A Tampa Bay Rays Blog: Ball on a Budget
The Hillsborough County Commission today unanimously approved a motion to discuss a “framework” for negotiating a deal with the Rays to build a stadium and a mixed use development on the current site of Hillsborough College, providing a first glimpse into how the stadium might be funded. Commissioner Hagan introduced a motion based on this […]
Previous Winner Caden Bodine, C22 | S/R| 5’10” | 200A (BAL) | .326/.408/.349 (133 wRC+) 49 PA, 0 HR, 0 SB, 5 BB, 8 K Drafted 30th overall in 2025, Bodine was acquired in the Shane Baz trade. He profiles as a relatively safe prospect thanks to 60 grade bat-to-ball skills, and comfortably-plus blocking and […]
On this week’s episode of Rays Your Voice, we discuss the recent press conference led by Governor Ron DeSantis, where major power players came out in support of the Rays new stadium plan on the Hillsborough College Dale Mabry campus. While funding was not discussed, Tuesday’s presser feels like a big step in the right […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! This is a safe space, right? RIGHT?
Today, Governor DeSantis and MLB Commissioner Manfred gathered with Hillsborough College President Ken Atwater and Rays CEO Ken Babby to show a united front in the effort to build a Rays stadium at the current Hillsborough College site. “Baseball belongs in Tampa Bay,” DeSantis said. “Baseball can succeed in Tampa Bay.” Governor DeSantis led off, […]
As Danny Russell reported, the Rays have traded for infielder Ben Williamson. Williamson is known for his plus plus defense, but he’s struggled to translate his college and minor league hitting success to the majors. The Mariners promoted Williamson early in 2025, but sent him back to Triple A Tacoma to work on his hitting. […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Which player has your unwavering belief? Forget the performance on the field yesterday, you have your […]
The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired slick fielding third baseman Ben Williamson from the Seattle Mariners as part of a three-team deal with the St. Louis Cardinals that will generally be known as the Donovan trade: Drafted 57th overall in 2023 after what Baseball America called a “monstrous senior season” at William & Mary, Williamson […]
The Tampa Bay Rays announced today that Major League Baseball will take over production and distribution of local television broadcasts beginning with the 2026 season. The partnership ensures that fans across Florida will be able to watch Rays games through their cable or satellite provider and through MLB’s direct‑to‑consumer streaming service. “Since our first days […]
Previous Winner 12. Xavier Isaac, 1B22 | L/L | 6’3” | 240AA | .201/.366/.446 (144 wRC+) 175 PA, 9 HR, 1 SB, 19.4% BB, 29.7% K Isaac had his season cut short large-in-part due to the discovery of a brain tumor, disrupting an otherwise great start to the season that duplicated his cup of coffee […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! What moment in this franchise history haunts you, keeps you up at night, barges into your […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. It’s what differentiates the SB Nation sites from others. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, all MLB sites will have an initiative for “Daily Questions,” starting today. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Let’s start off Daily Questions […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. It’s what differentiates the SB Nation sites from others. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, all MLB sites will have an initiative for “Daily Questions,” starting today. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! What’s the strongest reason to […]
Previous Winner Anderson Brito, RHP21 | 5’10” | 155A+ (HOU) | 3.28 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 49.1 IP (12 GS), 31.1% K, 13.4% BBAFL | 11.1 IP, 6 H, 7 BB, 22 K Acquired in the Brandon Lowe trade, Brito has three plus pitches with a fastball that touches 100 with cut-ride, and two breakers in […]
The Tampa Bay Rays have announced their non-roster invitees to Spring Training and the list is made up of several top prospects and former top draft picks as well as several players with big league experience. The most notable player to receive an invite is Brody Hopkins, whom many consider to be the team’s top […]
Previous Winner Santiago Suarez, RHP21 | 6’2” | ?A+ | 2.88 ERA, 2.07 FIP, 40.2 IP (10 GS), 26.9% K, 3.6% BBAAA | 5 ER (9 H, 2 BB, 3 HR) 11.0 IP (2 GS), 9 K Suarez climbed the ladder to Triple-A to finish a short season, as some triceps/shoulder issues hampered his 2025, but […]
The Rays front office has quietly done a nice job restructuring the outfield group – so quietly that the improvements may have even flown under the radar of many fans. The outfield production was less than ideal last season. Together, Rays outfielders produced an 85 wRC+ – which was the 5th lowest among all outfields […]
Previous Winner Michael Forret, RHP22 | 6’3” | 190A+ (BAL) | 1.51 ERA, 2.45 FIP, 59.2 IP (16 G, 15 GS), 33.5% K, 7.5% BBAA (BAL) | 1.88 ERA, 2.03 FIP, 14.1 IP (3 GS), 15 K, 3 BB A product of the State College of Florida Manatee – Sarasota (formerly Manatee Junior College), Forret […]
Previous winner (via runoff) 7. Jadher Areinamo, INF22 | R/R | 5’8” | 160A+ (MIL) | .255/.316/.397 (126 wRC+) 415 PA, 11 HR, 15 SB, 8.2% BB, 11.6% KAA (TB) | .255/.316/.697 (111 wRC+) 159 PA, 4 HR, 6 SB, 7.5% BB, 11.9% KVEN | .364/.420/.692 162 PA, 13 HR, 5 SB, 8.6% BB, 12.3% […]
When new owners stepped in to purchase the Rays, one of the lingering questions was how intwined those new owners would make their businesses with the Tampa Bay Rays. Would Tropicana Field become Dream Home Finders Field (named for the managing partner Patrick Zalupski’s company)? Could the next new stadium? Time will tell, but the […]
We’ve known for some time that the Hillsborough College (HC) Dale Mabry site was the leading candidate for a potential Tampa Rays stadium, and on Tuesday the HC board unanimously approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) authorizing the college to pursue a partnership with the Rays. Now, thanks to Neil deMause of Field of Schemes, […]
Prospect season continues and with it, Baseball Prospectus has published their list of the top 20 prospects in the Tampa Bay Rays system entering the 2026 season. There are some suprises on the list as Baseball Prospectus is much higher on Ty Johnson than other prospect sites (other than our own, which ranked Ty Johnson […]
Previous Winner NONE Exactly half of the votes in the previous poll went to two players: INF Jadher Areinamo and RHP TJ Nichols. Accordingly, for this next poll, we will do a runoff of these two players. The winner of the vote will receive the No. 7 slot, and the loser will receive the No. […]
The Rays had several interesting names getting some reps in international leagues during the offseason. I’ve recapped the performances from some of the standouts below and looked ahead to what it could mean for them in 2026. Australian Baseball League Leonardo Pineda The 2024 international signee has played less than 100 professional games since joining […]
The Hillsborough College District Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to approve a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Tampa Bay Rays, authorizing the College to pursue a partnership for the redevelopment of its Dale Mabry Campus. The team announced statements from Rays Chief Executive Officer Ken Babby, Hillsborough College President Dr. Ken Atwater, and […]