What's most impressive about Rays' 13-0 start? Their payroll

Tampa Bay put up a pile of impressive numbers during an undefeated streak (13-0) that tied the modern record for the start of a season.

The Rays'  32 homers made them one of just three teams since 1901 to hit that many in the first 13 games, joining the 2019 Mariners and 2000 Guardians, who each had 33. Their 101 runs scored were the eighth-most in MLB history through 13 games. The Rays’ pitching staff had allowed only six homers through 117 innings, the fewest ever for the franchise during that span.

But the really eye-popping statistic about the Rays’ steamroller start is $74.5 million, the payroll (according to Spotrac) for what currently is, record-wise, baseball’s best team.

That’s more mind-boggling than any other data that could be mined from this tiny-market juggernaut, an analytics-driven operation that has played with unmatched success   for the past two decades once you consider payroll as part of the equation.

Only the Orioles and Athletics are spending less on their teams, with Baltimore in the latter stages of a perpetual rebuild on stockpiled draft picks and Oakland basically tanking its way out of the Bay Area to Las Vegas. In other words, the Rays actually try to win every season, and they manage to do it despite playing in front of MLB’s third-worst attendance at the creaky, revenue-starved dome of Tropicana Field.

To put things in perspective, the Rays not only are spending $300 million less than the Mets, but their entire payroll doesn’t even amount to the combined salaries of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander ($86.6 million) for the ’23 season. Tampa Bay’s highest-paid player is Manuel Margot ($7M), followed by Yandy Diaz ($6M), Brandon Lowe (5.25M) and Randy Arozarena ($4.15M). Those figures wouldn’t even pay for the back end of the Mets’ bullpen.

So in the only sport with no salary cap, coming off an offseason in which cash was thrown around with abandon, the Rays continue to buck those trends in proving that money isn’t everything.

We’re not sure how much the St. Louis Maroons paid for their roster in 1884, but that’s the lone team to have a better start (20-0) than the Rays, who already had a five-game lead in the AL East heading into their streak-ending 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays in Friday’s opener of a three-game series at Rogers Centre. A 13-0 opening surge provides a pretty good springboard to the season.

“When you do something like that, you’re playing really well,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters Thursday at  Tropicana Field. “There is not one part of our game right now that we don’t feel good about.”

There is one slight catch, however. The Rays’ first nine wins came against the Tigers, Nationals and A’s — a trio expected to finish at the bottom of their respective divisions this season that had a combined winning percentage of .263 (10-28) through Thursday. That’s really nit-picking, though,  and the Rays beat the Red Sox for the next four, a Boston team (payroll: $177M) that was 5-4 before showing up at the Trop.

Where the Rays go from here is anyone’s guess, and the two other 13-0 teams they matched — the 1987 Brewers and ’82 Atlanta — fell short of the World Series. Milwaukee followed that torrid start with a 12-game losing streak the very next month and finished 91-71, which was good enough for only third place in the AL East back when the sport  had only two seven-team divisions per league. As for Atlanta, the Joe Torre-led club won the NL West with an 89-73 record before getting swept in the NLCS by the eventual world champion Cardinals.

Franchy an A-Rod fan

Being fairly new to the Yankees, who signed him to a $1 million deal on the eve of Opening Day, breakout slugger Franchy Cordero probably wasn’t feeling comfortable enough to ask for the No. 13 upon his arrival. Or maybe it was a bit too intimidating. Cordero grew up a big fan of Alex Rodriguez, who switched to No. 13 when he got to the Bronx because his favorite No. 3 was long-retired to Babe Ruth.

“When I started playing, I was an infielder,” said Cordero, who has played the corner outfield spots for the Yankees. “And Alex was my favorite player, so I watched him a lot.”

A-Rod retired in 2016, the year before Cordero, 28, made his major-league debut with the Padres. Through Thursday, Cordero had done a fairly good impression of his idol. He smacked four homers to match Aaron Judge for the team lead at the time, and his 11 RBIs were the most ever for a player’s first seven games as a Yankee.

While the Yankees' No. 13 remains available after Joey Gallo had it last season, Cordero currently has No. 33, last worn by current Mets outfielder Tim Locastro in 2021.

Thumbs down on Baez

The Javy Baez Era was a brief and largely regrettable two-month period in Flushing, but at least the Mets didn’t compound that error by trying to sign him back after the 2021 season. Baez created a PR catastrophe as part of the infamous “thumbs-down” gesture to the Citi Field fans, and the rental trade cost the Mets a promising young outfielder by the name of Pete Crow-Armstrong, currently ranked No. 25 overall by MLB Pipeline and No. 1 in the Cubs’ organization.

We bring up Baez again this week because now in the second season of his six-year, $140 million deal with the Tigers, the shortstop was pulled from Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays in the second inning for forgetting how many outs there were and being doubled up on a fly ball. Mistakes happen, sure. But Tigers manager AJ Hinch took the very unusual step of removing a player of Baez’s stature (and tax bracket) in that circumstance.

“I don't want to embarrass anybody,” Hinch said, according to The Associated Press. “I don't want to lessen our bench. I don't want to take out one of our starters. He's a premium player. But I also don't want to see a team make mental mistakes.”

Baez’s explanation? Because he was hitting sixth — lower in the order than usual — he thought he was the third batter of the inning. Either way, Hinch wasn’t buying it, and this wasn’t the first time for Baez either.  In 2021, the same year he was later traded to the Mets, Baez was removed by Cubs manager David Ross in a June game for a similar infraction, getting doubled off first base with one out.

Baez is hitting .122 with a .328 OPS through his first dozen games this season, and in a combined 156 games since signing with the Tigers, he’s batting .230 with 17 homers, 68 RBIs and a .647 OPS.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.