With sights on Series, Rays also gunning for long-term success

"When (owner Stuart Sternberg) got involved with the Rays, the goal was to create a lasting organization that would have a lasting impact in Tampa Bay for decades," club president Matt Silverman said this week. "While we always have to have an eye on the present, we're building for that permanence, and for that legacy."

It's hard not to admire what they've done. Yes, they've had a series of high draft picks because of their years of losing, but for the most part the Rays haven't messed them up. Upton and Longoria are 24 and 22 and have the look of young stars, and it's easy to look at 23-year-old David Price and say he has better pure stuff than anyone in their current rotation.

But things happen to young players. Remember the 2006 Tigers with Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya. Remember those '03 Marlins with Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera.

Remember the 1986 Mets, who won the World Series with a 21-year-old Dwight Gooden and a 24-year-old Darryl Strawberry, and never won it again.

The Rays will need some luck, but they'll also need some help. They've always operated under the assumption that if they built a winning team, the Tampa Bay community would support them enough so they could keep that team together.

"Winning was a necessary step before we could answer that question, and we've done that," Silverman said. "We're going to have a team that's going to be compelling and exciting and talented for years to come, and if the community responds in the way we think it can, it's going to be a great story."

They do have some advantages. A huge number of big-league players make their offseason home in Florida, either for reasons of weather or because there's no state income tax. Put that together with a good team and a popular manager, and it's easy to see the Rays as a team that players would want to be part of -- assuming the money is there.

"One thing's for sure -- I love this place," said Pena, who signed a three-year, $24.125 million deal last winter. "I've never played in a place where I've enjoyed baseball so much. This is like a college team in professional uniforms."

It's funny to hear Pena say that. He grew up in New England as a Red Sox fan, and he lived out a dream when he spent September with the Red Sox in 2006.

He'd always thought that Fenway Park was the best place to be, and that the Red Sox were the best team to be with.

And now he doesn't.

"This is the best place in the world to play baseball," he said, referring to the Rays. "This is the best time of my life playing baseball."

This is the best time of the Rays' life as a franchise, not that there are a lot of other candidates. But this is the time when it's all coming together, the time when they've arrived on the national scene, and the time when it looks like it'll be a long while before they leave.