for catching prospect Thayron Liranzo.

November 17: The wheeling and dealing continues as Cincinnati sent C Tyler Stephenson to Miami for OF Alex Canario, P Dax Fulton and a minor leaguer.

November 22: Milwaukee traded IF Joey Ortiz, the key guy they got from Baltimore the winter before for Corbin Burnes, to Oakland for P Francisco Perez and OF Lawrence Butler.

November 23: Drew Rasmussen was the only one who took us to arbitration and we won as the arbitrator sided with our $4.2M offer over his $4.8M demand.

November 25: Big trade between NL West rivals as the Giants shipped Mike Yasztremski to the Dodgers for Max Muncy.

December 1: The Dodgers traded catching prospect Diego Cartaya to the Marlins for Luis Arraez, and the Blue Jays dealt SS Bo Bichette to the Giants for SS prospect Maui Ahuna.

December 6: First big free-agent signing of the winter and it was the big Kahuna - Juan Soto goes to the Mets for 8/298 which seems kind of...low? That's around $37M/year.

December 10: The Blue Jays continue to move out salary, sending closer Jordan Romano to Minnesota for a prospect.

December 11: The Toronto fire sale burns on, with Justin Turner shipped to Milwaukee for a prospect.

December 12: The draft lottery was held and we didn't move up from the 12 spot. In fact the A's and Angels held on to the #1 and #2 picks with Washington's move from 6 to 3 the most significant.

December 13: The Dodgers keep adding relievers, this time signing the top free agent closer in Paul Sewald for 2/35.

December 14: News out of Chicago is that Cub CF Pete Crow-Armstrong will miss the entire 2025 season with a torn labrum in his shoulder.

December 16: Added SS Carson Williams and Ps Joe Rock and Trevor Brigden to the 40-man roster, designated C Ben Rortvedt for assignment. Roster shuffling ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. Williams was a no-brainer, while Rock and Brigden are useful pitching depth I didn't want to lose. There's a chance we lose Brendan McKay tomorrow.

Meanwhile longtime Baltimore OF Anthony Santander joined the Angels on a modest 2/12 deal.

December 17: And McKay was the first pick of the Rule 5 Draft, taken by Oakland. We also lost P Logan Workman to Philly, P Nathan Wiles to Miami, and P Ian Seymour to Kansas City as Durham was raided. We'll probably see 2-3 of the guys returned to us next year.

Former Rays on the move: Luke Raley went fifth to Washington from Seattle, and he was followed at 6th by C Francisco Mejia and Alex Verdugo, up with us briefly, was nabbed by San Diego from Miami. The full draft list:



December 20: And another Blue Jay is set free as George Springer heads to Cleveland for a couple of minor leaguers.

December 25: Christmas Day action as the Rockies ship starter German Marquez to Baltimore for a couple of prospects.

December 27: Minnesota signed perhaps the top free agent starter available, nabbing Jordan Montgomery for 5/105.

December 29: Washington signed the top professional international free agent, inking 30-year-old Cuban CF Jorge Fonseca for 7/106. He projects to be a .285, 15-HR, 45-double guy.

December 30: A couple of more big free agents signed with former Ray Willy Adames joining Seattle for 6/148 and Joc Pedersen agreeing to terms with Oakland on a 4/48 deal.

[Art Deco]

January 3: Another grizzled vet is on the move as Philly dealt C JT Realmuto to Cleveland for a pair of prospects.

January 4: Tyler O'Neill, who started last season with Boston before being traded to Seattle at the deadline, returned to the Red Sox on a 4/85 deal. O'Neill homered 36 times last season between the two clubs.

January 8: The Phillies parted with another of their vets, sending Kyle Schwarber to the Giants for a SS prospect.

January 10: The Orioles offered us Austin Hays for Jose Siri, thanks but no thanks. Meanwhile the Yankees signed veteran OF Max Kepler to a 2/20 deal.

