The Ten Year Turn Around

Following their inception into the AL East in 1998, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays found themselves super-glued to the basement of their division. As Lords of the cellar, the team occasionally hosted guests such as Baltimore and Toronto while those teams fell on hard times. Yet, despite their good intentions and endless charm, the Rays failed to follow these teams when they returned to the sunlight (kind of ironic when you think about the nickname of their home state). Though times were dark and dreary, outlandish excitement seemed to peak its head out at Tropicana Field.

Events such as Wade Boggs' (currently the Ray's only retired jersey) 3000th hit over the fence, the famous revealing of Sammy Sosa's corked bat, and the emergence of "The Hit Show", which included past-their-prime sluggers such as Fred McGriff, Jose Conseco, Vinny Castilla, and Greg Vaughn. Ah, if only they had been able to acquire that crew ten years prior. Even the lowly Ray's could dream, couldn't they?

During the first six years the team shuffled through such baseball legends as Hal McRae and Lou Pinniella at the manager spot. Not surprisingly, both failed to turn the franchise around. With the ledge in site, it was time for moves of desperation, or at least the development of a successful plan. The biggest hurdle was that in baseball, sometimes success is only possible through pure, dumb luck.

Fortunately for Tampa, their lucky stars aligned in 2004. Really. Astrologists took pictures and everything. So, it's documented. Ok, maybe that's a slight stretch. However, when Victor Zambrano was traded to the Mets for young flame thrower Scott Kazmir, the Rays had finally come out on top. This time, they had an Ace in their holster.

Following yet another miserable season in 2005, the higher-ups decided a change of guard was in order. That off season, Matthew Silverman, Gerry Hunsicker, and Andrew Friedman were hired to form the new three headed monster of decision making. This odd combination of investment banking (Silverman and Friedman), a talented and passionate string puller (Also Friedman) and good old baseball know-how (Hunsicker) would result in the magical blend of fairy dust essential in eventually bringing the Rays to the 2008 World Series.

But, before examining one of the most exciting post-season runs in history, let's ponder the timeline of transactions which ultimate fed the beast that grew into the team that defeated all odds and went on to become a champion.

Most fans outside of Tampa (hell, even those within the city limits) probably don't know that Major Leaguers such as Jorge Cantu, Randy Winn, Aubrey Huff, Julio Lugo, Russell Branyan, and Ty Wigginton all doned a Devil Rays uniform at one time or another. While these players have moved on to experience success both individually and with their later teams, the proper core never seemed in place during the time they called Tropicana Field home.

The following is a list of transactions which ultimately put the players on the field in 2008. This list is grouped into starting pitchers, relief pitchers and position players who played major roles in the team's playoff run:

PITCHERS

-Drafted SP James Shields in the 16th round in 2000

-Drafted SP Andy Sonnanstine in the 13th round in 2004

-Drafted SP/RP David Price in the 1st round in 2007

-Traded 1st overall pick Delmon Young to the Twins for SP Matt Garza

-Traded Victor Zambrano to the Mets for Scott Kazmir

-Traded Danny Baez and Lance Carter for SP Edwin Jackson

-Traded Joey Gathright and Fernando Cortez for RP J.P. Howell

-Signed veteran closer Troy Percival to 2 year deal

POSITION PLAYERS

C- Traded Mark Hendrickson for Dioner Navarro

1B- Signed Carlos Pena to minor league deal in 2007

2B- Won rights to sign Japanese stand out Akin Iwamura in 2006

3B- Drafted Evan Longoria in the 1st round in 2006

SS- Traded Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie (Delmong Young) for Jason Bartlett (Garza)

LF- Drafted Carl Crawford in the 2nd round in 1999

CF- Drafted BJ Upton in the 1st round in 2002

RF- Signed veteran Cliff Floyd

UT- Traded Aubrey Huff to Astros for Ben Zobrist

Manager- Signed former Angels bench coach Joe Maddon for 2006 season

Taking a look at the moves which constructed the 2008 squad; thirty five percent of the roster was grown from the draft, thirty five percent came via trade, and the remaining thirty percent were recipients of free agent contracts. Recipe for success? Statistical road map to become a champion? Me thinks so.

With their newly established roster came a name change, color change and overall change of attitude. They were no longer the Devil Rays, but the Rays. They were no longer the little brother of the AL East. They'd grown out of their hand-me-downs and shown up in their shiny new uniforms with confidence--ready to brawl with the best.

It took ten years for the franchise to take the necessary steps towards getting the show on the road. Wait, what? Ten years to become a World Series contender in the most competitive division in baseball? Maybe while the rest of the world conjured up jokes and jabs to paint on their signs when the Devil Rays came to town, the Rays were busy conjuring up new approach after new approach after new approach. All the while their plan had remained the same--WIN!

With an unheard of mixture of business sense, baseball knowledge and an unscrupulous passion to achieve greatness, the Rays turned seemingly endless failure into an opportunity to constantly try something new.

You might say, "with top picks in the draft for almost a decade, anyone could put that roster together."

The rest of the baseball world says, "wake up dummy, we've been trying this for years and still can't hit in the draft".

The Rays somehow found a happy medium in the realms of scouting, development, realization, and dollar signs. With a payroll just an inch above forty million, does ANY other team or owner really have an excuse?

I don't normally purchase tickets for bandwagon rides. They usually end up being round trip, bumpy, and short-lived. However, I'm making an exception on this one. I'm a full fledged believer in everything the Rays are doing. I'm off right now to purchase a size 7 5/8 fitted team cap.

One-way ticket to Tropicana, please!