Rays owner Stuart Sternberg just offered both a realistic and a hopeful assessment of the state of play in the AL East, as MLB.com’s Juan Toribio was among those to report on Twitter.
“Our division is going to be hard because we have the best team or the second best team in baseball that we’re competing against, which is the usual,” says Sternberg. “But I think we’re going to give them a run for their money.”
One imagines the owner of the low-budget Rays winking as he delivered that last line. Of course, what’s scariest about the Yankees — presumably, that best/second-best team he was referring to — isn’t their money, standing alone. It’s the fact that they’ve committed to a disciplined, altogether Rays-like process for spending it.
That’s not to say this isn’t a good time to strike. In fact, it may be as good a window as any for the Rays with the Red Sox dealing away Mookie Betts and the Blue Jays still ramping up. With former Rays exec Chaim Bloom now in charge of baseball ops in Boston, there’s another streamlined death star under construction. And the Toronto organization has a new slate of hopeful young stars, so it could soon also be a threat. The Orioles … well, they may be further off, but they’re undertaking their own modernization efforts.
Despite their financial limitations, the Rays have compiled yet another intriguing roster that’s loaded with flexibility. Is it enough to take down the Yanks? We know the Bronx Bombers will be the favorite in most quarters, so let’s approach the subject this way: what are the odds the Rays can win the division?
(Poll link for app users)
Add another option for 0-10% and you’ve got the correct answer.
That isn’t true. The Yankees are the favorites and the Ray’s are second most likely, with Toronto having more talent, but being so young, and Boston having much of their 2018 world series team still around. The yanks are the definite favorites, but there are 3 other teams with chances. I’d project Yankees at 60% , Tampa at 20% and Boston and Toronto both at 10%…. baltimore is really the only team in the division with 0% chance
The Blue Jays have no pitching whatsoever and Vladdy is a dh. They have a lot to work on. Boston just traded a superstar and a declining yet still productive pitcher.. They have a smart gm but they are quietly rebuilding. Orioles in year 2 of a 5 yr rebuild.. The Rays have the best pitching staff in the majors and continue to boast a terrific farm system. The yankees are easily the favorites but can ill afford an injury to gerrit cole. Not to mention any regression going from the juice box to yankee stadium
> Blue Jays have no pitching whatsoever
NL ERA title holder Ryu is not a pitcher, you say?
That hot take qualifies you to deliver pizzas, but get no tips.
Terry, He’s a troll. Look at his screen name.
All he has to run on is a tainted world series title where his team had to cheat.
You expect ryu, a guy who is always injured and just finished a career year, to put up similar results in the AL? Specifically the Rogers Centre? Good luck with that. Not hating on the blue jays at all. Theyre in a brutal division and are not close to contention
Terry by your logic that means Boston has pitching since prior to 2019 Chris Sale was better than Ryu and every other Blue Jays pitcher. Rodriguez could potentially be better than Ryu who’s leaving the confines of Chavez Ravine and entering the brutal warzone that is the AL East.
Your blind shilling is noted and still appalling.
Halo – Blue Jays have a lot to prove before they are anointed an AL threat. Lots were addressed this offseason and lots still to discover.
honestly ! What about that Nate guy we have who’s throwing a hundred and almost ready to go ? What if shoemaker pitches all season like he did at the beginning of the year ? ?? also what if the Yankees get hurt again ? Think stantons got 120 games in him ? How much did severino pitch last year ?? Yankees looks real good this year but it ain’t a sure thing
Doubtful Shoemaker will sustain that kind of success and staying healthy for him would be a moral victory. Pearson won’t be up with the team until May, earliest unless the staff is hit with injuries. That will bring him up late-April and he will be kept under 150 innings combined majors and minors. That is because those who’s innings are coddled NEVER get hurt. Ever.
Blue Jays won 67 games last year. You’re asking them to leap at least 30 to take the division. That’s CN Tower’esque tall order.
I agree 3rd place Finnish would be awesome for the jays .. just saying the Yankees are clearly the team to beat but it’s not impossible .. also everyone’s forgetting about the Red Sox .. vurdugo is a good ball player and price might be missed but overall can’t count them out .
I wouldn’t sleep on the Red Sox. When he’s right, Sale is the best in the AL. Sox can still hit. Rays have some nice depth. The Blue Jays will lean on the growth of Vlad and Bo primarily. So many unknowns with Toronto. They will improve. By how much remains to be seen.
