Tampa Bay Rays

No surprise here given the economics of the situation:

Look, we all know that fantasy owners covet the elusive 30/30 player. One can build an entire team around a player who puts up 30/30, but finding that player is a rarity. Ian Kinsler is the only player to reach 30/30 in 2009. Since 1999, only eleven players have reached the fantasy elite. Bobby Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero actually did it twice. Matt Kemp and Justin Upton are early favorites to sniff this fantasy milestone in 2010, but what about Justin's big brother, Bossman Jr.? 

The Tampa Bay Rays organization has established itself as one of the best-run systems in major league baseball.

The scouting and player development have been especially top-notch over the past five years, which has allowed the Rays to put together a very talented young ball club despite limited resources.

Even with the plethora of young talent that has been brought up in recent years and the failure to sign their top two picks in last year’s draft, the Rays farm system is still loaded with talent.

Here at Bronx Baseball Daily we cover the Yankees all day and everyday, but we don’t always spend a lot of time on the other teams in the league. So lately we’ve been reaching out to some other blogs to get a better look at the Yankees' opponents.

So says owner Stuart Sternberg: The team will do everything they can to keep free-agents-to-be Carl Crawford and also Carlos Pena for as long as they can. On Crawford specifically he said: "He's been a face of this organization, he's been a great Ray, he was a great Devil Ray, he's an extraordinary player and teammate, for the community and a face of this team. We're going to do everything we can to make sure he stays here longer.''

Ah, Spring Training. The ball hitting the catcher's mitt, the swing of the bat, the smell of cracker jack and hot dogs in the air.

What’s that smell?

Ahhhh, yes. Spring Training is in the air.  Christmas comes early for baseball fans across the country.

15 teams call Florida home for Spring Training.

Charlotte County Sports Park doesn’t have the flashy name of other ballparks, such as "Legends Field."  The Park is simple.  It houses 7,000 seats and sold out everyone of those seats in 2009 Spring Training.

After the conclusion of the 2008 World Series, Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon went on his honeymoon with his new wife. Before he left, he told reporters that he was really hoping to see someone, somewhere in Europe wearing Rays gear. Most know the story; he ran into a vacationing fan from the Bay area wearing a new Rays hat.

Welcome to the seventh edition of "Daily Random Sports Thoughts."

For those not familiar, I pick a team, player, or any other topic in sports that I have five random thoughts about.  If you like 'em, read 'em.  I'm trying to get 'em on here every day!

Today's lucky random sports topic is...the Tampa Bay Rays!

1) Hopefully, you guys can have another cinderella season like 2008!

In many organizations, Jeremy Hellickson, or “Hellboy” as he’s nicknamed, would be considered a shoo-in to open the 2010 season as a part of the Major League rotation.

Just look at the 22-year old righty's 2.45 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 10.42 K/9 over 114 innings between Double and Triple-A in 2009 as proof. 

He is one of the brightest pitching prospects in the game, but pitching in the Tampa Bay Rays system, that doesn’t get you much.

Just look at the top four in the Rays rotation: