Rays’ Success Finding & Developing Talent via Trade on Full Display

Hunting for talent, searching for potential in young players and developing talent is an essential part of any Major League Baseball team that the Tampa Bay Rays have figured out.

The Rays have excelled at this over the past several years, somehow able to spot talent and potential within players while providing them with the tools and development necessary to become successful.

When looking at Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster, which includes 39 players at the moment, 24 of them were acquired via trade. This totals 62% of the roster that was acquired via trade, which is the highest percentage in the Major Leagues. Eight players were homegrown, six were signed as free agents and one was claimed off waivers.

A few of those players include Junior Caminero, Yandy Díaz and Drew Rasmussen, all of whom were named All-Stars in 2026.

Rays have built roster through shrewd trades

MLB Now, a show on MLB Network, broke down the current roster and the Rays’ success when it comes to making trades and developing players.

“The Rays have done a lot of things right,” Brian Kenny said. “They’ve been ahead of the curve for a long time; they rarely hit the market. They don’t even draft and develop particularly well.”

Despite not even drafting and developing particularly well, there are multiple areas they make up for that, specifically when it comes to making trades.

“They do three things spectacularly well; identify talent, make good trades and then maximize the performance of the players that they traded for,” Kenny said.

These three areas have been key for the organization, with that work paying off this season specifically.

Caminero, Díaz and Rasmussen are a few of the notable players that Tampa Bay traded for years ago that are currently on the postseason roster and contributing in a big way.

Caminero was traded to the Rays at just 18 years old in November of 2021, in a deal with Cleveland. Díaz was acquired by Tampa Bay in a trade with Cleveland as well, back in December of 2018 at the age of 27. He had just 88 Major League games under his belt, hitting just one home run and 17 total extra-base hits in that span.

Rasmussen was dealt to the Rays back in May of 2021 from the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He had only pitched in 27 Big League games at that point and was originally a relief pitcher.

The fact that Tampa Bay was able to seek out this talent in players who were young and didn’t show all their potential yet is impressive. Looking at it now, those deals are paying dividends, as the Rays are currently in the ALCS and are a few wins away from appearing in the World Series.

The three of them have been crucial factors to Tampa Bay’s success this season, a year in which they finished 98-64 and emerged as the best team in the American League.

Caminero followed his breakthrough 2025 campaign with another stellar season. He surpassed 40 homers and 100 RBIs for the second straight year and posted a career-high 5.7 WAR and a 144 OPS+.

Díaz posted a solid .359 on-base percentage and .446 slugging percentage in his age-34 season with a 124 OPS+. He provided a veteran presence at the top of the Rays’ lineup.

Rasmussen pitched with a 2.67 ERA and 159 ERA+ in 30 starts, with a career-high 16 wins and 5.7 WAR in 2026. Opponents recorded just a .543 OPS against him.

Tampa Bay’s ability to seek talent, make good trades and then get the most out of each player is impressive, with these three examples- Caminero, Díaz and Rasmussen- proving that they’ve been successful in building their roster over the past several years. Considering over half of their roster was acquired via trade, it shows that the Rays’ approach is working.