ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Junior Caminero grabbed a pole adorned with a light blue 2026 American League Champions flag, ran to the stands waving it before an ecstatic crowd of 40,230 and planted it into the turf, a conqueror staking claim to his territory.
A year ago, such a celebratory moment, at the end of a six-game victory in the ALCS over the ever-tenacious Cleveland Guardians, seemed so far away for the Tampa Bay Rays. Hurricane Milton had torn the roof from their Tropicana Field home in October 2024 and forced them to grind through a miserable 77-85 season at nearby George M. Steinbrenner Field as their long-term future in the area fell back into doubt.
But as the off-season hit, rather than seeing a trying road ahead, Erik Neander, the Rays’ president of baseball operations, saw opportunity. In the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays, “there was some inspiration,” he said, beer in hand as speakers blared inside the Rays clubhouse after a 7-3 victory Monday clinched the franchise’s third trip to the World Series.
“They had 74 wins (in 2024), returned a lot of similar personnel, kind of leaned into the culture, leaned into connection, got that snowball building and they rode it to the World Series,” Neander continued. “We've used that a lot with our guys, 'Hey, I know we won 77 last year but we didn't do that in our home park, we're getting home, we're getting normal.' We've got guys that can put a ball in play. We’ve got power at the top of the lineup. We've got pressure running throughout. There is a team in our division that showed what is possible.
“I don't want to say we copied the blueprint,” he added, “but it was a source of inspiration to see a team be able to do that.”
Using a style of play in many ways reminiscent of the 2025 Blue Jays, the Rays exposed the disparity in depth between them and the Guardians the longer the ALCS went to secure a date against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Tampa Bay’s rotation featured four playoff-calibre starters in ace Drew Rasmussen, Freddy Peralta, the ALCS MVP after starring in Games 2 and 6 with a timely relief outing in Game 4, Nick Martinez and Griffin Jax, while Cleveland worked around 2½ starters they couldn’t optimize because of their use during the five-game division series versus Chicago.
The Rays’ lineup was longer, with regular contributions from Chandler Simpson and Canadian Liam Hicks in the middle, Richie Palacios, whose two-run double in the second opened the scoring Monday, and Jonny DeLuca at the bottom, complementing the Big Three of Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero. The Guardians couldn’t sustain nearly the same 1-through-9 pressure.
Tampa Bay's defence, led by the impeccable Taylor Walls at shortstop, played tighter, and their bullpen, the one area in which Cleveland held a distinct edge, could be matched up effectively because Rays starters have covered 63 per cent of the team’s post-season innings, compared to 37 per cent for the Guardians.
All of it reflected the relentless club with multiple paths to victory that was incredibly difficult to beat and won the AL East at 98-64 before sweeping the New York Yankees in the division series. Up next is their first Fall Classic since the bizarro season of 2020, when they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in a series played at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field due to pandemic restrictions.
“That was as special as any season I've been a part of, but saying that, we didn't have 40,000 people behind us,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “Excited to see what those 40,000 people can bring on Games 3, 4 and 5, for sure.”
Game 1 of the World Series is Friday at American Family Field, a clash of analytically driven, financially restrained, small-market franchises that play complete baseball and consistently build contenders despite their limitations.
One of them will become a first-time champion, and Neander’s description of facing the Guardians in the ALCS, “it feels like you’re competing in a mirror,” certainly applies to the Brewers, as well.
All three teams continually point to their culture and that was a driver for the Blue Jays a year ago, as well, which is why during spring training, when he was asked why he believed the Rays could win this season, Neander would point to them and say, “We just saw a team make a similar jump with similar personnel here in this division.”
That mattered because “the AL East is a behemoth, you don't win it by accident.” Along with the New York Yankees in 2024, the last three American League champions have emerged from the East and “that speaks to if you can win this thing, you can go on a run.”
Pivotal, Neander believes, was that last winter, they “were very intentional” in seeking external adds that “could elevate this group.” Martinez, Steven Matz, Cedric Mullins and Jake Fraley, who struggled through injuries before being released in September, each “helped these guys just know how to be a professional, how to grow, how to adjust.”
Peralta, Hicks and Tyler Wells were added at the deadline and helped push the group forward, with the Rays again drawing the best from them once they arrived.
With the Mets, Peralta had a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts, but improved to 3.25 in 10 starts with the Rays before dominating in the post-season.
The difference, he said, “is crazy, like, how not only life can surprise you, but this game.”
Hicks had been catching a couple times a week with the Miami Marlins, who called pitches from the dugout and since the deal has been the primary backstop, calling his own games while improving his caught-stealing percentage from 16 to 28 per cent.
“They make it super easy to just come in and they treated me like family, treat me like I've been here all year,” said Hicks, who drove in four runs during the ALCS and had a single and walk ahead of Caminero’s back-breaking two-run blast off Cade Smith in the seventh inning. “It's been awesome. You want to be able to contribute right away and going to the World Series is huge, it's an unbelievable first year.”
The Guardians had a last-gasp, two-run outburst in the eighth before Diaz, who had promised that series would end Monday, delivered a two-run shot off Hunter Gaddis in the bottom half that sealed the win.
Cleveland was out of gas at that point, using eight pitchers, including both opener Shawn Armstrong and lefty Tim Herrin for a third straight day, to get through Game 6 after a planned bullpen day in Game 4 and a de facto one in Game 5 when Parker Messick needed 57 pitches to get through two innings. Barring a traditional start for Joey Cantillo or turning to Tanner Bibee, who had only thrown 15 pitches in one Oct. 8 outing all playoffs, manager Stephen Vogt didn’t have many options. And while Gavin Williams would have been lined up for a Game 7, they would have had little more than dudes on fumes behind him had they forced one.
“I couldn't be more proud of our group,” said Vogt. “It just hurts. It stings. Really felt like we had a team to go and just weren't able to get there.”
In contrast, Peralta, at 12, and Rasmussen, at 13, covered 47 per cent of the Rays’ ALCS innings by themselves, a big reason why their spectacular season continues. But so too is their offence, and their defence, and their bullpen and their culture, a fickle construct that can be difficult to build and fleeting to maintain.
“This is a business, right, and we all acknowledge that, but we've got a lot of people, staff, players, they don't do it for the love of the business, they do it for the love the game,” said Neander. “We're just always pointed the right way. Cashy, (pitching coach) Kyle Snyder, (hitting coach) Chad Mottola, we've been together a long time. We've enjoyed continuity without complacency. We got people that love it, that love this organization and believe we can win a championship here. And those that have been committed to that and loyal to that, we've tried to keep that together. We've tried to challenge ourselves. We've just tried to continue to grow. And no matter where this year ends up, there's still a lot we can learn and do better next year. And we're going to apply that.”
First, though, there’s the Brewers in the World Series and trying to go one step further than the Blue Jays during the run in which the Rays found some inspiration.
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