Where will the Rays finish in 2011?

[Tobywan]

Well, Brignac certainly hasn't been the light I was hoping for, EJ stepped up but now he's banged up. Manny didn't end up helping since he barely finished his cup of coffee before bolting for the door. There’s no way now to really be 100% sure if he would have made a difference. Pitching has been solid bull pen better than expected, just need to get the runs in especially at home.

At the moment there is only 3 and half games separating the AL East, I figured it was going to be a lot more even than many were predicting, it could change hands a lot until finally someone breaking out of the pack.

[Pronk]

They lost way too much in the bullpen. That will come back to haunt them come late in the season when the starters are tiring a little earlier in games. I predict they will come in 3rd place behind the Red Sox and the Yankees.

[Tobywan]

That has been the popular stance yet so far the BP has far exceeded anyone's expectations to this point, so has James Shields. Niemann being out hurts, but for the most part it is the lack of offence especially at the dome that has lost them most of these recent games.

[love_that_reefer]

The good news is the Rays will be in the race all year and will have a little room to improve, not a whole lot but a little. Russell Branyan is out there right now to bring back and try to add some pop.

Didn't know where to post this:

Rays claimed RHP Jay Buente off waivers from the Marlins.
Buente was designated for assignment by the Marlins earlier this week. While the 27-year-old right-hander hasn't been given much on an opportunity in the major leagues, he has a 3.04 ERA over parts of six seasons in the minors while averaging 9.4 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. The Rays' organization usually manages to find some diamonds in the rough for their bullpen and we wouldn't be surprised if Buente is the latest.

I named him as a replacement for Javier Vazquez but the Marlins obviously didn't read my article I think this is a good pickup

[Tobywan]

Didn't know where to post this:

Put it anywhere you want, I would probably find it eventually, I seem to be the only full time resident of the Rays forum.


The Rays just saw Buente, guess they were as impressed as I was with him. I wouldn't be surprised if he might get the call soon to fill the void for Niemann cause the Sonnanstine experiment isn't working. I was actually relieved when the game was called yesterday, the only one more happy was probably Shoppach. He couldn't find the strike zone with a flashlight and a compass.

Guess the Marlins are betting everything on that one good start against the Rays, we all know how quickly that can backfire on you.

I would be surprised if the Rays bring Branyan back, no one was impressed the first time and the fans hated him.

[Fitzy]

The team still has good pitching in Shields and Price. Farnsworth has been holding his own as the closer and the hitting since Manny's departure has come on strong. The only team they may struggle beating in this tough division is the Red Sox.

[Tobywan]

The Red Sox are putting it together and are certainly going to be tough, but then again the Rays are used to them being tough.

[Tobywan]

Well, the Brignac experiment is being shelved for the time being. Desmond Jennings has been called up.

The Upton pull last night caused a stir on the media sites. I still don't think it is far fetched to think that Upton is number one on the list to trade.

Quotes say Jennings will get the bulk of time in left, to help with resting Upton and a banged up Joyce. Johnson and Rodriguez will split time at SS.

So, carrying 5 OF's, 6 if you count Zobrist and 6 1/2 if you count Damon..........HELLO???

[Mongofoot]

This team has enough pitching to hang in the race all year, but will they have enough cash to outbid the Red Sox and Yankees at the trade deadline?I doubt it. This is why it will be tough for them to get any higher then 3rd place.

[Tobywan]

????? They never have had money to outbid the Yanks or Red Sox before the deadline, after the deadline, in the off season or at ANY time in between. Yet they have managed to win the AL East 2 out of the last 3 seasons.

If they don't get any higher than 3rd it will have NOTHING to do with whether they outbid the Yanks or Sox they don't bother going after those players that are in high demand by those two teams anyway.

If they wind up in third it's because they simply can't score enough runs in enough games to win enough to get and stay any higher , PERIOD!

[HollywoodLeo]

The trade deadline isn't about who has the most cash. It's about who has the better prospects to trade.

[Tobywan]

Funny how going back over this thread a good portion of us predicted…wrong…….but in the crux of the posts many of us hit on some items that ended up being very poignant.


In a culmination of one of the biggest collapses coinciding with one of the biggest comebacks the Rays managed to come in second by one game.

A couple of questionable players did in fact turn out to be overall busts, most glaringly Manny though IF he hadn’t exited so quickly there is no sure way to know whether he could have provided the little bit of offensive help the Rays wanted. Brignac never seemed to completely find his swing, with the departure of Manny, Damon didn’t end up playing much at a position and Dan Johnson had a complete power outage until he was placed back as the lucky charm. Damon however may not have had any monster numbers but he provided some key moments and has found the fountain of youth as well as providing some leadership.

As it turned out there was never really a “closer by committee” until Farnsworth had elbow problems near the end, the pen ended up doing much better than most predicted. The starters were solid, but were at times sabotaged by a lack of offense. Basically the entire season was “patched” over and over again by Maddon with whatever pieces were thrown at him.

Then again, no one can ever foresee how a season will play out……..the horrible start (as well as the Red Sox) right through to the comeback.