'Insert crude Steve Irwin joke here' but the Rays still blow

Conor C says:

There's a lot of hope n Tropicana Field this year. It might not mean that success will be now or even next season, but there is a real feeling that if the front office can keep this squad of youngsters together, they may just be able to make a run at a division title a few years down the line.

There is little or no point in talking about Scott Kazmir because everything that needs to be said has already been. He spearheads another young rotation but unfortunately for Kazmir, the rest of the five isn't really up to much. Jae Seo who bounced around last season (from Mets to Dodgers to Tampa) is one of the most inconsistent pitchers around. With him as number two starter it's difficult to see anything happening for this team. James Shields could be a great prospect and has fared well throughout his young career.

Offensively they have the potential to produce within a year or two. We all know about the Spurious obsession with Mr 'E6' Upton, but it will be interesting to see how much he's allowed to run. He could break out big time this season and Rays fas will have to fancy him to produce. At third the latest Japanese import to grace the big leagues Akinori Iwamura will be
first choice. He had a major break out year last season with Yakult (what a bizarre name for a team btw!!) with 44 homers. The D Rays would probably be content to see him nail half that total this year.

Dioner Navarro is a solid if not spectacular catcher. He has impressed many older pitchers with his ability to call the game. Offensively he provides limited resources, but one thing is that he's really bulked out over the break, so perhaps one can expect more bang for the D Ray's buck in the coming season in 10-15 homers.

The outfield looks extremely exciting. Crawford is proven while still young and is one of a handul or TRUE five tool players. This guy can hurt you anyway you can think; let the ball bounce around in the outfield and you might just see him standing at third. Rocco Baldelli would have had a third straight career year without injury causing him to miss nearly half the season, but most people will want to read about Delmon Young. This sprog can do it all and Rays fans must be licking their lips a the prospect of seeing him up in the majors for a full season. Let's hope he doesn't do things the 'Milton Bradley' way.

The 'pen is very weak, mainly full of an overstock of starters although Dan Miceli will probably inherit the closer's role. Seth McClung and Edwin Jackson may contest for starters jobs later this week but it is looking increasingly unlikely that they'll be successful.

Petahhhhh says :

We all know just how exciting this team can be offensively and they may well have the best outfield in the Majors now as Carl Crawford again will go out and prove he truly is one of the very elite players around (he's up there in the pack right behind Phat Albert) and Delmon Young an obvious Rookie of the Year favourite.

The infield D could be better but they're waiting for Brignac and the very exciting Evan Longoria to come through the system. The problem is that while Kazmir is possibly the best lefty pitcher not called Santana, they just don't have another dependable arm. Twelve different guys started games for Tampa last year and the team leader in innings pitched (unsurprisingly Kazmir) notched up just 144 2/3 innings (that is awful). And it doesn't get better in the pen where six guys recorded saves and the lead was 10 which is bad even for a team that lost 101 games.

Of course this could be the year that Jeff Niemann finally shakes off the injuries and gets to the Bigs but even if he makes a successful jump (with his health record its far from clear what will happen) they still have huuuuuuuge holes in their pitching. Any help from within is a long way off with their best pitching prospects in LoA but even if they deal a guy like Elijah Dukes (quite a good bargaining chip) they can't expect to be able to fill enough of those holes to even think about getting into third in the East and even fourth will take some doing right now.

If anyone can make a winner of this team and find ways to get some pitching its Gerry Hunsicker but even with a huge amount of young and exciting players which includes two guys who would be stars on any Major League roster, it will still be tough for them to avoid losing 100 games again. Decisions need to be made now as to whether they really want to be taken seriously or are they just going to wait it out until they can move to Portland?

Conor C-oncludes:
This team is young and full of energy and at best will have one of those heroic 'Marlins' type seasons from last year. Unfortunately in the AL that means if they're lucky they'll finish somehwere in the top half of the bottom third (if that makes any sense at all!!).