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.

The Red Sox have an obvious vulnerability behind the plate – they allowed a preposterous 151 steals last year – but they may now be as good or better than the Rays at every other position on the diamond. All joking aside, the Red Sox defense looks terrific – as does that of the Rays.

Doesn’t Evan Longoria get an edge over most third basemen, including Adrian Beltre?  And, Carl Crawford is a pretty darn good left fielder.  That’s just two. 

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I went looking at the Baltimore Sun for AL East previews.  Of course, there’s a lot on the Orioles.   And, there’s scouting reports on the Red Sox and Yankees.  But, best I could tell, nothing on the Rays.  Maybe that will come on Tuesday. 

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Similar results in the New York Daily News from Mark Feinsand as he wrote his 28 reasons the Yankees will repeat.  #18 talked about the new look Red Sox.  But, the Rays aren’t worthy of a mention as anything that could even interrupt the Yankees from steamrolling through the East.

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The New York Times’ Tyler Kepner has the Rays taking second in the AL East, which is good enough for the wild card.  Then he says they will beat the Angels and the Yankees in the playoffs before losing to the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. 

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The Toronto Star’s Richard Griffin is a believer:

Granted, spring training is never the best time to get an accurate read on the regular season, but on the surface the Rays seem to have the type of young, dynamic offence that could carry them into the 90-plus win mix, vaulting them over either the Yankees or Bosox.

Just listing the names of the Rays’ offensive talents is scary. Start with 3B Evan Longoria, impending free-agent LF Carl Crawford, CF B.J. Upton, 1B Carlos Pena and 2B Ben Zobrist. If they get starting pitching at all, they will be a force to be reckoned with and a strong playoff contender.

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And I end on this from Dave Sheinin in the Washington Post.

We feel sorry for the Rays. They’re using the equivalent of a slingshot against the nuclear arsenals of the Red Sox and Yankees. They fight valiantly, and they give themselves a chance. But a lower payroll means a smaller margin for error; more has to go right for them.

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 job in the Majors, but only the Marlins seemed a little bit interested before he signed with the Rays.

So, that brings us to Pat Burrell.  And, to some degree, Matt Joyce.

Basing this on the 2009 season and spring training, I can see a scenario where we hit May and Burrell is hitting sub-.200.  Then what?  At about that time, Matt Joyce should be ready to be activated from the disabled list.  And, Blalock could very well be down with the Bulls doing a fairly decent job swinging the bat.  Would the Rays be willing to cut bait with Burrell and swallow the remainder of his 2010 contract? 

As has been said all along, this is a make or break year for Tampa Bay.  They cannot afford to carry a non-hitting Burrell, even at his hefty price tag.  It would seem like they have several options to turn to at DH.  Willy Aybar certainly could handle the right-handed side of a platoon.  Blalock or Joyce the left.  Heck, the switch-hitting Aybar is probably already a better option without a platoon. 

It’s too bad that the Rays are strapped with Burrell’s contract.  They have to give him a chance to perform.  But, I hope the leash is short.  There are better options available to them.

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 his Cy Young writeup.  Felix Hernandez was his choice.  But, there’s this:

Tempted to pick Tampa’s Matt Garza, but he just might be A.J. Burnett 2.0, great stuff that never fully translates due to issues with pitching IQ and maturity.

Finally, both Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson get mentioned in the Rookie of the Year race, which Sherman gave to Baltimore’s Brian Matusz.

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 the Rays need to return to the playoffs?   The obvious answers were closer and catcher.  Both were addressed during the off-season.

What does the outfield look like next Spring?   Carl Crawford and BJ Upton are the anchors.  To this day, right field remains a bit of a question.  Matt Joyce will, most likely, open the season on the disabled list.  At this point, it would appear that the decision could very well be who Joe Maddon feels can play right field (or second base) better, Sean Rodriguez or Ben Zobrist.

