ST. PETERSBURG — To be fair, we may have a clearer answer over the next week or two, as advancing to the World Series is obviously a key part of the equation, and winning it would be a huge factor.
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The Rays head into the American League Championship Series on Monday against the Cleveland Guardians. It’s the third time in their 29-season history they’ll be playing for a pennant, having won in 2008 and in 2020 to move on to the Fall Classic. The Rays came up short both times, but now seems a fair time to at least raise the question of which is the better team of the three?
2008
The 2008 team, during its stunning worst-to-first turnaround under manager Joe Maddon, won 97 games and the AL East title and eliminated the White Sox in the ALDS (3-1).
The Rays lost the ALCS opener to the Red Sox at home and needed an extra-inning Game 2 win for a split. They then went to Boston on a rampage, winning 9-1 and 13-4 and leading 7-0 in the seventh inning of a clinching Game 5, only to squander the lead. (The impact of which had officials from that team convinced it led to the World Series loss.)
They came home and lost Game 6, then pulled out the tense Game 7, capped by the iconic call by late, great radio announcer Dave Wills: “This improbable season has another chapter to it! The Rays are going to the World Series!”
The joy over making their first World Series quickly abated after splitting the first two games at home vs. the Phillies, then losing three straight on the road in the brutally cold weather, with the conclusion to Game 5 delayed two days.
Starters (based on ALCS): James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine
Top relievers: Grant Balfour, Chad Bradford, JP Howell, Trever Miller, David Price, Dan Wheeler
Key players: Willy Aybar (DH), Jason Bartlett (SS), Carl Crawford (LF), Akinori Iwamura (2B), Evan Longoria (3B), Dioner Navarro (C), Carlos Peña (1B), B.J. Upton (CF)
2020
With the regular season abbreviated to 60 games, and the postseason format expanded but the schedule condensed and played mostly at neutral sites due to pandemic restrictions, the Rays battled their way back to the Series.
Their 40-20 regular-season record was the equivalent of 108 wins, then they swept the Blue Jays 2-0 in the added Wild Card Series and beat the Yankees 3-2 in the ALDS.
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The ALCS versus the Astros (played in San Diego) turned out to be anguishing as the Rays, riding the record performance of Randy Arozarena, won the first three games, then lost three straight (4-3, 4-3 and 7-4) before winning a tense Game 7. Arozarena and Mike Zunino homered, and Charlie Morton took a shutout into the sixth inning, and they hung on from there.
The second World Series trip included one of the most electrifying moments in franchise history (Brett Phillips delivering the dramatic Game 4 walk-off win followed by his airplane run) and one of the most frustrating (manager Kevin Cash taking out Blake Snell with a 1-0 lead, one on and one out in the sixth of Game 6, then reliever Nick Anderson faltering badly, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead they turned into a 3-1 Series-clinching win).
Starters: Blake Snell, Charlie Morton, Tyler Glasnow, Ryan Yarbrough
Top relievers: Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo, John Curtiss, Pete Fairbanks, Aaron Loup
Key players: Willy Adames (SS, Randy Arozarena (LF), Ji-Man Choi (1B), Yandy Diaz (1B), Kevin Kiermaier (CF), Brandon Lowe (3B), Austin Meadows (OF/DH) Joey Wendle (3B), Mike Zunino (C).
2026
The 98 regular-season wins that led the AL, a first-round playoff bye and an ALDS sweep of the Yankees seem to have Cash’s team positioned well for a second Series trip in seven years.
Much of the story of this group is tied to a team-first approach in the clubhouse, and on the field that grew out of spring training camaraderie.
That provides the base for a dynamic group that prides itself on winning games as many different ways as it can. That’s the product of an offense that mixes power with some rare and impactful small-ball skills — bunting, stealing, putting balls in play — that cause chaos for opponents, added to the Rays’ usual elite-level defense and a starter-led pitching staff with a dominant closer in Bryan Baker.
Starters: Drew Rasmussen, Freddy Peralta, Nick Martinez, Griffin Jax
Top relievers: Bryan Baker, Cam Booser, Kevin Kelly, Ian Seymour, Cole Sulser, Tyler Wells
Key players: Jonathan Aranda (1B), Junior Caminero (3B), Yandy Diaz (DH), Jonny DeLuca (OF), Liam Hicks (C), Victor Mesa Jr. (OF), Chandler Simpson (LF), Taylor Walls (SS)
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