Casey Raye

2005 Overview:

There were few bright spots for Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, including last weekend disappointing when Tampa Bay fans were treated to 4 straight losses compliments home visiting Baltimore Orioles. 2005 also saw the departure of manager Lou Pinella's final which received a final redemption of his contract. The Devil Rays finished the season with a dismal record 67-96, 28 games behind the division leading Yankees and Red Sox.

Despite an inconsistent offensive production in 2005, sophomore infielder Jorge Cantu (.286 28 117) and rookie outfielder Jonny Gomes (.282 21 54), Devil Ray fans if anything to be optimistic. Although Leftfield Carl Crawford (.301 15 81) and rightfielder Aubrey Huff (.261 22 92) has added some impressive offensive numbers.

Devil Ray fans had to look long and hard to find a quality starting pitching for much of the year. Only rookie pitcher Scott Kazmir (10-9 3.77) acquired from the NY Mets for Victor Zambrano to the end of 2004, shown no consistency in the rotation. The rest of the starting pitching, including Mark Hendrickson (11-8 5.90), Casey Fossum (8-12 4.92), and Seth McClung (7-11 6.59) has done little to help strengthen the staff of the wing. Incredibly, more Danys Baez (5-4 2.86) was somehow able to save 41 games in 49 opportunities for a baseball team that has achieved a total of 67 victories this season. This is not surprising Pinella wanted more.

Off Season Moves:

A recent survey on the Devil Rays MLB website asked fans: "Which of these acquisitions will be out of season the biggest difference for rays in 2006?" Selections to choose were Sean Burroughs, Chad Harville and Ty Wigginton. In a word that should tell you everything you need to know about the Devil Rays season passes. In 2005, Burroughs managed to reach .282 in 93 games during the conduct of a total of 17 tracks. It is probably fair to say that Wigginton ( 0.258 July 25) is just happy to be playing on any list of majors. The Pirates became so disappointed with his offensive production, they sent him to the minors during the 2005 season. And the pick of Chad Harville not fair much better. career record is 4-7 with an inflated Harville 5.01 ERA.

The Jan. 14 news did not improve much for the fans at Devil Rays, when nearly Danys Baez was traded to the Dodgers in Los Angeles for pitcher Edwin Jackson (2-2 6.28) and it was announced that Kansas City free agent pitcher Shawn Camp (1-4 6.43) has signed a one year contract.

2006 Analysis:

Without doubt, the newly appointed Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon plenty to do for him in 2006. On the upside the Devil Rays managed to compile a .274 batting average, scoring 750 runs in 2005 - then they should just well enough offensively when stacked against the competition of the American League in 2006. The main problem with the Devil Rays is the lack of pitching. The same starting five will be back last year with the help of relievers Travis Harper (4-6 6.75), Jesus Colome (2-3 4.57), Chad ORVEL (3-3 3.60), Tim Corcoran (5.96 ERA in 10 games) and Dan Miceli (1-2 5.89) all looking to help keep the games close. The Devil Rays also signed a bunch of non-alignment as pitchers invited to camp in spring training but also the extent of trafficking in several minor league free agent pitchers - hope to find a few surprises to add to their list 2006. Devil Ray fans will be patient as it will take some time for the reconstruction team.