Playing for the Tampa Bay Rays usually means watching good players leave either via trade or free agency.
The Rays are not a big-market club (according to FanGraphs, they received $20 million last year in local TV revenue, the lowest among 30 teams), have trouble drawing fans (the Rays drew 1,286,163 fans last year which was last in the American League League), they had an estimated payroll of $48 million in 2016 for a club that went 68-94.
As a result, despite reaching the World Series in 2008 and making the playoffs in 2010, 2011 and 2013, Tampa Bay has said goodbye to veterans such as 2012 Cy Young winner David Price, outfielder Melvin Upton Jr., second baseman Ben Zobrist, starting pitcher James Shields and relief pitcher Wade Davis.
Third baseman Evan Longoria, who has been with the Rays his entire career, wasn't too thrilled last month when second baseman Logan Forsythe (Arkansas Razorbacks) was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for highly touted pitching prospect Jose DeLeon.
Forsythe hit 20 home runs with 52 RBI and hit .264 a year ago and was rated sixth among American League second baseman in wins above replacement. De Leon, 24, who was drafted by the Dodgers in the 24th round by the Dodgers in the 2013 draft He went 7-1 with a 2.61 earned-run average in 86 innings while making 16 starts for Class AAA Oklahoma City a year ago
In an interview with ESPN.com, Longoria is still upset by the trade. "I don't know that I'll ever get over losing Logan, because we got real close and he became one of the clubhouse leaders. So when you take that away, it feels like there's a much bigger void. You know, I can't say that we got much better, with losing Logan."
But while Longoria isn't thrilled over the loss of Forsythe, he is confident the 2017 season will be better. Off-season additions include outfielder Colby Rasmus, injured catcher Wilson Ramos and former Atlanta Braves prospect Mallex Smith. As a result, FanGraphs projected the Rays to improve to 81-81.
"It's always good to have some expectations of winning," Longoria said. "But projections are what they are -- just guesses. I think those algorithms are based on everything going right for everybody. And as we all know, that doesn't happen very often. But it's about piecing it together. And if everybody has the year that they're expected to have on our team and we stay healthy, I really like our chances."
Nice to have something positive to hold on to.
October impact
Recently, MLB Network release its annual ranking of the top 100 players. The World Series champion Chicago Cubs had nine players in the list which is no surprise.
Third baseman Kris Bryant, who won the National League MVP was ranked fourth. First baseman Anthony Rizzo was 16th while utility player Ben Zobrist was 69th and shortstop Addison Russell was 87th. Starting pitchers Jake Arrieta (28), Jon Lester (29) and Kyle Hendricks (59) were on the list too along with reliever Wade Davis (85), who was acquired in a trade from Kansas City.
The big surprise? Outfielder Kyle Schwarber (72), who was limited to two games a year ago with a torn anterior cruicate ligament he suffered during the first week of the season. Schwarber did recover to be the designated hitter in the World Series where he went 7 for 17 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.
That's leaving an impact.
Sports on 02/20/2017