All Rays team, position players

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Putting together this Rays team took less time than any other team. That's due, in large part, to their lack of positional depth. It would seem that Joe Maddon did his best work in keeping this team competitive during his time in Tampa Bay. That's not to say the Rays have been completely devoid of talent, though in some cases it's pretty close to that.

Catcher: Toby Hall The Rays have had a shocking lack of depth behind the plate. Their approach to finding a catcher seems to have been to find a decent defensive guy and forget about the bat. Wilson Ramos went against that trend in 2017 and in a couple of more years will probably be the choice as the Rays catcher. Until then, Toby Hall holds down the fort. Hall spent 7 seasons with the Rays, though some of those were just small parts of seasons. Hall was good defensively. In 2005, Toby had a defensive WAR of 2.6. For his time in Tampa, Hall finished with a WAR of 4.8. That's good enough to get the call behind the plate for now, at least until Wilson Ramos gets some more time in Tampa Bay.

First base: Carlos Pena Carlos parlayed huge power with a decent glove to be a productive player while with the Rays. Pena played for the Rays for five seasons and pounded 163 home runs during that run. Pena had his career high in homers in 2007 with 46. He led the AL in that category in 2009 with 39. Pena's WAR for the 2007 season was 7.2. Aubrey Huff put up some nice offensive seasons, but more about him later. Logan Morrison clubbed 38 home runs for the Rays in 2017, but like so many guys before him, became a free agent after the 2017 season and is unsigned at this time.

Second base: Ben Zobrist In the early days of the WAR stat, Zobrist was a super star in that category. In 2009 Ben had a WAR of 8.6 and in 2011 he improved it to 8.7. Zobrist was truly a complete player. His defensive stats were excellent. In 2011, his defensive WAR alone was 3.3. Ben combined good on base skills with decent power to be a good offensive player. His versatility was an added bonus. For his 9 seasons in Tampa, Zobrist had a WAR of 36.7. In addition to his two 8+ WAR seasons, Zobrist also had another three more seasons with a WAR of 5.0 or more. Zobrist has been one of the most complete ballplayers in baseball over the last 50+ seasons.

Shortstop: Julio Lugo From 2003 until he was traded to the Red Sox in 2007, Lugo was a nice performer for the Rays at shortstop. From 2003-05, Julio put up WARs of 3.5-3.6-4.3. Julio's OPS for his time in Tampa was .770. He was also a good defender and his speed helped out on the bases. All in all, Lugo did a nice job in his time as the Rays shortstop. Nobody else is close to him.

Third base: Evan Longoria Evan is the latest of good Rays players to be sent packing because of financial concerns. Longo started his big league career with the Rays in 2007 by winning the AL Rookie of the Year on the strength of a 27 homer, 85 RBI season. Evan is a three time all star and has won three gold gloves in his time with the Rays. Longo's OPS with the Rays was .823. That number is based on a nice balance between on base skills and power. Longoria leaves the Rays as their all time leader in home runs with 262.

Left field: Carl Crawford Crawford was an excellent player for the Rays until he went to the Red Sox and turned into a pumpkin. Four times Carl led the AL in triples. His high in that category was 19, which he accounted for in 2004. He also led the AL in stolen bases four times. His high in that category was 60 in in 2009. Ironically, that was a year when he didn't lead the AL in stolen bases. Crawford was a four time all star and also won a gold glove in 2010. During his nine seasons with the Rays, Crawford's WAR was 35.5. His OPS was .781, driven in large part by a batting average of .296. Crawford signed as a free agent with the Red Sox after the 2010 season, but apparently left his game in Tampa.

Center field: Kevin Kiermaier In 2015, Keirmaier had a WAR of 5.0. On his defense alone. I don't remember seeing another outfielder with a defensive WAR that high. He is also a decent offensive player, combining good speed with fair power. From 2015-17, his overall WARs have been 7.3-5.5-5.1. Kevin hit a career high of 15 home runs in 2017 and I expect that number may climb in the next few seasons. His .750 OPS is just about the major league average, and that, when coupled with his glove, makes him an excellent player.

Right fielder: Steven Souza Jr. Souza has only three years of service with the Rays through 2017, but his career is upwardly mobile. His WAR sits at 6.1, but was 4.2 for 2017 alone. Souza has real power, hitting 30 home runs. He can also draw a walk, drawing 84 walks in 2017. Matt Joyce was a serviceable outfielder for the Rays for a number of seasons, but his highest WAR was 3.0 in 2011. Melvin Upton might have gotten the call, but he played center field and didn't play right field during his tenure with the Rays.

DH: Aubrey Huff Overlooked in the ruble of many bad Rays teams, are some nice seasons Aubrey Huff had with the bat. From 2002-2005, Huff put up some good power numbers with good batting averages. In 2003 Huff had 43 doubles, 34 homers and 107 RBIs while hitting .311. He followed that up with a 29 homer, 104 RBI season in 2004. Those two seasons resulted in WARs of 4.6 and 4.3. Huff barely beats out Fred McGriff for this slot. Fred had good power numbers with the Rays. His best season was 1997 when McGriff slammed 32 homers and drove in 104 runs. 

And that's it. There 's my all Rays team. The foundation of the team is Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford. How does it compare to your Rays team? Let me know.

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