With Rays’ season at one-third mark, tough decisions are just starting

TAMPA — Baseball operations president Erik Neander has said several times the Rays expected to learn a lot through the first trimester of the season as they dealt with a long list of injuries and sorted through the performances and potential of several young players.

Well, that time is about up, as they will reach the one-third mark this week.

One thing the Rays know is that the team they’ve had on the field — which hasn’t been above .500 since being 4-3 on April 4 — should look different over the next few weeks.

That’s because infielder Ha-Seong Kim, reliever Kevin Kelly and outfielders Jonny DeLuca, Travis Jankowski and Jake Mangum (barring no setbacks) are expected to come off the injured list.

Adding that talent to the mix should definitely help, but it also will lead to extensive, and likely evolving, conversations about what to do, some interesting decisions and potentially more moves as they try to make it fit best (and knowing the start of trade deadline-related talks is looming).

Kim was signed to play shortstop once he fully recovers from right shoulder surgery, though it’s possible he could serve initially in more of a utility role.

Barring other injuries, his arrival means the Rays likely would have to send down or ship out Jose Caballero, Curtis Mead or Taylor Walls. Optioning Mead to Triple A would seem the easiest move, but the Rays also could explore trade opportunities with Caballero and/or Walls.

The outfield situation is even more complicated, especially when you consider how much rookies Kameron Misner and Chandler Simpson — and Mangum before he strained his groin in late April — have contributed.

With Josh Lowe — who returned from the injured list May 15 and immediately made an impact — set in rightfield, the Rays have four spots for the group of DeLuca, Jankowski, Mangum, Misner, Christopher Morel and Simpson (and maybe Caballero, depending on how the infield situation is resolved).

DeLuca’s right-handed bat will be welcome in the ongoing efforts to improve production against lefty pitchers that has been among the majors’ worst (.209 average, .602 OPS).

That would seem to leave the decisions for three spots between lefty swingers Jankowski, Misner and Simpson; righty Morel and the switch-hitting Mangum.

Simpson’s game-changing speed (including 13 steals through Friday) is a significant weapon, and he has held his own at the plate (.290 average, .644 OPS), though he could use more work defensively.

Mangum runs and defends well, and was hitting .338 with a .781 OPS, despite no homers.

Misner plays great defense and runs well, but after a hot start he is hitting .121 in May with a .350 OPS and 29 Ks in 62 plate appearances.

Jankowski, a 33-year-old veteran, was a low-cost pickup from the White Sox’s Triple-A team when the Rays were shorthanded who fit in well on the field and in the clubhouse.

Morel likely isn’t going anywhere given he was the key return in the Isaac Paredes trade. But he hasn’t produced much since being acquired from the Cubs in July 2024, hitting .195 with a .574 OPS in 90 games as a Ray, posting only 18 extra-base hits (six homers) over 323 plate appearances while striking out 104 times. And Morel is out of options, so he can’t be sent down. The others can be except for Jankowski, who can refuse and become a free agent.

The Rays will have some other decisions, such as making room for Kelly and potentially soon Hunter Bigge in the bullpen.

They also will have to decide if they want to upgrade at backup catcher given that Ben Rortvedt is hitting .088 (5-for-57) with a .280 OPS. (That makes Alex Jackson’s .122 average and .439 OPS last year look not so bad.)

Trop talk

The process to replace the roof at Tropicana Field, the first step in making the stadium ready for the 2026 season, is underway. Per Times reporter Colleen Wright, St. Petersburg’s managing director of city development administration, Beth Herendeen, said last week that 50% of the white fabric roof material has been created in Germany and is expected to be completed within the next 30 days. The material will then be shipped to China for assembly, with the first of several shipments expected to arrive in August. The city will start prepping for that work in June with the first panels going up in August, Herendeen said. … The planned May 31 “pre-construction charity yard sale,” featuring 75,000-plus items with proceeds going to the team foundation, should be interesting.

Cue the violins

Last week’s announcement that Evan Longoria will be inducted into the Rays Hall of Fame sometime in 2026 was to make clear that his planned June 7 appearance at Steinbrenner Field was just for his ceremonial retirement as a Ray. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they also retire his No. 3 at the Hall induction, which will be held at a date to be determined following their planned return to the Trop.

Rays rumblings

Team MVP through the first 50 games? Jonathan Aranda seems the obvious choice. … Shortstop Carson Williams, off to a slow start at Triple-A Durham (.183 average, .652 OPS), dropped to 27th on ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel’s list of top prospects; he was No. 5 going into spring training. … Big-name lawyer John Morgan told the Tampa Bay Business Journal he was approached by two Tampa groups interested in buying the Rays but joined the Orlando effort because it was “a lot better from an investment point of view.” … Of the 118 immaculate innings thrown, the Rays, per mlb.com, have been involved in 12, which seems a high percentage. Last Sunday’s effort by Miami’s Cal Quantrill was the eighth time they’ve had three batters struck out on nine pitches, and they’ve done the striking out four times. … Kendra Douglas, whose main gig is as the in-game reporter for the NBA’s Orlando Magic, will make her Rays debut Monday-Wednesday on the FanDuel Sports Network Sun broadcast. She will fill in when Ryan Bass is off. … The Rays’ efforts to sell tickets at Steinbrenner Field now include listing select games with discounted prices on Groupon and offering some half-price tickets for Wednesday’s matinee. … Outfielder Jason Conti, who played 78 games for the Rays in 2002, died last week at age 50, reportedly of a severe brain injury. … Writing in The Athletic, Jim Bowden has Zack Littell 18th on his list of top potential 2026 free-agent starting pitchers. Four Rays made his list of top players with 2026 options: Pete Fairbanks, 7th; Yandy Diaz, 12th; Brandon Lowe, 13th; Danny Jansen, 16th.

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With Rays’ season at one-third mark, tough decisions are just starting

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