Rays: Five things to know
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The future of the increasingly bright Rays of Tampa Bay is over there by his locker, chewing on a breakfast cereal bar, and as slick center fielder B.J. Upton is saying ...
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| Manager Joe Maddon convinced Troy Percival to join the Rays. (AP) |
Nuh-uh! The future of the Rays is over there, near the trainer's room, caring for his prized left shoulder, and according to No. 1 draft pick David Price ... ah, hell. At this point, identifying a single piece of the future here is like trying to choose your favorite flavor at Baskin-Robbins.
Rays of light? Increasingly, they're in every direction.
"One of the biggest challenges we've had the last couple of years is to change the mindset of the organization, get these guys to believe they can win in the American League East," general manager Andrew Friedman says. "We've made great strides on that front.
"We still have work to do but, this spring, the guys believe they can win. I think it's the first time in franchise history that's the case. And it's an important part of actual winning."
Tampa Bay exorcised the "Devil" last fall. The club then exorcised the bad influences from the clubhouse over the winter.
All that's left now for the Tampa Bay Rays is to complete the process of exorcising a decade of horrendous judgments, ill-fated personnel decisions and lackluster front-office performances.
And judging by what's going on here, the Rays might be closer to the end of that process than you probably realize.
They hosed out the clubhouse over the winter. They traded Elijah Dukes to Washington because he was both nuts and trouble. They traded Delmon Young to Minnesota because he was narcissistic and uncoachable.
For Young, they acquired from Minnesota pitcher Matt Garza and shortstop Jason Bartlett, both of whom figure prominently into the Rays plans.
"They've made some really good trades," Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi says warily. "They've got some good, young arms. They're getting better."
Believe it or not, the Rays are starting to get some love. Baseball America ranks the quality of talent in Tampa Bay's farm system first in the majors for a second consecutive year. In BA's list of the game's 100 best prospects, the Rays chart seven -- tied with Boston for most in the majors.
Four of the first 17 players listed among the top 100 are Rays: Longoria (No. 2, behind Cincinnati outfielder Jay Bruce), Price (No. 10), lefty Jake McGee (No. 15, just two slots behind Boston outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury) and right-hander Wade Davis (No. 17).
Longoria, odds-on favorite to win the third base job this spring and projected as a future All-Star, is the subject of a Sports Illustrated profile this week (though cynics will recall that SI profiled another hot rookie third baseman about this time a few years ago, and last anybody heard of Sean Burroughs, he was falling off of a boat and disappearing from the majors, or some such nonsense).
A teammate and best friend of Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki at Cal State Long Beach, Longoria was named the Double-A Southern League MVP last season after hitting .307 with 21 homers, 76 RBI and a .403 on-base percentage.
"I think it's definitely a big help when you see guys you played with succeed at the major league level," says Longoria, who watched Tulowitzki's playoff games on television while playing in the Arizona Fall League. "I played with him, and he's a great player, but I feel I can be on par with him some day. And that gives you great confidence."
Upton already is a big fan of Longoria's.
"He can play," Upton says. "He's really solid defensively, and I think we all know he can hit. I think it's just a matter of time."
Yes, just like George Jefferson himself, these Rays, finally, seem to be movin' on up. Of course, posting the first winning season in franchise history would be evidence.
But if you talk to one particular veteran talent evaluator, who just happens to have specialized in pitching ninth innings during most of his career, he'll tell you that this well could be a -- gulp -- playoff team in the very near future.
Even if the Rays still reside on the same block as resident bullies Boston and New York.
"The talent level is here," says veteran closer Troy Percival. "I got abused when I signed with Detroit (before the 2005 season) because they had lost 120 games (119, actually, in '03). But I went through that roster before I signed, and that team was really talented. Two years later, they were in the World Series.
"I did the same thing here. What I liked was that there were young, talented starting pitchers here. And young, talented players."
Percival signed with the Rays this winter after his longtime friend, manager Joe Maddon, placed a few recruiting calls. Maddon's basic message: This place was a mess last year, but that has been fixed. And there's some outstanding talent.
"The pitchers I'm seeing around here this spring," Percival says. "When I went to Detroit, I was seeing (Joel) Zumaya and (Justin) Verlander and two or three other kids who threw 95, 96. I came here and I'm seeing the same thing. Price, the ball is just jumping out of his hand. Jeff Niemann ... we have those arms here."
None from the group of Price, McGee, Davis and Niemann (ranked 99th on Baseball American's Top 100 prospects) project to crack Tampa Bay's opening day rotation.
Right now, that's reserved for Scott Kazmir (currently shelved for two weeks after a strained left elbow sent shudders through Rays camp this week), Garza, James Shields (184 strikeouts against only 36 walks while posting a 3.85 ERA in 215 innings pitched last year) and, at this point, Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson.
Upton, just 23, smashed 24 homers, collected 82 RBI and compiled a .386 on-base percentage last year. Left fielder Carl Crawford, a veritable old man on this team at 26, is a two-time All-Star.
The Rays fielded the second-youngest club in the majors last season at 26.7 years, and though they finished with baseball's worst record (66-96), what playing all those kids did was allow, as Friedman says, the club to "decide who we were going with for the long haul."
Dukes and his criminal record? Young and his penchant for not running out ground balls? No longer around to drive management crazy, or to tempt other kids to go half-speed.
"There was a sense of entitlement last year," Maddon says. "There was a scholarship program. We don't have that anymore. The attitude has just been tremendous."
Instead of young punks thinking they're owed something, there are veterans like Percival and outfielder Cliff Floyd who are looking to give back some of what veterans offered them when they were young. And that peer group influence has been especially dramatic here in Rays-ville.
Example: Coach George Hendrick gathered the outfielders for a session the other day, then asked Floyd if he'd like to add something.
"He absolutely nailed it," Maddon says. "He was talking not only about defense and positioning, but about communicating with each other. He eloquently explained it. I had been a big fan of his, but I really became one at that moment.
"When a peer brings the message, a student will not find any allies if he has complaints about that message."
Or, as Percival says: "There's a dynamic here that has a chance to go and compete with anybody. Honestly, I don't think there's a team you look at right now and say they're more talented than the Rays.
"Colorado and Arizona, they've got all that young talent, but I don't think you'd say they have more than there is here.
"Look, I'm not going to Nostradamus it and say you're going to see us in the postseason and World Series. But at least we have a chance now."
