The Tampa Bay Rays are a highly intelligent organization. 

They have been for years. 

That's why the Rays have stayed competitive despite having one of the lowest payrolls in Major League Baseball. 

Many people were expecting Tampa Bay to be the fourth- or fifth-best team in the AL East, but it's four wins away from the World Series. 

How have the Rays built their roster? According to FanGraphs, just 18% of their roster is homegrown.

Left fielder Chandler Simpson, shortstop Taylor Walls, and left-hander Ian Seymour were draft picks. First baseman Jonathan Aranda signed as an international free agent. 

Otherwise, Tampa Bay's roster is made up of players acquired from another organization (e.g., 3B Junior Caminero) or via free agency. 

"The aging joke is that teams simply should hang up the phone when the Rays call. If they want one of your players, even one you're willing to deal, don't send that player to the Rays because you will lose the trade," ESPN's Bradford Doolittle wrote. "Better to figure out what the Rays like in a player and focus on that." 

The Cleveland Guardians learned that trading with the Rays is risky business. 

They sent right-hander Tobias Myers to the Rays for future All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero in 2021. 

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"Anyway, of all the trades the Rays have won, acquiring Caminero from Cleveland for Tobias Myers stands out on the current roster because of how good he has become, not to mention how fast," Doolittle added. "Caminero's 94 career homers rank as the ninth most for a player through his age-22 season. Myers never played in the majors for Cleveland." 

MLB organizations have been warned. 

If the Rays call and ask about one of their players, chances are they've figured something out about them that the player's current organization hasn't. 

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