The Guardians have already shown they can climb out of a hole. After dropping the first two games of the American League Division Series, Cleveland stormed back to eliminate the White Sox in five games and earn a return to the AL Championship Series. Now comes a tougher assignment: the top-seeded Rays, rested after sweeping the Yankees and holding a 5-1 edge over Cleveland in the regular-season series.
Game 1 is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. ET, with TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max carrying the broadcast. For Cleveland, the road to its first World Series berth since 2016 runs through a Tampa Bay club filled with familiar faces — players and executives whose paths once crossed with the Guardians.
Caminero headlines Cleveland’s old scouting file
The most painful name from Cleveland’s side of the ledger is Junior Caminero. Before becoming one of Tampa Bay’s defining stars, with towering power, a lively presence and consecutive All-Star selections before his 23rd birthday, Caminero belonged to the Cleveland organization.
The Guardians signed the Dominican infielder in 2019. He appeared in 43 Dominican Summer League games in 2021, producing a .914 OPS and nine homers, before Cleveland sent him to Tampa Bay in a one-for-one trade for right-hander Tobias Myers, then 23.
Myers did not establish himself in Cleveland. The Guardians designated him for assignment fewer than eight months after acquiring him. He later moved through the Giants and White Sox organizations, found footing with Milwaukee, and eventually became part of last offseason’s Freddy Peralta trade. Peralta is now with the Rays.
Myers owns a 3.68 career ERA across 81 Major League appearances, but that does little to soften the view of the Caminero swap in Cleveland. Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti gave the deal a blunt assessment in 2023: “That’s a bad trade.”
Díaz, Sulser and Palacios deepen the ties
Caminero is not the only Rays regular with a Cleveland chapter. Yandy Díaz signed with Cleveland after leaving Cuba in 2013 and reached the Majors in 2017. He played 49 games as a rookie with a .679 OPS, then improved to a .797 mark in 39 games the following year while still moving between the big club and the minors.
In December 2018, Díaz was included in a three-club transaction. Cleveland sent Edwin Encarnación and a Draft pick to Seattle, while Díaz and pitcher Cole Sulser went to Tampa Bay. The Guardians received Carlos Santana from the Mariners and Jake Bauers from the Rays.
Díaz has turned into a dependable Tampa Bay lineup piece and a two-time All-Star, carrying an .818 OPS over his Rays career. Sulser, a less prominent part of that same deal, made 51 appearances for Tampa Bay this season. He was on the club’s ALDS roster against New York but did not enter a game.
Cleveland did receive a major season from Santana, who hit 34 home runs in 2019. Bauers, however, struggled across two seasons before being designated for assignment in 2021. He remains part of the 2026 postseason picture, though in a different uniform, as a breakout contributor for the Brewers.
Richie Palacios adds another thread. Cleveland chose him in the third round of the 2018 Draft, and he made his Major League debut with the Guardians in 2022. His opportunity was limited, and Cleveland later designated him for assignment. Palacios landed with St. Louis, hit well in a brief 2023 look, then was dealt to Tampa Bay in January 2024.
He has become a useful Rays piece. Palacios hit 10 home runs with a .704 OPS in 124 regular-season games, then delivered an important moment in the Yankees sweep by lining a two-run single in Game 2 to provide late breathing room.
Kelly went from a Cleveland pick to a Rays bullpen weapon
Right-hander Kevin Kelly began as a Cleveland 19th-round selection in 2019. His path to Tampa Bay took a Rule 5 detour: Colorado selected him in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft, then traded him to the Rays, who kept him on their Opening Day roster.
Kelly had posted a 4.66 ERA in 40 High-A outings during the 2021 season in Cleveland’s system. With Tampa Bay, he has developed into a reliable late-inning arm. He logged a 2.44 ERA in 71 games this season, frequently drawing high-leverage work. After a down 2025, he had solid campaigns in both 2023 and 2024 and owns a 3.23 career ERA as a Rays reliever.
Managers who know both clubhouses
The most visible organizational connection sits in each dugout. Rays manager Kevin Cash has held Tampa Bay’s job since 2015, making him MLB’s longest-serving active manager. A Tampa native and former Devil Rays catcher, Cash has won two American League Manager of the Year awards, guided the Rays to six postseason trips and managed the club in the 2020 World Series.
Before taking over in Tampa Bay, Cash spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons as Terry Francona’s bullpen coach in Cleveland.
Across the field will be Stephen Vogt, another two-time AL Manager of the Year. Vogt’s 10-year playing career began in Tampa Bay, where he went hitless in 27 at-bats during his 2012 debut. He now brings Cleveland into its third postseason meeting with the Rays, a matchup between two organizations long identified with creative front-office thinking and player development.
Cleveland also has Rays roots
The flow has moved more heavily from Cleveland to Tampa Bay, but the Guardians have their own Rays connections. Director of baseball operations Bobby Kinne previously served as Tampa Bay’s Major League pitching strategist.
Trade Deadline acquisition Nathaniel Lowe originally came through the Rays organization before a career that took him to several stops. Kyle Manzardo arrived in Cleveland as a prospect in a 2023 trade with Tampa Bay, although he has not been included on the Guardians’ postseason roster.
Those shared histories will not change the stakes once the series begins. Cleveland arrives with the confidence of a club that has already survived a two-game deficit. Tampa Bay arrives healthy, rested and carrying the regular-season advantage. Between them is a pennant series crowded with old teammates, former prospects and one trade Cleveland would surely like back.
