Tampa Bay Devil Rays
 

The history of the Devil Rays' in the major leagues is one filled with mistakes.  From trading Bobby Abreu for Kevin Stocker, to the futile attempt to slug their way to the division crown using aging veterans, the Devil Rays errors in judgment have been exposed more dramatically than those of any other team in recent years.  Fortunately, they've done a pretty good job of drafting decent talent for their minor league system and supplementing that with trades and low cost free agent signings.      
 

Hitting

Contrary to popular perception, the D-Rays offense might not be too bad this year.  2B Brent Abernathy didn't get on base much in his first exposure to major league pitching last year, but his career minor league average is over .350.  Likewise, whoever wins the battle for third base - Jared Sandberg, Russ Johnson or Aubrey Huff - will bring a similar on base percentage to the table.  Sandberg probably has the inside edge as he has the most power of the three.

While Steve Cox didn't have the year at first base that many predicted, he nonetheless showed solid gains in the second half last year when his playing time was assured.  He could very well post 20 homers, .500 slugging and near .400 on base this year.

Catcher Toby Hall got a long look in the second half of last year and posted some very exciting numbers.  With a full season behind the plate, he could be nearly as productive as Cox.

The outfield will have some interesting possibilities this year as well.  Ben Grieve was a big disappointment in his first year as a Devil Ray, although his declining groundball/flyball ratio predicted a falloff.  His performance in September and October gives some reason for optimism that he'll return to the levels of production he displayed in Oakland.  His numbers against right-handers have eroded over the last 3 years, while his numbers have improved versus lefties - an odd development for a left-handed hitter.  So the D-Rays brought in former Red Sox Troy O'Leary, who is also a lefty, but his numbers against right-handers remain strong.  This could make for a unique platoon.

In the other outfield corner will be veteran Greg Vaughn, who'll serve as the team's DH when he needs rest.  Vaughn's skills are showing signs of deterioration, but his production should still pretty solid.  When he DHs, Jason Tyner will likely man left field until one of the Rays 2 top outfield prospects - Carl Crawford and Josh Hamilton - is ready.  Tyner displayed very good on base skills in the minors but has yet to translate them to the majors.  Until he does so, his speed will make him a nice roto-player but a real-life out machine. Randy Winn will patrol center, but is really more suited to coming off the bench.

Chris Gomez is an interesting story at short.  Plagued by injuries which severely impaired his production for the past 3 years, he was released in mid-season by the Padres last year.  Before he left, Padre manager Bruce Bochy suggested he try to drive the ball more.  The D-Rays, not having much luck finding an everyday shortstop, picked him up off waivers.  Before Bochy's talk he had been hitting .188 with a slugging percentage of .214.  After the advice sank in and he had donned a Tampa uni, Gomez hit .302 with a slugging percentage of .513.  While the numbers are way out of line with his career norm, they are within earshot of what was expected of him when he first came up with the Tigers.  A year of hitting .275 with a slugging percentage of .425 is not out of the question.  Unfortunately, he still doesn't draw walks.

If the youngsters can regain the form they showed in the minors, this team could have decent power and a team on base in the high .330s, which could put them somewhere in the middle of the pack in runs scoring.
Rating: 50
 

Pitching

The pitching staff has been decimated by injuries over the past two years.  RHSP Juan Guzman, LHSP Wilson Alvarez and LHSP Tony Saunders were once thought to be a solid anchor to build a staff around.  But since becoming Devil Rays, Saunders broke his pitching arm and is out of baseball and both Guzman and Alvarez have undergone several arm surgeries and have pitched a total of 1 2/3 innings since 1999.  Alvarez finally looks healthy this spring and is pitching with confidence.  If he can avoid any more set-backs, he looks poised to reclaim his 1996-97 form when he was one of the better starters in the AL.

RHSP Tanyon Sturtze will open the season as the staff ace, primarily by default.  He looks more suited toward the middle or bottom of the staff and could move there if Alvarez and RHSP Paul Wilson live up to expectation.  Wilson was an uber prospect in the Mets system before overuse brought on a number of surgery requiring injuries derailed a promising career.  However, he may be getting his career back on track as he has posted stellar numbers in the second halves of 2000 and 2001.  After a stint in the minors to get straightened out last year, he posted 79 innings of 2.39 ERA and 1.164 ratio with 69 Ks.  With a little run support, that could translate into 15 wins in 2002.

The season will open with either lefties Nick Bierbrodt, Joe Kennedy or right-hander Ryan Rupe manning the 4th and 5th spots.  The lefties have the greatest upside, so it's only a matter of time before they move Rupe into the swingman role, regardless of how they open the season.

Tampa has a surprisingly promising bullpen.  After initially struggling with the closer's role to open the season last year, Esteban Yan really matured in the second half.  His post All-Star ERA of 2.88 and 37 Ks in 34 innings while walking just 5 was not a fluke.  He'll be set up by several very strong armed right handers who possess closing ability as well.  Victor Zambrano, Jesus Colome and Kevin McGlinchy can all reach the mid-90s with their fastballs.  Zambrano's numbers in the second half were even better than Yan's - 42.2 innings, 29 hits, 14 walks with 47 Ks, 2.74 ERA -  which has led some to believe that it's only a matter of time before he dons the closer's mantle.  Doug Creek is the lone lefty in the pen.

If Alvarez and Wilson can stay healthy and the 2 young lefties continue to mature, the D-Rays will actually have a decent pitching staff, at least talent-wise.
Rating: 55
 

Defense

None of the Devil Ray infielders have above average range, but all a fairly sure-handed.  In the outfield, Winn and Tyner have very good range, Grieve and O'Leary, well below average.  Vaughn is slightly above average.  However, none of them have strong arms.  Hall handles a pitching staff pretty well, but is below average at stopping the running game and is not particularly sure-handed.
Rating: 45
 

Management

Tampa added former Pirates GM Cam Bonifay to it's front office this offseason to help GM Chuck Lamarr on the talent evaluation side.  As the Baseball Prospectus pointed out in it's 2002 annual, that might not be a bad thing as most of Bonifay's failures have come on the purse strings side of the GM job - awarding contracts, signing free agents - rather than the prospecting side.  As a matter of fact, he did quite well acquiring minor league and under-appreciated talent for the Pirates.  This bodes well for the future of the franchise.  What doesn't bode as well is Hal McRae as the manager.  He is reckless when it comes to pitch counts, which will not help a staff that will be relying on young or rehabbing starters.  He's also obsessed with "managing".  He used 121 different line-ups in just 148 games last year and was among the league leaders in using "strategies" - sacrifice bunts, hit and runs, etc.  His team also had one of the worst success rates in the AL when trying to steal a base.  A manager of his intensity and aggressiveness is not a good fit for a team that needs to avoid making extra outs as much as this one does.
Rating: 45