Lets just say on paper as it stands now..Did the Rays get stronger a tiny bit ???Will they be in the top three in the Standings? Will the pitching staff be better?..Lots of questions..They may be as good as the Old Yankees this year but balt,Toronto and Even Boston are not staying still and won't have a white flag waving because of Myers..

As long as we're not the ones 'wavin the white flag' cause of some major goof by the RFO

Casey is that stay in the hunt or bunt you say?

I'm pretty sure he meant "bunt".

Hey...typos happen all the time....

Maybe,The Key word I meant is "STAY"..LOL

I don't have a crystal ball, but as of now, the Rays don't look like they have enough hitting to compete successfully in the AL East. I define "compete successfully" as at least being one of the two AL wild cards. The Rays lost a big opportunioty to improve their offense at the catcher's position when A. J. Pierzynski signed w/ the Rangers recently. Although A.J. is 35 which is old for a catcher, he hit 278 , w/ 27 homers and 77 RBI's for the White Sox in 2012. This is exactly what the Rays need in the short term (2-3 years). No catcher on the Rays can come close to these power numbers. Also, if Meyers doesn't play on the Rays this season, we need an OFer w/ power, average and good OBP. Finally, the Rays still need a good offensive righty DH.

I am beginning to think the Rays did a salary dump in a sly way..

If Longoria stays healthy ... and with Escobar, Loney and Myers hitting at their career averages ... plus Zobrist doing his thing ... and Jennings and Joyce improving just a little ... the team batting average will be W-A-Y up ... UNLESS ... they re-sign Scott and Roberts and both play regularly! Molina, Scott and Roberts, playing regularly, will offset some of the offensive benefit of a healthy Longoria and newcomers Escobar and Loney.

I think a bigger if is, can the pitching hold up against the now better and getting better teams in the Div?

Well ... in spite of the glowing season-end stats ... there were times during last season ... especially during the first-half ... where I felt the starting pitching was very inconsistent ... and I wondered if Moore and Cobb were really consistently ready for prime-time ... and I even wondered if Hellickson was going to be as good as advertised, long-term. And ... I really didn't think Archer was ready. But ... Price and the bullpen ... and innings-eating help from Shields... made it all work out pretty well.

This time around ... I don't know. I don't think losing Shields will be a particularly big deal ... IF ... Neimann comes back strong ... and Hellickson, Moore and Cobb live up to their expectations. On the other hand ... if Neimann does NOT come up big ... and factoring in the loss of Davis as starting rotation "insurance" ... pitching might become somewhat problematic. ALTHOUGH ... they say that Odorizzi was almost ready last season ... and that he has a very good 93-95 mph sinkerball and hard slider ... so ... I guess he could be the saving wildcard if that becomes necessary. (?)

Personally, I have my doubts about Neimann ever returning from his injuries to his original form ... my original faith in Cobb has been shaken some by his up-and-down performances last season and the potentially long-lasting aftereffects of his surgery ... and I think Archer is still too young and inexperienced (and ... I don't know the latest on Torres) ... so ... a lot could be riding on Odorizzi ... and maybe even on Hernandez-Heredia making a strong comeback as a starter ... although ... my hope with him is that he can become a premier middle-reliever ... taking Badenhop's place ... with an even heavier and more effective sinkerball! (I L-O-V-E good sinkerballers and knuckleballers!)

Anyway ... I think the pitching will benefit all-around from a healthy Longoria and the additions of Escobar and Loney ... and in June, Myers ... and I hope Friedman doesn't water that back down by re-signing Roberts and Scott (having Molina around again is bad enough!).

Merry Christmas!

The Rays have a strong team but Fuld will never completely take over the CF job. You should sign Bourne. And Loney is nothing more than a below avg. 1B man. The Rays have the pitching but so does Washington and Washington has better hitters so the Rays still won't get far in the playoffs.

probably a little farther than washington got..

Given the present situation ... the Rays will struggle to finish 3rd in the AL East.
Not good enough outfield defense, lousy OBP even though it will be better. Lack
of players who actually get hits at a rate greater than games played.

(Note: This stat is very much overlooked and is important to winning.)

The plus factors include, Longo playing all year ... Experience garnered by the young
pitchers, lack of good RH hitter to help with the DH situation and decent pen. Catching
is mediocre to say the least. Most backup players have more holes than a pound of
Swiss cheese.

But we have time to put a better team together. April fool's day is still 3 months away.

Well, I think they'll be in the mix. Maybe not a division-winner ... but I think they'll hold their own and challenge. (?)

I don't know how good an outfielder Myers is ... but I think Jennings and Fuld are pretty good defensively. Zobrist is Ok when he's out there. I do think Joyce is probably the defensive weak link in the outfield.

I agree with your take on the team OBP ... but Maddon does say OBP is more improtant to him than batting average ... so ... he' s seems to be on the OBP tract. (?) And ... I'd have to look it up ... but I would guess there aren't really too many hitters in the league who finish up with 162 or more hits (one per game as you'd like to see).

I agree. With Molina in there playing even half of the games ... catching is atrocious. Personally, I'm hoping to see Molina flame-out over spring training ... replaced by Gimenez. (Plus ... they still have Vogt, Chirinos, and Ashley in the wings.)

Actually, if the pitching holds out (and assumng they don't water down the offense by re-signing Scott and Roberts) I think they're a better offensive team than last season right now!

nrg, Joe believes that bunting lowers a players OBP which it really does'nt, but even if its a sacrifice bunt or its considered a hit raises the players BA as if its a hit. Check out the formula on Widipedia--its head spinning> or just have a drink and Merry Christmas!

That could all be true ... BUT ... just by observation ... I really can't recall any recent Rays' players that seemed adept at bunting?

I think that's referred to as havin a 'burr' under your saddle

Obviously, I wouldn't know first-hand, but simple observation over the last few years seems to indicate to me that the team's hitting coaching is completely ineffective ... including bunting. (If I was in charge, I would have replaced Shelton during the July tailspin in 2011.)

You bet nrg, I wouldn't have let him in the Trop!

As far as I can see ... absolutely no record of success as a hitting coach over the last nine seasons!