Amid uncertainty, ‘business as usual’ for Neander

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Erik Neander knows the questions are coming. He’s already heard them from just about everyone.

With Tropicana Field’s roof significantly damaged by Hurricane Milton, where are the Rays going to play next season? How long will they be away from their home ballpark? What do all these unexpected developments mean for the club’s short- and long-term future?

They’re important questions, but nobody has the answers yet -- not even the Rays’ president of baseball operations. Amid that uncertainty, Neander and his staff must now begin to build a better roster than the one that finished 80-82 this past season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

“Going into this offseason, the needs for our roster aren’t much different than they were a month ago, and the avenues for how we can improve them are more or less the same as they were a month ago,” Neander said Monday from the GM Meetings in San Antonio. “In that sense, it’s business as usual, and we’ve got to go about making up our team for 2025.

“Obviously there’s uncertainty about where that team is going to be playing and all that kind of stuff that we’re working through the best that we can. But when it comes to the roster building and our time over the next several days out here, really going to go about it in a way that is very similar to how it would have been if -- in some much, much better alternate universe -- these storms didn’t impact anybody.”

Neander is quick to put the Rays’ situation in perspective, acknowledging the devastating and life-changing impact that back-to-back hurricanes had on many people around the Tampa Bay area. Still, the unfortunate lack of clarity puts him and his staff in somewhat of an awkward position.

With Tropicana Field still being assessed and no interim plan in place, they can only relay what’s already been said publicly, including Commissioner Rob Manfred stating MLB’s desire to ideally keep the Rays within the Tampa Bay area. So what will Neander say when an agent or player asks about the situation?

“We have our challenges. We have our benefits. We’re going to stay focused on the benefits,” Neander said. “That’s just the way I am and the way we are. We’ve got what we need to compete.”

Speaking a few minutes after free agency opened, Neander joked the Rays were “probably not going to be doing anything tonight.” But it’s true that the often leisurely pace of baseball’s offseason action should give them time to go about their work while their future comes into clearer focus.

This offseason won’t bring a massive overhaul for the Rays, either. They handled a lot of this winter’s work as they reshaped their roster over the past year. But they’ll be active in trade and free-agent talks, and they clearly have some needs, including a right-handed-hitting catcher who can meet their defensive standards and help their lineup. They need more offense, period.

In those pursuits, Neander hopes to reinforce some things that won’t change, regardless of where the Rays line up on Opening Day.

“No matter what’s going on, we have an incredible staff with a really, really strong history of treating players well and helping them get better,” Neander said. “I think we could be on Mars and those things are going to be a constant, and they’re going to be a source of attractiveness for players looking for their next opportunity. We’ve had players flourish here for a long time.

“Obviously knowing your home and where you’re going to be and all that certainly provides some peace of mind, but there are some constants in place that are also the reasons that players like being here. We take good care of them, and we have a wonderful staff.”

So for now, it’s back to business as usual. For the most part.

“We’ll be OK. We’ll find a way to be just fine. It’ll take some time, and I’m sure those questions will be asked,” Neander said. “Right now, can’t give them that answer, but I can give them an answer when it comes to our staff and the care we’re going to take of our players.”