Power Ranking: Top 5 Tampa Bay Rays of All-Time

2. Carl Crawford

The face of the franchise during the early and mid-2000s, the appropriately nicknamed “Perfect Storm” was the man in Tampa. A three-time All-Star, Crawford was a menace for opposing teams.

Carl Crawford holds many key records for the Rays including being the all-time leader in batting average, hits, triples, and stolen bases which he led the entire league in on four separate occasions during his tenure with the Rays.

His final year with the Rays might have been his best as he slashed an outstanding .307/.356/.495 with career highs in home runs (19) and RBI (90).
Crawford was never quite the same dynamic player he was after he left the Rays. During the 2010 offseason, he signed a lucrative 7-year, $142-million contract with the Boston Red Sox.

The numbers immediately regressed and he only lasted 2 seasons with the Sox before being shipped off to the LA Dodgers. While he played much better during his time in LA compared to his disappointing years in Boston, he was oft-injured which ultimately led to his retirement at 34 when his contract with the Dodgers expired.

Crawford was a part of all of the bottom-dwelling Rays teams from 2002-2007 but was also an essential piece of the puzzle that led to the Rays advancing to the World Series 2008. It definitely wouldn’t be blasphemous to argue for Crawford to be in the number one spot on this list, but there was one player who edged him out.

2002-2010, 4 Time All-Star, Gold Glove 2010, Silver Slugger 2010, Four-Time AL Stolen Base Leader, .296 BA  104 HR  592 RBI  .781 OPS  409 SB  35.6 WAR