Rays believe another World Series run is within reach after historic 2026 season

The Tampa Bay Rays are coming off a historic 2026 season, and the message from the front office is clear: they believe another World Series run is within reach.After returning to Tropicana Field following hurricane repairs from Milton, the Rays won 98 games, captured the American League's best record and came within three wins of the franchise's first World Series championship.Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander believes the team is closer than ever to reaching that ultimate goal."I think we just went up against a team, to me it's achievable for us, and I don't think it's far off to do what Milwaukee just did," Neander said.The 98-win season was even more impressive considering preseason projections had Tampa Bay finishing fifth in the AL East.Now, the focus shifts to keeping the core of a pennant-winning roster together.For us, our job is to have the most productive offseason possible. We had a World Series-appearing, AL pennant-winning team that a lot of its coming bac