January 11: We didn't trade them Siri but our talks over the deal led to this one being made, our second of the winter with our division rivals:



Despite being rated a 50 at 3B, Westburg won the AL Gold Glove last season at the position and hit 264/343/444 with 18 HR and 65 RBI. We really don't have a place for him as we have Paredes at 3B and Caminero at 2B but I couldn't turn this down given that the three prospects we're sending aren't anyone we can live without.

And we weren't done wheeling and dealing. To make room for Westburg on the 40-man I shopped Austin Shenton and was able to pry a good-hitting catcher loose from Houston in Yainer Diaz, who hit 305/351/478 in 272 AB with the Astros. He's a bit suspect defensively, rated at 45, but if he can hit like that we don't care:


I have to concur with Neander who thinks it's a steal while Misner got the deal over the top and opened up a second 40-man spot for Diaz. This gives us three MLB catchers as we already had Pinto and Campusano, and suddenly it's a position of strength as we still haven't done enough to upgrade the bullpen.

January 13: St. Louis acquires LaMonte Wade Jr. from the Giants for a prospect.

January 14: It was quiet for a couple of weeks but the Great Blue Jay Fire Sale is still on as they dealt starter Kevin Gausman to Texas for an 18-year-old power prospect. Vlad Guerrero Jr. and his $26M arbitration contract are on the trade block as well. Meanwhile 37-year-old DH JD Martinez signed for one year and $8M with the White Sox.

January 15: We finally made a move to help the bullpen:



There's something about all our slap-hitting infielders ending up in Miami as Basabe follows the same trail as Joey Wendle, Vidal Brujan and Xavier Edwards over the last few years. With the Westburg pickup Basabe was surplus to requirements and in return we get Maldonado, rated 65/50/50 and who saved 31 games for the Marlins last season. He'll compete with Jason Adam for the primary setup role.

January 21: It's international amateur free agent signing time again and we nabbed a potentially good one in 2B David Guerra. The 16-year-old has potential 80 power, 60 contact and a 65 eye. I guess we'll find out in 5 years or so if he'll approach that.

January 22: After not signing until the last minute the previous winter and getting a one-year deal, former Rays ace Blake Snell got his payday as he joined Boston for 6/183. Also former Yankee closer Clay Holmes is headed to the White Sox for 2/20.

January 23: The Hall of Fame voting is in:



Congrats to Helton, who had to wait, and Ichiro, who didn't. First-timers Beltre and Sabathia came very close and should get in during the next year or two. Heartbreak for Billy Wagner though, who drops off the ballot.

January 25: We continue to haul in some impressive IFAs as 16-year-old Japanese C Ryuemon Naki signed. He has potential 60 power and 75 contact, so he could become the Japanese Mike Piazza. Or not.

Meanwhile starter Walker Buehler inked a 2/49 pact with Washington as they look to accelerate their rebuild.

January 28: The Yankees solved their 3B problem by signing veteran Matt Chapman to a 2/37 deal.

February 23: Some well-known names had to settle for minor league deals as the free agent market has cooled considerably: Michael Conforto (Toronto), Alex Bregman (Toronto), Josh Bell (Washington), Yoan Moncada (Seattle), CJ Cron (Minnesota). Amed Rosario, who took a modest 1-year deal with us last year, has done likewise with the rebuilding Jays, signing for $1.2M.

March 6: We got in on the minor league deal action by signing Teoscar Hernandez, fresh off a 33-homer season with the Dodgers last year. We need a RH power bat in the OF and he'll only cost us $1.7M if he makes the club. He also remains solid defensively as he had a +3.8 ZR with LA last season and he didn't waste any time, homering and doubling in his first preseason action with us.

[Art Deco]

We came through Spring Training unscathed in the injury department, although Isaac Paredes managed to get himself suspended for the first two games of the regular season after throwing a tantrum in a preseason game.

