March 07, 2005
Waiting for A Winner
Palmball links to an article detailing the reasons for the poor performance by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on the 10th anniversary of the creation of the franchise. Palmball has the best line, however:
March 9th marks the tenth anniversary of MLB's announcement that professional baseball was coming to Tampa Bay. We're still waiting.
Stuart Sternberg, who has bought out four of the five managing partners, has a chance to see his investment blossom. If they can get the team winning, the Rays will draw fans and increase the value of the team. They need to stop investing in washed up and/or low OBA players, however.
Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.
This article lays out a good number of problems any team will have, but the biggest problem with the D-Rays has been terrible talent acquisition. They cite the Bobby Abreu trade, but that's about it in having young talent. Maybe with Huff, Crawford, Upton, and Young they have a future, but now they have no pitching coming through.
You have to have players to win, and when you are developing no talent, and your good idea of a free agent signing is Vinny Castilla, you will struggle. It will be the AL East's "other" race this year between the D-Rays and the Blue Jays for last place.
