ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For six months, the Rays overwhelmed the American League with depth.
They didn’t have any .300 hitters, they didn’t have any 15-game winners, they didn’t have any reliever approaching 20 saves. They just wore teams down, night after night, with a lineup filled with platoons and a bullpen of interchangeable names and numbers.
Tampa Bay folds, spindles and manipulates the roster better than any team in the majors. Where others see imperfections, the Rays see flexibility. Where others see scrubs at the end of the bench, the Rays see role players who can excel in the right circumstance.
For 162 games, depth was their answer to any problem. Pitchers going on the injured list? We’ve got depth. Brandon Lowe struggling against left-handers? We’ve got depth. Need a designated hitter for the stretch run? Trade a couple of Triple-A pitchers for Nelson Cruz because we’ve got depth.
There is no real downside to a roster that is this versatile, talented and deep.
But there is a reckoning, of sorts.
Baseball’s procedural rules in the offseason make it difficult to hang on to as many players as the Rays would like. The 60-day injured list goes on hiatus, service time becomes a factor, the Rule 5 draft is something to fear. And teams as deep as the Rays begin to say their goodbyes.
Just since the end of the World Series, 13 players have been sheered from the Rays payroll, either through waivers or via free agency. And, chances are, there will be more movement in the next week.
While most teams are comfortably under the 40-man roster limit today, the Rays are maxed out. And they still need to create some space for a handful of advanced prospects who might otherwise be eligible for the Rule 5 draft if they aren’t added to the 40-man roster by Nov. 19.
Another complication? The Rays currently are carrying seven pitchers on the 40-man roster who have undergone recent surgeries, and most will not be ready to pitch by spring.
“You’re making decisions on whether or not to protect players, or to add them to your 40-man roster, that might not be contributors early in the season,” baseball operations president Erik Neander said. “That does put some pressure on us in terms of how to manage our 40-man, how to structure and how to make sure that the priority is making sure we have what we need to compete at the Major League level and how to balance that while carrying injured players.
“That is something that certainly is a stress here, between now and the 19th.”
All of which means the Rays are likely to cut ties with a few more players or make a trade in the next 10 days to loosen the logjam.
And the reality of making a trade at this point in the offseason is any player the Rays get in return likely will be a younger prospect who does not yet have to be added to the 40-man roster.
For the most part, all of the old guys have already left Tropicana Field. Packed up, and departed in search of riches in some other dugout. Some voluntarily, others with caps in hand.
Between the 40-man roster and the 60-day injured list, the Rays had nine players on the roster who were 32 or older when the season ended.
Today, they have zero.
To a degree, that’s expected. Players with more service time can become free agents once their contracts end, so teams often get temporarily younger in the offseason.
But it’s even more pronounced in Tampa Bay where the payroll is dictated by the revenues and younger players carry a disproportionate load compared to other markets.
This doesn’t mean the Rays won’t seek veteran players in trade or free agency, but they may wait until later in the offseason when the roster crunch is easier to manipulate.
Go back to earlier this year. In the days just before — and after — players reported to spring training, the Rays signed Chris Archer, Rich Hill and Collin McHugh and acquired Jeffrey Springs and Chris Mazza in a trade.
“So much of our success this year is going to be dependent upon our younger, less established players continuing to ascend and to grow and to develop. That’s going to be a big factor for us,” Neander said. “We’d love to find ways to have a little mentorship, add a little more experience, just to help continue to guide them.”
Farewell for now
The week after the World Series ends is usually a busy time as players file for free agency and teams begin maneuvering to clear space on the 40-man roster. Tampa Bay already has said goodbye — at least temporarily — to 13 players since last week. Some might decide to rejoin the organization.
Chris Archer, 33, free agent
Nelson Cruz, 41, free agent
Tommy Hunter, 34, free agent
Collin McHugh, 34, free agent
David Robertson, 36, free agent
Michael Wacha, 30, free agent
Ryan Sherriff, 31, claimed by Phillies on waivers
Adam Conley, 31, waived
Oliver Drake, 34, waived
DJ Johnson, 32, waived
Chris Mazza, 32, waived
Cody Reed, 28, waived
Chaz Roe, 35, waived
