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TAMPA BAY RAYS: Their Work is Cut out for Them

OFFNY

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays began the day 9 1/2 behind the Red Sox, and 8 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the A.L. East. In mid-August, they may have appeared to be a very good team who had the misfortune of playing in the toughest division in baseball.

However .......... when looking at their remaining schedule, the Rays have 19 ....... that's right, 19 games left against the Yankees and the Red Sox. They started off on the right foot last night by winning the first of those 19 games by downing the Yankees in New York by a score of 5-1. That's a 1-0 start, with 18 games remaining against their two division rivals. They brought their bats, hitting 5 home runs off of Cy Young candidate C.C. Sabathia. They will need those bats, along with good consistent pitching to win at least 13 of those 19 games to have any chance at all of catching either team ...... and realistically, they probably need to win about 15 of those games, presuming that the Yankees and the Red Sox (both excellent teams) don't collapse in the rest of their games against all of the other teams besides the D-Rays.

Is life unfair to the low-market Rays to be playing and competing in the same division with the two biggest payroll monsters in professional sports ??? Sure it is. But if they can manage to catch one of these 2 teams and snare at least the wild-card, they will (IMRAOAO) go down in baseball history as one of the great underdogs to come roaring back late in the season against not just one, but two heavyweights that are/were well ahead of them in the standings.

They have their chance right in front of them. It's a long-shot ....... but it is nonetheless a chance to control their own destiny, however heavily the odds are against them.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/schedule/_/name/tb/tampa-bay-rays

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Can_of_corn Hangout Grand Counsel

Can_of_corn

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Then again if the ownership would open the checkbook more then a crack then they would probably be in the thick of it right now. Cot's has them at 42 million this year, down 30 million from last season's 72 million. I find it hard to believe they are not turning a healthy profit at 42 million.

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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The players they lost have hurt them a lot. Their bullpen is decent, but nowhere near the level it was at last year. Brignac and Johnson have been an offensive disaster at SS, and Fuld is a big dropoff from Crawford.

Casey Kotchman has been a huge pleasant surprise for them. SG must be giddy about that.

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scOtt Hangout Grand Counsel

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They're right on the pace most people expected in the offseason. Lost a lot of talent because they couldn't pay them, but still a LOT of talent left. Tread water (near the top of the AL East) this year, then they have plenty more talent on the way. Next year or the next few they will be right back in the thick of it.

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crissfan172 Hangout Grand Counsel

crissfan172

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It will be interesting to see how the Marlins' new stadium affects their ability to add payroll. If it does, it could really encourage the Rays to build a new one too.

Of course, from my understanding, St. Petersburg is pretty much refusing to let them move into Tampa.

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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The TAMPA BAY D-RAYS are a God-damned buzz-saw. A team with a $42 Million payroll that is a friggin' buzz-saw that plays in the same division with 2 other teams with gluttonous payrolls (the Yankees and the Red Sox). It’s as simple as that. They kick ass, take names, don’t make excuses, and leave you holding your head wondering what the hell happened after they bust your ass.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=310817102

They won't make the playoffs because they probably needed to sweep all 3 games from the Red Sox instead of winning 2-out-of-3 like they did, but still. I admire those SOB's more than any other team in all of sports.

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bobmc Hangout Grand Counsel

bobmc

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Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays began the day 9 1/2 behind the Red Sox, and 8 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the A.L. East. In mid-August, they may have appeared to be a very good team who had the misfortune of playing in the toughest division in baseball.

However .......... when looking at their remaining schedule, the Rays have 19 ....... that's right, 19 games left against the Yankees and the Red Sox. They started off on the right foot last night by winning the first of those 19 games by downing the Yankees in New York by a score of 5-1. That's a 1-0 start, with 18 games remaining against their two division rivals. They brought their bats, hitting 5 home runs off of Cy Young candidate C.C. Sabathia. They will need those bats, along with good consistent pitching to win at least 13 of those 19 games to have any chance at all of catching either team ...... and realistically, they probably need to win about 15 of those games, presuming that the Yankees and the Red Sox (both excellent teams) don't collapse in the rest of their games against all of the other teams besides the D-Rays.

Is life unfair to the low-market Rays to be playing and competing in the same division with the two biggest payroll monsters in professional sports ??? Sure it is. But if they can manage to catch one of these 2 teams and snare at least the wild-card, they will (IMRAOAO) go down in baseball history as one of the great underdogs to come roaring back late in the season against not just one, but two heavyweights that are/were well ahead of them in the standings.

They have their chance right in front of them. It's a long-shot ....... but it is nonetheless a chance to control their own destiny, however heavily the odds are against them.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/schedule/_/name/tb/tampa-bay-rays

As clb might scream, (sic) "BELEIVE!"

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