Neither team will be contending for the division or wild card. The Rays may stay the longest but both have no shot of making the playoffs. Too many good teams. I wouldnt be surprised at all to see both teams under .500 by years end..
Neither team will be contending for the division or wild card. The Rays may stay the longest but both have no shot of making the playoffs. Too many good teams. I wouldnt be surprised at all to see both teams under .500 by years end..Wow...that statement is the definition of a hater. Trust me, the Rays are for real and will be contending all year. In fact, they will end the year with a better record than the Yankees and will be battling for the wild card. They won't be able to overcome Boston for first place, so a wild card is what they will be fighting for.
There are two different opinions that I hear around the Tampa area about what will make this a successful season.
1. The Rays will be contending and win the wild card in 2008.
2. The Rays will finish above .500 for the 2008 season.
The first opinion is usually given by people that are on crack and know little if anything about baseball. The second opinion is the more realistic opinion that people with baseball knowledge are saying. I read on these boards all the time that big mouth bloggers are expecting the Rays to either finish dead last, or win the wild card. Both opinions are wrong. The Rays should be happy with a season that has them finishing above .500 for the first time ever.
In a couple of years, (after our young players get more experience) you should see the Rays contending for a playoff spot; however, this year fans should be happy if (and when) they finish above .500.
This is the first long road trip that the Rays are going on (distance wise), and if you watched the games on Saturday and Sunday, the young players were making a lot of mistakes that they have not been making while at home. This is common for many young teams. After losing 2 of 3 to the Cardinals, the Rays have the tough task of going to Oakland (where they have historically been unsuccessful) to see if they can make this trip successful. The Rays are lucky in that the A's are having a stretch in which they are 3-7 in their last 10 games, so hopefully they are able to take 2 of 3 and make this road trip .500.
They'd have to start playing some really bad baseball, because their starting is too good to let them get in a long term funk. Shields and kazmir have developed enough of a track record to say they you can count on them to pitch well all year. Garza was Twin prospect, and Jackson was a projected #1 in the LA system. Both of these guys are showing their promise, and haven't even mentioned the guy with the most wins in Sonnistain (sp?). Offensively the team has been under performing, so I would expect them to stay on track as they are- 87-90 wins. Not sure what other teams are going to be better- Yankees could when A-Rod and Posada get back, but that doesn't help their sp issues, the lack of l/r balance in the lineup, their suspect defense and the fact that other guys just aren't hitting. Cano should bounce back, but Giambi is still a shell of himself. Detroit is worse off than Yanks: Sheffield is done, their lineup is dysfunctional and their best 3b sits on the bench. Toronto is in bad shape without Wells, Cleveland can't hit so who out there is going to knock them off track? Obviously it could happen, but I don't see it. Aside from Boston and Angels, I would take the Rays over any club in AL right now.
No shot of making the playoffs? Too many good teams? Name me 4 teams in the American League who are CLEARLY better than the Rays. I would like for you to consider the starting rotations, depth in the starting rotation (who can be plugged into the rotation in case of injury or ineffectiveness), bullpen, defensive range, the ability to turn the double play, offensive power, and speed on the basepaths.
The first opinion is usually given by people that are on crack and know little if anything about baseballAnd I suppose you are a baseball genius? The Rays have their studs pitching against the A's, so I fully expect them to take 2 out of 3. Hell, they nearly did that in St. Louis against a very good team, with their 3,4 and 5 pitchers. Give me a break Tampa Hurricane. You don't know anymore than the next fan. Becasus of their good start, they should look to exceed expectations and go after that wild card spot and not settle for simply being above .500.
Typical rantings by a Mets fan who feels stupid to look at the Marlins in 1st place after celebrating a World Series title in February after getting Johan Santana.
It sounds like you're still mad about about trading Kazmir to the Rays. And I wouldn't be surprised to see the Mets below .500 by years end. Can that rotation get any older or overpaid?
