Exactly How Bad Have The Devil Rays Been?

The Devil Rays are entering their 10th season and the first 9 haven’t been too good. Those 9 seasons included 8 last past finishes, only one season of 70+ wins, and of course, ZERO playoff appearances. The Rays are considered the most inept franchise in baseball, but how bad have they really been? Expansion franchises are not supposed to win right away. It takes time. However, in the modern era of free agency, the Rays contemporary expansion brethren have enjoyed periods of success. Since 1993, the Devil Rays are one of four expansion teams. The Colorado Rockies were a wild card team in just their third season. The Florida Marlins have already won more titles (2) than the Red Sox have won (1) in the last 88 years. The Diamondbacks have three playoff appearances and one title. Historically, those moments of success are the exception to the rule and all three of those franchises paid heavy prices after their early success.

So where does the failure of the Tampa Bay franchise rank in the history of baseball. Let’s compare the Devil Rays to the other franchises in Major League Baseball.

First let’s look at all modern era expansion franchises and compare how long it took to reach .500…

Now let’s look at all modern era expansion franchises and compare how long it took to reach the playoffs…

Now let’s look at the franchises that have the longest current streaks of losing seasons…

Now let’s look at the franchises that have the longest current streaks of failing to reach the playoffs…

The Rays have been bad, but we are willing to bet it won’t take 15 years to reach .500 or 36 years before they reach the playoffs. And there are currently other inept franchises that have been bad longer than the Rays.