Not just NL ERA title, but Ryu led all of MLB, I believe. 2.21 over the last two years, 44 starts. Lifetime 2.98 ERA.
I really don’t know what else the Jays have for starters, but Ryu is one of the very best in all of baseball right now.
Astros – The question is “odds that the rays win AL East”, The poll doesn’t say what are the chances the Yankees or another team wins the AL east, so I would guess in the 10-25% range. 0-10% is closer to your estimated 20% than 40-50 & >50. So why not tell the 2,100 + that said 30->50 range? Just saying relax on the 0-10
I’d take that bet 7 days a week Mr. Jacob
Written by a yankee fan? Why would the owner be “winking”? Would you prefer he just say “we can’t compete, but we will have fun”? And have you watched the Rays over the past couple years? The best top three in a rotation in the league, Cash has come into his own as a manager, and a developing, solid offense. The Yankees are stacked, but that does not mean an automatic division title.
The writer did not include 0% as an option in the poll. He is not saying that there is an automatic division win. With that said I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to realize the odds of the rays winning the division is rather low and they are more of a wild card team even though they are a very good team.
In any other division they are a division champ so I wouldn’t classify them as a wild card team because they are easily the 2nd best team in the AL and everyone wants to talk about the Yankees injuries we’ll the Rays were only 2-3 injuries behind. We lost 2 cy young candidates for a long period of time. Not saying yes they absolutely can but it’s absolutely not far fetched. Rays pitching is unreal 1-5
I think the Rays are really going to step it up and beat out the bought in free agency team of stars that’s been known as the Yankees the last 40 years.
The Red Sox bought (and cheated for?) the 2018 WS by spending the most on payroll, a record then, $30MM more than the next team, $246MM. Now that’s buying a WS.
Besides, you know, those 8 homegrown offensive players. But sure. Whatever you say, Biased McBiasey.
Also, the irony of a yankee fan whining about a team “buying” a trophy is so thick I am literally coughing right now.
Now go eat your hat, young man!
The way you buy a pennant is by paying the highest payroll. Doesn’t matter whether you tanked, traded or signed FA’s. How much more than the competition did you spend? I was responding to Manfredsajoke who had the chutzpah to single out the Yankees when other teams have been outspending them for years and no one ever calls them out, especially RS fans. Because that would take real intellectual honesty.
40 years? They didn’t have the luxury tax last year, what else you have hater?
And their entire 2004 roster juiced beyond belief!!! So both titles are tainted sorry.
Like the home grown pitcher you just signed. Really?
The Yanks will regret that signing in about 3 years.
Just like AROID.
The joke
Your head
I think that statement about winking was in regards to the owner of the perennially low budget Rays ending his statement by stating they would give the perennially high budget Yankees “a run for their money”. Just a play on words that presumably had no discernable implications about on field performances of either team.
Jimmyz: thanks, I’m glad someone got it.
Speaking as a Yankees fan, the Rays are always dangerous. They almost never lose a trade and if they’re healthy they’re as scrappy as a team as you can find, although I still don’t get why they got rid of Pham. That dude was a tough out. They have a great top-3 to their rotation and their bullpen is solid too. I just think the Yankees have too much offense and can out-hit the Rays while matching them with the rotation and the bullpen. I definitely wouldn’t count them out from winning the division, but I think it would take a lot for them to beat out the Yankees over 162 games.
If the Rays made the move to trade Pham, with the Rays history it’ll probably work out in their favor eventually.
Well said. My sentiments exactly. It’s going to be a real battle.
At least one Yankees fan sees how it actually is. Good comment
All of the Rays trades revolve around years of control for their players and the money they cost in arbitration. It’s maddening for their fans but its their reality. It does keep their window open and their farm system excellent
Why did the Cards give up on Pham? Eye condition??? Maybe the Rays have the same concerns and decided to cash in while they still can. I don’t like the fact that they gave up a flame throwing lefty to the Cards but the Rays have plenty of those I guess. Certainly seem to work out for TB most of the time but I can give you several examples where it hasn’t.
The Cards got rid of Pham, because he was very unhappy with the organization. He was pretty upset about his role with the team. I think Matt Adams took some playing time away from him. I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was something about workout equipment or a gym that they wouldn’t provide for him. Something ridiculous like that. He was very vocal about it.
