Under the Orange Roof

With Grapefruit League games starting up, Steve Carney looks back on the workout portion of Spring Training with the signings of Amed Rosario and Yu Chang, then gets into the possibility of further upgrades from outside the organization before Opening Day. Finally, he looks at the fans who for some reason still can't get past Game 6 of the 2020 World Series and tries to give perspective to those stuck reliving a moment three and a half years old.

The Rays president of baseball operations and the team's manager speak to the media to kick off Spring Training in Port Charlotte.

With just a couple of weeks remaining before the start of Spring Training, the Rays roster is starting to fill out with more players being invited to big-league camp. Steve Carney gives you his thoughts on some of the new arms and bats that will be in Port Charlotte. He's then joined by Rays Radio broadcaster and good friend Neil Solondz, who gets us caught up on what he's worked on this offseason, the team's departures and additions, and a new podcast detailing the Historic Gas Plant District and the new stadium project.

As soon as we hit publish on the first episode of 2024, the Tampa Bay Rays decide to make not one, but two trades involving players on the big-league roster. Join St. Pete Nine's Steve Carney and Sports Talk Florida's Steve Kinsella as they break down first the trade of Luke Raley to Seattle for Jose Caballero, then get into the deal of Andrew Kittredge for Richie Palacios in St. Louis.

Happy New Year from Under The Orange Roof! Steve Carney returns to start 2024 with a first look at the legal proceedings against shortstop Wander Franco that are now getting underway in the Dominican Republic. We take a look at what sort of scenarios could play out, and how that affects the team's massive contract with the 22-year-old. We then get into the sillyness that local politicans have staked their names to regarding the construction of a new baseball stadium for the team to play in beginning in the 2028 season, plus take a look at the construction of the current roster, and some names that the team could be looking at, including a former Ray that Steve thinks could be a win-win scenario for everyone involved.

After being eliminated by the Texas Rangers in the American League Wild Card last week, manager Kevin Cash, general manager Peter Bendix, and president of baseball operations Erik Neander joined the media Monday to speak about their feelings on the 2023 campaign and give an earl;y look at 2024.

Steve Carney talks about the death of one of his long-time colleagues, friends, and mentors: Rays Radio broadcaster Dave Wills, who died Sunday at age 58.  He shares some stories of their times together on the Rays Radio Network, and how he'll remember and pay tribute to his friend.

Steve Carney is back with a third season talking all things Tampa Bay Rays. After what was a quiet free agency period during the offseason, Steve discusses why he feels that it's better to pursue the pieces that fit best with the team and not do what some big-market clubs have done and just gone out and spend willy-nilly on some big name bat. He also gets into the decision that is forthcoming on a winning proposal for redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site, and what changes you could see regarding the availability of television coverage of the team.

We are a week away from baseball's trade deadline, and Steve Carney gets into the three different aspects he feels the Rays front office should be looking to try and improve for the push toward the postseason (1:01).  He then gets into the names that would be tremendous splashes if Tampa Bay was able to acquire them, including what he would be willing to offer the Washington Nationals in order to land this year's whale: outfielder Juan Soto (21:05), what pieces the rest of the American League East could be looking at for the deadline, including which team could be a surprise seller (33:00), and finally which players he would prefer seeing the Rays front office pursue (40:34).

Much like the Rays after 11 days on the road, Steve Carney is back to discuss what happened on the last jaunt through Toronto, Boston and Cincinnati.  He starts with the announcement of Shane McClanahan being named to the American League All-Star team (1:01), and what he believes the likelihood is of him getting to be the starting pitcher for this year's Midsummer Classic.  He then gets into the last road trip, breaking the time away into three sections, and the significant injuries the club has run into as we get ready to roll into the All-Star break (3:06).  That all leads to our first discussion of the year regarding the August 2 trade deadline, and the sort of players that could be available for teams looking to buy (15:30).  And we wrap up with the possibility of Tampa Bay maybe making moves that put them in a selling situations, including the possibility of moving one of the players that could bring them a large return (20:15)