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 Rays picked up baseball icons Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon to help fill some holes created by the departure of hitters Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena, and Tampa Bay will need rejuvenated years from both Ramirez and Damon to give them a chance at the postseason.
Ramirez has been a great player in the clubhouse to this point, and the Rays are hoping for a big year from Mannny as the DH and occasionally play left.
"He's working really hard," said Rays skipper Joe Maddon, "He's working had on his outfield play. He knows what he's doing, he's very mapped out."
This is good news for Tampa fans. We all know how Ramirez can be a bit of a distraction at times, so it's good to see he seems to be focused heading into opening day. Ramirez hit .311 last year in 66 games with the Dodgers, but he dipped to .261 when he was traded midseason to the White Sox. It would be nice to see Ramirez hit over .300 for the year, because the Rays don't have much power in the lineup.
Damon appears loose and poised to contribute wherever he can for Tampa. "Everyone has the same common goal, everyone wants to win," he said. "That's never going to change in the game of baseball."
Spirits seem to be running high in the Rays clubhouse, but the fact remains that even if Manny and Damon can have solid years, Tampa Bay will have their work cut out for them with such elite competition in the division.
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