I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank the folks at All Sports Talk (AST), for giving me the opportunity to contribute to their AL East Preview. Aaron from AST got in touch with us a few weeks back about having one of us contribute a piece on the Rays strengths and weaknesses going into the 2013 season. I gladly accepted the invitation and the rest, as they say, is history. Below is a preview of the article I wrote, with a link to their AL East Preview. You can read the team by team previews, in their entirety, via the link attached below.
As Cole Stevenson of Opposing Views put it, “The Tampa Bay Rays continue to be the perfect model of how an organization should be run. Not just in baseball, but in all of sports.” And though the head of the players union, Michael Weiner, may see things a bit differently, there is something to be said about a team that’s won 90 games in four of the last five seasons. Though Tampa Bay lost a few key pieces following the 2012 season – namely Wade Davis, J.P. Howell, Jeff Keppinger, James Shields, and B.J. Upton – I think that the Rays are in line for another 90+ win season. Whether they can eek out a playoff spot is still unwritten. I’d reckon that it (somewhat) depends on the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays; one team that had a quiet off-season following an incredible run in 2012, and another that made some monster moves though may not congeal as a team, at least in 2013.
The rest can be found at the AST, AL East Preview (linked).