So with Paredes on the restricted list to open the year, here's the Opening Day roster:

C-Yanier Diaz, Campusano
1B-Yandy Diaz
2B-Caminero
SS-C.Williams
3B-Westburg
IF-Mead
LF-Kjerstad
CF-P.Meadows
RF-J.Lowe
OF-T.Hernandez, Siri
DH-Aranda

SP-McClanahan, Springs, Rasmussen, Bradley, Littell
LR-Pepiot
MR-J.Lopez, Enright, Baz, Cleavinger
SU-Adam, A.Maldonado
CL-Fairbanks

Someone will have to go to Durham once Paredes is back and it's likely going to be Parker Meadows with Josh Lowe playing CF against RHP and Teoscar Hernandez taking over in RF.

Also thanks to the new acquisitions and a 100% healthy roster, there are quite a few players who spent significant time with the team in 2024 who are starting the year at Durham: Jose Caballero, Spencer Torkelson, Rene Pinto, Kevin Kelly, Reese Olson, Richie Palacios, Jonny DeLuca, Randy Vasquez, and Nick Loftin, with Meadows soon joining them.

And while I was feeling good about this squad going in OOTP likes them even more, predicting them to have the best record in baseball:



I believe this is even without Paredes, who was our best player last year, since he's not on the OD roster. It's thanks of course (as you can see above) to OOTP's belief that we'll have the best pitching staff in baseball with four of our starters among the league's best. So no pressure I guess.

[Art Deco]

The traditional Opening Day box:



A frustrating opener for the Rays as Shane McClanahan was hit hard and although the offense banged out 13 hits they had a difficult time getting th runners home. One bright start was that mega-prospect Carson Williams had a nice MLB debut, getting on base three times including his first big-league hit.

March 29: at Seattle 8-9 L. LP-Adam (0-1). Starter-Springs (3 8 6 6 2 7). HR-Caminero (1), Kjerstad (1). A painful loss as they came all the way back from a 6-2 deficit thanks to a rough outing from Springs with Kjerstad's grand slam putting them up 8-7 in the top of the 8th. But Jason Adam looked more like the 2024 version than the one from 2022-23, allowing 2 runs in the bottom of the frame to lose it.

Transaction: Isaac Paredes comes off the restricted list and Parker Meadows is optioned to Durham.

March 30: at Seattle 1-2 L. LP-Enright (0-1). Starter-Bradley (5 3 1 0 6 2). After allowing 14 runs in the first two games the Rays got the pitching (although Bradley was unusually wild) but the offense took the day off as they get off to a rough 0-3 start.

March 31: at Seattle 6-5 W. WP-Rasmussen (1-0, 6 7 5 4 1 3). S-Fairbanks (1). HR-Caminero (2). Trailing 5-1 through 6 the Rays were staring at an 0-4 start to the year before exploding for 5 in the 7th and holding on for their first win of 2025. The big blow was Caminero's 3-run homer, which capped the rally and put them on top.

April 1: at San Francisco 4-1 W. WP-Littell (1-0, 5.2 7 1 1 1 5). S-Maldonado (1). HR-Caminero (3), T.Hernandez (1), C.Williams (1). Quality pitching and a trio of solo homers, including the first MLB homer for Carson Williams and Teoscar Hernandez's first Rays shot, led the way for a 2nd straight win.

April 2: at San Francisco 4-3 W. WP-McClanahan (1-1, 6.1 3 1 1 2 4). S-Maldonado (2). Rays scored 4 times in the 5th to go ahead 4-0 and then hung on by their fingernails to make it 3 straight wins and back to .500. Mac bounced back nicely from his rough Opening Day and got his first win since 2023 and Hernandez's 2-run single was the big hit.

April 3: at San Francisco 1-2 L. LP-Fairbanks (0-1). Starter-Springs (6 5 1 1 1 7). This one was lost in the bottom of the 9th when Fairbanks walked the bases loaded with one out, got a whiff, but then gave up a walk-off single. Not much offense with a Williams triple leading to their only run.

April 4: Off Day.