Joe Maddon will be back. What about his coaches?  Steve Henderson was the only member of Maddon’s staff that was not asked to return for the 2010 season. This was after a productive season that saw several offensive records broken. But, Rays management pointed to the lack of timely hitting and poor production with runners in scoring position as the reason for the change.   Derek Shelton has received praise so far from Rays hitters.  Time will tell whether the Rays offense matches the 2009 production.

Have we seen the last of Aki?  Yep.  Aki turned into Jesse Chavez who ended up being Rafael Soriano.  That’s why Andrew Friedman is considered the top GM.

When will Desmond Jennings emerge? Jeremy Hellickson?  Both should emerge in here in St. Pete sometime in the 2010 season.  Hellickson has a better chance, but Jennings is a Crawford trade away from left field.

How much will the Yankees and Red Sox spend to keep the Rays away?   Randy Winn is in New York.  Nick Johnson is there.  And, Andy  Pettitte re-signed.  And, they traded for Curtis Granderson.  That’s the headlines in the Bronx.   Boston, on the other hand, took a more aggressive approach to free agency to improve for the upcoming season.  John Lackey was brought in to better the rotation.  And, Mike Cameron and Adrian Beltre were brought in to shore up the defense moreso than to improve the offense.  It seems that the Red Sox feel they should follow the 2008 Rays model of success to win in 2010.

Attendance will always be a topic for ownership. How will 2009’s non-playoff ending impact season ticket renewals?  From all indications, season ticket renewals are down.  Not really a surprise, considering many people locked into 2009 season ticket packages as part of 2008 playoff tickets.

With the Twins in a new ballpark, will the Rays and the area feel more pressure to replace the Trop?  It’s as simple as ABC.  That’s the coalition report that made headlines throughout the off-season.  Will they pursue moving to Tampa?  Will they move to Toytown?  The politics of this story will continue for a long time to come.

Will the Rays finally identify a true closer?  Rafael Soriano is that guy.  As I said before, Aki became Jesse Chavez who became Rafael Soriano.  For the first time in a few years (discounting Troy Percival) the Rays have a bona fide closer.  We’ll see how that benefits them in 2010.

Having said that, I can at least make an argument for trading Carl Crawford during Spring Training.  Why?  Because this is going to get messy.

The hype is here.  The Rays enter Spring Training with its most talented team ever.  They’re all saying it.  I tend to agree.  So, here’s my problem.  I am convinced that the Rays will not be able to re-sign CC.  His price tag is going to be too high.  He will be the prize of the off-season free agent class.  The Yankees and the Red Sox will fall all over each other trying to bring him on board. 

I would hate to see the Rays get only draft picks for Carl.  The return that he could bring in a trade should be pretty high.  So, when do you deal?  If this is the most talented team in Rays history, they will be flirting with playoff contention on August 1.  Trading CC at deadline if they are within sneezing distance of the playoffs would be a PR nightmare. 

As I see it, the options are to trade him now or to settle for the draft picks that they will receive when he signs his mega-deal elsewhere.  I would at least have to think about trading him now.

So, let’s consider.  The Seattle Mariners would probably love to have him.  Their off-season has been all about building a winner.  How about the Anaheim Angels?  They’re trying to hold off the Mariners.  In the National League, let’s consider the Chicago Cubs.  Or the New York Mets.  What about the Houston Astros?

I’m sure there’s no shortage of teams that are checking in with Andrew Friedman regularly to see if he’s ready to make a deal.  The Rays will be able to pick and choose among the best that another team has to offer. 

So, the question is, how far do the Rays fall if they enter the season without CC?  The answer to that question depends on what the Rays receive in return. 

Desmond Jennings is a clear option for replacing Carl at some point.  But, is he ready?  There’s not much available on the free agent side.  Garret Anderson’s still unsigned, but his time has past.  You could take a flyer on Corey Patterson, but his 2009 season was disastrous.  In trade, Seattle could probaby include Michael Saunders in a deal.  The Mets could probably give up prospect Fernando Martinez.  The Astros could make it easy by trading Hunter Pence.  Or, the Rays could go with an outfield of Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton and Matt Joyce. 

