Another year, another last place finish. What else is new for the Rays? But there's always hope! Hope that the Orioles suck more than us in 2007. Going into the season, I had high hopes that the Rays could possibly win enough games to avoid a 9th consecutive 90-loss season. By the All-Star break, that seemed possible, but then the nightmares began. 3 wins on the road since then. THREE! THREE!!!!!!!! Despite finishing the season with a winning home record (41-40), our road record was abyssmal (20-61). Some key points from the 2006 season...


1. Starting Pitching:
Let's look at the rotation at the start of the season...

1. Scott Kazmir
2. Seth McClung
3. Mark Hendrickson
4. Casey Fossum
5. Any other loser they could dig up

By seasons end, here's how the rotation looked...

1. Jae Seo
2. Tim Corcoran
3. James Shields
4. J.P. Howell
5. Jason Hammel
(Note: Kazmir and Fossum were shut down for the last month of the season for whatever reasons)

Naturally, Kazmir was a house of fire. By the All-Star break, he already had 10 wins (against, I believe, 5 losses), was 2nd in the league in strikeouts, and was in the top three in ERA. Then it all went to hell. Fossum was shakey (only going 3-3 at the break), Hendrickson sucked for the most part, McClung was so awful (2-10, 6.90 ERA) he was shipped to Durham, and every week, new pitchers were called up. Hendrickson was eventually shipped to LA for Seo, and McClung called up to close games. Corcoran, called up around Late May, went 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA, then went on an awful stretch of 0-9 in 13 starts, thanks to inconsistant control and lack of run support. Ditto Seo. Ditto everyone else. Inexperienced pitching and awful run production were the keys to such an awful season.


2. Bullpen:
Yuck... first, we had no real closer. Danys Baez left for LA, and the japanese guy we signed never pitched a game. Tyler Walker (from SF) was used in a somewhat effective manner until Tommy John surgery ended his season, resulting in Brian Meadows getting the shot until McClung got the role for the last 2 months, compiling a whopping 6 saves in the process. As for the rest of the bullpen, it was the same old stuff. Lots of pitchers, very little success. Edwin Jackson, Dan Miceli, Ruddy Lugo, Shawn Camp, and a host of others were used to bridge the gaps to the closer, but only Camp had any real success (7 wins, probably 2nd best on the team). One can only hope the Rays can patch this weak spot up before the next season, or it's another 90-loss season for me.


3. Trades, Trades, Trades...
Another key reason for a second-half collapse was the total destruction of the team. Julio Lugo, Aubrey Huff, Toby Hall, Russell Branyan, Mark Hendrickson, and Travis Lee were all shipped off or released in favor of young prosects like the Talbot dude (that was pitching well for the Biscuits) and Ben Zobrist, as well as Seo and former Yankee catching prospect Dionner Navarro. While Zobrist and Navarro helped here and there, it was primarily on defensive situations. Late-season call ups of B.J. Upton and Delmon Young patched up other holes in the lineup. All this shaking up didn't help with teamwork, and the team just moved around aimlessly for the last 2 months.


4. Injuries, Injuries, injuries...
Let's see the scoring...

Kazmir - Missed last 2 months (shoulder)
Baldelli - missed first 2 months
Wigginton - missed 6 weeks of summer (broken bone in hand)
Cantu - missed first 6 weeks (broken bone in foot)
Lugo - missed first few weeks
Walker - out for season (tommy john)

The list goes on and on.


5. Bright Spots:
Obvious answers are Scott Kazmir, before a phantom injury put him out for the last 6 weeks of the season, Carl Crawford (.303, 17 HR, 77 RBI, 57 SB), and Rocco Baldelli, who missed the first 2 months of the season thanks to the lingering effects of last year. We all know the potential of Upton and Young. Ty Wigginton also produced clutch hits for the Rays. 16 of his home runs either tied or put the Rays ahead in the game. Even Greg Norton, a bench warmer, added 17 home runs, which goes to show you how bad the rest of the team was. As for everyone else... yuck again. Hopefully this team can improve on this category.