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Are the Rays a real team yet?
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Location: Blogs The Sports Blog |
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| Posted by: Gregory Broome |
11/30/2007 1:02 AM |
They just might be.
Above is an artist's rendering of a new stadium proposed for the St. Pete waterfront. Coupled with other recent Rays news, what fans the team has may be led to believe they'll soon have a legitimate team for which to root.
Let's look at the evidence:
THE TRADE
Delmon Young kind of hurts to give up on considering his potential, until you remember that he's a petulant jerk who has already promised to leave the Rays as soon as possible. Plus, he swung at everything, and while he had an awesome arm for the outfield, you have to get to the ball before you can throw it back, and that always gave him trouble. Brendan Harris was a decent hitter, but covered shortstop about as far as his arm could reach in either direction, and was a given to be squeezed out one way or the other. The other guy, Jason Pridie, was never going to see the field. So if you consider that Delmon was leaving eventually anyway, you're not giving away a long-term piece of your team.
What the Rays get back for that motley crew is pretty sweet. Start with Matt Garza. Dude is 24 years old and is a legit starter. That increases the Rays' collection of legit starters from 2 to 3. Jason Bartlett fills another huge need, a defensive shortstop, and his hitting is decent enough. He can also steal some bases and do the kind of exciting things that other teams' middle infielders have been doing for years. Eduardo Morlan will probably start in the minors but could be in line to close within two years.
So subtract one rude, spoiled malcontent and two peripheral players and add a front-line young starter, an extremely solid shortstop and an elite bullpen prospect. As Tommy Callahan once said, me likey.
THE NEW LINEUP
The offense was already good, and the loss of Young won't hamper it much. LF Carl Crawford, CF BJ Upton and 1B Carlos Pena comprise a pretty decent heart of the batting lineup. AAA star Evan Longoria is universally projected as a stud at 3B, Bartlett plugs in well at SS, and Japanese import Akinori Iwamura will spend his second season as a Ray at 2B rather than third. C Dioner Navarro is competent and may still be replaced by a more experienced player. That leaves just Young's old spot and the DH in question. Two familiar names are in the mix there - Elijah Dukes and Rocco Baldelli. Dukes is an immensely talented player who also happens to be a sociopath, and figures to be traded or arrested. Baldelli, meanwhile, is made of styrofoam, and figures to be injured. Beyond that, you can choose between minor-league call-up Justin Ruggiano and free-swinging Jonny Gomes. A healthy Baldelli and a civilized Dukes solves what could become glaring weaknesses for the Rays.
But Rays fans are used to weaknesses, glaring or otherwise. Whatever last year's offense was capable of was sabotaged by the worst bullpen in the history of organized sports. The team addressed that late last year, adding Dan Wheeler (note: I went to high school with his wife) and the unfortunately-named Grant Balfour, among others. They really stepped it up now with the addition of Troy Percival to close instead of Al Reyes. Wheeler-Reyes-Percival working an inning each should actually hold a lead once in awhile.The great thing about the Percival signing is that Percival actually gave his agent instructions to "get something done," a phrase not heard around the Rays since Aubrey Huff said it with exactly opposite intentions. And they're paying him $8 million over 2 seasons, and those checks are expected to clear. So the bullpen might be good and won't be terrible.
Although it could be terrible if the starters make them work too hard. That won't be a problem for your first three - Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Garza should give you six-plus a night almost without fail. It's your last two spots that are still a concern - Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine are your incumbents there, but they'll have some competition from the Rays' surplus of minor-league prospects and recent call-ups. Jax and Sonny had very good stretches last year, so with a better defense behind them, a lower spot in the rotation and more capable bullpen help, they might evolve from shaky to dependable.
THE LOOK
I'm starting to buy the company line on this one - it's uncluttered, stylish, classic. I was a fan of the green and gray scheme, but the whole look was a bit gimmicky. Not as bad as the rainbow disaster of the early Devil Rays, but bad. To me, the Rays finally look like a major league team. Maybe it's conforming to a league obsessed with shades of blue, but sometimes that's what it takes to sit at the grown-up table.
The little sunburst on the 'R' is kind of weird - the team is stressing the rays as in sun rather than the rays as in stingrays. I'm not sure that works. But the ray still exists on a sleeve patch and is implied in the long sweeping tail on the 'R.' I would have liked them to maintain a little more history, even though their history is highly forgettable. But the team wants a fresh start, and that's as close as you can get to one without scrapping the whole thing and renaming the team, more than just dropping the 'Devil.' Or moving it.
In the end, I'm more interested in the team than what they're wearing. They look like baseball players. I can only care about color schemes and logos for so long before I start feeling like a girl.
THE STADIUM
I'll start by acknowledging that I'm a fan of the reviled Tropicana Field. I know, it kind of looks like you're shopping for a life-size baseball field in the world's biggest Sam's Club. But I think it's cute. They've got stuff for my kids to do, lots of places to eat and faux graffiti, not to mention that giant dude crashing through the wall. And the rays tank is pretty much awesome. Overall, a Sunday afternoon at the Trop is aces with me.
But you can go ahead and pave it over now. As to the above, I say the following: Yes, please.
That's a sweet looking piece of property. I don't know any right-thinking person in the world who doesn't like waterfront stuff. It's why all the really cool cities are on the coasts, Ocala excepted, of course. And I love the idea of incorporating the park into the existing downtown, an area that could be pretty fun. I can see myself and the fam spending a fair amount of time there. I'm assuming this massive project gets approved, of course.
That doesn't mean I'm not concerned about a thing or two.
- The sail. I understand it's supposed to keep heat and rain at bay (get it), but I wonder if it could interfere with play. And let me say that it would absolutely suck if it did. That's the most annoying thing about the Trop - the blasted catwalks. A ground-rule double off the first ring of catwalks may be the lamest play in pro sports. The sail looks cool - I keep hearing the word 'iconic' - but it absolutely must stay out of the way. If so, we're good.
- The parking. From what I've read, there's not any. That's another great thing about the Trop - you can almost park drive in and park on the warning track next to one of those modified golf carts. I'm not thrilled with the idea of shuttles or long walks on the beach to watch a game. Again, it's all in the execution. If it's an entertaining walk with stuff to do and places to eat, I'm alright with that. And if it's a shuttle originating from an actual place rather than a desolate inner-city parking lot, that's OK by me.
- The weather. The sail is supposed to take care of the rain and minimize the heat, but I'm skeptical. I don't like sitting outside at night in the summer. It's just not something I want to do. I spend the summers darting from air-conditioned building to air-conditioned building, and the Trop was one of those air-conditioned buildings I occasionally darted into. I'm not sure about camping out under a sail and watching three hours of baseball. I'm not sure I can simulate the experience until it's built - I just hope those that are building it can ensure a certain level of comfort.
THE ANSWER
I can only think of one word to sum to answer the question posed in the name of this post. That word is: maybe. With a strong lean towards yes. |
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