Like I said at the beginning, I’d hate to see Carl Crawford in a uniform other than the Rays’.  But, getting only draft picks for him doesn’t appeal to me, especially when he should be coveted by just about everyone.  Rays ownership has already said that the salary will be cut after this season.  I say, either sign Carl Crawford now, or trade him.  Before the season starts.  It just won’t work as the season plays out.

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 on either the Red Sox or Yankees.

Looks like bulletin board material for me.  According to them, Aki was the key to this season.  That, and the departure of several middle relievers?  Will someone help me out with that?  I guess they are referring to the rejects that the Red Sox picked up.

So, if there’s anything from Stark’s piece that sums it up, it’s this:

By the way, this team also has Keith Law’s No. 7-ranked pitching prospect in baseball, Jeremy Hellickson, looming just over the horizon. So while this might not be as ballyhooed a rotation as the groups in Boston and the Bronx, if all these light bulbs go on at once, look out.

Felipe Lopez finished last season with a .310 batting average and a .386 OBP.  He hit over .300 vs. both left-handed and right-handed pitchers, so no need for a platoon.  He has a year of 44 stolen bases, so he has some speed and some Joe Maddon-esque skills. 

Felipe Lopez earned $3.5 million last year.  But, we are into spring training and he remains unsigned.  You have to figure his price tag is taking a hit.  According to yahoo.com, the Rays are not currently among four team entertaining interest in Lopez.  Maybe he becomes more appealing now that he has canned  uber-agent Scott Boras.

Win or else.  Felipe Lopez makes sense.  Stabilize the infield.  Anchor Zorilla in right field.    Owner Stuart Sternberg has said that 2010 is THE year.  Payroll will decline after this season.  If the Rays are playing “all in”, signing a veteran second baseman like Lopez makes sense. Last year, he hit .315 as a leadoff hitter, so he would give the Rays another option to top the batting order. 

If the Rays are going to contend with the Yankees and Red Sox, Felipe Lopez makes sense.  He would remove any question about the lineup and what it would look like on a daily basis.  If this is the year, sign this free agent and see where the Rays end up in the standings.

“Last year, we had a lot of problems with the back end of our bullpen. Now, I think we’ve got that settled signing Rafael Soriano away from the Braves. Now, we don’t have to panic in the eighth and ninth inning when we have a one- or two-run lead.”

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CBS Sports’ Danny Knobler posted his preview of the 2o10 Rays the other day.  I thought it was a typical review taken from a national perspective.  It highlights the star players a little, takes swipes at attendance, and speculates that they won’t be able to retain Carl Crawford.  One piece I do take issue with is this:

You can even argue that if the Rays hadn’t made two mistakes last winter (trading Jackson for underwhelming Matt Joyce, and signing Pat Burrell to a terrible two-year contract), they would have had more of a chance to make big moves this winter. 

I maintain that it’s still too early to assess the Matt Joyce trade.  Edwin Jackson really didn’t have a place on last year’s roster.  And, in the end, were his numbers that much better than Jeff Niemann’s?  If, at the end of the 2010 season, Matt Joyce hasn’t progressed with the big league team, then the trade can be proclaimed a disappointment.   

As far as Pat Burrell goes, of course hindsight says it was a bad signing.  But, I don’t think that’s the main reason the Rays haven’t been more active in this off-season.  They Rays had several other contracts that elevated over the winter.  It’s hard to strap the blame on these two moves.

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Finally, Buster Olney’s report on Carl Crawford airs this afternoon at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight.

Matt Joyce figures to be in the right field mix.  He’s coming of a solid season at Triple-A Durham where he hit .273 with 16 HR and 66 RBI. 

He told Dick Scanlon of the Lakeland Ledger he’s ready for the competition, but he’s getting used to spring traing battles for playing time.

“I was very stressed out (last year) about where I was going to play, when I was going to play, getting called up and sent down.  The past two years have kind of been a roller-coaster, so that experience has been beneficial heading into this year. Hopefully, it’ll calm the nerves and help me relax a little more.”

My money’s on him making the team out of spring training.  It will be interesting if his hitting will persuade the Rays to keep Zobrist in the infield.