Losses: IF Akinori Iwamura, OF Gabe Gross, RP Troy Percival, C Gregg Zaun, C Shawn Riggins, RP Brian Shouse, RP Joe Nelson
Gains: RP Rafael Soriano, C Kelly Shoppach, 1B Dan Johnson
Analysis: The Rays had a very quiet offseason, and not without good reason, as this is a team that is just one year removed from playing in the World Series. They battled through plenty of injuries last year en route to winning 84 games and missing the playoffs, so it is clear that the front office felt that no major changes were necessary to give them the opportunity to return to the top of the American League in 2010.
The Rays didn’t really lose any essential pieces. Iwamura and Gross are average hitters at best whose production can be found elsewhere, while guys like Zaun, Riggins, Shouse and Nelson never factored into Tampa’s long-term plans. After Troy Percival was injured and subsequently retired last season, though, the Rays were left with a hole at the back end of the bullpen, and they adeptly filled it this offseason by acquiring Rafael Soriano from the Braves. While JP Howell filled in admirably last season as closer, Soriano is definitely an upgrade at this position, and the Rays are hoping that the rest of the bullpen will fall into place now with Howell back in a setup role next to Dan Wheeler, Randy Choate and Grant Balfour.
In addition to Soriano, the Rays also acquired Shoppach from the Indians to back up Dioner Navarro at catcher and Dan Johnson (last seen in the majors in 2008) to spell Carlos Pena at first base. Neither move is earth-shattering, however Shoppach could provide some power off of the bench (33 HR combined over the past two seasons in 730 PA), which couldn’t hurt.
More Moves: It doesn’t seem like they are looking to sign anyone else at this point, which makes sense considering they were relatively idle this offseason. As mentioned earlier, they are clearly expecting guys like Pat Burrell and BJ Upton to rebound from down years, which isn’t too much of a stretch to assume (especially for someone as young and talented as Upton).
2010 Thoughts: This is still a really good team. The only problem is that they are in the same division as two other really good teams, the Yankees and the Red Sox. Trading away Scott Kazmir last season left a void in the rotation that they are yet to fill, but they are hoping that young pitchers David Price and Wade Davis continue making progress after showing promise last season. If those two can hold down the back end, the Rays can definitely make some noise with James Shields and Matt Garza atop the rotation and guys like Pena, Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford and Ben Zobrist swinging the sticks.
Prediction: The Rays surprised a lot of teams back in 2008 with their sudden rise to prominence, and after coming back to Earth a bit last season, it seems like they have a decent shot to surprise everyone again. Expect them to give the Yankees and Red Sox all they can handle, but in the end their relatively thin starting rotation will leave them just short of the playoffs, in 3rd place in the AL East.
APT's Prediction: 3rd in AL East
-The BOMB
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