Commentary: The Tampa Bay Rays - Eternal Underdogs
This article is one part of a two-part series on the 2020 World Series matchup. To read our companion article on the Los Angeles Dodgers, click here.
Being an underdog is about more than just the odds. It’s about power. It’s about the little guy trying to survive and thrive in a world of giants. It’s about finding a new way of doing things that allows you to beat the powers that be at their own game.
From their very inception, the Tampa Bay Rays have been baseball’s eternal underdogs.
The then-Devil Rays came into being in 1998, as part of the last set of expansion franchises. But even though they did not come into the league alone, they were lonely in experiencing their growing pains. While they watched their sister team - the Diamondbacks - inexplicably win three division titles in their first five seasons and become the fastest franchise to win the World Series, Tampa would not break out of the AL East cellar until 2004. And even then, they would return to last place for the remainder of their first decade. During that stretch, they only had one season where they finished better than 28 games back, and their best year was a 70-win season in 2004 (30.5 GB).
However, something extremely weird started to happen in 2008. That year, they ditched the “Devil” from their name and seemingly got the Devil off their back. Suddenly, the Rays were winning - I mean, really winning. And it wasn’t like the AL East was easy that year - 4 teams ended up above .500, the Red Sox had 95 wins, and the Yankees finished one win shy of 90. But yet, there were the former Devil Rays, collecting 97 wins to go from worst to first in one of the toughest divisions in baseball.
It didn’t seem like a fluke, either. This was an extremely young, talented, and hungry team looking to make a name for themselves. Their rotation didn’t feature anyone older than 26, featuring names like Matt Garza, James Shields, Edwin Jackson, and Scott Kazmir (not to mention the 22-year-old David Price in the bullpen). On the other side of the ball, they were led by veteran Carlos Pena and a 22-year-old named Evan Longoria, alongside other up-and-comers such as BJ Upton and Ben Zobrist.
After spending their first 10 seasons as the perennial laughing-stock of the league, the hungry young Rays found themselves with a chance to do something special. And after making quick work of the White Sox in the ALDS and taking care of the Red Sox in 7 games, they came within four wins of history. However, it was not meant to be, as Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and the Phillies quickly took care of them in five games.
Typically, teams would build from this promising start, lock up their key pieces long-term, and start to go from there. To be fair, the Rays did do some of that - particularly with Evan Longoria - but because of their revenue woes, they failed to keep their core team together. Just three years later, the only real holdovers from that 2008 squad were Longoria, Zobrist, Price, and Shields. And while the Rays put out good teams during this time, the constant turnover in the lineup due to their microscopic budget meant that they really had no shot of making a deep playoff run. Between 2009 and 2013, they made three postseason appearances. Each one ended with a decisive loss in the ALDS, and one of those appearances only came as a result of a historic September collapse by the Red Sox. By 2014, the Rays were climbing into the cellar once again.
But while those squads were ultimately disappointing, they were informative of how the Rays had to build their teams going forward. Unlike the moneybags in their division (who had stolen a handful of their key players), they couldn’t keep their developed players for very long or rely on free agent spending in the offseason. Instead, they had to trade aggressively and build one of the best farm systems in baseball so they can constantly pick from it as needed. In other words, if they were going to make the World Series again, they were going to have to do it like they did in 2008: with a bunch of unproven young stars and a handful of talented no-name veterans.
Over the past few seasons, that’s exactly what they have done. Through a mix of smart drafting, great international scouting, and one of the best trades in team history (sorry, Pirates), the Rays have developed themselves into the ultimate Moneyball team - securing the best record in the American League with the third-lowest payroll in baseball. But now, they face the ultimate underdog test: facing the 250-million-dollar Goliath that is the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Los Angeles represents basically everything that Tampa Bay is not. Of course, the main difference is that the Dodgers have a virtually unlimited bank account, but they also boast massive star power, the visibility of a big market, and a major advantage in fan support. However, the one thing that the Rays have over the Dodgers is that as the underdog, they don’t have to deal with the weight of expectation. For the most part, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain from this World Series.
When it comes to the Rays, this is a position they are used to being in, and this is their main advantage in this series. If they can lean into their underdog mindset, use their strengths, and minimize the impact of the Dodgers’ stars, they have a real opportunity to make history over the course of the next week. That being said, this is much easier said than done. Will they be able to do it? We can’t say for sure.
For now, all we can do is watch as David steps into the ring, slingshot in their hand, waiting for Goliath to make their move.
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