The ten most popular articles in DRaysBay history

To continue our look back, as we commemorate DRaysBay's tenth anniversary as a site, I thought it would be interesting to gather the ten most popular articles in site history, as measured by google analytics. They are as follows:

10. "Select Your Individual Journey": Joe Maddon's Big Night

One of my favorite articles every to grace the front page is this rather goofy idea: Choose Your Own Adventure. Except not exactly that, because that name is trademarked, as we quickly learned. If you do one thing this Sunday, I hope you give this journey a try. Go tell Jaso to bunt Upton over, and find out just where Joe Maddon's crazy evening just might end.

9. Kevin Kiermaier, future center fielder for the Tampa Bay Rays

Shortly before his promotion as a full time outfielder for the Rays, I had the opportunity to interview Kevin Kiermaier on his covert rise through the minors, and his chip-on-the-shoulder approach to the game. His rise to prominence was sudden, given his unexpected inclusion on the Rays' post season roster, and we were all wondering who he just might be.

8. Gauging Interest in David Price, Part 6

This article was the culmination of several attempts by Michael Valancius (mr. maniac) and myself to quantify what David Price would be worth, should he ever be traded. This series tried to reason that our through interview with site leads from around the SB Nation network, and this article focused on the Dodgers, Cardinals, and Astros as suitors.

7. Joe Maddon tried to stay in Tampa Bay

The trial is ongoing, in the office of the commissioner and in the court of public opinion, as to whether Joe Maddon and the Cubs broke the rules on his way out the door. I never believed Joe Maddon meant to leave the Rays, but the opportunity came, and he took a deep breath and he jumped. In the aftermath we learned Maddon made attempts to negotiate a way to stay, and this article by Ian covered all the bases, though it would take a ghost story for us to better comprehend.

6. DRaysBay Stadium Proposal, Part 1: Location, Location, Location

In 2011, the writing staff here at DRaysBay put together a well reasoned and thorough proposal for the Rays to build a stadium across the river from downtown Tampa, at the site of the Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park. This particular article contained an analysis on the woes of Tropicana Field's location (near a meager 19% of the Bay population), and studied traffic patterns for a move to the city of Tampa. The full series was quite an acheivement.

5. Who is Willy Adames?

Possibly the most popular question of 2014, this prospect was the central piece of the David Price trade that eventually happened, and a player few had ever heard about, even for the team that traded him. Scott did his best to answer the question on all of our minds.

4. A Letter from Andrew Friedman to DRaysBay

When Andrew Friedman departed the Rays front office, he was gracious enough to send us an e-mail, thanking DRaysBay for being the "thought leaders for Rays nation and some of the most passionate and well-informed fans in all of baseball." We are eternally grateful to Friedman's kindness to answer our questions and encouragement to always dig deeper.

3. Rays owner says team will be sold, moved without new stadium

Ah, this was the moment the Rays owner began playing hardball. It was the first time ever that the Rays had made such a public statement about the team ever leaving, and it came not that long ago. With stadium negotiations still on going, we have yet to find a resolution on this matter.

2. Wil Myers and Super Two

Surely the most popular question of 2013 was this: Now that we have Wil Myers, when do we get to see him? The contract requirements of MLB make things complicated, and this excellent breakdown by Michael produced the second most viewed article in site history.

1. The Rays Tank: James Shields signing day?

This particular result was quite surprising as is was published just last Thursday. The Tank is a daily feature for morning links that serves as the go-to-place for discussion throughout the day, and I believe a bit of search engine optimization may have helped this article along.

James Shields is quite simply my favorite Rays player to ever take the field, and I'm glad to see that he's reached No. 1 in this site's history thus far. I hope he always stays there.

For more commemorating the site's ten year anniversary, please visit our full write up here, including a look back at the beginning and some well wishes from friends.