Lineup:
SS Jason Bartlett
LF Carl Crawford
3B Evan Longoria
1B Carlos Pena
2B Ben Zobrist
CF B.J. Upton
DH Pat Burrell
RF Matt Joyce
C Kelly Shoppach or Dioner Navarro (platoon)
I love this lineup. Everyone is at least somewhat good for the exception of the catcher spot. Jason Bartlett had a great year a season ago, Carl Crawford is in his contract year, Evan Longoria is turning into the best 3rd baseman in the league and Carlos Pena will hit HRs. This team should score enough runs to keep up with the Sox and Yankees. At this time I believe all of us should consider B.J. Upton a bust, but he can at least field and run.
Rotation:
RHP James Shields
RHP Matt Garza
RHP Jeff Niemann
LHP David Price
RHP Wade Davis
RHP Rafael Soriano (closer)
All of their pitchers are young and real good. Shields and Garza are solid, Niemann broke out last year, and David Price is a budding star. Wade Davis is a real good player and is going to be the truth. At minimum he will be a 2 starter. They have a very solid bullpen also.
Outlook
Last year I gave the Rays an outrageous amount of wins and this year I will give them a healthy amount of wins. I like their young hitting and young pitching and if David Price turns out to be the pitcher we all expect this team is going to have a very successful year.
92-70
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