At the start of every year, we like to take a look backward at the year gone by to see which moments resonated the most for Rays fans and our broader readership.<\/p>\n
Here are the top-ten read articles at DRaysBay in 2025:<\/p>\n
Honorable Mention \u2014 Rays Stadium Site Candidate: WestShore Plaza<\/a><\/p>\n This article went live in the evening on Dec. 30th and was already eleventh in our most viewed for 2025. Given the staying power of articles in the Stadium Saga, it\u2019s reasonable to expect this would have creeped up into the top ten over the coming days had the new year not been rung in just 30 hours after publishing.<\/p>\n 10. Rays change their mind, ask for Tropicana Field to be repaired<\/a><\/p>\n One of the more shocking moments in the Rays Stadium Saga was the sudden pivot by the Rays front office back to Tropicana Field, which was not actively being repaired when the team announced their intent to return to the stadium they had an active lease to use.<\/p>\n 9. Rays continue false claim County delay approving bonds \u201cbroke\u201d stadium contract<\/a><\/p>\n One of the final moments that destroyed the previous ownership group\u2019s relationship with local politicians, facilitating a sale of the team to the Zalupski group that took over in late 2025. Here we discuss how Rays executives said Pinellas County \u201ceffectively broke\u201d the team\u2019s new stadium contract. This was, unfortunately, not a truthful statement.<\/p>\n 8. 2025 Trade Deadline: Rays execute seven deals but keep their stars<\/a><\/p>\n The Rays completely overhauled the catching battery, but otherwise had a less dramatic \u2014 although no less busy \u2014 approach to the trade deadline this time around.<\/p>\n 7. MLB draft 2025: Tampa Bay Rays draft tracker and signing board<\/a><\/p>\n This draft the Rays signed all but their final pick in the 20th round, and this article showed who signed, when they did, and for how much. Interestingly the Rays went over slot to secure their two second round picks, but were able to do so by saving $1.2 million in projected bonuses for their two first round picks.<\/p>\n 6. What to know before you go to George M. Steinbrenner Field<\/a><\/p>\n A lot of people had a lot of questions about what to expect visiting GMS Field, so we compiled the various resources into a single location for reference. If you read it I hope you found it helpful!<\/p>\n 5. Rating the prospects acquired in the Rays Holiday Haul<\/a><\/p>\n While there wasn\u2019t a formal announcement on the front page, many of you might have noticed that we recently welcomed Ben Whitelaw<\/a> to the site. In this article he provided a detailed breakdown of the prospects acquired to restock the Rays farm (more on that in the next article!).<\/p>\n 4. The Rays rebuild has already backfired<\/a><\/p>\n The Rays front office claimed 2024\u2019s fire sale of star players was definitely not a fire sale, but then came 2025\u2019s underperformance both on the field in on the farm, leading to this article marking the moment as an inflection point. Will the team\u2019s change in ownership and continued sale of veterans like Baz and Lowe cause things to trend in the right direction?<\/p>\n 3. Orlando emerges as a potential destination for the Rays<\/a><\/p>\n Before the Rays new ownership group was decided late in the 2025 season, an ownership group arose in the Orlando area claiming to have $1 billion in private financing available to pursue a new ballpark for Central Florida\u2019s baseball team, along with a site and some renderings. That main backer would later defect to join the winning ownership group.<\/p>\n Also popular was a lengthy follow-up<\/a> we posted on how Orlando had the financial benefit of hotel taxes that could have buoyed the Rays voyage up I-4.<\/p>\n The top two articles were neck and neck for the most read last year, as these top top were far and away the most read last season.<\/p>\n