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By Mark Polishuk | at
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slashieboy .
If Tampa switched places with the Miami Marlins they would be just as big contenders year in and year out as St Louis Cardinals.
DarthMurph
So would many teams that play in better divisions than the NL East.
TbRays14
Least favorite move: Jose Molina signing
Favorite move: between Loney contact or Ryan Hanigan trade
Rally Weimaraner
Jose Molina has more to do with the success of TB young pitchers than people give him credit for. At 2/4.5 MM he’s a steal.
nickc-2
Slo Mo was signed to catch primarily for Price I believe
Tigers72
Matt Joyce back to the Tigers? Who would they give up? One of their many SP prospects in the lower minors with mid to back of the rotation Potential?
DarthMurph
The Rays aren’t really going all in. They couldn’t get a return for Price like they did for Shields so they opted to keep him. They have a record payroll, but nothing here will exactly hampers their success for 2015 or beyond.
Damon Bowman
I almost feel sorry for the Rays management and ownership — almost. They knew what they were getting into with that crummy market and awful ballpark. However, if you can’t raise enough money locally to help cover a payroll north of $80 million when MLB is kicking at least $20 million a year in your direction, suck it up and stop whining. The Rays have made some outstanding personnel moves in the last few years and it’s been keeping them afloat from a competitive perspective, but this ownership bought into the team knowing what they were getting into. Too bad.
hawkny11
Balfour and Olviedo are the only new faces deserving a second look. So, I would say that the Rays were successful in plugging a hole or two and keeping a few more from becoming unplugged with their winter signings. Always a solid team, none the less, the Rays are capable of competing if the injury bug stays away but how often does that happen to a MLB team over a full 162 game schedule?
JamieMoyer
Only in Tampa can a team sign James Loney and Grant Balfour and be said to be going all-in.
Nathan Boley
What else do they really need? Maybe a different catcher, but that’s about it.
CleaverGreene
Imo, they need left-handed power. A power hitting left.handed dh/of is not hard to find.
nickc-2
Can only hope the Rays are able to muster up enough offense this year. If they can manage to win the division there’s no reason they couldn’t win it all.
TheRealRyan 2
I wouldn’t worry about their offense. Once you adjust for park factors and league, the Rays have had a top 10 offense for 7 straight years including top 5 last season. Their superior ability as a team to draw walks seems to be consistently underrated.
Jason Hanselman
With you, Rev. I hate the bandying about of the phrase “all in.” In poker it means this is your last chance to win a pot of go home. You’re literally out of the game if you lose. The Rays have mortgaged nothing for the future. This is a good team sealing the foundation to avoid seepage, not some desperate hail mary that will set the team back in the long term. It’s just money.
Unlike 2010, the last time their payroll was inflated, all these guys will be back next year. When they gradually increased the payroll to that then record they did so knowing that 2011 would see a shedding of over $30M in contracts. That isn’t the case this year as Price is the only guy that will likely not be back next year. Granted, that’s a sizable chunk of the payroll, but the front office is looking at a scenario where payroll will not have an automatic release valve indicating that it’s likely to stay up (a relative term) in the near and distant future. Nice to see a team putting their increase MLBAM money to good use instead of putting it in their pocket.