Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
En route to its second World Series appearance in franchise history last year, the Rays made a couple of low-key moves leading up to the trade deadline that ended up having outsized effects not even Nostradamus could have foreseen.
The first was linking up with the Royals to acquire Brett Phillips, whose inexplicable walk-off single in Game 4 of the World Series won the team 2020’s game of the year.