Why are media people so ignorant? Why do they think that the Rays don’t stand a chance? Oh well, the Rays do well under the radar. See, 2008. Ken Rosenthal wrote an article yesterday giving the AL East to the Red Sox and Yankees. Last time I checked, the season is 50 some days away. How is Rosenthal a respected writer? Anyone who can write off a great Rays team this early should join the rest of us in the blogosphere, not writing for Fox for some insane amount of money.
Let’s just make a comparison, shall we? He cites the rotations of the Red Sox and Yankees being amazing. I will give him that, but IMO, the Rays are not that far off. Let’s have a look:
Yankees Rotation: Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte, Vazquez, and Chamberlain
Red Sox Rotation: Beckett, Lackey, Lester, Buchholz and Matsuzaka
Rays Rotation: Shields, Garza, Price, Niemann, and Davis
Somehow, Hellickson has to fit into that equation. I may be biased, but the Rays are not that far off from the Red Sox rotation. The Yankees rotation is pretty good, but not far and away better.
Now, IMO, the Rays have a better offense than the Red Sox right now. They will probably go out and add another bat, but the Rays can give the Sox a run for there money.
I can easily see this year ending up very close in the run for the Wild Card. Heck, the Rays may even go out and win the division again this year. That would be great.
