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Rays Tales: Best players to have played for Rays

 
Dwight Gooden owns a rookie of the year and a Cy Young Award.
Dwight Gooden owns a rookie of the year and a Cy Young Award.
Published July 5, 2015

Any debate over who is the best-ever Rays player arguably ends up with four candidates worthy of discussion — OF Carl Crawford, LHP David Price, INF/OF Ben Zobrist and 3B Evan Longoria, who has the benefit of seven more years under contract to add to his resume.

Price had the greatest individual achievement in winning 20 games and the AL Cy Young Award in 2012 while making four All-Star teams. Crawford had the longest career in Tampa Bay while also earning four All-Star selections. Zobrist has the most on-field and sabermetric value because of his immeasurable versatility and impressive production. Longoria has the opportunity to be the franchise leader in almost every key offensive category along with three All-Stars nods, two Gold Gloves and a rookie of the year plaque.

But last week's addition of OF Grady Sizemore sparked a different press box discussion:

Who are the best-ever players to play for the Rays?

Whether for one season, or even for one game (which, you'll see below, matters) — who are best players to wear the black, or purple, or green or blue of the Devil Rays and Rays?

These are players, like Sizemore, like Manny Ramirez, like Jose Canseco and, mostly notably, like Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, who came through Tampa Bay at the tail end — or the very end — of careers they forged elsewhere.

It doesn't include players who were with the Rays early in their careers then blossomed, such as Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista (career WAR 31.6) or Randy Winn (27.5) or Josh Hamilton (28.2), who never made it to the majors here.

Nor does it include players who were with the Rays only in spring training and never appeared in a major-league game, such as Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar (66.8) and a few others we list below.

Well, here's what a team of them would look like, based on their career wins above replacement (per baseball-reference.com) and other notable achievements, with a summary of their Devil Rays/Rays careers:

LF Manny Ramirez69.2 After much hype, went 1-for-17 in five games and quit after failing drug test

CF Johnny Damon56.0 Key part of 2011 playoff team, played part of one more year with Indians

RF Jose Canseco42.3 Flexed muscle to make '99 All-Star team, moved on to Yankees in August 2000

3B Wade Boggs91.1 Came home to Tampa Bay to get 3,000th hit and cap Hall of Fame career

SS Ozzie Guillen20.9 Utility man in 2000 was cut in spring 2001, still jokes that he knew then to retire

2B Damion Easley20.4 Hit .187 during a 36-game stint in '03 but played five more years elsewhere

1B Fred McGrifff52.4 Tampa native played five of last seven seasons at home, made an All-Star team

C Charles Johnson22.6 Released, retired in June 2005 after playing last 19 games of 12-year career

DH Julio Franco43.4 Got one at-bat in 1999 (and struck out) as part of 23-year, 2,586-hit career

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RHP Dwight Gooden48.2 Released after going 2-3, 6.68 in eight starts, finished year, career with Yanks

Bench

OF Greg Vaughn30.7 Played 332 games 2000-02 then one more year

1B Tino Martinez28.8 Played 138 games in 2003 then one more year

OF Grady Sizemore27.0 Has played seven games after signing in June

OF Hideki Matsui21.3 Played 34 games in 2012 then retired

C Gregg Zaun13.7 Played 34 games in 2009 then one more year

INF Rey Ordonez1.2 Played 34 games in 2003 then one more year

Other starters

LHP Wilson Alvarez25.0 First big signing ($35M/5 years) was 17-26, 4.62 in five injury-marred seasons

RHP Juan Guzman24.6 Among worst signings, made one start, and got five outs, in 2000 before injury

RHP Ken Hill22.9 Three-time 16-game winner had little left during 2001 five-game stint and retired

RHP Hideo Nomo21.8 Went 5-8, 7.24 in 19 2005 starts, came back in 2008 to finish with Royals

Relievers

RHP Roberto Hernandez18.5 Made '99 All-Star team at age 34, traded after '00, pitched through '07

RHP Troy Percival17.2 Played huge role getting '08 team to playoffs, retired middle of 2009

