Adam Berry, MLB.com’s Rays beat reporter, held an “Ask Me Anything” this week on Reddit with Rays fans at r/tampabayrays. This mailbag features excerpted questions and answers from that chat, with some lightly edited for clarity. The full AMA is available to read here.
With the addition of Cedric Mullins, there seems to be too many outfielders. What's the plan? Would hate to see [Jake] Mangum, [Jonny] DeLuca and [Chandler Simpson] lose ABs to a 31-year-old coming off his worst season.
I would expect a trade to resolve that logjam. They've been getting some interest in their outfield depth, from what I've heard, and yeah -- it's hard to see them having enough playing time for all those guys plus [Richie] Palacios and [Ryan] Vilade – both of whom can play some infield, but still. Mullins will be their primary center fielder. I don't see them giving up on [Josh Lowe] in right field, although [Jake] Fraley gives them a backup plan. DeLuca would be a natural platoon partner for either/both. Hopefully we'll get some clarity on this at the Winter Meetings next week.
Howdy Adam, is new ownership interested in increasing payroll going forward or is the focus on money going towards a new ballpark?
Hello! I asked the question about payroll at the introductory press conference for the new owners, and [managing partner] Patrick Zalupski was pretty direct in his answer that the "economics of the club have not changed since we acquired it," and saying that they view the additional revenue streams of a new ballpark/development to be "critical to our success." So, I'd expect more of the same for now with the potential for it to increase in the future, whenever they get a stadium deal done.
Do you think the perception of the Rays front office has changed around baseball and in the views of other MLB front offices? It seems like the Rays are not “winning” as many transactions as they used to.
I agree with your second point. They've objectively come out on the wrong end of a handful of recent deals, most notably the Isaac Paredes/Christopher Morel trade (albeit with some time to salvage value through Hunter Bigge and Ty Johnson) and more recently in the José Caballero/Everson Pereira trade. The Ha-Seong Kim signing was an interesting idea that didn't pan out. In previous years, something like putting a guy with Mason Montgomery's stuff into a high-leverage role felt like it would have worked out; it obviously didn't this past season.
That said, I don't think the perception of the Rays front office has changed around baseball, based on the conversations I have with people in the industry and the fact that their staff is still getting bombarded with interview requests by other teams every offseason. Other teams appreciate the challenge of trying to win on a consistent basis with their budget, and they're two middling seasons removed from a run of five straight postseason appearances.
But the whole point of some of their trades, especially at the 2024 Trade Deadline, was to avoid repeating their 2014-18 dip, so I'd say next season is important in the sense of reestablishing some momentum. You can blame injuries/absences for some of their regression, and moving to Steinbrenner Field was an unexpected twist. But they'll be back at the Trop with a budding superstar [Junior Caminero] in the lineup, with [Shane] McClanahan back in some role and starters with fewer workload restrictions, etc.
What under-the-radar 40-man player has the best chance of making a big impact for the 2026 Rays?
I struggle with "under the radar" because of the perhaps unhealthy amount of time I spend thinking about the roster from top to bottom. I mentioned Montgomery earlier, and part of me still thinks he's going to put it together and play a really big part in the bullpen. One name I haven't written much because of the time he missed last season: Bigge. Just getting back on the mound will be an accomplishment after that scary injury he dealt with last year, but I think he's got the power stuff to eventually play a role in this post-[Pete] Fairbanks closer-by-committee bullpen.
What does your hypothetical 2025 HOF ballot look like?
It won't be hypothetical! MLB.com writers have been in the BBWAA for 10 years, so this is the first time many of us -- myself included -- get to vote. Pretty cool opening that letter from Cooperstown and seeing the ballot for the first time.
That said ... stay tuned! I've thought about it a lot but haven't actually finalized anything yet.