The Tampa Bay Rays (formerly known as the Devil Rays) are shocking everyone by contending in a very deep quality American League. How have they done it and can they continue to contend towards the end of the season? This is definitely a topic to look at closely.
As of now the Rays are 16-14. They have a sea of good young players and have gotten rid of the bad apples like Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes. They are 4th in the AL in SB at 28, 6th best ERA at 4.04, 3rd in OPS at .687, and fourth in WHIP at 1.31.
The Rays are letting guys like B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford, Eric Hinske, and top-tier prospect Evan Longoria swing the bat and they have done well. But can they hold it up for the entire season? Probably not. They are young which means inexperience in a playoff hunt, plus they are in the American League, which is very deep and up to 9 teams have the ability to make the playoffs. I would be shocked to see them win more than 80 games. They have only had one 70 + win since 2002. But this is a team to watch over the years that should be seriously contending by 2010.
It is interesting how they have changed so drastically (even though saying this is a bit premature) once they shed the name of the DEVIL Rays.
As of now the Rays are 16-14. They have a sea of good young players and have gotten rid of the bad apples like Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes. They are 4th in the AL in SB at 28, 6th best ERA at 4.04, 3rd in OPS at .687, and fourth in WHIP at 1.31.
The Rays are letting guys like B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford, Eric Hinske, and top-tier prospect Evan Longoria swing the bat and they have done well. But can they hold it up for the entire season? Probably not. They are young which means inexperience in a playoff hunt, plus they are in the American League, which is very deep and up to 9 teams have the ability to make the playoffs. I would be shocked to see them win more than 80 games. They have only had one 70 + win since 2002. But this is a team to watch over the years that should be seriously contending by 2010.
It is interesting how they have changed so drastically (even though saying this is a bit premature) once they shed the name of the DEVIL Rays.
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