RHP Jason Isringhausen12.1 Nine appearances during an injury-marred '09, returned in '11 with Mets

RHP Heath Bell6.8 Stellar career pretty much over by time he had 13-game run in early '14

LHP John Rocker3.5 Two-game stint in 2003 lasted barely longer than a train ride

Spring fling

Some other pretty good players, and one great one, made spring training appearances for the Rays but didn't play in a regular-season game. Among them:

2B Roberto Alomar (2005) 66.8

RHP Todd Jones (2004) 10.4

INF Dave Hollins (2000) 17.7

RHP Ben McDonald (1999) 20.8

Coaches division

The Rays have had some coaches/managers who were pretty good players back in their day. Consider this group, which also would include Boggs, who was hitting coach in 2001, also with career WAR:

Frank Howard, bench coach 1998-99 37.6 Rookie of the year, four-time All-Star, four top-10 MVP finishes during 16-year career mostly with Dodgers and Senators

George Hendrick, 1B coach 2004-14 28.9 Four-time All-Star, one top-10 MVP finish during 18 seasons mostly with Indians and Cardinals

Hal McRae, bench coach 2001, manager 2001-02 27.9 Three-time All-Star, two top-five MVP finishes in 19-year career mostly with Royals

Lee May, 1B coach 2001-02 27.1 Three-time All-Star, three top-12 MVP finishes during 18-year career mostly with Reds, Astros (Colt 45s), Orioles

Lou Piniella, manager 2003-05 12.5 Rookie of the year, All-Star, two top-25 MVP finishes in 18-year career, mostly with Royals and Yankees

Short stops

• There has never been much of a relationship between the Rays and Hall of Famer Wade Boggs since he was done playing/coaching even though he still lives in Tampa. And obviously it is his choice if he wants to get rid of the 19-foot bass boat the team spent $30,000 on to give him in commemoration of his 3,000th hit in 1999. But to put it up for auction — and throw in a one-day fishing expedition to boost the price after a previous sale attempt got no bids — doesn't seem right. Worse, Boggs, who made $32 million playing and does signing appearances, was quoted by espn.com saying, "I have some hunting trips coming up, and I could use the extra cash." Donating the boat to a Tampa Bay-area charity and letting it benefit from the proceeds would be a much better move.

• All-Star starters are revealed tonight, and for the fifth straight year no Rays will be elected by the fans. RHP Chris Archer seems a lock to be named on Monday to the AL team with the pitchers and reserves, and his chances to start, or at least have a key role, are greater with Athletics RHP Sonny Gray now likely to start Sunday and be ineligible for the July 14 game. Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel and White Sox LHP Chris Sale are the other top starting candidates. Archer is probably the Rays' only truly deserving candidate, but weird things can happen in filling out the 34-man rosters for a game that — in theory — counts. INF Logan Forsythe could end up in play, and ESPN's Buster Olney included OF Kevin Kiermaier on his 34-man roster.

Rays rumblings

ESPN's Jim Bowden suggested to 620-AM that the Rays could be unexpectedly active at the trading deadline and pitched Padres OF Justin Upton as a potential target. … C Curt Casali is likely to get more playing time as Rene Rivera continues to struggle at the plate. … New odds from the Bovada online site dropped the Rays to 25-1 to win the World Series, 12-1 to get there, 3-1 to win the East. … Ex-Rays/now-Cubs manager Joe Maddon was by far the top choice in an ESPN the Magazine poll of 117 players on whom they'd like to play for. Maddon was fourth in the "best manager" survey of 50 MLB personnel. … First-round pick OF Garrett Whitley said one of the biggest differences since the June draft is "a lot of people asking for my autograph back home (in Niskayuna, N.Y.), a lot of pictures." … As pleased as the Rays are with RHP Erasmo Ramirez, it's worth noting that LHP Mike Montgomery is 3-2, 1.62 in six starts for the Mariners with back-to-back shutouts, including a one-hitter. … Sports Illustrated claims the A's, rather than the Rays, have had "the worst luck, by far, in the major leagues."