Near the end of the 2013 season, the Rays were faced with an interesting situation. The AL Wild Card race was extremely tight between Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and Texas. With three teams vying for two spots, the Rays needed to keep winning to ensure that their season would continue. They won the final game of the season in Toronto. However, the Rangers also won, and the Rays hopped on a plane to Arlington to face the Rangers on Monday in a one game tiebreaker playoff for the right to face the Indians. David Price threw a complete game and the Rays won, advancing to Cleveland on Wednesday. Alex Cobb dominated the Indians, and Tampa Bay won again, advancing to Boston to play the Red Sox in the ALDS. Their run ended there, but Tampa Bay won three must-win games in three cities over four days – that’s pretty awesome.20
Anyway, the Rays are one of the AL’s favorites this year after their great 2013, and I don’t think they’re going to be in a sudden death situation right off the reel like they were in 2013.
Depth Chart (as of 3/19)
C: Ryan Hanigan
1B: James Loney
2B: Ben Zobrist
SS: Yunel Escobar
3B: Evan Longoria
LF: David DeJesus
CF: Desmond Jennings
RF: Wil Myers
DH: Matt. Joyce
SP: David Price
SP: Alex Cobb
SP: Matt Moore
SP: Chris Archer
SP: Jake Odorizzi
CL: Grant Balfour
New Faces
The most significant new face in Tampa is an old face – closer Grant Balfour, who returns to the Rays after three successful seasons with the Athletics. The Rays also bought low on reliever Heath Bell, and in the same trade, were able to acquire a new platoon partner for Jose Molina behind the plate in Ryan Hanigan. Tampa Bay also picked up a new utility knife toy for Joe Maddon in former Padres utility player Logan Forsythe. Also, Tampa Bay acquired a pair of live arms that could have an impact at some point during the season – Nate Karns and Brad Boxberger.
Departures
Shockingly, the name “David Price” won’t be mentioned here – Tampa held on to the former Cy Young winner. A few free agents left the club, including utilityman Kelly Johnson and a pair of DHs in Luke Scott and Delmon Young. There was also some attrition on Tampa Bay’s pitching staff, with Roberto Hernandez, Jesse Crain (who didn’t throw a pitch for the Rays after a midseason trade from the White Sox), Jamey Wright, and closer Fernando Rodney all finding new homes this winter. Fan favorite Sam Fuld was non-tendered and wound up with Oakland, while midseason acquisition Wesley Wright was also not given a contract for 2014. The Rays also dealt Jose Lobaton to the Nationals to acquire Karns, and moved Alex Torres to San Diego as part of the trade for Forsythe (and others).
Impact Rookies
The Rays sure do love their prospects, and this year will be no exception. Jake Odorizzi, part of the Jake Shields trade, is expected to be part of the starting rotation to begin the year while Jeremy Hellickson is on the shelf. Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee, who missed nearly all of 2013 after tearing his ACL, could make an impact in the majors sometime this year in the event of an injury or to one of Tampa’s middle infielders. Kevin Kiermaier won’t be on the Opening Day roster for the Rays, but if Brandon Guyer struggles in his role on the bench, Kiermaier could be given the call to replace him. Finally, the Rays have even more pitching depth in the upper minors waiting to step up in the event of injury or ineffectiveness – Brad Boxberger is the only one of the bench still in competition for an Opening Day roster spot, but Nate Karns, Mike Montgomery, Enny Romero, and Alex Colome are all in various positions on the minor league depth chart for the Rays.
Position Battles
Because of how late we are into the spring, many of the position battles we would look at have already been taken care of. Brandon Guyer is out of options, and that puts him higher in the pecking order for the final spot on the Rays bench compared to Kiermaier, Jerry Sands, Wilson Betemit, Jayson Nix, and Justin Christian. There are still some questions in Tampa Bay’s bullpen, but as of right now, Boxberger, Juan Carlos Oviedo, and Erik Bedard are all on the outside looking in, mainly because Josh Lueke and Cesar Ramos are out of options. Bedard has also vowed to opt out of his contract if he isn’t able to make Tampa Bay’s rotation coming out of the spring, but it’s looking more and more like Jake Odorizzi would be the better option for the Rays heading into April.
Injury Concerns
Former top overall pick Tim Beckham won’t be a factor at all in 2014 after he blew out his ACL in December. Fifth starter Jeremy Hellickson will begin the year on the DL after January elbow surgery, and isn’t expected to be back until sometime in May at the earliest. Former first-round pick Taylor Guerrieri also isn’t expected to pitch this year following Tommy John surgery last summer. I already talked about Hak-Ju Lee, and he’s expected to be ready to go for Opening Day following his ugly knee injury last year.
Best Case
A World Championship, of course. The Bucs have a Super Bowl, the Lightning have a Stanley Cup, it’s time for the Rays to get a World Series. Tampa Bay is a strong contender in 2014, and they definitely have the talent to add another banner to the catwalks (or wherever they hang the playoff banners) of Tropicana Field.
Worst Case
The Rays haven’t finished under .500 since 2007, the first year of Joe Maddon’s tenure with the club. Could that happen again? Of course it could. All it would take is one catastrophic injury to Evan Longoria or David Price, and the Rays wouldn’t be in a good place. Both players have missed time over the past few seasons, and the Rays have performed just fine – but losing both of them to something more severe than a broken bone or inflammation could be a disaster for the Rays’ season, especially when you consider the fact that they play in the AL East.
Realistic Scenario
Tampa Bay is undoubtedly one of the five best teams in the American League, and that should put them in heart of the playoff picture. However, things can get out of hand quickly with just one run of bad luck. Remember last year, when Tampa Bay needed to scrape and claw their way to simply force their way into a tiebreaker game with the Rangers? Just because the Rays are a 90-win team on paper doesn’t mean that they’re guaranteed a playoff spot, and nothing will come easy this year for the Rays.
