Archive for the ‘Offseason Preview’ Category

It can be said that the 2011 off-season should be much less interesting than last year.  There will be nothing as dramatic as Carl Crawford going to the Red Sox or Rafael Soriano signing with the Yankees.  With that said, here are my five key questions that will have to be answered this off-season. Where will [...]

With the Rays elimination from the playoffs yesterday, it is time to look ahead to what could be a make or break offseason. The Rays have a great chance to build around their talented young core to make a run at the championship next season. With Evan Longoria, Matt Moore, Desmond Jennings, and David Price, [...]

Rays’ Odds For World Series Success

Posted: 17th February 2011 by Devon Rogers in Offseason Preview

Beating back the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox last year to take the AL East, it was a shock to Rays’ fans everywhere when the team lost the ALDS in 5 short games. What was even more shocking, however, was the fact that Tampa Bay basically purged its roster after a rather [...]

  Let’s take a trip around the AL East newspapers as we try to find some of that 2008 magic… The Boston Globe’s Tony Massarotti has the AL East going Yankees, Red Sox, Rays.  Shocker.  Not a lot of new stuff included, but I thought there was some clear homerism going on in this statement. [...]

  [picappgallerysingle id="2140096"]  The roster appears set.  The Rays made their final bench decision today by selecting Reid Brignac over Hank Blalock.  The flexibility that Brignac gives really is a no brainer at this time.  And, there’s probably a decent chance that Blalock ends up in Durham.  He’s holding out hope that he can find a [...]

  [picappgallerysingle id="2297090"]  Joel Sherman posted his 2010 predictions for 2010 awards this morning and the Rays figured prominently.  Evan Longoria is becoming a popular choice to win the MVP award.  In explaining his choice, Sherman almost sounds like he’s feeling guilty for not picking Joe Mauer. For me, the most interesting tidbit from Sherman was [...]

Back in October, I posed ten questions about the off-season.    Who’s here today that won’t be here in February? Thankfully, the names are few.  Gabe Gross is gone.  Aki was traded.  Pretty much all else remained in place for the upcoming season.  And, that explains why we remain optimistic for the 2010 season. Who do [...]

A Quick Word From Red Sox Nation

Posted: 23rd February 2010 by Michael Emdeyar in Offseason Preview
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And this from the Red Sox flagship, NESN: Tampa should be stronger at the end of games if Soriano performs up to expectations, but with the loss of Red Sox killer Akinori Iwamura and several other departures from their middle relief corps, the Rays don’t seem to have made up a considerable amount of ground [...]

Jayson Stark and the Rays

Posted: 20th February 2010 by Michael Emdeyar in Offseason Preview
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ESPN’s Jayson Stark gave his early assessment of the Rays.  And, Rays fans should be happy.  I won’t dwell, but the highlights are “It isn’t last year anymore” and “They have a closer”.  Enough for me.  So, if there’s anything from Stark’s piece that sums it up, it’s this: By the way, this team also [...]

What About Felipe Lopez?

Posted: 19th February 2010 by Michael Emdeyar in Offseason Preview
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  [picappgallerysingle id="5826747"]The major storyline for the spring camp will be the 2nd base/right field battle.  Where will Ben Zobrist end up?  I know the Rays have options at second base in Sean Rodriguez and Reid Brignac and in right field in Matt Joyce.  But, there remains one free agent that interests me.  Felipe Lopez finished last season [...]