Departures leave some uncertainty

Five issues facing the Rays:

Doom and Bloom:

Losing the head of your baseball operations department is never a good way to start the offseason. Chaim Bloom left for the Red Sox. Bloom mastered the Rays’ need to keep payroll down by emphasizing development through the farm system or acquiring distressed assets and turning them around.

Doing so made him a prime candidate for the Red Sox, who need front office redirection. But Boston’s gain is the Rays’ loss, and him leading a different AL East team is not ideal.

Prospects: trouble:

St. Petersburg and the Rays are in a standoff regarding the team’s future in the area. Tensions escalated last year when a plan for the organization being split between Tampa Bay and Montreal began circulating. Under the current lease at Tropicana Field, the Rays are bound to the area until 2027. That won’t stop the questions regarding the viability of keeping a team in the area with attendance concerns.

After Pham:

A December trade that sent Tommy Pham to San Diego in exchange for Hunter Renfroe and prospect Xavier Edwards was a bit of a head scratcher. Pham was a key piece during last year’s postseason run and a clubhouse presence.

Renfroe has similar power but overall is considered a downgrade in left field. Yes, Pham was going to cost a little more now and down the road – and that might have been the impetus behind moving him.

Edwards’ upside could make the move a quality one, but the Rays already have a crowded middle-infield prospect landscape. The good news for the Rays is that even as their talent has risen to the majors or has been traded in other deals to acquire big-league talent, theirs remain one of the top farm systems in the game.

Shortstop Wander Franco might be the best prospect in baseball, and Vidal Brujan is another second-base prospect.

Ronaldo Hernandez provides a possible future backstop. Right-hander Brent Honeywell could be back this year after Tommy John surgery robbed him of the last two seasons.

The Rays need their young talent to produce almost immediately, sometimes

KIM KLEMENT/USA TODAY SPORTS The difficulty drawing consistent crowds to Tropicana Field is a concern for the Rays, whose lease doesn’t expire until 2027.