April 5: vs NY Yankees 4-1 W. WP-Bradley (1-0, 9 4 1 1 1 6). HR-T.Hernandez (2). Taj took a 3-hit shutout into the 9th before giving up a homer to Anthony Volpe with two out but still managed a 103-pitch complete game as he was masterful in the home opener. Teoscar's 2-run homer in the 5th broke a 0-0 deadlock and turned out to be all the runs Bradley would need.

April 6: vs NY Yankees 4-2 W. WP-Rasmussen (2-0, 7 3 1 1 1 7). S-Fairbanks (2). HR-J.Lowe (1), Kjerstad (2), Yanier Diaz (1). Those three guys hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the 2nd and Ras rolled from there as ever since the Seattle series the formula of modest offense + great pitching that OOTP said would win 96 games has settled into place.

April 7: vs NY Yankees 5-4 W. WP-Maldonado (1-0). Starter-Littell (5 6 3 3 1 2). HR-Aranda (1). High drama at the Trop as the Rays came back from 4-1 down in the 7th to tie, then walked it off on back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the 9th from Carson Williams and Yandy Diaz to complete the sweep and make it six wins from seven after starting the year 0-3.

Team record: 6-4, good for a share of first place in the AL East. Next week: NL champs Atlanta visit for 3 before a day off and a trip to Chicago to play 3 against the White Sox.

[Art Deco]

April 8: vs Atlanta 7-3 W. WP-McClanahan (2-1, 6.2 6 3 3 1 7). HR-T.Hernandez (3), Caminero 2 (5), C.Williams (2). Teoscar was 3-3 with a homer and Caminero hit shots of 471 and 473 feet to dead center as the Rays handled the defending NL champs.

April 9: vs Atlanta 5-7 L (11). LP-Maldonado (1-1). Starter-Springs (5 4 3 1 1 7). HR-Paredes (1). The team's leading HR hitter the last 2 years picked a great time to hit his first of the year, a 3-run shot in the 8th to tie it up, but they squandered chances in the 9th and 10th to win it and ultimately succumbed in the 11th.

April 10: vs Atlanta 4-3 W. WP-Bradley (2-0, 6 3 3 0 3 8). S-Fairbanks (3). HR-Mead (1), Campusano (1). The bats only managed 3 hits on the night but two of them were 2-run homers in the 2nd off Max Fried and they stood up for the duration. With the 3 runs against him unearned Taj lowered his ERA to 0.44.

April 11: Off-Day.

April 12: at Chicago White Sox 5-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (3-0, 6 3 1 1 3 3). HR-Paredes (2), Kjerstad (3). A pair of 2-run homers again and a solid outing from Ras gave the Rays the win.

April 13: at Chicago White Sox 3-6 L. LP-Littell (1-1, 6 5 3 3 1 5). HR-Paredes (3). A game they trailed 3-2 in the 7th got away from them with a key Carson Williams error leading to 3 unearned runs for Chicago.

April 14: at Chicago White Sox 6-2 W. WP-McClanahan (3-1, 7 4 1 1 2 7). Mac is back as he turned in his third excellent start after a rough Opening Day, and Heston Kjerstad knocked in 3 with a pair of singles to lead the offense.

Team record: 10-6, a game behind Boston. Next week: Divisional matchups as we go to the Bronx for 3 against the Yankees, followed by a day off to travel home where we'll play 3 against Boston.

Players of the Week:

AL: Marcelo Mayer (BOS), 12-26, 2 HR, 10 RBI
NL: Matt Olson (ATL), 9-20, 4 HR, 8 RBI (3 of those homers came against us)

Rays News: We signed veteran lefty reliever Josh Taylor to a minor league contract as we're a bit thin from the port side in the upper levels of the organization.

[Art Deco]

April 15: at NY Yankees 12-5 W. WP-Springs (1-0, 6 6 2 2 0 5). HR-Paredes (4). Rays offense exploded today, led by Paredes (3-3, HR, 3 RBI, 4 RS), Caminero (2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI) and Tesocar (2-5, 3 RBI). Springs finally got a decision in his fourth start.

