Tampa Bay will need to make some moves to hang in the A.L. East

June 20, 2010

The Tampa Bay Rays have been the best team in the Majors for the majority of the season. They have had the best record for 63 days until they lost Sunday night at Florida 4-1. Now, the Rays are in second place of the most difficult division in all of baseball. The American League East has been dominated by the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for decades. The Rays broke through a few years ago, and were thought to be legitimate contenders for years to come. However, they have many flaws in their approach.

Tampa ranks in the top 3 in all of baseball in terms of runs batted in and runs scored. The problem is in how they do it. They have been reliant on the long ball and timely hitting for much of the season, but will need consistency to stay alive in the AL East. Boston and New York have powerful teams that are strong on both sides of the ball. More importantly they have professional hitters that know how to work the count and make pitchers fight to get them out. The Rays haven’t quite gotten to that level yet, and will have a difficult time keeping pace with the big boys over the last 2/3 of the season.

Tampa has a solid group of starting pitchers that currently ranks in the top5 in terms of earned run average. They will need to rely on those pitchers to stay on course if they are to have any chance of winning the division title of retaining a wildcard position. Many MLB handicappers have used the Rays as a trendy pick to win the East in several of the past few seasons. This make perfect sense as they have built their team through the draft, and have acquired several key players that have help them get to the next level. The only problem for Tampa is that they play in the same division as 2 of the top spending teams in all of baseball. Boston and New York have no ceiling as to how much money they will spend to make sure that their teams get to the playoffs. Tampa can’t say the same as they are handcuffed on spending due to their lack of income.

The Rays shot to the top of the pack in the AL West due a well balanced attack. Their pitching staff has over-achieved all season, and are starting to show signs of fatigue as they have lost 7 of their last 10 and have fallen out of first place. The Yankees are loaded, and have no signs of weakness anywhere on their roster. Despite the fact that several players have gone down due to injury, the Yankees have kept the pressure on Tampa for most of the season. Boston started off slowly and were though to be out of the race, but their bats have heated up and their pitching has come back to form, and now they find themselves just 1 game back.

Tampa will have to address some issues before the trading deadline. They need some stability in the bottom of their line-up as B.J. Upton, Sean Rodriguez and Reid Brignac are not enough to keep this team afloat for the remainder of the year. In regards to pitching, Tampa may not seem to need much help, but they do. They are top heavy as David Price and Jeff Niemann are the only 2 starters to currently have ERA’s under 4.00. Matt Garza is though by many baseball experts to be a solid number 2 starter, but has not lived up to his expectations as he has posted a 7-5 record with an earned run average of 4.16. Another top end starter will be required to keep the Rays in the hunt for the remainder of the season.

It is very possible that this Tampa Bay squad may find themselves on the outside lookin in come playoff time unless they make some major moves prior to the trade deadline a the end of July.

Written by Glenn Andrew · Filed Under MLB

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