John Romano: The final exam is in October, but the Rays seemed to ace this deadline

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Aug 4, 2026

Published in Baseball

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TAMPA, Fla. — Big risk by the Padres.

Currently two games out of the wild-card picture, and they drained what was left of a once-impressive farm system to bolster their anemic starting rotation.

Big, big risk by the Red Sox.

They dealt three of their top five prospects to get an All-Star catcher who has had trouble staying healthy and also traded a former top prospect for a reliever with control problems.

And then there are the Rays. They didn’t get Tarik Skubal or Adley Rutschman, but they addressed their greatest needs while still holding on to most of the elite players in their minor-league system. The Rays were measured. They were logical. They were conservative.

Which is a risk in its own way.

Personally, I think the Rays had an outstanding trade deadline. Their 26-man roster is much improved, and they pulled it off without serious harm to their impressive pool of prospects. But, two months from now, nobody will care what I think. Or any other critic, for that matter.

If the Rays fail to win the American League East, or bomb in the postseason, then there will be countless retellings of how the Rays lacked daring at the trade deadline. How they failed to take advantage of having the best record in the AL, even while boasting one of the best farm systems in the game.

Nothing wrong with that kind of second-guessing. It’s a perk of being a devoted fan.

And never, in a million years, would Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander consider shushing outside criticism. But, in the hours after the trade deadline passed, he did offer a mild defense against the idea that the Rays didn’t go headhunting for the biggest names available.

“One thing I’ll point out, and I’ve said this a lot recently, I’ve said it to our players: Look, they’re good. They don’t have to be the most famous players going to be good,” Neander said. “The way this year started, 100% of the attention in this division was on four other clubs. Not 1% was on ours. It was a four-team race. Our team was an afterthought.

“I think they’ve, collectively, proven a lot of people wrong. Who knows what’s left to do from here, but to even get to this point in the season and to be in this position with as good as those other four teams are, that’s no accident. That, in and of itself, is a heck of an accomplishment.

“The name-brand stuff isn’t always going to be what it’s about. Sometimes, it’s a little more store brand, so to speak. But I think by now, people know our group, they know our players.”

Here’s what the Rays did at the deadline:

— By acquiring Freddy Peralta, they fortified their rotation in the short term with Shane McClanahan’s injury, and they added a potential fourth starter for the postseason. That means both Griffin Jax and Ian Seymour could be moved to the bullpen in October.

— Catcher Liam Hicks gives the Rays a quality bat to hit behind Junior Caminero against right-handed pitchers. He doesn’t have Rutchsman’s defense or star quality, but he has outhit the former No. 1 pick the past two seasons (a .745 OPS compared to .713), he’s under team control a lot longer and makes a fraction of the salary.

— Tyler Wells is a multi-inning reliever with an ERA under 3.00 and a WHIP under 1.00. That’s one more high-leverage reliever to take the stress off Bryan Baker, Kevin Kelly, Garrett Cleavinger and Cam Boozer. If Jax and Seymour go to the bullpen, the Rays would be comfortable with seven different relievers pitching with a lead come playoff time.

Here’s what it cost the Rays to make those improvements:

Not much.

That’s a flippant response, but there is some truth to it. The Rays gave up some quality minor leaguers, but none of their elite prospects. And, considering how stacked Tampa Bay’s farm system is, the Rays would have likely lost or been forced to trade some of those players in the offseason because there wouldn’t be enough room on the 40-man roster to handle them all.

Baseball America did not have any of the players traded among its top 100 prospects in the game, but that doesn’t mean right-handed pitcher Michael Forret or infielder Brayden Taylor or shortstop Adrian Santana or outfielder Aidan Smith aren’t future big leaguers. Chances are, you’ll see all four of them in MLB uniforms in the near future.

But if Peralta, Hicks and Wells are popping champagne corks at Tropicana Field this fall, the cost will seem minimal.

“I actually have no idea how the moves have been received,” Neander said. “I know they’ve been popular internally, because (we) know how good these players are and (we) know how good a team we have and what we might be able to accomplish this year.

“As long as that’s in place and that belief is there, I hope our fans will see that, and I hope it’s something that will energize them.”

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