Rays might've helped Yankees extend their AL East lead with inexplicable move

Think of the last time the New York Yankees played the Tampa Bay Rays. What stood out most? One player's game-breaking speed that completely changed the Yankees' calculus anytime he was at bat or on the bases? Yeah, gotta send that fella down. No place for that in the game whatsoever.

During that most recent Rays-Yankees series, the team from Tampa was largely an afterthought. The Yankees opened the season series by taking three of four at the extremely cozy confines of George M. Steinbrenner Field, only dropping one on a four-run Devin Williams meltdown in the ninth inning. They linked up again two weeks later, with Max Fried blanking 'em in the opener before the Rays won two close and sloppy contests on Saturday and Sunday.

That final win drew them to 16-18, and they hit a low-water-mark of 16-21 against the Phillies just a few days later. Somehow, some way, though, this mini-market juggernaut never quits. Now, they're in second place in the East, sitting a healthy chunk behind the Yankees (but not healthy enough).

Chandler Simpson's out-of-control speed has objectively helped key that rise; the rookie has propelled the Rays to a 21-14 record during his time in the bigs.

But, in a flash akin to how quickly he cuts the distance between first and third, on Friday he was gone. Jake Mangum's back, and the Rays simply had to make a move. They made ... a weird one.

Rays might've shot themselves in the foot, helped the Yankees by demoting Chandler Simpson

I guess this is ... the service time game, otherwise known as the reason Roman Anthony is still touring Worcester? If so, that seems deeply misaligned with reality; Simpson is hitting .285 and his 19 steals have sparkled, but he's still technically been worth -0.1 bWAR. Rookie of the Year voters aren't fooled by singular flashy stats anymore; Simpson was well behind Jacob Wilson of the A's and Jasson Domínguez of the Yankees, and had very little chance to receive that costly bump for the Rays, winning the honors and losing a year of service time.

The most dastardly part? Once a player officially passes the threshold of 130 at-bats, he officially counts as a "rookie"; Simpson came to the plate 133 times, but only registered 123 at-bats on the year.

We hope against hope that this tricky little write-off isn't the Rays' sole motivator here for depriving MLB fans of an exciting player. If he never returns this year, we'll know for sure.

No Rays prognostication is ever a certainty. They're too scrappy. They always find a way. On the surface, though, this shift is tough to justify for baseball reasons, and hopefully it begins a mini Tampa tailspin.