Interesting article on Rays' season

[Miller192]

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/tampa-bay-rays-win-only-reminds-us-what-might-have-been/1254376

You could admire their fight, how they never gave up, how they won all those games down the stretch to keep their slim playoff hopes alive longer than anyone could have imagined.

You could recognize how they're going to win right around 90 games. You could applaud that they're just one of four teams to have a winning record over each of the past five seasons.

Yes, it would be easy to do all of that.

And it would be wrong, too.

This is not a season that should be celebrated, but one that should be regretted. Teams like this, windows like this, don't come along often and the Rays let a season get away.

So as you look back on the 2012 Rays season, here are a few things to consider.

This is a disappointing season

Look, we've become spoiled in these parts. If this was 2008 again, this would have been a special season. But a winning record and playing meaningful games late in the season aren't enough anymore. Today, the Rays will relive all the games they let slip away to keep them out of the playoffs. They should be dreaming about all the games they could have won in late October.

What a shame.

I think this is pretty short-sighted by the writer. The Rays did have a great season and have a chance to win more than 90 games with two games to go. I understand being dissapointed that they couldn't close it out but the playoffs got a little more crowded when the A's and O's came out of nowhere.

All you can ask is for your team to do their part and the Rays certainly did just that. It just wasn't enough.

I think the Rays had a great season. It would sting this morning but if I were a Rays' fan, I would be pretty hapy with how this season played.

[Can_of_corn]

I agree with the author. The Rays had a real good shot to make some noise this season given their relative health compared to the rest of the AL East. I can only think of two core players that had significant injuries for them (Longoria and Niemann). They were doomed by a couple bad FA signings and some crappy defense early in the season.

Looking at it objectively this Rays team should have been able to finish higher then the O's in the standings.

[Miller192]

I agree with the author. The Rays had a real good shot to make some noise this season given their relative health compared to the rest of the AL East. I can only think of two core players that had significant injuries for them (Longoria and Niemann). They were doomed by a couple bad FA signings and some crappy defense early in the season.

Looking at it objectively this Rays team should have been able to finish higher then the O's in the standings.

I don't think there is anything wrong with having the expectation that the Rays did, and then being dissapointed when it doesn't work out. However, I don't think as a fan I would regret this season as the author does. I wouldn't be dissapointed with the season the Rays had.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't think there is anything wrong with having the expectation that the Rays did, and then being dissapointed when it doesn't work out. However, I don't think as a fan I would regret this season as the author does. I wouldn't be dissapointed with the season the Rays had.

The ones I know are disappointed. The Jays and Red Sox are both going to be at around 90 losses. With an additional WC this year it should have been a cake walk for a mostly healthy Rays team.

[Slappy]

It takes a decent-to-good offense to be a championship team, and the Rays don't have it. 11th in the league in runs, slugging, and OPS. Pena and Scott were free agent misses, they were fools to let Jaso get away, Desmond Jennings was a massive disappointment, Upton regressed again, and Longoria was hurt for a good part of the year.

Their pitching ended up crazy good, but it was about two notches down in the first half when Moore and Cobb really struggled.

It will be interesting to see where they go from here. They have a lot of major concerns in the field because Upton, Keppinger, and Pena are all gone next year. Do they move Shields? Maybe even (gasp) Price? He was a super 2. Interesting offseason coming up.