Pham was vocal in TB about the lack of fan support by saying that the Rays “really have no fan base at all.”
I was not sad to see him leave, despite him being a really good offensive contributor.
Finally a Yankees fan with a objective opinion.
Pham was a great player for the Rays. A little too much aggressive attitude at times. Made many bad base running end of innings outs. Rays were afraid he would rub off on the youngsters.
Also he has a real bad issues with his eyes.
I wish him and the Padres the best of luck.
80%!
I hope they do, because if the Rangers go to the WC, I’d rather they face the Yankees than Rays, because there is some weird thing between the Rangers and Yankees were like 2/3 times the Rangers always win. (with Cole idk, but when Cole was in Houston, and the Rangers faced him, they always scored about 2 runs off of him). On the other side of the argument, the Rays beat the Rangers quite often. All in all, I’d love for the Rays to win the division.
The Rangers record against the Yankees over the last three years is 9-10
The Rangers record against the Rays over the last three years is 8-10
Ok I thought it was better than that, but still being almost .500 against the Yankees is way better than being a little less than .500 against the Rays.
no actual team would want to face the Yankees over Rays
I love what the Rays have and do but no way does any team want to face them over the rays, especially if the Yankees send Cole out for the one game.
Depends on if it’s the WC game or not. With Cole this year, it’s a different story. But Rays pitching > Yankees pitching in 2019 heading into the playoffs. It’s a toss up this year.
It takes more than pitching to win a series. Outscoring your opponent enough times wins championships.
With Paxton & German, the Yankees have the edge in pitching. Without them, the Rays have the edge. If Severino can come back in 2018 form, which his brief 2019 showing indicates he could, then that could slide a bit back towards the Yankees. He was a top stud in’18. The other issue is Happ. Happ had a down year but the word on the street is that he was greatly distracted by his wife’s pregnancy. Once the baby was born he was lights out in September with a sub-2.00 ERA.
On offense, the Yanks have the clear and compelling edge. It would take a lot of injuries to change that.
Agree. Good chance Yankees have them beat in pitching and definitely a good chance on offense.
Yankees are probably the team to beat at least to start the year. Full disclosure: I am not a Yankees fan at all!
In a playoff series it’s not insane for a team to prefer facing the Yankees over the Rays. The Rays top 3 starters look like they could be every bit as good as the Nationals top 3 were last year. We all saw what those 3 did. Pitching seems to have an outsized impact in the playoffs.
Please tell me this is a joke. Last season the New York Yankees finished seven games ahead of Tampa and that was with a record 30 players on the injured list and now they added Gerrit Cole. You have to think all of those injuries are not going to happen again and they won 103 games with a bunch of back ups and guys they got off the scrap heap. Tampa can win somewhere in the area of 95 games again this season while the Yankees will probably win about 105.
2/5 of the Rays starting rotation was on the DL for almost half the season last year and they nearly had as many on the DL as the Yankees. Ray’s are no joke.
Yankees lost Severino, Betances and Andujar for pretty much the entire year. They lost Gregorio, Judge, Sanchez and Hicks for months. Those are just starters for starters. They lost nearly 30 other guys, including other SP’s and RP’s, at times over the course of the season. It was as brutal as it gets. A record. By quite a bit in terms of total playing time lost.
The problems is the scrap heap players outperformed what the daily players would’ve. Nobody expected that from urshella and maybin and others, and that won’t happen again
I think you’re right. The NYY caught lightning in a bottle last year. They get injuries like they did last year, they could slip to third. And they’ve already lost Paxton for a couple of months.
“2/5 of the rays rotation was on the DL for half the season”. It was more like 3/5 with chirinos getting injured and it also included Snell and Glasnow, 2 TOR arms. Yankees can cry injuries all they want, but injuries don’t matter when you have guys like urshela come in and play better defense than andujar and hit .690
Don’t be so sure. Good chance the Yankees won’t have that “magic ex-Rockies pixie dust” they used so effectively last year. LeMahieu won’t be that good. The rotation after Cole looks creaky to me (either age or injury wise). Bullpen isn’t getting younger either, with a lot of mileage on those arms. I like the Rays to stay right in it all the way to September.