April 16: at NY Yankees 4-1 W. WP-Bradley (3-0, 7 2 1 1 2 8). S-Fairbanks (4). HR-Paredes (5). Taj was brilliant again, although with the one run allowed his ERA ballooned to 0.67 while Paredes homered for the fourth time in five games and drove in a pair.

April 17: at NY Yankees 5-3 W. WP-Maldonado (2-1). S-Fairbanks (5). Starter-Rasmussen (4.2 6 3 2 4 6). The red-hot Isaac Paredes' 2nd hit of the tie was a tiebreaking RBI single in the 9th as the Rays stayed scorching hot with the 13th win in their last 16 games.

April 18: Off Day.

April 19: vs Boston 4-3 W (10). WP-Maldonado (3-1). Starter-Littell (4 3 1 1 3 8). Maldonado gave up a tying homer in the 9th but his mates picked him up as Josh Lowe's walk-off single, his third hit of the game, won it to make it 5 straight and 14 of 17 since starting the year 0-3.

April 20: vs Boston 3-4 L (10). LP-Fairbanks (0-2). Starter-McClanahan (5.1 3 2 2 2 11). The mirror image of yesterday's game as it was the Rays who tied it in the 9th on a Yanier Diaz single only to lose it in the 10th.

April 21: vs Boston 2-0 W. WP-Springs (2-0, 7 4 0 0 1 8). S-Adam (1). HR-T.Hernandez (4). Springs was great again (5/34 K/BB in 27 IP so far), and was supported by a Carson Williams RBI double and Teoscar's solo homer as they won a big early season series with the Red Sox.

Team record: 15-7, 2 1/2 up on Boston atop the AL East. Next week: The Angels visit for 4 games before we travel to Pittsburgh for 3.

Players of the Week:

AL: Jackson Holliday (BAL), 11-24, 2 HR, 4 RBI
NL: Elly De La Cruz (CIN), 11-20, 4 HR, 6 RBI

[Art Deco]

April 22: vs LA Angels 6-1 W. WP-Bradley (4-0, 5.2 1 0 0 3 11). HR-Paredes (6), T.Hernandez (5). Taj was utterly dominant in lowering his ERA to 0.55 and Paredes and Teoscar belted 2-run homers to back him.

April 23: vs LA Angels 6-8 L. LP-Maldonado (3-2). Starter-Rasmussen (4.1 3 4 4 4 3). HR-Westburg (1). Rays got a rare bad start from Ras and found themselves down 5-1 before Westburg's slam gave them a 6-5 lead in the 6th. Unfortunately Maldonado served up a 2-run homer to Jo Adell and the Rays suffered a rare of late defeat.

April 24: vs LA Angels 7-3 W. WP-Adam (1-1). Starter-Littell (5 4 2 2 2 7). HR-J.Lowe (2). Adam blew a 3-2 lead in the 6th but Jose Siri's 2-run single in the bottom of the inning put them ahead to stay and he added another RBI single afterward.

April 25: vs LA Angels 4-1 W. WP-McClanahan (4-1, 5.2 9 1 1 1 5). S-Fairbanks (6). HR-Caminero (6), T.Hernandez (6), Westburg (2). Rays were outhit 10-4 in this game but they made theirs count with the three homers while the staff stranded 12 Angels.

April 26: at Pittsburgh 4-3 W. WP-Springs (3-0, 6.1 3 1 1 2 6). S-Adam (2). HR-Aranda (2). Josh Lowe hit 3 doubles including one that knocked in a pair and Aranda's 9th-inning insurance homer proved large when Adam gave up a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 9th.

April 27: at Pittsburgh 1-4 L. LP-Bradley (4-1, 5 5 4 4 2 7). Regression came for Taj's ERA as he gave up a 3-run Jack Suwinski homer in the first and the bats were lifeless today.

April 28: at Pittsburgh 0-2 L. LP-Rasmussen (3-1, 6 7 2 2 1 7). Another day of lousy hitting as the bats managed only five hits and a good start from Ras was wasted.

