Rays are going to the playoffs!

[Tenshot13]

So my Rays are finally going to the playoffs...I am very stoked about this because everyone was saying how the Rays could maybe make .500 and, honestly, they are the best team in the AL as of right now...yes the Angels have a better record but we have swept them TWICE....you can debate that if you want....but...I'm really excited about my boys....they really are the Cinderella team this season and everyone has to admit they aren't a underdog team...they are the real F-ing deal....but please Rays...PLEASE don't take any team for granite in the playoffs....because if it is like Maine predicted....the Sox (Red or White) or the Angels could knock you off....having said all that....GO RAYS!!!

[landlocked]

What's not tol like about the Rays,and they have Longoria back swinging a big stick(3 HRs the other night)Go Rays!

[MaineDolFan]

The Rays are all kinds of real.

I would be more worried about the opening round, no matter who you draw.  Anything can happen in those crazy ass five games series.  The seven gamers give a lot more room for error.

Congrats, Rays.  It's been brewing for a long time.  These are the Rockies of last year, either - one good year and fade away.  These Rays are here to stay.

[EDGECRUSHER]

The Rays are absolutely for real, it just strikes me as annoying that all the supposed baseball experts are saying they are a model franchise that you can build through the draft. The Rays SUCKED forever. Because of this, they have had a top 3 draft pick, if not the 1st pick almost every season. Of course they have young talent now, they were practically handed a slam dunk star every year due to being terrible.

The real credit should go to teams like Boston and Anaheim and even the Yankees to a lesser extent for having great systems despite constantly picking in the 20's, if not the LAST pick. Let's see what the Rays can do in the next few years in terms of drafting when they will be picking at the end.

[Sunstroke]

I almost gave credit to the Yankees once, but a Priest happened to be passing by, saw my struggle and performed an exorcism on the spot...and that demon has bothered me no more.

P.S. You're still an AL Elitist weasel...

[EDGECRUSHER]

I believe in trends, and the trend right now is that the AL is the superior league and has been for a few years. I don't know why that is such an insulting concept? If someone said the Rays are better than the Yankees I wouldn't disagree, because that is the trend right now.

Aside from the Cards in 2006, the NL hasn't even been competitive in the World Series and has lost the All-Star game, what, 11 years in a row now? It's not elitist to point out facts.

[Frimp]

GO RAYS!!!

(I've admitted several times that I really don't care for baseball, so when there's a Florida team in the post season, I'll watch and root for them. Yes, I'm a bandwagoner.  )

Well, I'm 3-0 in my bandwagonism. The Marlins twice, and I rooted for the Sox in the World Series. Here's to 4-0! 

[Tenshot13]

The real credit should go to teams like Boston and Anaheim and even the Yankees to a lesser extent for having great systems despite constantly picking in the 20's, if not the LAST pick. Let's see what the Rays can do in the next few years in terms of drafting when they will be picking at the end.

hmmm...lets take a look at those teams you mentioned payrolls shall we?

Yankees - $209,081,579
Red Sox - $133,440,037
Angels - $119,216,333
Rays - $43,820,598  (only the Marlins have a smaller payroll)

I'm not bashing teams for spending money...even if it is a ridiculous amount...and yes they do have good systems...I think maybe the payrolls have more to do with why the above teams are successful...but come on man you have a lame argument if I ever heard one...the Rays are still going to be good even when they are picking towards the end...they don't need to do good in drafting in the next few years...they have stockpiled young talent now...by the way, did you see David Price the other night?

[EDGECRUSHER]

They will be good for the next few years because of their young talent, but then what? It's up to them to draft well into the 20's. If not, they will start to lose again as I doubt they will be amongst the bidders for the big free agents. It's tough to draft studs in the late first round or beyond, it's almost a slam dunk when you have the first pick over and over.

That being said, if they can keep robbing talent like Kazmir, they should be fine. Here is a list of their first round selections since 2000:

2000 - Rocco Baldelli - 6th Overall
2001 - Dewon Brazelton - 3rd Overall
2002 - B.J. Upton - 2nd Overall
2003 - Delmon Young - 1st Overall
2004 - Jeffrey Niemann - 4th Overall
2005 - Ricardo Romero - 6th Overall
2006 - Evan Longoria - 3rd Overall
2007 - David Price - 1st Overall

They drafted pretty poorly until recently when they got a new change of ownership. I am not saying they haven't earned their spot, just saying that when you look at when the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels pick, they have been just as good if not better in terms of getting talent from the draft.

I saw Price the other night, it's almost unfair how good he is going to be, not to mention marketable. The number of black players is dwindling and it kind of turns that demographic off to the game. With CC and now probably Price, they have a huge share of a dwindling market. With the right help, he can be the next big thing.

[MaineDolFan]

The real credit should go to teams like Boston and Anaheim and even the Yankees to a lesser extent for having great systems despite constantly picking in the 20's, if not the LAST pick.

Wow.  You so can't put the Yankees system success in the same zip code as Boston and Anaheim's.

Boston's starting nine includes four Boston draft picks: Ellsbury (drafted), Dusty (drafted), Lowrie (drafted), Youkilis (drafted).  Toss in their #2 pitcher (Lester), their closer (Papelbon) and bridge pitcher (Delcarmen).  Those are impact players and two MVP candidates.

When you're talking about the Angels you are talking about a Cy Young candidate each year in Lackey, one of the best closers in the game in K-Rod, Weaver, Saunders, Shields even Garret Anderson. 

Boston and Anaheim have both groomed their teams around promoting within and obtaining needs from the free agent pool as needed.

The Yankees have a great system and outside of Cano that system hasn't impacted the Major League level yet.  Joba pitched half the year last year and half this year.  He's untested and unproven, one year doesn't make a player.  There is a lot of potential in the Yankees system that is mostly unrealized.  Anaheim and Boston are bursting at the seams with prospects and have over 50% of their every day starting rosters from home grown talent.

I give the Yankees a ton of credit for turning around their farm system.  It was terrible.  But you can't sit there and bash the Rays for having high picks and then toss the Yankees system into the same sentence with teams like Anaheim and Boston.  The Rays might have had high picks and that means exactly squat if you don't draft well.