You do realize james paxton is on the shelf? JA Happ stinks. Domingo German is out until June. And Aaron judge and stanton are extremely injury prone. Gerrit Cole is amazing but he signed a fully guaranteed 309 million contract to play in the biggest pressure cooker on planet earth who’s field is just above little league. The yankees are loaded but every team has questions
Gerrit Cole played in a pressurec cooker and excelled. It was called the Astros postseason. I’m thinking he’ll do fine in NYC. The rest of your points are all well taken. It’s anything but a lock. A lot has to go right from here on out for them to l9ive up to expectations.
I don’t think Cole will regress much this year. Will Snell? I think he has more to prove at this point than Cole. Severino has to be a true number 1A stater this year and stay healthy. If he can, the Yankees should be able to piece together the rest of it. I just think Morton and Glasnow are going to be tough to beat consistently. The bigger question than pitching is where does the offense for the Rays come from? Rays look like a sneaky dangerous pitcher heavy playoff team… if they can get there.
Glasnow was tough for 12 games last year, very mediocre before that. The question is whether he can put together 30 strong GP.
I’m a Rays fan and my guess is a big fat NO!!!
That why the play the games on grass or turf and not on paper.
You never know. I never wish anything bad on any player on any team but Cole could fail under pressure or just have a bad year. Or could be injured.Wait and talk crap at the end of season.
I don’t see the threat of rays gaining much if anything during the long stretch of a regular season vs teams with veteran benches but if healthy come a playoff series the Rays have a good a chance as any to advance with a quality deep pitching staff and young hard throwing horses ready at the bottom of the 40 man that could make major jumps too.
What do you mean by “veteran benches”? The rays biggest strength is their depth
There is a big difference when your bench player is a 6-10 year vet that knows how to come off the bench and work counts, come in pitch a solid innings then a young player trying to win a spot. Specially when you are trying to win close games. Edge always to the big budget teams who carry surplus at each position.
My point last year Yankees invested at 10mm per year in what was a bench MI option from Colorado? Yeah he did well.
Also how about 10mm per for bullpen arms to work the 6-7th inn. Look luxuries most teams can’t afford. This year what they have hicks at over 10mm as a 4th OF. This things net out a few games per year. See too many young players not move a runner over or strand a man at 3rd chasing a homer or MI reliever coming in trying to strike every batter and get in bad counts … yes veterans matter.
That’s complete donkey doo doo sir. Arbitrarily characterize the players however you want by age or their “ability to come off the bench and work ABs”. I’ll stick with my statistics that factually demonstrate the rays having good depth based on platoon matchups.
Those biceps are enough to work a count in his favor. The Yandyman can!
With much respect to the statistics I have been playing and coaching organized baseball for last 45 years. What the rays organization achieve is nothing less than outstanding results with a lesser hand. But the decisions made inside the game change based on the cards your dealt and playing a young 22 or 23 year old rookie or sophomore in a preasure situation will lead to a change in your approach as coaches. Trust me when I tell you that the big budget teams with multiple 10+ million vets with extensive experience, play a more conservative game that allows them to save pitches, gain at bats that trickle all through a long season = in an advantage in the wins column by end of the year. Just watch the game not the stats. Tired pitcher in the 5th with a young batter swinging at first pitch. That’s not how it’s played when you have a batter comfortable with taking pitches. I can explain all day but it’s not in the stats.
Then why is every MLB owner trying to hire a Rays bench coach, minor league manager, scout, club house do boy, FO executive, beer vendor, etc…bc TB has utilized and perfected the stats more than any team in professional sports. Your 45 years of experience means nothing in today’s game.
Look the rays have their brand of baseball and successful getting the most of the young kids. That’s awesome and they deserve all the credit. It does not mean it’s better than the next or old idea. It’s just baseball and principals of the game will never go away, like taking pitches or moving the runner when the game calls for it. Or pitcher using a young batter like a rag doll. I think you are missing the point. Now are the rays front office and coaches leaving getting a little more payroll else where? Are they bringing vets on to their bench? Let me guess if so they are likely winning more. That’s what I am saying. Teams with veteran quality benches are more likely to succeed in a long season if they all buy in. It’s still baseball!
Am I the only one having trouble seeing the poll?
Have you tried Poland?
The Rays’ starting pitching is 5 deep (maybe even 6 with McKay) and gives them the edge. And they have an ever-so-slight edge defensively. But they’re no match offensively or in the bullpen.
They COULD win the division. But if Sale and Eovoldi should mysteriously get healthy and effective, they could finish third also. Too many Rays hitters look to be super-ball dependent; take it away, the offense looks pretty ordinary.
