The Tampa Bay Rays took home their second division title in just the past three seasons last week with a Yankees loss to the Red Sox.
This came after not making the playoffs in their first 10 years of existence.
They did so with great draft strategies and good systematic development of talent to create big-league-ready ball players.
All this while in the same division as the Boston Red Sox (second in total payroll) and the New York Yankees (first in total payroll), who snatch up all the quality free agents they can get their hands on.
The problem with what the Rays have done is they got too good too soon, and now they face what may be their last postseason for quite a while. Management and ownership have made no mistake about telling the public their plans to cut payroll.
This means the likely departures of their most consistent hitter and best outfielder in Carl Crawford, their biggest and really only power bat in Carlos Pena, and their shutdown closer in Rafael Soriano.
No team can lose that kind of production and still contend without bringing in equal parts, and the latter is not going to happen. They are likely to fill those roles with over the hill vets looking for some at-bats and young players who are somewhat less than ready to be stars on a big league team (Desmond Jennings).
To put just how much production they are losing in perspective, consider that the Rays will be saying goodbye to 47 HRs, 279 H, 52 SBs, 174 RBI, 62 IP, and 45 SVs. All that offense and relief pitching will be in different uniforms next season, and all accounts have their rival Boston Red Sox as one of the front runners to acquire Crawford. This would turn a major asset for the Rays into a feared opponent.
The truth of the matter is that although everybody loves the underdog story and what the Rays did in the past has come to fruition, you need to spend money to STAY good. Spending money to GET good does not always work, but once a team reaches a certain level, management has a decision to make: Spend money and stay good or be happy with what you did and unload. Most small market teams take the latter.
The past three seasons in Tampa were some that almost nobody saw coming, but what they will look like next year is becoming increasingly predictable. The only way to guarantee an opportunity to win year in and year out is to spend money not necessarily to get new players, but to keep the good ones you have.
A farm system is nice, especially when all the prospects hit at once, but it means nothing in the long run if the wallet tightens three years down the road.
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