Tampa Bay Rays

Joe Maddon’s Rays play smart, hard baseball, following the fundamentals, producing new talent, and getting farther than, on paper, it seems like they ever could.  They are a team that is fun to cheer for, that rewards loyalty, and that has been something of a spoiler for the perennial contenders.  They lose a big free agent (Carl Crawford) and replace him with new talent (Desmond Jennings).  They have a miniscule budget but still manage to crowbar-in some boppers, as evidenced by their signing of Carlos Pena, and upgrade at first from the sure-handed Casey Kotchman, who is solid but will never produce fireworks.  Their pitching is young and nasty, led by David Price who has not slowed down since his post-season call-up brilliance several seasons back.  Legitimate stars in Evan Longoria and BJ Upton ensure that the Rays get plenty of pop.  Their DH spot seems up for grabs, and it was a surprise that they chose to go with Luke Scott to get a bit more muscle into the lineup when they had such success with the lovable, hard-scrabble brawler Johnny Damon.  They are a team that surprises, a team to watch out for, and every now and then they defy even their fans’ expectations and actually contend, despite the small budget and lack of big-time star power.  This is baseball as it was meant to be played, a team rather than an assembly of stars.   Hats off to them, and to Joe Maddon for getting such great production out of a limited payroll.

In: Luke Scott

Out: Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez

Strength: smart, consistent, fundamental baseball, played as a team, with a whip-smart manager and a lot of heart

Weakness: it’s hard to imagine them competing with big spenders like the Red Sox and Yankees, but they manage to do so.  On paper their lineup looks full of question marks, but in practice they make it work.

Manager: Joe Maddon

Projected Rotation: David Price, James Shields, Wade Davis, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore

Projected Closer: Kyle Farnsworth

Projected Starting Lineup:

            BJ Upton CF

            Desmond Jennings LF

            Evan Longoria 3B

            Ben Zobrist 2B

            Carlos Pena 1B

            Luke Scott DH

            Matt Joyce RF

            Jose Molina C

            Reid Brignac SS