And we know the Yanks will add if needed on July 31. I’m not sure you can say the same about Tampa.
Has best bullpen last year…. people still say they’re no match in the bullpen
Stu’s quote is about money and while the Ray’s have Cash they won’t spend any
Right on! And now he wants not 1 but 2 cities to gift him a stadium … poor people of Montreal and tampa. They will be pillaged by another entitled millionaire.
The Yankees will absolutely win the division, but I like TB’s chances in a 5 game playoff series. Yankees will win 105-110 games and the Rays around 95-98 with a likely matchup in the ALDS.
2/5 of the Rays starting rotation was on the DL for almost half the season last year and they nearly had as many on the DL as the Yankees. Ray’s are no joke.
We’ve heard this before. Severino lost more time than both of your 2/5 of the SP combined. They lost Betances for the season. Yankees lost much more SP, RP and overall team playing time. That being said, if they have a repeat in injuries, I don’t see them weathering the storm so well a second time around. And they’ve already got Paxton down for a couple months…
Look rays were 1 inning away from destroying the Yankees in playoffs much like they did regular season except wait that inning was against the cheating Astros. Lol
Are you talking about Glasnow getting lit up, aka “beat by the buzzer”?
They clearly have a chance. To put it in percentages is awfully hard. As of now the Yankees is the AL’s WS pick. But we saw how good their secondary position players were when put to the test.
The argument here is what if the healthy first stringers just blow it. No one anticipated Gio or Tauchman to come through yet they did. No one expects guys like Judge, Stanton and who ever in that loaded lineup to do poorly if healthy. Yankees are kind of a volatile team in that they’re always a contender but how they get there is a toss up.
The rays have easily the best chance to take them but that’s only if their starters are healthy and good. Because as of now, there’s not many teams in the AL with a better rotation.
But hey it’s baseball, anything can happen over a 6 month period.
If they hadn’t made such awful trades this offseason then they’d have a chance. Now Yankees are guaranteed the division.
Great take, worst comment I’ve ever read
Speaking of awful, hey Royals. To which trades are you referring? Please enlighten us. I’ll bet you a rib platter from Jack Stack that you’re wrong by the All-Star break. Mmmm, love me some Fiorella’s.
Did only Yankee fans respond to the poll? Realistically they have at least 30% shot to win the division (with Yankees at about 60% and the last 10% mostly in Boston). Rays had almost as many injuries as NYY last year, though the national media won’t mention that. I will save you the trouble: (bet online dot ag)
2208 New York Yankees -600
2209 Tampa Bay Rays +700
2207 Boston Red Sox +1000
2210 Toronto Blue Jays +3300
2206 Baltimore Orioles +10000
Yankees lost Severino, Betances and Andujar for pretty much the entire year. Severion lost about as much time as the entire Tampa rotation. Then there was Betances, who single-handedly lost as much time as Tampa’s entire pen. They lost Gregorio, Judge, Sanchez and Hicks for multiple months each. Those are just some starters for starters. They lost nearly 30 other guys, including other SP’s and RP’s, at times over the course of the season. It was as brutal as it gets. A record. By quite a bit in terms of total playing time lost.
Oh, and Stanton. They lost Stanton for months. They lost every position starter but DJL for months. Every one except DJL.
And the replacements came in and mostly produced at a high level. Which itself is impressive, just as it is impressive to win so many games with so many players expected to contribute on the shelf.
But what’s not impressive is winning games with the production they got. Ignoring the names, a team with those stat lines should win a lot of games. The Yankees being healthy would’ve been hard-pressed to win that many games. But you’re setting yourself up for disappointment if you think they’ll somehow surpass last year’s record because of healthier stars. Their replacements somehow matched the expectations.
10 to 20 is about right. The Yankees should do it but the rotation has major health concerns behind Cole. Snell, Morton, Glasnow McKay and Chirinos are going to keep the Rays in the mix with them. If the Yankees get similar health issues like last year I can see the Rays neck and neck with them up to the end for the division.
The Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles should finish 10 more games behind the both of them.
Linky no worky.
Of course the Rays can if the Yankees get some key injuries.
If that doesn’t happen then most likely not it is baseball so you never know. The Rays have some tremendous young talent but they would have to get some breaks and things to fall there way to truly compete with the Yankees.
