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Tampa Bay Rays: The franchise all-time bracket

By Bill Felber

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - APRIL 16: Kevin Kiermaier #39 of the Tampa Bay Rays runs back to the dugout during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field on April 16, 2019 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - APRIL 16: Kevin Kiermaier #39 of the Tampa Bay Rays runs back to the dugout during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field on April 16, 2019 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Joseph Garnett Jr./Getty Images) /

The 2008 Tampa Bay Rays established a winning pattern that has carried forward to today, but only one team can be crowned the franchise’s best ever.

Selecting an all-time Tampa Bay Rays bracket is essentially an exercise in picking the best Rays team of the past decade.

After all, between their creation in 1998 and 2007, the Rays never produced a team that won more than 70 games. Only in 2008, with the emergence of an American League champion, did the Rays become competitive.

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In the dozen seasons beginning with 2008, Tampa Bay has produced exactly eight winning teams, so that becomes our bracket.

For the record, those eight are the Rays of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018  and 2019.

Five of those teams played post-season games, the 2008 Rays being the only one to reach the World Series. They and the 2010 Rays hold the franchise’s two AL East Division titles.

The format is largely identical to previous bracket challenges, but there is one adaptation made in deference to the franchise’s youth. Tampa has not produced a Hall of Famer, so in cases when a Game 7 is require we are substituting All-Star selections.

Otherwise, each matchup in the tournament is decided based on seven criteria. You can think of each as a ‘game,’ the winner of four games advancing. The seven criteria are:

  1. Game 1: Regular season winning percentage.
  2. Game 2: Post-season winning percentage
  3. Game 3: Team OPS+
  4. Game 4: Team ERA+
  5. Game 5 (if necessary): Team WAR
  6. Game 6 (if necessary: Fielding percentage above the league average for the season in question.
  7. Game 7 (if necessary): The standard for Game 7 is Rays who were chosen for the All-Star Game.
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