Tampa Bay Rays

Power Rankings

Date	Ranking	Previous
01/26/2012	5	7
Good business: Unlike some people we know (cough, EUROPEAN UNION, cough), they didn't spend money they don't have. Bad business: As lovely a fellow as Carlos Pena may be -- upon re-upping with Tampa, he thanked all 65 Rays season-ticket holders by name and tithed 35 percent of his salary to local charities -- he adds a lump of K's to a batting order that's already strikeout-prone. Prognosis as of 11:14 a.m. GMT on Jan. 26, 2012: They do two things (pitching the ball, retrieving the ball afield) better than anyone else and another thing (hitting the ball) well enough. That's plenty.
10/31/2011	7	6
2011 eulogy: Not for nothin', but the comeback wouldn't have been necessary if the Rays hadn't punted catcher, shortstop and DH. Shame on you, you disciplined, creative, Wall-Street-wise front officers, you! Offseason to-do list: Get Dayton Moore on line two. Between the majors and upper reaches of the minor leagues, the Rays run 37 starting pitchers deep. It'd make sense to deal somebody like James Shields to the Royals, who boast a comparable glut of positional prospects ... Given that all proposed fixes to the Barren Uglydome Stadium problem have failed, find a capable arsonist and rebuild with the insurance cash. Odds of achieving Cardinals-like glory in 2012: Far better than they were following the Crawford-Pena-bullpen exodus last December.
09/28/2011	6	6
What went right: The rebuilt/reimagined/rewhatevered bullpen held up. Even Kyle Farnsworth ripped himself away from back issues of Soldier of Fortune long enough to prove a useful cog ... The Red Sox practically invited them back into the playoff derby and the Rays were only too thrilled to take them up on the offer, even as they more or less treaded water during the season's last few weeks (8-7 in their last 15 games through Tuesday)... I can't decide whether I want Joe Maddon to be my best friend or my dad. He remained the coolest guy in the game, whether he was Tweeting about shifting Evan Longoria around in the lineup, consulting on road-trip garb (do a Google image search for the letterman sweaters) or popping in for a photo op with the Blue Man Group. He's also pretty okay at tactics and strategy and whatnot. What went wrong: But for the extended playing time granted to Sam Fuld and Andy Sonnanstine, the Rays would've clinched a playoff berth by September 20. Desmond Jennings and Matt Moore should've been promoted six weeks earlier than they were ... The Trop's caretakers could've done a better job of affixing the above-the-field lighting fixtures. It's hard to blame the fans for not showing up, given the Disaster Dome's logistical and charm deficiencies. Regular-season epilogue: Cranking A Hero's Heart (Love Theme From Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch) really loud.
09/20/2011	6	8
Imagine where the Rays would be if they'd promoted Desmond Jennings and Matt Moore in a more timely manner, or bothered to address the disaster that is shortstop, or whacked Andy Sonnanstine two months before they did. What the Rays have accomplished this season is extremely impressive, but let's not forget the self-sabotage along the way. ... Do you want to face this pitching staff in a short series? Of course not. You're smarter than that! Even with the bullpen a bit hiccupy, they've got more pitching depth than any of the four likely AL playoff participants. ... And that's before you factor in the prodigiously talented and thickly eyebrow'd Moore, whose too-late promotion allows me to break out the SAT-style analogies. Matt Moore : 2011 :: David Price : 2008. Oh yeah. Pass the No.-2 pencils, baby.
09/13/2011	8	9
Some sports-radio rabble-rouser down south is probably playing the "we win and we're in!" card -- which, alas, makes up in catchphraseiness what it lacks in realism. Even if they sweep Boston this week, they have to hope that the Orioles bother to show up for their six remaining games against the Red Sox, which is as likely as a surprise visit by Halley's Comet next week. ... They couldn't have competed for the NL East title, because they're basically a junior-varsity version of the Phillies. But it says here that the Rays would've won every other division with relative ease. Substitute some of those 17 or so games against the Yankees and Red Sox with ones against the Pirates/Cubs/Astros, Giants/Rockies/Padres, A's/Mariners/Astros (the Rangers played them six times, remember) or the four AL Central halftards, and the Rays might have the game's second-best record. Realignment NOW.
09/06/2011	9	8
They cut Dirk Hayhurst! Go over to his enormously entertaining blog and check out the account of his final hours in the Rays organization -- after you're done reading this, of course. It's a violation of your implied contract with CBSSports.com to start but not finish one of our masterworks of western literature ... It'd be easy to give the Rays' 2011 campaign a two-word obituary ("didn't hit"), but somebody has to be called to task for the baserunning debacles. All those caught-stealings, pickoffs and failed attempts to take an extra base add up. Assuming my math is correct, losing that extra 6.25 percent on the basepaths means they have to add an extra 19.75 percent in walk-accumulation, runner-stranding and replica jersey sales. That's a lot to ask.
08/30/2011	8	7
David Price's fastball + undermanned Toronto lineup + freaky swirling winds = as close to a set of ideal perfect-game conditions as we're likely to see. Frankly, three hits and 14 K's over seven innings felt like a letdown ... Man, this schedule just doesn't quit; it's the Terminator Optimus Prime Single White Female of schedules. It's all Texas and Boston and New York the rest of the way, with a few Baltimore scrimmages mixed in as a breather. And yet I have every confidence they'll survive it ... We devoted a few words weeks ago to the whipping wonder that is Matt Joyce's bat. But how about that arm, which has been certified howitzer-grade by a panel of defense contractors? Don't think the Pentagon hasn't taken notice.
08/23/2011	7	9
The schedule was hard and then it was easy and now it's hard again (Tigers/Jays/Rangers, plus 13 games against Boston and New York in September). ... Owing to this and to the illegal counterfeiting operations in the basements of Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium, they're not going to catch the Red Sox or Yankees. But they sure looked like a playoff team during the last fortnight, winning laughers and close "character" games alike. It's worth noting again for the record: The starting pitching is pretty OK. ... On the other hand, we celebrated the pair of complete games thrown by James Shields and Jeff Niemann during last Tuesday's doubleheader as if they were the Halley's Comet of athletic achievement. Heck, just go ask Joe Torre: Bob Gibson used to do this all the time. He threw complete games in both ends of a doubleheader -- real back-to-back doubleheaders, not this pansy day/night crap. Yup. He did.
08/16/2011	9	10
I hate that this team is an afterthought. They may not have been constructed with the same conventional-wisdom-defying brilliance of last year's model -- they left themselves too little margin for error on offense -- but they pitch and play defense and generally do stuff the right way ... You: Casey Kotchman is batting .335. Me: BABIP inflation. You: Casey Kotchman has an .870 OPS. Me: Not enough slugginess for a first baseman. You: Casey Kotchman is good. Me: Casey Kotchman is bad. You: What happened to you as a child? Did your mother ever tell you she loves you? Me: [starts to sob] ... Actual headline from last Friday's St. Petersburg Times, which I prefer to ponder entirely out of context: "Former Village People lead singer angry at Tampa Bay Rays." So there's that.
08/09/2011	10	11
Has anybody bothered to ask them what they were thinking with the trade-deadline inaction, or are we just shrugging it off with a, "Eh, they're really smart. I'm sure they've got their reasons?" ... By all indications, Matt Moore is ready for the majors. If only we could prevent his infernal service-time clock from starting to tick ... David Price: Pitching better than his record, but still not pitching well. He might as well junk the breaking stuff, or at least stop throwing it as much as he has in recent outings ... I think I just gave pitching advice to David Price. This column, and the power and influence that comes with it, has officially gone to my head.