Devil Rays manager must have got someone mad at him to get his first real managing job with the Devil Rays.  Maddon had twice been an interim manager and he compiled a 27-24 (.529) record for the Angels.  He had a rough time in Tampa as he was 61-101 (.377) in his first year on the job.  It’s hard on a manager to try to overcome having such a low payroll in a division where every single team is spending at least twice as much money as you are.  Maddon brings the aggressive style of baserunning from his days of coaching with Mike Scioscia in Los Angeles, but it often seems like Maddon is bringing a butter knife to a gun fight.  Maddon has a career record of 88-125 (.413) and look for that winning % to go down after this season.

The Devil Rays have a collection of young pitchers and bad pitchers that make up the entire bullpen.  26 year old righty Seth McClung came into Spring Training with the closer’s job to lose and he has been awful all Spring.  He has a fantastic arm but he doesn’t know how to pitch and that’s a big problem to have.  He was 6-12 with 6 saves, a 6.29 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP in 39 games (15 starts) for the Devil Rays in 2006.  Batters hit .294 against him last season and he walked 68 batters in 103 innings.  The fact that he only whiffed 59 batters last season tells me that his fastball is very straight.  It will be bombs away for American League batters against McClung as their is no way he will be the stopper on the Devil Rays by May.

36 year old righty Dan Miceli is probably next in line to lose the stopper job at some point for the D-Rays.  He was 1-2 with 6 holds and 4 saves in 33 games for the Rays last season.  Miceli had a 3.94 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP for the Rays last  season but he walked too many batters (20 in 32 innings) and that is not a good thing when you pitch late.  Don’t expect miracles out of Miceli in 2007.

26 year old righty Ruddy Lugo had a solid rookie season as he was 2-4 with 8 holds in 64 games for the D-Rays.  Lugo had a 3.81 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in 2006 and he could be a sleeper to get some saves for the Rays if he continues to pitch well, but he doesn’t have the big out pitch that most closers have.  He is a solid reliever that pitches a lot of innings (85 last year) so he is a rarity in the Rays bullpen.  He will have a good year in 2007.

31 year old righty Shawn Camp somehow got decent results despite not pitching too well.  He was 7-4 with 12 holds and 4 saves despite having a 4.68 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP in 75 games for the Rays in 2006.  It’s a good thing that Camp doesn’t walk batters (19 in 75 innings) because they hit .313 against him last season.  Don’t look for Camp to be as lucky as he was last season as his ERA will be around 5.00 in 2007.

26 year old righty Chad Orvella got screwed up last season when the Rays coaching staff decided to mess with his mechanics.  The result was a 1-5 record with a 7.40 ERA and a 2.30 WHIP in 22 games for the Rays last season.  Batters hit .346 against him last season with 6 homers and 20 walks in only 24.1 innings in 2006.  The Rays hope Orvella can return to his 2005 form and be useful to them this season.

Soon to be 37 year old Al Reyes has been brought in to compete for a job in the bullpen for the Devil Rays.  He missed all of last season due to Tommy John surgery but this is a good gamble for the Rays as he was very good in 2005 with the St. Louis Cardinals.  He was 4-2 with 16 holds, 3 saves, a 2.15 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP in 65 games in 2005 for the Cardinals.  He is throwing well this Spring and is a darkhorse to be the closer for the Rays as early as opening day.

28 year old righty Juan Salas is a converted infielder that has been a fast riser as he’s only been a pitcher for three seasons.  Last year he seemed to really get it as he was 4-1 with 2 holds, 17 saves, a 0.71 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP in 50 games in AA+AAA ball in 2006.  He also whiffed 85 batters in only 63.1 innings in the minors.  No one questions his arm as his fastball always get to the plate 95+ miles per hour.  He pitched in 8 games for the Rays and was 0-0 with a hold and a 5.40 ERA.  Look for Salas to make the team out of Spring Training and to be the team’s closer by the All-Star break.

27 year old lefty Jon Switzer could be the lone lefty in the Rays bullpen in 2007.  He was 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 40 games for the Devil Rays last season.  He had 5 holds and held lefty batters to a .220 batting average so he has value to the Rays as long as they put him in situations where he can be successful.

