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By Connor Byrne | at
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BoldyMinnesota
The Rays are right in changing there philosophy even though theyve had long success in developing young pitchers. Grow the bats, buy the arms. That worked good for the cubs last year and since the mlb is a copycat industry, i wouldnt be surprised if more teams took this approach.
davep-3
Barmes spent last season in San Diego not Pittsburgh
Connor Byrne
Thanks, Dave. Sorry about that. The error has been corrected.
GoRav114
I’m not sure I see the change in philosophy to more offense from TB. Yes they got rid of some pitchers but in hindsight they shouldn’t have. With the injury to Boxberger they are looking much thinner now with McGee and Kearns gone too. I don’t know if Steve Pearce would be considered going more offensive heavy. Offensive yes but better offense no. Pearce had one good season and is 32. Maybe Dickerson but he only played in 65 games last year.
lwashisaliveandwell
The Rays just HAD a surplus and decided to deal from it. Its not a philosophical change. at all. Maybe acquiring a big bat or two at the expense of pitching would have said that more prominently but a Rockies outfielder coming off an injury campaign for a bullpen arm doesn’t speak so loudly. If they sent a package for him and Cargo then maybe but for now seems like the Rays are content to do what they always do. Have very nice pitching staffs/makeshift bullpens/and mediocre offenses that turn Longorias hair gray.
Valkyrie
Change in philosophy might be a little strong. Facing grim reality and taking some baby steps to try to fix it might be more accurate. The Rays finished 25th in runs scored last season and still managed to play just under .500 and had a shot at the postseason into September. The addition of the new bats should up that production considerably.
Consider this. The Rays lost 30 one run games in 2015. If one of the 1B platoon, or Hank Conger, or the new Desmond Jennings (we’ll see about that one) can contribute enough offense to turn 8 of those into wins, the Rays would have been in the postseason. They would have needed only 50 more runs to be in the top half of MLB. The RBI production out of 1B over Loney and C over Rivera alone could account for 50 more runs.