Can the Rays find ‘an identity’ and a path to future success?

TAMPA, Fla. – The post-season diagnosis was teeming with the typical and the expected. “We have to be better,” and “it’s on me” were the common refrains.

This usual and prevailing conversation, to those who listened to Erik Neander, the Tampa Bay Rays president of baseball operations during his end-of-season account with reporters on September 30, was filled with skepticism and confusion.

Here’s a team which, according to club officials, underachieved and, according to fans, performed equally disappointingly. The success of recent seasons was swept away by inconsistencies on both sides of the ball and exacerbated with excuses that the novel venue of George Steinbrenner Field, the spring home of the New York Yankees, contributed to the club’s overall disaster.

Finishing with a record (77-85) that was the worst on-field performance since the Rays went 68-94 during the 2016 season, Neander pointed to obvious weakness points, and included the inability to “put teams away,” the failure to tack on runs and help sustain fragile leads, an outfield light on offensive production and a maddening bullpen.

“A disappointing year, and we do not like press conferences at the end of September,” Neander said. “That’s the wrong month. Our expectations are higher. Going forward, there are many ingredients here that suggest, and with the right maneuvering from a roster standpoint and the right development from some players, that next year we will not have this press conference in September.”

For that to happen, the Rays should step off the baseball diamond and onto the psychologist’s sofa. There is a need to create “an identity” and establish specific roles for players. Too often, field manager Kevin Cash juggles his lineup in search of that ever-elusive match-up. The exasperating result is a lineup in which hitters are placed in unusual spots in the batting order and essential roles left undefined.

Because Cash employs no traditional lead-off hitter and tends to use players interchangeably throughout his lineup on a given day, there is an absence of cohesion, purpose and continuity. The result is a lack of production from those who should step to the plate with lightning in their bats,

At the core, Cash and Neander have the personnel to create a lineup based on speed, pressure on the defense, and the ability to manufacture runs. On the need to forge a batting order grounded in the capability to put up crooked numbers, Neander simply danced around the obligation to establish a determination and purpose.

“I think an identity is helpful when a team goes through difficult times,” Neander said. “That’s something you can back on and candidly, we just could not win the tight games. Had we held leads, I think you would have seen that identity which is built on speed, enough power in the infield, enough to put more speed through the outfield, and a really good bullpen. That did not happen for us. Identify is having good players who are hungry to win, and you go from there.”

Addressing specifics, Neander pointed out that his club possessed those characteristics destined for success. The issue lay in execution and the ability to recognize the importance of the hour, each pitch, and each at-bat

“For us, this is about athleticism, doing little things in tight games and to give ourselves a chance to win,” he added. “We’re not built on blowing teams out. Look, that’s a fun brand of baseball to watch, but we have to do a better job of winning those tight games to have a clear identity.”

Regarding offensive production, Neander pointed to a glaring weakness.

In an exceptional turn of fate, the vast majority of home run production came from three of the four infielders. Third baseman Junior Camerino, with 45 homers, reached within one of the franchise record. DH Yandy Diaz, who finished with a .300 batting average, hit a career-best 25 bombs and drove in a career-high 83 RBIs, and second baseman Brandon Lowe smacked 31 homers. That represented the second time in his major league career Lowe reached the 30-home run plateau.

First baseman Jonathan Aranda managed to homer 14 times and missed nearly two months because of a broken hand.

Power production from the outfield was marginal and not nearly enough to complement power from the infield. Consider numbers from Josh Lowe, who hit a career low .220 and only 11 bombs. That nearly equaled 10 from the 2024 season.

Chandler Simpson, who could supply that speed and the ability to pressure defense, hit no home runs, and Christopher Morel, down from a career-best of 26 homers with the 2023 Chicago Cubs, managed 11 homers. Jake Mangum, who complements Simpson with speed and athleticism, reached the seats only three times.

All of which portends Cash and Neander will be grateful for an occasional home run blast, but should turn to the direction of speed, pressuring the defense, and taking extra bases to formulate a basic game plan.

It is unlikely that the dynamics of speed and the necessity to manufacture runs would be featured in the Rays’ overall 2026 game-day planning and roster construction.

In the end, the reality any conversation will revert back to “doing a better job” and squeezing production from existing personnel rather than to forge an identity in which players feel comfortable in their roles, central in their production and drive to help this club rise in the standings.

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