It really is the Tampa Bay Rays — not the rich kids on the block in the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox or Toronto Blue Jays — who stand as the biggest impediment to the Orioles truly competing for the American League East flag.
How many times during an interview about the Orioles on talk radio do you hear the words, “The AL East is a tough neighborhood.”
Well, sure, what do you expect when you are playing against the Yankees ($304.6 million payroll, No. 3 in the big leagues), Blue Jays ($275.4 million payroll, No. 5) and Red Sox ($210.2 million payroll, No. 10)?
If you are waiting for the Orioles ($166 million payroll, No. 17) to catch up to the big boys, you could be waiting as long as this 74-year-old has been waiting for the Orioles to make it back to the World Series (43 years and counting).
It’s not as if the Blue Jays are great every year. They have not won a World Series since their back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993. Yes, they did make it last year, only to regress and finish a half-game behind the Orioles in the season that just ended.
The Red Sox made it to the playoffs this year based on a historic 45-game stretch in June and July. Sure, the Sox have won four World Series (2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018) since John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino took over in 2002. But they also finished in last place in 2020, 2023 and 2024.
The Yankees have not won a World Series since Joe Girardi was manager in 2009. So, it’s not like money is always the surest path to consistent contending. But the team in my headline, the Rays, went 98-64 in 2026 with a $98.3 million payroll (No. 25).
And while the Rays have never won a World Series, they have been to two since they began playing in 1998. The first was in 2008, when they lost in five games to the Phillies. The second was in 2020, when they lost to the Dodgers in six. In 2008, a lifetime ago in the economics of baseball, the Rays had a $35 million payroll. And then in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, they made it to the World Series with a $28 million payroll. Players were paid on a prorated basis based on a 60-game season in ’20.
The Rays are 1,621-1,356 in the regular season since 2008, a winning percentage of .545. The point is that the Rays have consistently put the big spenders to shame and accomplished so much with limited resources.
Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 miles north of St. Petersburg, Fla., in the hamlet known as Baltimore City, the Orioles have struggled for consistency. The Orioles have gone 1,393-1,581 since 2008, a winning percentage of .468, despite having far greater resources than the Rays.
There must be a caveat added here that the 2019-2021 seasons were the core years of president of baseball operations Mike Elias’ rebuild.
After eight seasons on his job as the lead baseball executive, Elias has come to the conclusion he needs different voices in the front office. He now cites the size of his front office as part of the problem, suggesting the O’s front office is in the bottom five or six teams in terms of the staff size.
Had he added that general manager he was talking about a year ago, maybe Elias would have been advised to redirect the $6.8 million he flushed down the toilet on Ryan Mountcastle. That could have funded several new voices.
If you look at the Rays and the level of success in St. Pete, I’d pinpoint several of those voices as the people who can help.
Andrew Friedman was the Rays’ GM as the club built the model of excellence in scouting and player development. In October 2014, he left to run the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had last been to and won a World Series in 1988.
The 2026 season marks Friedman’s 12th year in Los Angeles. Backed by the consortium headed by Mark Walter of Guggenheim Partners, Friedman has taken the Dodgers to five World Series. They won it all in 2020 (Rays), 2024 (Yankees) and 2025 (Blue Jays).
Erik Neander is the president of baseball operations for the Rays. With new ownership there and a new stadium in the offing, I doubt he is going anywhere.
Elias mentioned that the Orioles have executive titles galore and they want different voices. I can think of no better voices in the game than the ones that whisper in the ears of Neander and manager Kevin Cash.
Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Rays
Issue 301: October / November 2026
Originally published Oct. 14, 2026