No one is suggesting that they're heading to the playoffs when merely reaching the .500 mark would be progress enough. No one is predicting they're about to become forces in their respective divisions -- at least not yet.
|  | | Brad Radke provides the Twins with a good start at the top of their rotation. |
But in Tampa and Minneapolis, the feeling is clear: Both the Devil Rays and Twins are improved, and finally, headed in the right direction.
For the Twins, it's been a long journey. After winning two World Series in the span of five years, they've been in a freefall. Not since 1992, the year after their last championship, have they broken even in the standings.
But that would seem to be changing.
"I hear it a lot this spring," said general manager Terry Ryan. "People around the game are saying, 'Your team is enjoyable to watch. You run the bases properly. You play the game the right way.'
"I don't want to go overboard here. But we have some things going for us. There's a certain feeling in the clubhouse this year that things are getting better."
That may seem odd for a team whose sole addition over the winter was veteran backup catcher Tom Prince. But the Twins have matured and their young, mostly home-grown nucleus of players is more experienced to the point where it finally can make an impact on the team.
Ryan has built a team around the old staples: pitching and defense. The pitching staff is led by Brad Radke, and includes lefties Eric Milton and Mark Redman, who won 12 games as a rookie.
LaTroy Hawkins, who failed in several opportunities as a starter, has found his role as a closer. Last year, he was 14-for-14 in save opportunities.
Up the middle, the Twins are strong, with Torii Hunter in center and the athletic double-play combination of shortstop Cristian Guzman and rookie second baseman Luis Rivas.
The Twins need to upgrade their offense, having finished last in the league in homers and next-to-last in runs scored, total bases and slugging percentage. They lack power at some of the typical run-production spots in the lineup, and right fielder Matt Lawton is the only regular who can be counted on to hit 15 home runs.
But Jacque Jones blossomed some last year and the Twins hope that the Olympic experience will help first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz.
As a reflection of the Twins' improvement, the payroll will increase by about 50 percent from last year's miserly $17 million to about $25 million this year.
In the last year, the Twins have secured Radke, Milton, Corey Koskie and Hawkins to long-term deals, buying out some arbitration years and providing the roster with some stability.
The $25 million figure still puts the Twins at the bottom of baseball's economic ladder, but Ryan abhors excuses and won't use small-market economics as his cover.
"I don't want to use payroll disparity as an excuse," he said. "Just because things aren't equal (economically) doesn't mean we're going to fold up our tent."
Owner Carl Pohlad, one of baseball's wealthiest owners, has kept a lid on spending. But sensing some improvement in the club -- and not coincidentally, intent on getting a new ballpark built in the Twin Cities -- he's given the go-ahead to spend money to retain the core of players.
Because of the new unbalanced schedule, the Twins must play nearly one-quarter of their games against playoff-caliber Chicago and Cleveland. But it's hard to shake their sense of optimism that the decade of decline has been reversed.
"We haven't had a lot of things go right," said Ryan. "One of the toughest things for a young team to show is patience. But we've shown it. And now we've got a chance to do some things."
Back to Plan A for Rays
By their own admission, the Devil Rays have had difficulty being patient. In the win-today mentality that has enveloped pro sports, the Rays wanted an immediate return for their franchise fee, a feeling that only intensified when fellow-expansionist Arizona reached the post-season in its second year of existence.
By contrast, the Rays have endured three losing seasons and seen corresponding drops in attendance in their second and third years.
In a misguided attempt to speed up the trip to respectability and generate fan support, the Rays spent lavishly on players like Vinny Castilla and Greg Vaughn last year, beleiving that, with Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff, they would at least be fun to watch as they flexed their muscles.
Instead, the Rays were sidetracked with injuries, which cost them a year in their building progress.
"We tried to speed it up and that didn't work," said GM Chuck LaMar.
Making things worse were the injuries. Starters Wilson Alvarez and Juan Guzman combined for 5 2/3 innings, or about 400 fewer than they had hoped for. Canseco and Castilla were never fully healthy and Vaughn played at less than full strength most of the season.
Now, the Rays have reverted back to Plan A -- scouting and developing their own players, and giving them time to grow.
Their time is drawing near. Former No. 1 overall pick Josh Hamilton isn't far away, although manager Larry Rothschild won't keep him on the club unless he's going to play everyday.
There's more where Hamilton came from, too. Fellow outfielder Carl Crawford and pitcher Matt White aren't far away either.
Alvarez, Castilla and Guzman are rebounding physically -- though Guzman was sent to minor-league camp to give him more time over the weekend.
"That's like signing three big free agents," said Rothschild of the impact the trio are expected to have.
LaMar, after being criticized for his reluctance to make moves in his first two years on the job, has put together some nice deals in the last year. In three deadline swaps last summer, he traded off veterans for prospects and did nicely, getting second baseman Brent Abernathy for Steve Trachsel, starter Paul Wilson for Rick White and Bubba Trammell and closer-of-the-future Jesus Colome for Jim Mecir. Over the winter, he landed outfielder Ben Grieve for Roberto Hernandez in a three-way deal with Oakland and Kansas City.
Wilson could be a horse in the rotation after battling elbow and shoulder woes almost from the time he was taken as a top pick out of Florida State.
Last year's nightmare cost Rothschild plenty of sleep, and the day after the season, very nearly his job. But the injuries created openings and playing times for young players who used the season to learn and improve.
"Going through it was rough at the time," Rothschild said. "Now I can look back and see it was a good thing. It would have been nice to win some more games. But in the long run, it may have helped the organization."
The manager makes no bold promises. He knows his team is in the same division as the three-time defending world champions, a Red Sox team that made the post-season two out of the last three seasons and the Blue Jays, as powerful an offensive team as there is in either league.
But it's not hard to see the progress being made.
"Our scouting and developmental people have done a great job," he said. "But this group has a chance to be something special. I think we're getting real close."
Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal writes a major-league notebook each week during the baseball season for ESPN.com.
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