Official 2006 Devil Rays thread

[Spongedaddy]

This team is in one of the tougher divisions in the majors and has gotten the least amount of respect. HOWEVER, odn't be fooled by that. A lot of the D-Rays problems havew had to do with poor ownership and those people are gone. The D-Rays also had a manager who was a bad fit for the team (Sweet Lou always sounded on the verge of a nervous breakdowns in press conf.). This year they D-Rays didn't make any sweeping trades for the sake of trading and their manager brings a different approach to the team. I will also never listen to anyone who tells me this team lacks talent. If the D-Rays start to improve their pitching this team has a solid run in it over the next few years.

One other thing to remember is that the D-Rays always play the Yankees hard and seem to give them fits. This tidbit could play an important role down the line.

[Misfit]

The DRays will never challenge the frontrunners in the AL East until they start spending some money on pitching. Their rotation stinks outside of Kazmir, who isn't ready to be an ace at this point in time (though could possibly make the jump this year, but I think realistically his breakout year will come in 07). Their lineup is solid though and I think 2006 will be Carl Crawford's breakout year. He's a great player who has been making steady improvements each year. I never understood why some of their other guys got so much attention and hype (Baldelli, Upton) while Crawford has largely gone unnoticed.

This team is still short a few positions (rotation, closer, shortstop, middle of the order bat) but at least this franchise finally has a future. Hopefully their new owners know what it takes to compete in the AL East so they don't remain bottom feeders. At any rate, they're at least the best team in Florida now.

[Longhorn]

The worst thing that could've happened to the D-Rays, this winter, happened. The Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays all improved.

[Matteh]

Nice of you to start the thread spongebob. I like the future of this team with the new ownership. With Namoli, it felt like the team was fine with being in last and treating the fans with class, but Sternberg seems to really care about the fans and the on-field product. I don't expect him to be a big spender like George, but he'll put more money in to the team to make them a contender when the young guys start to pan out. I think for them to compete, there has to be some kind of salary cap in baseball. Even if the Rays sell out all season, they are still a small market club unlike Toronto, Boston, and New York.

I think Maddon was a good choice for the young club. Reading the articles in the papers, he seems to be a guy that's big on fundimentals and making things simple. I liked Lou, but never thought he was a good fit for a young club especially with all the chaos behind the scenes.

I think the lineup is going to be pretty good this year. Huff, Cantu, and Gomes will be a nice middle of the lineup. Rocco being back will help in the field, although it may take him some time. Crawford and Lugo provide some good speed at the top of the order. Upton and Young should be regulars by mid-season so that's exciting. Pitching wise, Kazmir is already the #1, if he can improve his control he's going to have a big year. The other guys have to be more consistant, but I don't really see that happening. I'm looking forward to seeing Mori as I think he'll be the closer with what seems to be a nasty forkball. I think Orvella will be the set up guy. 4th or 5th place finish again, but I'm looking forward to the season and seeing the young guys continue to develop.

[rsox]

Huff will likely be dealt this season since Delmon Young should be in the majors by june. I'm kind of surprised that Joey Gathright is still with the team, like alot of people i thought he would have been traded by now.
It'll be interesting to see who wins the Sean Burroughs/Ty Wigginton battle at 3B (sarcasm).

This team does have alot of good young players like Crawford, Cantu, Baldelli, Gomes and Kazmir and they have more on the way (Upton, Young, Niemann, Hammel, Shields), this could be an exciting team to watch in the next few years.

[Misfit]

Quote: Originally Posted by rsox

Huff will likely be dealt this season since Delmon Young should be in the majors by june. I'm kind of surprised that Joey Gathright is still with the team, like alot of people i thought he would have been traded by now. It'll be interesting to see who wins the Sean Burroughs/Ty Wigginton battle at 3B (sarcasm).

Oh yeah. I should have added that they also need a semi-competent front office before they become legit contenders...

[Matteh]

Quote: Originally Posted by rsox

It'll be interesting to see who wins the Sean Burroughs/Ty Wigginton battle at 3B (sarcasm).

Huff may play 3rd this year. He's offered to play it (he has before) and Maddon is going to give him a look in spring training.

[Matteh]

For those interested in top prospects Delmon Young and BJ Upton, both were assigned to Durham(AAA) yesterday.

http://www.tbo.com/sports/rays/MGBRVOZZVKE.html

Quote:

"It's important for them to get four at-bats every day," Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "We just don't have the at-bats to go around right now. Obviously, both of them are tremendous young players who are going to be a big part of what we do in the future. "We expect both of those guys to be back with the team at some point in the season," Friedman later added. Young's 2005 season earned him the tag of baseball's top prospect by Baseball America, but he was caught up in a logjam, with proven big-leaguers Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli and Jonny Gomes already entrenched in the outfield. The Rays brought in Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith to tutor Upton before camp began. He made one error this spring, on Thursday against the Red Sox. "B.J. worked extremely hard on his defense and made a lot of improvements," Friedman said. "His offseason work is paying dividends and he is going to continue with that to be the above-average shortstop that we think he can be."

Those were some things I cut from the article that those who don't want to read the whole thing would be interested in. Not included in the article is that Delmon hit an almost 500 foot home run on Tuesday. I would expect both to be back up around July. Big questions are whether Upton can continue the progress he's made in the field and if the Rays will trade one of their outfielders (Gathright and Huff had been rumored to be on the move in the offseason) to make room for Young.

[rsox]

Gathright may be joining Young in AAA. I do believe that at some point the Devil Rays will trade Huff but i doubt it will be before july. Huff can play 1B and 3B and is probably going to DH at the start of the season.

Sean Burroughs is having an awful spring hitting only .200, which could mean we may see a Russel Branyan (.333)/Ty Wigginton (.273) platoon at 3B.

Luis Ordaz (.304) and Greg Norton (.375) are making serious noise about winning spots on the roster as reserves, Ordaz could beat out Nick Green for the backup middle Infielder job, Green has struggled and is hitting only .200.

[Thrasha]

If the DRays do decide to trade Gathright, I'd love to see the Sox make a run at him. He doesn't have much power, but he seems like he'd be a very good OB guy.

A great person to have the top of the lineup with guys like Ortiz and Manny.

Anyways, I wouldn't be surprised if the DRays make a run at 3rd this year. I'm really hoping things start turning around down there. They've got a ton of young talent, hopefully everything comes together for them.