Tampa Bay Rays

We're two weeks into spring training and now that pitchers and hitters have started to get their groove back, attention is going to shift towards results.  The Tampa Bay Rays bullpen is wide open, and many pitchers are vying for a spot.  From grizzled veterans to young phenoms, the Rays have a variety of arms to look at.

Not to mention a guy by the name of Manny Ramirez. 

The countdown has begun, and it is only 26 days to Opening Day.  

Every year, new players filter in and out of the league as they look to make a name for themselves in the majors.  

However, these particular players won't take long to cement their spot on their teams as we look at the top 5 rookies who will make an immediate impact for their team in 2011.

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The 2010 bullpen of the Tampa Bay Rays was one of the best in the Majors, if not the best in franchise history. Now all the names that made that possible are gone, vanishing faster than you can say "Tropicana."

Now we step into 2011, with new and much less recognizable faces in the pen. There's a lot to be asked about this new bullpen, but not a lot to be expected of it.

Manny Ramirez brought his hair and wacky behavior to Tampa Bay. Did he bring his big bat along with him?

That is the million dollar question.

Things did not end well for Manny in Los Angeles. That has become his new M.O.. He played well enough when he played, hitting .311 with 32 runs, eight HRs and 40 RBI in 66 games, but he was either hurt or a distraction most of the time.

New York Daily News scribe Bill Madden mentioned the Rays being a candidate for contraction in the last couple of weeks.

It’s hard to believe that’s going to happen. For one thing, the Rays have a long lease and St. Petersburg could sue the organization and baseball for breaching the contract. Second of all, the players union will not allow that.

Tampa Bay Rays fans shouldn't pin their hopes upon the dual offseason signings of veterans Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. 

The addition of the pair of former World Series-winning heroes is merely papering over the cracks of Tampa Bay's unconvincing roster.

This year's American League East is going to be a very hotly contested division. With all five teams easily capable of putting together .500 or above seasons, the order of finish could be dictated by just a few games.

For the Tampa Bay Rays, the new look of the franchise gives them a new set of advantages and disadvantages over their division rivals. While the other teams within the division spent big bucks this offseason, the Rays were able to cut their payroll from over $70 million to approximately $42 million without sacrificing a tremendous amount of production.

He was a 16th-round pick in the 2000 MLB draft, just another pick out of many on draft day, but James Shields, with his bulldog mentality, made more out of his experience in baseball than just being a draft selection.

Shields made his major league debut at 24 and struck out 184 batters the next season, on his way to a 12-8 record. His win-loss numbers would improve the next season, as he became the opening day starter for the Rays.

The Rays' journey to becoming a constant playoff-contender took awhile, but came all of sudden when it finally happened.

Contending with the power-house teams of the AL East—the Yankees and Red Sox—is the toughest thing to do for any team to have to do. It's makes it even tougher when you can't spend half the money of the those two teams.

But the Rays haven't used any excuses, rather using lower-risk, high-reward pickups and their minor league system to create a nucleus for a championship-caliber squad.

When early predictions start coming out, and people express their inevitable outrage over certain winners and losers, some teams seem to get loads of support, and it's difficult to understand why. 

This is a closer look at those teams, pointing out exactly how groundless the adoration and lofty expectations truly are. Be realistic. You'll sound smarter. 

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