I mean they can…………. at least for 1 game… lol
So your telling me there’s a chance? I give them a 20 to 30 % chance, closer to 20. They weren’t crazy far back last year and a full season of Meadows Glasnow and if Snell is better. Renfroe will be as good or better than Pham. DH upgrade. Yeah Yankees had all those injuries but their replacements killed it. Not like they are going to win that many more or even more this year. Yeah they get 70 some games of Judge on the road. Stanton striking out 200 times. I am sure their other old outfielder will be just as good this year. I would pick the Yankees but Rays have a slight chance.
Hunter Renfroe hit .216 last year and struck out over 31% of the time. Don’t get me wrong I loved rooting for him because he has incredible power and a cannon in RF, but if he becomes as good as Pham just because there’s a “TB” on his hat as opposed to a “SD” then I’m giving up all hope on the Padres organization to develop their players.
Similar feelings with Margot, love his defense, speed, and potential but after watching those two in SD for a couple years I don’t know if they’re really going to end up replacing Pham’s value.
Rays are near-lock Wild Card good, but not beat-the-Yankees good
Linky no worky.
Rays won 96 regular season games last year with salary about 25% of the big boys. I’ll be rooting for them.
YES!
Rays need to just figure out how to win in Yankee stadium. Maybe switch their signs more or something, because otherwise they compete just fine with the Yankees at home
I would say the Rays have a forty percent chance of finishing first. Pitching is the key element and Tampa are stacked when it comes to a front five, plus they have an endless pipeline of pitchers to back them up that would be starting on other teams. New York have Cole, but do they get the Cole from Houston, or the Pirates Cole, where many Yankee fans didn’t want him on their team. Unlike Houston and their cavernous outfield, Yankee Stadium has the short porch in right that turns into home runs, where in Houston, they are routine flyouts. Severino was injured in 2019, but does he come back to where he was, or regression sets in. Paxton is hurt for a few months and will he rebound. German is lost for half the season and Happ is good one day, bad the next.. Offensively, yes, only the Dodgers have a better offence, but anything can happen in baseball and it usually does. It will all boil down to the divisional games – 19 of them against Boston, Tampa, Toronto, and even the lowly Orioles will play the role of spoilers over the season. Nothing is ever guaranteed and injuries play a huge role every season. As seen in 2019, the substitute players will make or break the season for any team and being good one year, doesn’t guarantee they can repeat the second year. Baseball is unpredictable, where I have seen many teams go from worst to first the next year. No one knows the outcome until the last out of the last game played.
The Rays are a very very good team……deep in pitching….deep in the farm system…….
if the Yankees have a bad streak of injuries……..Rays will take over the AL East.
Without Mariano to blow the postseasons of 2001 and 2004, the yankees would be tied with the Giants for the second most championships of the millennium. They’ve spent billions signing high profile cheaters (lots of them) and have 1 more championship then Tampa Bay. But their fans are still arrogant and utterly spineless boneheads. So go Rays!
Listen, we get that you want to win an award for dumbest poster, but the award doesn’t exist. Stop trying so hard. Also, it’s so weird that you let a team you hate with every fiber of your being live rent-free in that unique lil noggin of yours
Sigh..I know rivalry makes sports more fun but was there ever a time when baseball fans simply had more class and DIDN’T express prejudice towards an entire fan base?
For decades yankee fans have lambasted other teams when they cry about injuries and then when it bites them it’s like some heroic accomplishment that they win the division. If I had a dime for every yankee fan that said “Its part if the game” I’d have more money than Mike Bloomberg. They are arrogant and specious.
Nobody is more arrogant and specious and sad to watch than you. Nobody. If there were awards for biggest hater jerk, you’d take them all. Every single day. You’re a disgusting human being.
I don’t think you understand what I am driving at, Mr. Hayzee. Maybe it was my fault. I was attempting to imply something while remaining tactful.
Imagine every time you make a negative comment about ALL Yankees fans you replaced the phrase Yankees fans with Mexicans or Chinese. I don’t think you are a racist or anything but you are demonstrating the exact same kind of thinking.
No
If the Rays spend some serious money for a change they could take down the Yankees. I do like what the Twins have done maybe they finally beat the Yankees. The Yankees still have a few concerns no lead off hitter and they are all mostly right handed. If Judge misses anymore time they need to trade him ASAP!!!
