Neander on Rays' roster: 'This is a group we believe in'

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays were wrapped up in trade talks “until the very last second” before 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, president of baseball operations Erik Neander said. They explored every possibility to improve their roster, assessing position players, starters and relievers, but ultimately didn’t add anyone else prior to the Trade Deadline.

So where the Rays go from here depends entirely on the players they have -- and the ones they hope to get back from the injured list later this month.

“We were in on anything that had a chance to get us better, but it didn't happen,” Neander said. “We're good with where we are.”

The latter sentiment may be difficult to understand after the Rays’ 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. They still own the third American League Wild Card spot after their eighth defeat in 11 games since the All-Star break, but their postseason cushion is down to just one game compared to a season-high 5 1/2 games two months ago.

The Rays entered the Deadline period with seemingly apparent needs for more offense, additional pitching depth and perhaps another catcher. And it’s not as if they were totally idle. They acquired catcher Christian Bethancourt on July 9, outfielder Roman Quinn during the All-Star break and Triple-A lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger on Monday. They made more impactful moves with veteran left fielder David Peralta on Saturday and new starting center fielder José Siri on Monday.

Siri made his presence felt with a five-star catch to end the third inning in his Rays debut, a sliding grab he punctuated by bouncing up and pounding his chest in celebration (and he nearly made an even more incredible grab in the ninth on what wound up as a two-run single). Siri displayed the raw talent that intrigued Tampa Bay on his first highlight-reel snag, reaching an elite sprint speed of 30 feet per second while getting a well-above-average jump on the ball to complete the play despite just a 5 percent catch probability.

“Our front office just doesn't miss on talent, and his ability to go run after that ball and run it down was unbelievable,” said starter Drew Rasmussen, who gave up one run in six innings. “It was a run-saving play, for sure, and it definitely kept us in the game.”

But as much of their postseason-contending competition wheeled and dealed on Deadline Day, the Rays were silent on the transaction front -- aside from trading DFA’d outfielder Brett Phillips to the Orioles -- and at the plate. Tampa Bay didn’t manage a hit off Kevin Gausman until Taylor Walls’ sixth-inning single, and the club’s lone run came on a Walls homer in the ninth.

The Rays are averaging three runs per game in the second half, and they’ve scored only 11 runs in their last five games. At some point, things have to turn around, right?

“You can hope,” manager Kevin Cash said with a laugh. “Got to do a little more than that, though.”

One reason for optimism? Tampa Bay hopes to add many more players in the coming weeks -- not from other clubs, but from the injured list. One reason for concern? None of that helps the Rays right now, the way another Trade Deadline addition might.

“These games matter, too. You can't [just say], 'Oh, we'll wait for them to come back,’” Neander said. “But they do eventually come back, and how do you make it all fit? So those were considerations that had us just kind of trying to think really creatively about different possibilities. … We were in on things, but nothing that got so close to obviously get it done.”

So the Rays will continue to move forward, anticipating their bats will bounce back and awaiting better health.

Pitchers Matt Wisler, JT Chargois, Nick Anderson and Yonny Chirinos are among the arms who should return this month, with Tyler Glasnow another possible -- albeit far from guaranteed -- option in September. Of more urgent interest, considering their lineup’s recent performance, the Rays hope to have catcher Francisco Mejía back as soon as Friday, with Wander Franco, Manuel Margot and Harold Ramírez slated to return by the end of the month.

“We've got to do what we think is best for us, and this is a group we believe in -- certainly if they get healthier, and [we] expect them to be healthier,” Neander said. “There's a lot of talent here, and we've just got to worry about us.”