TAMPA, Fla. — The complaints are valid and, the way things work around here, pretty much eternal.

Yes, the Rays have gotten rid of another fan favorite. On the list of franchise records, Brandon Lowe is eighth in games played, third in home runs, fourth in slugging percentage and sixth in OPS. Odds are, the Rays will get less production out of second base in 2026.

For an organization desperate to attract more ticket-buyers, it’s a strange way of doing business.

And for a baseball operations department tasked with building a playoff contender with a diet-sized payroll, trading Lowe was absolutely the correct decision.

Before you howl, let me bring up one important name:

Carl Crawford.

Not who you were expecting, right? Crawford hasn’t played for the Rays in 15 years, so what’s he got to do with the argument? From the team’s perspective, everything.

Back in 2010, the Rays were enjoying their first years of success as a franchise. Crawford, however, was coming up on free agency and re-signing him did not seem likely considering Tampa Bay’s payroll structure. The prudent thing would be to trade Crawford ahead of the season but, because ownership was convinced the Rays were World Series contenders, they decided to roll the dice and keep him for 2010.

The Rays ended up winning the AL East and Crawford had a career year.

Woo-hoo!

And then the Rays lost in the division series and Crawford signed with the Red Sox.

Boo-hoo.

It was an important lesson for a franchise that has never had the revenues to buy itself out of mistakes or jams. It wasn’t smart business — or smart baseball — to allow an asset to walk out the door without much in return.

Which is why, a couple years later, James Shields was traded. And then David Price. And Evan Longoria. And Blake Snell. And just about every big-name player who was nearing the end of a contract — or underperforming — in Tampa Bay.

If players were not going to be re-signed, then the Rays would repurpose them.

And they have done it over and over again.

The Shields trade brought AL Rookie of the Year Wil Myers and, through more deals, Yandy Diaz. Price was flipped in exchange for Willy Adames, Drew Smyly and, eventually, Mallex Smith, Ryan Yarbrough, Mike Zunino and Drew Rasmussen.

And the most remarkable Rays trade tree ever grew another set of branches last week. On the same day Lowe was traded to the Pirates for two prospects (via Houston), Shane Baz was sent to the Orioles for four more prospects. Baz wasn’t close to free agency, but the haul was deemed too impressive to pass up.

Which is fitting, because that’s how the trade tree began.

Delmon Young was just 22 and coming off his second big-league season when the Rays traded him to Minnesota for Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett. Garza, who threw the only no-hitter in team history, would later be dealt for Chris Archer, among others. Archer, a two-time All-Star, was traded to Pittsburgh for Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and Baz. Meadows brought back Isaac Paredes, and Glasnow was flipped for Ryan Pepiot and Jonny DeLuca.

And now Baz has been dealt for four high-ceiling prospects from the Orioles.

Even if Delmon Young had blossomed and become an All-Star outfielder — he definitely did not and was done by the time he was 30 — trading him in 2007 has provided the Rays with quality production in virtually every season since, and it is still paying off with a half-dozen players under Rays control 17 years later.

Of course, it doesn’t always work quite so well. If the players acquired are busts, the return is essentially doused. The Snell deal looks particularly gruesome in retrospect.

So, if you’re angry about cheap owners or empty bleachers or baseball’s economic system, then last week’s trades were a justifiable annoyance. But if it’s your job to plot a course to the World Series, then moments like this are necessary.

The American League East looks like a nightmare in 2026, and it’s unlikely the Rays would have been able to do enough this offseason to catch up to the Yankees, Blue Jays, Red Sox and even the suddenly free-spending Orioles.

So, Rays baseball operations president Erik Neander seemed to make the decision to invest more in the 2027-29 seasons than in 2026. It wasn’t exactly a white flag, but it was an acknowledgement that the odds are better with the group of prospects now in the pipeline.

Yes, Brandon Lowe is gone, and that’s a shame. It’s hard for fans to lose a rare familiar face, but he is 31 and potentially on his way to a big-boy contract in 12 months.

Also, Ben Zobrist would have never been a Ray if not for a similar trade. Ditto for Ji-Man Choi. Also, Archer, Diaz, Glasnow, Meadows and Adames. What the heck, throw in postseason heroes Brett Phillips and Randy Arozarena.

It’s just what the Rays do.

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