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| | Thursday, April 20 Tampa Bay Devil Rays | ||||||||||
| By Sean McAdam Special to ESPN.com
Record: 69-93, 25th overall Payroll: $37.8 million, 21st overall Runs scored: 772, 11th in AL Runs allowed: 913, 13th in AL What went right? 1) Wade Boggs joined the 3,000 hit club. Boggs capped his Hall of Fame career by collecting his 3000th hit in his hometown, and did so in dramatic fashion, becoming the first player to reach the milestone with a homer. 2) Fred McGriff was revitalized. After a disappointing 1998, McGriff rebounded by hitting .310 with 32 homers and 104 RBI. 3) Ryan Rupe, promoted in May, made 24 starts and compiled a respectable 4.55 ERA. What went wrong? 1) Attendance dipped. In just their second season, the Devil Rays saw their attendance drop by 800,000. That's not a good sign for a franchise. 2) The Diamondbacks won 100 games and qualified for the playoffs. Like it or not, the Rays are always going to be compared to their expansion brethren in the other league. Frustrated Tampa fans want to know why Arizona has been able to win so quickly, while the Devil Rays inch forward. 3) Injuries struck. In the span of two weeks, the Rays lost starting outfielder Quinton McCracken, reliever Jim Mecir and starter Tony Saunders for the season. They later lost Jose Canseco for an extended stretch, too. In retrospect, the critical decisions were: 1. Though there was some debate at the time, the Rays brought up Rupe and let him get his feet wet over the final four months of the season. 2. Playing Wade Boggs over Bobby Smith at third. In need of fan interest, the Rays had Boggs become the regular third baseman in his pursuit of 3,000 hits, while Smith's progress was stalled. 3. McGriff was given a two-year contract extension, with an option for a third year. He bounced back nicely last year, but at 36, was it wise to commit to two more seasons? Looking ahead to 2000 Three key questions 1. Can they catch the ball? The Rays added plenty of punch with Vinny Castilla and Greg Vaughn, but their defense could be porous at several positions. 2. Can Wilson Alvarez become a staff ace? Tampa is on the hook for $26 million more over the next three seasons and need more than nine wins from their lefty. 3. What will they do with Steve Cox? Cox was the MVP of the International League, but with McGriff in place at first and Canseco the DH Cox seems to be without a position. Can expect to play better Jose Guillen. Guillen has plenty of tools, but had an inconsistent season which saw him sent to the minors twice before being dealt from Pittsburgh to Tampa late in the season. Given regular playing time and surrounded by a more imposing lineup, Guillen could finally blossom. Can expect to play worse Fred McGriff. There were plenty of people who thought that McGriff was done last spring as his bat had looked slow. He defied the experts, however, and had a solid season, but at his advancing age, it's unlikely he can duplicate those numbers again.
Projected lineup CF Gerald Williams 2B Miguel Cairo 3B Vinny Castilla LF Greg Vaughn 1B Fred McGriff DH Jose Canseco C John Flaherty RF Jose Guillen/Bubba Trammell SS Kevin Stocker Rotation/Closer Wilson Alvarez Juan Guzman Steve Trachsel Ryan Rupe Chad Ogea/Dan Wheeler/Esteban Yan Roberto Hernandez A closer look When the Devil Rays finished 11th in runs scored and 13th -- next-to-last -- in home runs last season, general manager Chuck LaMar knew something had to be done. In the span of two days, LaMar made sure that the Devil Rays would never again be considered the 98-pound weaklings of the American League. First, he engineered a four-team swap that brought the Rays third baseman Vinny Castilla. Later, he got free agent Greg Vaughn to agree to a four-year deal. In short order, then, the Devil Rays added 78 homers to their lineup. Add Castilla and Vaughn's muscle to a lineup that already includes Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff, and the middle of the Tampa lineup will feature four players who are almost guaranteed to hit a minimum of 30 homers each. But at what price? Sure, the Devil Rays can now mash with the best of them, and in the homer-happy American League, that counts for something. But the Devil Rays would now seem destined to lose a lot of 10-9 games, since they still have significant defensive shortcomings to say nothing of their pitching. Vaughn is a below-average outfielder, who, because of the presence of Jose Canseco, will be forced to play the field rather than take refuge in the DH spot. Castilla, once a pretty good third baseman, has slowed in recent seasons and the fast-track artificial turf at Tropicana Field will only highlight his deficiencies. LaMar, who worked for years in the Atlanta Braves organization, seems to have forgot about the game's two key components -- pitching and defense. Only three staffs allowed more hits last year, a figure that isn't about to reverse itself with Castilla and Vaughn playing every day in the field. Some have speculated that LaMar's power push is really a ploy to attract more fans. Tampa Bay's attendance dropped 800,000 from its first season, an alarming dip for such a new franchise. Chicks aren't the only ones who dig the long ball, and perhaps the promise of Vaughn, Canseco, Castilla and Co. hitting moon shots off the Trop's roof will put more people in the seats. But whatever gains are made at the turnstiles may be negated by the team's lateral move in the standings. Sure, the Devil Rays will be more fun next season. Whether they'll be any better is another question entirely. Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal-Bulletin covers the AL for ESPN.com. | ALSO SEE Devil Rays minor-league report ESPN.com's Hot Stove Heaters  | ||||||||||
