By Matt Vandenburgh, Staff Writer
The 2015 baseball season is approaching, and teams are now in Florida and Arizona, getting ready during Spring Training. Down in Port Charlotte, Fla, the Tampa Bay Rays are looking forward to a bounce back season following a disappointing 77-85 2014 season.
There have been many changes to both the Rays’ roster and front office. Manager Joe Maddon has left for the Chicago Cubs and General Manager Andrew Friedman left to work for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Rays also traded many fan favorites, cutting costs and attempting to restock a depleted farm system. They traded Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar to the Oakland Athletics for two minor league players and catcher John Jaso, which saved the team more than $4.5 million in payroll. They also traded Wil Myers and other players to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Burch Smith and two other players. They did sign infielder Asdrubal Cabrera for $10 million, bringing his talented bat to Tampa Bay.
The Rays season hinges on their talented pitching staff, and bounce back seasons for some of their batters.
Star third baseman Evan Longoria is hoping to return to form, as a repeat of last season where he hit for a .253 batting average, 18 points lower than his career average. Longoria will also be looking to improve his power numbers, as he hit only 22 home runs last season, ten fewer than the season before that.
Pitching will again be key for the Rays. After the trade that sent former Cy Young award winner David Price to the Detroit Tigers, the Rays have fielded a starting pitching staff anchored by ace Alex Cobb, whose earned run average of 2.87 would have resulted in a record better than 10-9 last season had the offense done its part.
With the offense not expected to improve much, if at all, it is unlikely that Cobb’s wins will go much higher. To have any hope of making the postseason this year, the team must stay afloat until the true ace, Matt Moore, returns from the injury that only allowed him to pitch in two games last season.
The relievers remain as shaky as ever, with Brad Boxberger penciled in as the likely closer to start the season. With the last few seasons having to change the closer midway through the seasons, however, it is likely fans will see one or two changes to the closer position this season as well.
That said, no team competes against themselves. The Rays will still face challenges from the rest of the American League Eastern Division, with the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays leading the way as the probable tops of the division. The Rays will likely be competing for third place with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, a competition that they will probably not win.
The pitching staff will keep the Rays competitive in most of their games, but it is unlikely they will win most of them. Fans of the Rays should brace themselves for a long season, which will probably end with a losing record and a fourth place finish in the AL East, out of the playoffs.
