A look back at the former Tampa Bay Rays' players participating in the World Series

It's that time of year; the leaves aren't really falling in Tampa Bay, but it's still October, which means it's World Series time.

And what better way to celebrate the Fall Classic than to take a look at former Rays players that are playing in the seven game series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Starting with the most famous former Ray...

Kevin Kiermaier

The 4-time Gold Glove Award winner spent a year and a half with the Toronto Blue Jays before ending up in Dodger blue for the second half of the 2024 season.

The Dodgers wanted a center fielder that could be their 4th outfield option moving forward, so they let go of another veteran in Jason Heyward and went out and snagged Kiermaier in exchange for another former Ray, lefty Ryan Yarborough.

Kiermaier was mostly known for his flashy plays and elite center-field defense during his time in Tampa Bay, and he was a huge fan favorite because of those skills (and maybe those dreamy eyes, too).

The elite defender ended up in Toronto after 9 years with the Rays in which he was part of the magical 2020 squad that lost to these same Dodgers in this Fall Classic making it a bit of a full circle moment for the Fort Wayne native.

Brent Honeywell, Jr.

Some have called Honeywell the unsung hero of the NLCS for Los Angeles. Max Muncy even went so far as to say that Honeywell had "just won us game 6" after the screwball specialist ate up 4.2 innings in a Mets blowout victory in Game 5.

Perhaps that's a bit of an eye-wash or some hype for the little guy, but there's absolutely some merit to it. The Dodgers employed an interesting tactic the Rays used quite often this season as they conceded 2 games in the NLCS.

Giving up on games sounds like a poor strategy in the playoffs, but Dave Roberts recognized when games were out of reach and used his pitching staff accordingly. He didn't chase wins, but instead he settled in and took the wins when they were there and deployed his high-leverage arms when appropriate.

Now for Honeywell, this meant getting almost 8 innings of work in the NLCS. He has given us quite a comeback story for someone with a difficult injury history.

From 2018-2020, the former second-rounder missed significant portions of time due to Tommy John surgery and a few other arm injuries. The former top prospect was unfortunately derailed of capitalizing on his immense potential.

The screwballer came through the Rays organization as a highly touted prospect, even making it as so far as to be ranked 11th in Baseball America's top prospect rankings going into the 2018 season. Unfortunately due to those arm injuries, the Georgia native didn't make his big-league debut for the Rays until 2021, and was subsequently traded to the Oakland A's for cash considerations during the offseason.

After spending most of 2022 in the A's minor league system, Honeywell bounced around and eventually ended up in LA after being claimed off waivers from the Pirates.

Anthony Banda

Banda was originally traded to the Rays in 2018 by Arizona in a 3-team deal that sent Steven Souza, Jr. to the D-Backs. The crafty left-hander made his Rays debut in May of that year before requiring Tommy John surgery in early June, forcing him to miss the rest of 2018 and half of 2019.

Banda spent the majority of 2019 and 2020 in the minor with a few brief cameos in the majors sprinkled in at the end of 2019. He was traded before the 2021 season to the San Francisco Giants.

Before taking his own journey around a multitude of teams, Banda ended up with the Dodgers after being traded from the Guardians for cash considerations.

The lefty reliever has turned himself into a valuable bullpen piece for manager Dave Roberts, accumulating a 3.02 ERA in almost 50 innings for the Dodgers in 2024.

Evan Phillips

Another career journeyman, Phillips is the only player on this list who ended up with the Dodgers right after his stint with the Rays.

His time in Tampa Bay was a brief one, making a single appearance in 2021 before being designated for assignment and claimed by the Dodgers in August of that season.

From there, Phillips has been a mainstay in the Dodgers' pitching staff, even serving as the club's closer in 2022 with his fantastic production. The right-hander from Maryland posted a 1.14 ERA in a team-high 64 games.