Erik Neander's aggressive MLB trade deadline helped transform the Tampa Bay Rays into AL East champions and the American League's No. 1 seed. Freddy Peralta, Liam Hicks and Tyler Wells added crucial pitching and lineup depth as Tampa Bay chases its first World Series title.
The Tampa Bay Rays are American League East champions for the fifth time in franchise history.
And as the champagne continues flowing, it's worth remembering what Erik Neander did to help make this possible.
The Rays entered the trade deadline already looking like a postseason team. But instead of sitting back and hoping the roster was good enough to make a run, Neander got aggressive.
And although some of those moves were easily questioned when they occurred, they certainly have turned out to benefit Tampa Bay as they look for their first-ever World Series title.
Because now, Tampa Bay isn't simply heading to October. The Rays have the No. 1 seed in the American League.
Freddy Peralta might be the best example of how much things have changed since the deadline.
His first start with Tampa Bay was a disaster, allowing seven earned runs against the Colorado Rockies. Since then, Peralta has completely changed the conversation and become another legitimate postseason option alongside Drew Rasmussen and Nick Martinez.
The Rays believed that they truly could fix Peralta and bring him back to his ace-like stuff when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers, and they did exactly that.
The Rays didn't need another pitcher capable of eating innings. They needed someone capable of taking the baseball in October and giving them a chance against another team's best starter.
Peralta has become that guy. And with injuries to players such as Shane McClanahan, his arrival to the squad might be the most important out of all players Neander added at the deadline.
Then there's Liam Hicks.
Hicks wasn't the biggest name acquired at the deadline, but his ability to catch, DH, and even provide another option at first base has given Kevin Cash considerably more flexibility.
More importantly, Hicks has added another dangerous bat to a lineup that has become much deeper during the second half of the season.
Tyler Wells provided another pitching option before injuries complicated things, but that's also part of what made Neander's deadline so important.
He added depth to an already impressive back end of the bullpen, helping Kevin Cash have options on ways to shorten games.
And when you're trying to survive 162 games before potentially playing deep into October, you can never have enough of it.
Tampa Bay already had Junior Caminero, Yandy Díaz, Drew Rasmussen, and plenty of talent before the deadline. Neander didn't need to completely rebuild the roster.
He needed to make it better.
He did. And he did it without losing some of his top prospects in the Rays' farm system as well. Another impressive feat that is not going unnoticed.
Now the Rays sit in prime position to make a deep postseason run and fight for their first-ever World Series title, with a looming nightmare of potentially no baseball in 2027. Now is the time for Tampa Bay to finally raise the biggest banner in all of baseball.