@mo4ever hey did the Yankees have any injuries of note in 2019? I can’t recall
Well I was just responding to each time someone remarked on all the injuries the Rays had. So you got repeats on both. Thanks for noticing.
Man this is the type of post I like too see coming home from work on the subway ! Barely any Astros talk let’s have more of this
Ya I feel you on that. I’m sick of it too.
Does anyone else wonder what the Devil Rays would be like if they had a payroll like the Cubs, Yankees or Dodgers? They’d probably be terrifying if they had a middle market payroll around $150 million.
I don’t know how they have managed to be as successfull as they have with the strength of their payroll. That front office is being wasted.
Part of their success comes from that IMO. They have to out scout and out smart the other teams, taking advantage of them with trades and finding diamonds in the rough has become their calling. However, we’ll get to see what it’s like having a Rays mind work with some payroll in Boston with Bloom.
Everything you described is front office business. Their scoutingand player development is all the FO while looking for diamonds is scouting.
They’d be like the Dodgers, who have former Rays GM Friedman at the helm, 7 division titles in a row.
Right. Because it’s likely the Rays will repeat that same, statistically unlikely set of events to get there.
Also, you think its likely that the Rays will continually beat a world series favorite like the Yankees but never get passed the division.
The Yankees will hit 400 homeruns
Not without a juiced ball.
Poll link isn’t working in my app
Just because the Yankees won 103 games with a bench team while a majority of their team was injured doesn’t mean they’re gonna win more games this year even if their healthy. Tampa will win the division and probably win the Division Series as well. I like their team. They have momentum and good top prospects
Just because the Yankees won 103 games with a bench team while a majority of their team was injured doesn’t mean they’re gonna win more games this year even if they’re healthy. Tampa will win the division and probably win the Division Series as well. I like their team. They have momentum and good top prospects
If the Rays trade Kiermaier, Xavier Edwards, and Shane Baz to the Cubs for Kris Bryant then their chances to catch the Yankees improves!!!
But all they really need to do is make the playoffs. Plenty of good wild card teams have won the World Series.
I doubt my Cubs do this trade, but I wish they would. Cubs have bad defense, bad team speed, not a lot of velo with their pitching staff, and financial constraints that prevent the team from getting better. I personally like that most teams are treating the luxury tax as sort of a hard salary cap. It forces GMs and Presidents to get creative, and over time the luxury tax and revenue sharing can create a more even playing field for more teams being competitive.
Again, doubt my Cubs make this trade, because Epstein would have to admit his strategy is flawed. He’s probably just going to let a few members of the core just walk in two years (Bryant and Schwarber I’m guessing).
Schwarber is no big loss. Bryant might be. Not extending a generational player like Baez would be devastating for the cvbs, though.
Quite a list of homegrown star talent let go by the cvbs if they don’t re-sign anybody:
Baez
Bryant
Soler
Torres
Jimenez
Cease
Pretty dang depressing if you’re a cvbs fan.
The Rays are legit competition, and I think the Yankees’ actual divisional odds are way lower than the votes here would suggest. I have the Rays somewhere between 30-40%.
Everybody loves to make predictions and I gotta admit it is fun but did anyone see the Nats winning the World Series before the year started? A flashy depth chart doesn’t win games, you have to go out there and get it done on a daily basis.
The Yankees are essentially a 103-win team that now has Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton and Andujar
Yes.
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During these chats, I asked numerous times over under 113 wins for Yankees and never got a response. They would ask about the blue Jay’s and Cubs, but not the Yankees. After hearing how great the yanks would be if healthy and now adding Cole, you would expect them to improve on last year. But I guess no one cares.
Under. If they win 103 games, that’s impressive. They had a lot of injuries, but they also had a lot of guys step in and hit like the injured players they replaced. It’s hard to win 100+ games. Threatening the wins record, which an over of 113 wins would mean, is exceedingly rare.
If you got that bet in Vegas, it’d come with pretty hefty odds on the over.
Easily under
Now go, go, go where you want but don’t leave me here forever
You, you, you stay away so long, girl, I see you never
What can I do, girl, to get through to you
‘Cause I love you baby (baby)
Standing here baptized in all my tears, baby through the years
You know I’m crying, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, hee, hee, hee
What you say, say, say, what you say, say, say
You never ever worry and you never shed a tear
You’re saying that my love ain’t real
Just look at my face, these tears ain’t drying