Tampa Bay Rays

The most common phrase in professional sports (also the most overused phrase) that players and coaches use to describe a recent transaction is "it's a business." As a student of business, I can confidently confirm this brilliant diagnosis.

As a business, the Tampa Bay Rays must first outline their goal for the 2011 season. A successful season would entail making the playoffs, most likely as the American League wild card, and compete in the postseason. Check that off.

The Florida Suncoast Dome was completed in 1990, and even then the facility quickly become outdated; a stereotypical 1980's multi-use domed stadium whose architecture was bland at best.

21 years after its completion, Tropicana Field now serves as an ugly reminder to Rays fans that a city with notorious Napoleonic Syndrome will fight tooth and nail to make sure the team honors its 30 year stadium lease and does not move across the Bay to join the regions other professional sports franchises.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

Previously, The Fantasy Fix reviewed and gave projections for the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays rotation. Now, it's time to dive in and analyze the Rays' positional players.

Don't forget to check out our 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit

Spring training is more than halfway in the books, and the final roster spots for the Opening Day of 2011 are still being determined by the Rays' staff.

Most of the open spots are in the bullpen, where several pitchers are still in the hunt for a spot on the roster, come April 1st. There are at least three spots up for grabs, with Adam Russell no longer a sure thing and J.P. Howell on the mend for the first month.

Wow. Tampa Bay's window for winning AL East pennants and World Series championships lasted about as long as it takes a David Price fastball to reach home plate.

The longest-ever tenured Ray, Carl Crawford, bolted for the New Evil Empire in Boston. Other clubhouse stalwarts like Carlos Pena, Matt Garza, and Rafael Soriano left for more money, a better team, or a combination of both.

There is good news and bad news for the Tampa Bay Rays.  Most agree that there is much more bad news, considering that the Rays lost four pitchers who accounted for 226.1 of the Rays 454 relief innings: Rafael Soriano, Joaquin Benoit, Dan Wheeler, and Grant Belfour.

This is a sharp blow for a team that won the AL East last year, based almost solely on strong pitching and dominant defense.

The Tampa Bay Rays have prided themselves in having strong pitching in the past few years, from Scott Kazmir, to Matt Garza to David Price.

Price, Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis, James Shields and Jeremy Hellickson, the entire rotation for 2011, were all drafted by the Rays. Now that's called a stockpile of talented arms. But there's more on the way.

Rewind to a year ago, and the Tampa Bay Rays were thinking Championship; fast forward to today, and just making the playoffs seems a bit far fetched.

The Rays are one of the best teams in baseball at developing young talent and getting as much as they can out of a small payroll. Having won two division titles in three years, including an AL pennant in 2008, the Rays will rely heavily on youth once again to make a run in the 2010-2011 season.

The Tampa Bay Rays took home their second AL East title in the last three years in 2010 by finishing with a 96-66 record. A quick exit in the Divisional Round at the hands of the Texas Rangers would soon follow.