Obviously, marijuana or some other hallucinogen is the drug of choice in their organization.

I opened my copy of the St. Pete Times this morning to see the sports page headline, “Devil Rays Owner Aims High for 2007″ and the sub-headline was “Stuart Steinberg wants 50 home wins, “a pretty reasonable goal”.  I want to know where he buys the stuff he smokes.  I want some of that!

Sure, the Rays won 41 home games last year, but they are nowhere in the league of teams that won 50 at home last year.  That club included the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Toronto Blue Jays.  All of those teams made the playoffs, with the exception of Toronto, which won 87 games.

No team that was so awful on the road last year, 20-61, could possibly be a 50 home game winner without doing something major to turn the team around.  These clowns have done almost nothing.

In case you’re interested, here is a link to the ludicrous article from fantasy land, http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/28/Rays/Devil_Rays_owner_aims.shtml

It is loaded with moronic quotes.  I can’t believe we are counting on these guys to put a winner on the field.

28 year old lefty swinging Akinori Iwamura was brought in from Japan to start at third base for the Devil Rays.  He’s had three great seasons in a row over there and has averaged .310, scored 88.3 runs, whacked 35 homers and drove in 92.7 runs per season.  One area where Iwamura needs to improve on is making contact as he’s averaged 147.3 whiffs per season of those last three years.  Look for his average to not match what he did in Japan and his power might not convert to America, but look for him to put up decent numbers.  He also is a great defensive 3B and should help out the Rays young pitching staff at the hot corner.

22 year old Joel Guzman was brought over in the trade of Julio Lugo to the Dodgers.  Guzman hit .274 with 15 homers and 64 RBIs in 405 at bats in AAA ball last season.  He also went 4 of 19 (.211) with 3 RBIs in LA before he got traded to Tampa.  He’s got big time power and could also get an opportunity to play first base for the Rays.  He’s not to good at third base on defense but he would be at least average at first base.

B.J. Upton and Brendan Harris could get playing time at third base for the Rays too.

25 year old switch hitter Ben Zobrist will likely be the starting shortstop for the Devil Rays when the season starts.  Zobrist has been a fantastic hitter in his minor league career as he sports a .324 average in 279 games, but he had problems when the Rays promoted him and gave him the starting job.  He played in 52 games and hit only .224 with 2 homers, 18 RBIs and a .572 OPS in 183 at bats.  The Devil Rays expect much more out of him and he will have to fight to keep his job.  Zobrist showed pretty good range but he made too many errors (9) and that will have to improve.

22 year old B.J. Upton could get another shot at shortstop, but he would have to improve immensely on defense.  He didn’t play there at all last season as the Rays attempted to make him a 3B but he made 13 errors in 50 games at the hot corner.  Here’s an amazing stat on Upton…..he has made 199 errors in his 4 year professional career!  Upton didn’t hit well for the Rays last season as he hit .246 with a .593 OPS in 175 at bats.  He did steal 57 bases last season between AAA and the major leagues.  The Rays are going to try to make Upton into a super-utility player like Chone Figgins is for the Angels and it might be a good idea for them and Upton.

25 year old Jorge Cantu reported to Spring Training with the pitchers and catchers to get a jump on the season.  He had an injury marred year in which he hit .249 with 14 homers, 62 RBIs and a .699 OPS, which was a huge drop from his production is his excellent 2005 season.  The Devil Rays would probably be happy if Cantu could produce an average of his last two seasons.  If he did that he would score 57 runs, hit 21 homers and knock in 90 runs and I’m sure that would make both Cantu and the Devil Rays happy.  Cantu made 13 errors in 107 games and didn’t show much range so the Rays need him to improve on defense to stay at 2B.

26 year old Brendan Harris will likely be the back up at 2B for the D-Rays this season.  Harris hit .300 with 10 homers and 60 RBIs in 367 at bats in AAA ball last season.  He only batted 42 times in the majors last season and hit .238.  The most important thing that Harris brings to the table is that he’s versatile and can handle short and third base.  He should have a good chance to make the team.

The Devil Rays traded 23 year old starting pitcher Greg Reinard and 20 year old outfielder Andy Lopez to the Cubs for 23 year old starting pitcher Jae Kuk Ryu.  Ryu will compete for the #5 starting job in the Devil Rays’ rotation this Spring.  He had a rough time in his short stint with the Cubs last season.  He pitched in 15 innings and went 0-1 with a 8.40 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP.  He did strike out 17 batters so he probably has a pretty decent arm.  In 51 games (50 starts) the last two seasons in AA+AAA he has compiled a 19-16 record with a 3.29 ERA and a fine 1.22 WHIP.  The Devil Rays project him to be a bottom of the rotation starter (#4 or #5) so don’t expect miracles from him this season.