TAMPA, Fla. — In reviewing his Tampa Bay Rays at the end of the season, baseball operations president Erik Neander suggested that two essentially disparate things can both be true: They were not far from returning to contention and have much to do to get there.

After a month of assessment — coupled with watching the Toronto Blue Jays make a run to the World Series after improving by 20 wins from 2024 — Neander and Co. are poised to begin that process with this week’s official start to the offseason.

“To be a championship-caliber club, we all have work to do.” Neander said Friday. “The roster and operation have good bones. We expect player development and improved performance from within to lead us there.

”But to compete at the top of this division, we always need to be on the lookout for complementary acquisitions from outside the organization, too, and we’ll spend the offseason determining if there are paths available to help make that happen.”

Their first steps seem relatively straightforward:

Expect the Rays to pick up the options on both second baseman Brandon Lowe ($11.5 million) and reliever Pete Fairbanks ($11 million), preserving the potential to get trade return later.

Clearing space on the 40-man roster to reinstate or otherwise address the nine players on the 60-day injured list shouldn’t yield any major surprises. Lefty Nate Lavender, a Rule 5 pick last December who was sidelined all season, is potentially the toughest decision.

Then the offseason gets interesting.

There is a solid core to the lineup with first baseman Jonathan Aranda, third baseman Junior Caminero, DH Yandy Diaz and Lowe, plus the hope that outfielder Josh Lowe is healthy and returns somewhere close to his 2023 form (.835 OPS vs. .670 since).

But there are four spots where they have to look for improvement:

Outfield

Last year’s group was among the majors’ least productive, ranking 26th in OPS (.663), 27th in RBIs (175) and last in homers (29). Add some defensive lapses, and that made for a bad mix.

Most of the playing time went to Jake Mangum, Chandler Simpson and Josh, followed by Kameron Misner and Christopher Morel. Jonny DeLuca and Richie Palacios missing most of the season with injuries also hurt.

While they hit for average (.255, sixth in the majors) and ran well, there is a clear need for more power from one or two spots, as they have too many complementary, and somewhat similar, pieces.

Top free agents (Tampa’s Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham) seem too pricey, and there’s a big dropoff after that. A trade may be more likely, with their usual profile to get a rising, unheralded player.

Catcher

The Rays went through five last year, shifting away from and then back to their emphasis on defense, ending the year with Hunter Feduccia and Nick Fortes, neither of whom was overly impressive.

As a group, Rays catchers ranked last in batting average (.185) and OPS (.592), and were around the league average in throwing out runners. Prospect Dominic Keegan is likely to be added to the 40-man roster but is coming off a bad year.

All of which means the Rays, as usual, will spend their offseason chasing their unicorn — a catcher to be their guy for several years. That pool of candidates is shallow, and other teams also are looking.

Shortstop

Prospect Carson Williams hit .172, posted a .573 OPS, struck out 41.5% of the time over his unexpected 32-game audition — and did better than generally expected. At 22, he doesn’t seem ready to take over.

That leaves the Rays once again counting on Taylor Walls to provide his usual dazzling defense while hoping for more consistent offense and that he can stay healthy for a full season, both of which have proved challenging. Tristan Gray also could stick around.

Option three will be to seek outside help, as they’ve tried before.

Starters

Most of the focus is on adding offense, but a case can be made to prioritize addressing the rotation, which has just three returnees the Rays can count on.

Drew Rasmussen, coming off his third major elbow surgery, was really good (10-5 record, 2.76 ERA) with his workload monitored closely. Over 31 starts each, Ryan Pepiot was a solid 11-12, 3.86; Shane Baz a not-as-impressive 10-12, 4.87.

After that, there’s Joe Boyle and Ian Seymour, who showed good and bad in limited action. And extreme uncertainty with two-time All-Star Shane McClanahan, who has been sidelined since August 2023 by a series of arm issues.

What’s missing is a veteran with some been-there, done-that experience. Re-signing free agent Adrian Houser, who the Rays liked after getting him in a deadline deal, is an option. Another is a reunion with Zach Eflin. Or they could go big and try to swing a trade for someone like Joe Ryan (who they sent to Minnesota in 2021) or Sandy Alcantara.

By spring camp, figure there will be a few other moves. Depending on what the Rays do with Fairbanks, another reliever or two will be added. One of the outfielders seems likely to go. They could dip into their prospect pool to make a deal, though most also had down years. They always do something.

How the Rays go about addressing these needs in the first year of new ownership will be interesting.

Signing a big-name free agent, especially one of the three from Tampa Bay — Tucker, Pete Alonso or Bo Bichette — would make a splash but doesn’t seem likely. (Or, in the case of Alonso or Bichette, fit well.)

More likely, the payroll will stay in the same relative $80 million area, as will the philosophy of being creative and doing more with less. At least until the new bosses execute their plan to get a deal for a new stadium as part of an overall entertainment complex that, in theory, will generate additional revenue and allow for an increased payroll.

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