If you look at the payroll of the MLB teams, Tampa Bay should be at the bottom of the standings. At just under $74m, they spend more than only Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics on salaries. By comparison, the New York Mets have a 2023 payroll of $344 million, while their city rivals from the Bronx, the Yankees, are second on $278 million.
Nevertheless, many experts again see the Rays as one of the favourites to make the play-offs, and they're being proven right by the side at the moment, with them winning all nine games and being the only team still undefeated.
While the Rays haven't faced the toughest opponents yet, the results are still impressive, especially with favourites like the Los Angeles Dodgers or even the Houston Astros wobbling in the opening rounds.
Max Scherzer and Francisco Lindor earn more than the entire Rays squad
It's all or nothing for the New York Mets this season. They have the most valuable squad and seasoned MLB veterans. Scherzer (38) and Lindor (29) alone earn more than the entire Rays roster.
Tampa Bay have a lot of talent themselves too though, such as Wander 'El Patron' Franco (22). In 2017, they signed the number-one-seeded international player and now he's a top performer in the majors.
He's had excellent stats in his first two seasons and is looking like he could do better than ever in his third. He currently has more home runs than anyone, picking up four already, and his batting average of 35.1% is outstanding.
In the East Division, a three-way battle between the Toronto Blue Jays, the Yankees and Tampa Bay is shaping up from the start.
For Toronto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr (24) and Bo Bichette (25) have started excellently. Those two are good enough to win a lot of games on their own for their side.
The Yankees have excellent batting and home run power with Aaron Judge (30), DJ LeMahieu (34), Anthony Rizzo (33) or even Giancarlo Stanton (33). However, they've started the season with a pitching problem.
Given those issues, the Yankees will surely lose a game or two early in the season, and that could allow the Rays to build up a big lead.
