2008 Woodie Awards
Hot Corner: Rays could emerge soon from division
Carrie Wood
Sports | 4/17/08
Could the Tampa Bay Rays actually do something besides act as padding for the rest of the American League East's win column?
I think so.
Though they're currently in fifth place, they split even in a four-game series with the New York Yankees in the first weekend of the season and took two against the Baltimore Orioles last week (shortly after I predicted great things for the O's, too). Not a bad start for a team that's never had a winning season in its 10 years of existence, especially with the changes they made in the off-season.
A new name, new colors, and some new personnel that could make a big difference on the field were all acquired by Tampa over the last several months.
This club, for the first time in their (albeit short) history, has enough pitching and offense to compete with anyone in the AL East.
Matt Garza was obtained from Minnesota to help out the rotation - he joins starters Scott Kazmir and James Shields as the top three, with Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson rounding it out. Veteran closer Troy Percival was signed as a free agent, allowing Al Reyes to be shifted to a set-up role. Dan Wheeler is also around to pitch set-up or long relief.
My old Uncle Bozzie (Dick Bosman, former major league pitcher for the Washington Senators and former Orioles' pitching coach) is currently working with the pitching in the Tampa Bay farm system, developing young arms like last year's number-one draft pick David Price. Besides Price, the Rays are absolutely loaded with pitching prospects in their system - no wonder Baseball America ranked them as having the best farm system overall.
Carlos Pena's at first base and is already making strides to lead the league offensively with six home runs logged this season. B.J Upton and Carl Crawford are in the outfield - they hit .300 and .315, respectively in 2007 and will hopefully pull off something similar a year later - and the Rays have added rookie Evan Longoria at third base.
Longoria had 26 home runs and 95 runs batted in while playing in the minor leagues last year and will likely contribute much of the same now that he's hit the big time. That Longoria's at third allowed the team to move Akinori Iwamura to second. Jason Bartlett, who was also acquired in the Garza deal, has been playing a solid defensive short.
Dioner Navarro is back behind the plate and is a solid catch-and-throw guy, but is ultimately the team's weakest stick (he's on the disabled list right now, though). Backup catcher Shawn Riggans is currently getting the starting position but will likely get bumped back down to the minors once Navarro's healthy.
The only thing this team has working against them is that they're stuck in the same division as the powerhouses that are the Yankees and Red Sox. Despite this, the Rays will likely win 81 or more games this year and finally gain some respect.
I think so.
Though they're currently in fifth place, they split even in a four-game series with the New York Yankees in the first weekend of the season and took two against the Baltimore Orioles last week (shortly after I predicted great things for the O's, too). Not a bad start for a team that's never had a winning season in its 10 years of existence, especially with the changes they made in the off-season.
A new name, new colors, and some new personnel that could make a big difference on the field were all acquired by Tampa over the last several months.
This club, for the first time in their (albeit short) history, has enough pitching and offense to compete with anyone in the AL East.
Matt Garza was obtained from Minnesota to help out the rotation - he joins starters Scott Kazmir and James Shields as the top three, with Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson rounding it out. Veteran closer Troy Percival was signed as a free agent, allowing Al Reyes to be shifted to a set-up role. Dan Wheeler is also around to pitch set-up or long relief.
My old Uncle Bozzie (Dick Bosman, former major league pitcher for the Washington Senators and former Orioles' pitching coach) is currently working with the pitching in the Tampa Bay farm system, developing young arms like last year's number-one draft pick David Price. Besides Price, the Rays are absolutely loaded with pitching prospects in their system - no wonder Baseball America ranked them as having the best farm system overall.
Carlos Pena's at first base and is already making strides to lead the league offensively with six home runs logged this season. B.J Upton and Carl Crawford are in the outfield - they hit .300 and .315, respectively in 2007 and will hopefully pull off something similar a year later - and the Rays have added rookie Evan Longoria at third base.
Longoria had 26 home runs and 95 runs batted in while playing in the minor leagues last year and will likely contribute much of the same now that he's hit the big time. That Longoria's at third allowed the team to move Akinori Iwamura to second. Jason Bartlett, who was also acquired in the Garza deal, has been playing a solid defensive short.
Dioner Navarro is back behind the plate and is a solid catch-and-throw guy, but is ultimately the team's weakest stick (he's on the disabled list right now, though). Backup catcher Shawn Riggans is currently getting the starting position but will likely get bumped back down to the minors once Navarro's healthy.
The only thing this team has working against them is that they're stuck in the same division as the powerhouses that are the Yankees and Red Sox. Despite this, the Rays will likely win 81 or more games this year and finally gain some respect.
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