ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees opened a series with the Rays on Friday as the organization with just about every obvious advantage: a payroll more than $200 million greater, a century-plus worth of history, a large market that fills the stadium and tunes in to the TV network.
But Aaron Boone pointed out the Yankees do not own every advantage.
“They can do some things that we can’t do,” the Yankees manager said ahead of their 5-4 loss to the first-place Rays at Tropicana Field. “I’ll just say that. They can do a lot of things that we can’t do.”
He did not fully clarify his stance, but he said a bit more in alluding to a Rays organization that operates more efficiently — and arguably more ruthlessly — than perhaps any other baseball team.
The Rays opened the season with a $60.8 million payroll, according to Cot’s Contracts, in large part because they offload significant players before they receive significant paydays.
Blake Snell dominated through five seasons with the Rays while earning little.
After the star lefty signed a backloaded, five-year, $50 million extension, Tampa Bay shipped him to the Padres.
Willy Adames, a solid shortstop, was sent to the Brewers before he could reach arbitration for the first time. Chris Archer, a two-time All-Star who was still pitching well, went to the Pirates in 2018.
The Rays always are retooling — even when they are playing well — which can make it difficult to build a fan base, with their best players frequently hitting the trade block.
The Rays do not seem to factor in fan happiness when pulling off moves, which are often savvy: In trading Archer, who was the face of the team, they brought back young ace Tyler Glasnow and young potential ace Shane Baz.
The Rays make “really sound moves of when to be able to move on and finding those diamonds in the rough throughout Major League Baseball that they bring in, all while maintaining a top-line farm system that they can always kind of grab people from,” Boone said. “I think you got to respect them as one of the more well-run teams certainly in baseball, but in sports. They do a great job.”
The Yankees, who hold closer to a $290 million payroll, operate far differently and have not, say, tried to maximize a younger Aaron Judge or a younger Gleyber Torres in trades.
It is easier for the Rays than the Yankees to sell off talent and damage their playoff odds for the sake of maintaining competitiveness in the future.
It is easier for the Rays to platoon heavily, not worrying as much about fielding a team with star-level talents in the lineup every single day.
“I’m just saying: It’s not always about money,” Boone said. “I think every team, every organization has their challenges. Every organization has their advantages. We always just point to the money part of it, and certainly, that’s a big one to consider. The ability to have [a big] payroll or not.
“It’s just not always black and white. The bottom line is they got a great organization and know what they’re doing, obviously. But I believe that with us, too.”