The Tampa Bay Rays have been surging through the AL East standings of late, winners of eight of their last 10 and went 19-7 in the month of June. Now the question remains are they peaking to early or playing up to their potential? And if they are peaking too early how do they become better.
Analysts on ESPN, Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated believe the Rays do not have enough to compete with Boston and New York, barring a move before the trade deadline. It is suspected both Boston and New York will get better, thus the Rays also need to get better.
There are two potential problem spots for the Rays, right field and relief pitching.
Three weeks ago relief pitching would have been the obvious spot for this trade but now it seems as if those problems have been corrected, moving up to fifth in the MLB in reliever ERA. JP Howell seems to be fitting into the closer role and relievers such as Choate and Bradford are coming off of the DL. Also the acquisition of Winston Abreu makes this a unlikely place the Rays would go for help.
The "Gabe Platoon" in right field (Gabe Kapler and Gabe Gross) is a glaring weakness for the Rays. Although they have been hitting better of late, Gross hitting .282 and Kapler had a stretch of four home runs in four consecutive games, this cannot hold for the Rays. Despite this soft spot in right field the Rays are the best offense in the MLB scoring 20 more runs than the next closest club, the New York Yankees.
Some possible names being tossed around for relief pitching are Kerry Wood or Chad Qualls. Wood has a 5.27 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Those numbers would be second worst for the Rays bullpen, only Chad Bradford has a worse ERA, and he's only made three appearances.
Chad Qualls has a much better stat line, 4.26 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Still these would rank high in the Rays bullpen. Out of the two though I think the Rays would prefer Chad Qualls. He doesn't prefer to be a closer, he adds depth and is consistent and without much injury. Because he is not a big name the Diamondbacks might not ask for as much and the Rays would probably have to give up some sort of bat (Matt Joyce, Joe Dillon, or others from the farm team).
Also Qualls would prefer less money, which means that the Rays would have a better chance of keeping him around for seasons to come. Therefore if the Rays go the reliever route Qualls is definitely the answer. If the Rays do go for Qualls they will probably still have money and quality trade pieces to go for a right fielder.
At right field the market is not as big because so many teams are still in contention. The most obvious choice was Mark Derosa but he has already moved on to the Cardinals, so what other names are out there? Vernon Wells, Matt Holliday, or Jose Guillen all could be on the block before long.
The problem with Holliday and Guillen are that their contracts are worth well over 10 million so more or less they would be a rental for the Rays. And to get these guys they would most likely be parting with major prospects in their farm system. Wells on the other hand is struggling this year, contract is affordable, and the Jays are falling fast from the race.
There are also talks about wanting to move his contract before the year is up. Would the Jays be willing to move Wells to a division rival? Doubtful, but we can always hope, eh? (I hope you liked my Canadian touch) Vernon Wells would be a perfect fit for the Rays, he could bat sixth of seventh so not a lot of pressure on him and still have plenty of opportunities to produce runs as all the people before him are tearing it up, except Pat Burrell.
Not to mention the Rays would have the best outfield in the league, Wells, Crawford, Upton, and the ball might not ever touch the ground in the outfield again.
In order to get Wells the Rays would definitely have to part with a big name or two from their farm system. The Jays have two good pitchers, an alright one in Richmond, but after that are struggling. The Rays might have just the potion in Andy Sonnanstine or Wade Davis. Coupling one of these with another hitter like Matt Joyce could be a deal the Jays could not refuse.
If it was not for the emergence of Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis would be in the big leagues. He is almost as talented as Price and would be an excellent fit for any ball club as he is probably big league ready right now. Lucky for the Rays they have some depth in this starting pitching and have excellent parts to deal to get the pieces they need.
If the Rays are to make a deal these are the parts they would move and those are the people they would most likely try to get. I don't see the Rays going for a Holliday or Guillen, so Wells could be a perfect fit. However if the Jays stay in the race I highly doubt they would even think of dealing him, not matter how much he is struggling.
If the Rays don't make a move I think they will be just fine. Unlike last year I don't see any huge names like Sabathia that would change the entire landscape of a division. The Pirates have already traded their best players so no Nady or Bay to the Yanks and Red Sox this year.
I don't see the Red Sox or Yankees getting that much better post the trading deadline this year so the Rays should be able to maintain just as they did last year without a move. Especially since Pat Burrell is a huge bust, the Rays probably won't want to move any of their top prospects for a rental bust. With that said the Rays are still first in hitting, fifth in bullpen, and going to improve in starting pitching. They will have enough to make a run again.
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