Best Slideshows - Team

Don't look now Red Sox fans and Yankees fans, but you've got some competition. The Tampa Bay Rays are back.

Baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Two weeks do not make a season. But, watching the Rays first two weeks, one would have to say they have that look. That look of a team on a mission. They are pitching. They are hitting. They are playing defense. They are confident that they are going to win no matter the situation.

It seems as though Carlos Beltran could have played his last baseball game, at least in the near future.

Beltran played in 81 games in 2009 because of knee bruises and the time off and rehab from surgery has not healed the bruises.

For this reason, he is not ready to resume baseball activities at this time, no timetable has been set on when its possible to return to the Mets.

This is why you keep your mouth shut, Napoli.

Just last week, Angels catcher Mike Napoli was the subject of trade rumors after he publicly ridiculed Manager Mike Scioscia for his lack of playing time.

"I don't like coming in here and not seeing my name in the lineup," said Napoli. "I'm a competitor. I want to be on the field. I don't feel like a player who should be in the lineup for only two of nine games. I feel like I should be a starter."

After last night's seven-inning, 10-strikeout performance against the Padres, Jonathan Sanchez has caught the attention of the baseball nation once again.

Not only is Sanchez ready to break out (as I hinted this offseason), he is already on his way to doing so.

Today we check in with the Rays' minor league affiliates and see what they’ve done to this point in the season. After only 10 games, we've seen one player called up from Durham (catcher John Jaso) and there already seems to be at least one other player that could play his way onto the big league team. We'll take a look at each affiliate and focus on the highlights and lowlights of the early-going.

Durham Bulls (AAA)

For every Phil Mickelson Masters moment that fuels our optimism and confirms that the sporting fates have a firm sense of morality, there are at least as many examples of the contrary. Episodes where Lady Luck jilts the White Knight, and instead shacks up with the leather-clad Lothario that plays by nobody's rules.

Not even his own.

(Bonus points if you recognize that bit of hybrid pilferage).

Case in point of this latter blight would be the San Francisco Giants' three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers that just concluded on Sunday.

The event occurred after my college career was over and I was several seasons into one of the various semi-pro leagues I played in during the summer. Make no mistake about the quality of "summer ball," as these were some of the most competitive seasons we ever played. A regular season was usually a 40-game schedule played over 60 days, then playoffs.

Thus far into the season, the Braves have continued their offensive woes from the run-challenged 2009 summer.

Only Martin Prado, Brian McCann, and Jason Heyward have been better than league average.

Those three have been more than impressive, but the lack of production from the rest of the lineup is starting to be a concern. While nine games is not an appropriate sample size, the team should be hitting better than they currently are.

Let's take a look at the production of the three aforementioned players compared to the rest of the team.

San Francisco Giant uniforms do not like Los Angeles Dodger uniforms and vice versa. However, the hatred is only cotton-deep. Put the ballplayer in street clothes, stick 'em in a room, and most of the exchanges would be cordial.