DEVIL RAYS - 2/2/02
February 01, 2003
At a Glance…
The 2002 Season
Record: 55-106, 5th place AL East, 48 games out
AVG Leader: R. Winn 298
HR Leader: A. Huff 23
RBI Leader: R. Winn 75
RUNS Leader: R. Winn 87
SB Leader: R. Winn 27
WINS Leader: 2 tied @ 8
SAVES Leader: E. Yan 19
ERA Leader: Joe Kennedy 4.53
Off-season News:
Winn-win situation…No
The Rays off-season was capped by one huge move: Shipping All-star outfielder Randy Winn and cash to the Seattle Mariners in return for manager Lou Piniella. Why? The Rays have won just 317 games in their five-year history, an average of 63 wins per year. Hal McRae, last year’s manager who replaced Larry Rothschild in the middle of 2001, took a bad team and made it worse, winning just 55 games last season. GM Chuck LaMar felt the best way to solve the teams troubles would be to trade away the Rays best player for a manager whose team failed to make the playoffs the previous season with the likes of Ichiro, Mike Cameron, Freddy Garcia, and even more all-stars playing for him.
Is Piniella a good coach? Yes. A great coach? Yes. Is he worth a player the caliber of Winn? More than likely, no. Piniella’s goal is to win 70 games this year, a feat the Rays have yet to accomplish in the their short history.
Everybody Wants Out
The Rays have lost 11 major league players, while acquiring just three. SS Rey Ordonez (via trade from Mets), 2B Marlon Anderson (via FA signing from Phillies), and INF Antonio Perez (via Piniella trade from Mariners) are the only new faces in the Rays clubhouse, while Ryan Rupe, Steve Cox, Steve Kent, Esteban Yan, Andy Sheets, Tanyon Sturtze, Paul Wilson, John Flaherty, and Wilson Alvarez are all playing ball elsewhere.
Fantasy Perspective:
Mr. Vaughn…What are you still doing here?!
For some reason beyond belief, outfielder Greg Vaughn is still in Tampa Bay. Rumor has it GM Chuck Lamar believes that some of the rookies coming up could act as mentor to Vaughn and turn the 37-year-old’s career around.
Youth Group
The Devil Rays have a few young players that could make a splash in the fantasy baseball pool this year. Outfielder Carl Crawford is the highlight of this Devil Rays team and an early front-runner for AL rookie of the year. He possesses sensational speed, pretty good power, and an excellent arm, but needs to work on his plate patience.
Up Next…
In the next correspondent report, I’ll expand more no Crawford and the rest of the young Rays. I’ll also review the 40-man roster and make an early-projection of the starting lineup.
And Don’t Miss…
The FIC Top 100 Prospect List by our Minor League Reporter. I’ve investigated the subject and discovered that there will be four Devil Rays prospects in the top 50. Nothing more than that is known at this point, but be sure to check it out to find out who the stars of tomorrow will be.
