No one loves a good debate quite like baseball fans, and with that in mind, we asked each of our beat reporters to rank the top five players by position in the history of their franchise, based on their career while playing for that club. These rankings are for fun and debate purposes only.
Here is the ranking of the top five first basemen in Rays history.
1) Yandy Díaz, 2019-present
Key fact: Two-time All-Star ranks fifth in bWAR among position players in franchise history
Díaz joined the Rays in a three-team trade with Seattle and Cleveland that featured bigger names, specifically corner-infield sluggers Carlos Santana and Edwin Encarnación. Díaz was known then only for his bulging biceps and his knack for making hard contact.
Since then, he has become one of the most productive hitters in franchise history. Díaz grew into his role as a regular, playing third and first base but occasionally platooning with players like Ji-Man Choi and Joey Wendle. He began to come into his own in 2022, when he put together a 3.4 bWAR season, then became an All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner with a career campaign in '23.
As the Rays put together a 99-win season in 2023, Díaz slashed .330/.410/.522 with 22 homers and 78 RBIs in 137 games, good for a 5.1 bWAR season and the club’s first batting title. He has remained an anchor for the Rays, often batting leadoff or near the top of the order, and he hit .300 again -- this time with a career-high 25 homers -- in '25. He earned a second All-Star nod in '26, batting .293 with an .805 OPS for the AL champions, and that October he became the franchise’s all-time leader in postseason games played.
2) Carlos Peña, 2007-10, '12
Key fact: Ranks second in franchise history with 163 home runs
It’s hard to find a better four-year stretch than Peña's first four seasons with Tampa Bay. His 2007 campaign is also the best single-season performance by any Rays hitter, as he hit a career-high 46 home runs, still the club record for a season. He also holds the single-season franchise records for on-base percentage (.411), slugging percentage (.627) and RBIs (121).
But while the 2007 season was his best, Peña continued his production all the way until the end of the decade. In his first four seasons with the club, Peña hit 144 home runs and drove in 407 runs. He won an American League Gold Glove Award in '08, made the All-Star team in '09 and received Most Valuable Player Award votes in ‘07 and ‘08.
Peña hit 163 home runs as a member of the Rays, second only to Evan Longoria, who hit 261 over his illustrious 10 years with Tampa Bay. Peña's .483 slugging percentage is tied with Longoria for the third-best mark in franchise history behind Junior Caminero and Fred McGriff.
3) Fred McGriff, 1998-2001, '04
Key fact: Ranks tied for second in franchise history with a .291 batting average
McGriff hit regardless of what uniform he was wearing, and that was the case when he sported a Devil Rays jersey. McGriff hit 78 home runs in his first three seasons with the Rays, including 27 during an All-Star season in 2000.
McGriff's name is all over the Rays’ record books. Aside from being second in batting average -- Carl Crawford is No. 1 at .296 -- McGriff also leads the franchise with a .380 career on-base percentage and still ranks inside the top 10 with 603 hits. His bat alone gets him high on this list.
4) Aubrey Huff, 2000-06
Key fact: Received MVP votes in 2003
While Huff is remembered for his contributions to the Giants’ 2010 World Series team, his best days at the plate came during the seven seasons he wore a Devil Rays uniform, when he recorded 11.9 WAR. Huff hit 128 home runs as a member of the Rays, still in the top five in team history. He also still ranks highly in batting average (.287), at-bats (3,028), hits (870), slugging percentage (.477), RBIs (449), games (799) and doubles (172).
5) James Loney, 2013-15
Key fact: Played in 158 games in 2013
You could argue for a few players in this spot, including one-year wonders and a future candidate to rise up the list in Jonathan Aranda. But the nod goes to Loney due to his consistency and the stability he provided at the position for three seasons, including 2013, when the team made the postseason as a Wild Card. Loney’s .291 batting average with the Rays is tied with Díaz and McGriff for second in franchise history. Loney hit 10 home runs or more just once in his four seasons with the Rays, but there’s real value in playing 155 games or more in back-to-back seasons.
Honorable mentions
Logan Morrison hit 38 homers in 2017 and totaled 3.2 fWAR in two seasons with the Rays. … Choi was a fan favorite and arguably deserves a spot on the list, if only for the “Ji! Man! Choi!” chants at Tropicana Field. … Aranda took some time to establish himself, but he was an All-Star in 2025. … Casey Kotchman, C.J. Cron, Lucas Duda and Steve Pearce all had one-year stints with the Rays. … Then there’s Dan Johnson, who gave the Rays two of the best memories in franchise history: a game-tying homer off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon that helped the Rays win the AL East in ‘08 and the famous game-tying home run against the Yankees in Game 162 in '11.