Rays Deemed a Rebuilding Team Following Two Blockbuster Trades

Are the Tampa Bay Rays a team that is rebuilding?

Sep 26, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; The hat and glove of Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero (13) in the dugout during the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

With the holidays nearly here for the Tampa Bay Rays, the franchise has been very aggressive when it comes to making moves. However, the plan for the team going forward is a bit uncertain. 

Coming into the offseason, the Rays figured to be a team that was going to be busy and also one that could go in a couple of different directions. So far, both of those things have been true for the franchise. 

To start the winter, the team was aggressive in free agency, trying to add some veterans to help the team contend. The additions of Cedric Mullins, Jake Fraley, and Steven Matz were moves that indicated that the team was trying to win in 2026. However, the two most recent trades do not indicate that. 

Recently, the team traded All-Star slugger Brandon Lowe to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-team deal and followed that move by trading Shane Baz to the Baltimore Orioles for a haul of prospects. In both of those trades, the team likely only received one player, Jacob Melton, who will be a starter on Opening Day. 

Chad Jennings of The Athletic (subscription required) recently wrote about what the Rays’ plan for the offseason has been thus far. In his opinion, it appears that they are in a rebuilding mode. 

Tampa Bay’s Plan is Unique

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To little surprise, the Rays can be a hard team to figure out at times. The early moves this offseason indicated that the team was looking to make a run by adding some veteran talent. However, trading away two key players for mostly prospects then makes it easy to believe that the team is rebuilding. 

For Tampa Bay, they are one of the few teams in baseball where both things can end up being true. While they have added for the short-term, they have also subtracted. However, the decision to trade Lowe and Baz for prospects has freed up additional assets for the team, and they have shown some aggressiveness in free agency so far. 

While the most recent trades pushed the team a step backwards, there is still a long offseason to go, and Tampa Bay likely isn’t a finished product. With a loaded farm system, they could go out and make some trades for controllable talent, and they could also dive into free agency with some money to spend. Even though they are a hard team to figure out at times, Tampa Bay certainly has a plan right now, but it might take some time to see what the organization’s goals truly are.