Team record: 19-10. Nobody else in the East is doing much, so they've maintained a 4-game lead over Boston (and now Baltimore also) despite 3 losses this week. Next week: 4 games in Toronto then home for 3 against Kansas City.

Players of the Week:

AL: Yordan Alvarez (HOU), 7-21, 4 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Andy Pages (LA), 8-18, 5 HR, 7 RBI

[Art Deco]

Transaction: Luis Contreras is activated from his rehab assignment and Nic Enright is optioned to Durham as we do some bullpen shuffling.

April 29: at Toronto 13-4 W. WP-Littell (2-1, 6 4 3 3 2 4). HR-Yanier Diaz (2), T.Hernandez (7). After scoring one run over the previous two games the offense broke out in a big way with 13 runs on 16 hits and everyone in the lineup getting at least one. Josh Lowe and Yanier Diaz led the way with 3 RBI each.

April 30: at Toronto 4-10 L. LP-McClanahan (4-2, 4 6 6 6 3 2). HR-T.Hernandez (8). Jays returned the favor of the rout, scoring 5 in the first off McClanahan.

May 1: at Toronto 6-4 W. WP-Maldonado (4-2). S-Fairbanks (7). Starter-Springs (6.1 6 3 3 2 6). HR-T.Hernandez (9). Jonathan Aranda's pinch-RBI double in the 8th broke a 4-4 tie as the Rays picked up the win. Teoscar homered for the third straight game in his old ballpark with tonight's a grand slam.

May 2: at Toronto 5-7 L (10). LP-Fairbanks (0-3). Starter-Bradley (4 4 3 3 4 2). HR-Caminero (7). A tough one as Fairbanks blew a 5-4 lead in the 9th and then gave up a 2-run walk-off homer in the 10th to Davis Schneider. Caminero knocked in 3 including a 2-run homer.

May 3: vs Kansas City 2-0 W. WP-Cleavinger (1-0). S-Maldonado (3). Starter-Rasmussen (6 4 0 0 3 6). Josh Lowe tripled in a run in the 7th and score on Kjerstad's single, all the offense they'd need thanks to Ras and the bullpen.

May 4: vs Kansas City 5-8 L. LP-Littell (2-2, 5.1 8 6 6 1 3, 4 HR). HR-Campusano (2), Caminero (8). Rays pitching gave up 6(!) homers to KC, putting them in a 7-0 hole before they made a game of it but still lost.

May 5: vs Kansas City 6-4 W. WP-Adam (2-1). S-Fairbanks (8). Starter-McClanahan (7 4 4 4 1 9). HR-Paredes (7). Rays took the series thanks to Paredes' 2-run homer in the 8th which erased a 4-3 Royals lead.

Team record: 23-13. Our division lead is down to 1 1/2 games over the red-hot Orioles, winners of 7 straight games. Next week: A day off then Seattle visits for 3 before we head to Fenway for 3 against Boston.

Players of the Week:

AL: Davis Schneider (TOR), 8-22, 4 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Patrick Wisdom (CHI), 12-23, 6 HR, 10 RBI, including a 3-homer game

Players of the Month (April):

AL Batter: Tyler O'Neill (BOS), .320-11-21
NL Batter: Elly De La Cruz (CIN), .294-9-17
AL Pitcher: Taj Bradley (TB), 4-1, 1.65, 40K in 32.2 IP
NL Pitcher: Kirk McCarty (COL), 5-1, 1.77, 41K in 40.2 IP
AL Rookie: Luis De Avila (TOR), 3-1, 2.70, 29K in 30 IP
NL Rookie: James Wood (WAS), .307-6-15

On the farm:





I am seriously considering calling up Isaac to play LF as Heston Kjerstad has slumped after a good start, hitting 226/291/366, and we need a boost on offense. We'd sacrifice some defense as Isaac is a below-average defender in LF and is really our heir apparent to Yandy at 1B.