29 year old righty Scott Dohmann will have a shot to make the Rays bullpen despite having a horrible year in 2006.  He was 2-4 with 6 holds and 1 save for the Colorado Rockies and the Kansas City Royals.  Dohmann allowed batters to hit .312 against him last season and he had a 7.08 ERA and a 1.90 WHIP.  He does have a decent arm as he whiffed 44 batters in 48.1 innings, but, he walked 33 batters and that’s way too many.  Don’t expect much from Dohmann in 2007.

29 year old righty Steve Andrade pitched in 4 games for the Kansas City Royals and he was 0-0 with a 9.64 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP in 2006.  Andrade was 3-2 with a 3.19 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in 38 games in AAA ball last season and he whiffed 67 batters in 67.1 innings.  He’s a longshot to help the Rays this season.

30 year old Gary Glover has been given a chance this Spring to make the Devil Rays.  He hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2005 with the Milwaukee Brewers.   Over his career, Glover is 21-18 with a 5.03 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP in 149 games (47 starts).  Don’t expect much from him if he makes the D-Rays.

32 year old righty Shinji Mori missed all of last season with a shoulder problem that kept him out all of the 2006 season.  He has nasty stuff when he’s healthy but players that rehab instead of having corrective surgery don’t usually fare well so don’t expect miracles in 2007 out of Mori.

Lefty John Switzer will miss the start of the 2007 season due to tendinitis in his left shoulder.  The D-Rays will likely begin the 2007 season without a lefty reliever.  This could be a huge problem for them even though Switzer is not that great of a pitcher.

The Devil Rays rotation had the potential to be really bad this season.  23 year old lefty Scott Kazmir is the lone keeper of this bunch.  Kazmir’s season ended on August 23rd of last season but he still had a better year than he did in 2005.  He was 10-8 with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP and that was on a bad team with a horrible bullpen!  The secret to his improved pitching was that he cut down on his walks big time while still bringing his nasty array of pitches.  He wound up whiffing 163 batters in only 144.2 innings pitched last year for the Devil Rays.  Look for Kazmir to have a big season with over 200 K’s but it’s hard to predict more than 12-14 wins because of the Rays awful bullpen.

29 year old lefty Casey Fossum has decent stuff but he still has really never learned how to pitch.   He started 25 games last season for the D-Rays and he was 6-6 with a 5.33 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP.  Fossum seems to break down a lot and might be better served pitching out of the bullpen but he’s needed more in the rotation.  Don’t expect him to win more than 8 games or have an ERA under 5.00 this season.

Soon to be 30 year old Jae Seo will likely be the #3 starter for the D-Rays this season and that’s not a good thing.  Seo started 16 games for the Devil Rays last season and he was 1-8 with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP.  Seo pitched in 36 games (26 starts) for the Rays and Dodgers in 2006 and he was 3-12 with a 5.33 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP.  Seo’s main problem is a lack of stuff.  He’s got great control but he gets hit hard and in the American League I just don’t see him being too successful.  Seo has the same forecast as Fossum…..no more than 8 wins or an ERA under 5.00.

25 year old Jamie Shields should be better than Seo and Fossum but what is that really saying?  Shields came up to the Rays during the season and he started 21 games and had a 6-8 record with a 4.84 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.  Shields has a decent fastball in the low 90’s and a really good changeup.  To be anything more than a .500 pitcher in the majors he’s going to need to develop one more pitch.  Shields does have good control and he struck out 104 batters in 124.2 innings last season for the D-Rays so he does provide some hope.  Look for Shields to win 10-12 games and have an ERA similar to the 4.84 that he had last season.

Soon to be 23 year old J.P. Howell has the inside track on the #5 starting job and that’s a scary thought as Howell’s fastball isn’t thrown hard enough to dent a couch.  He started 8 games for the D-Rays last season and he was 1-3 with a 5.10 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP.  He allowed batters to hit .310 against him and that will likely continue to be a problem for him as he’s always around the plate with the ball.  Howell throws as hard as Jamie Moyer and that’s not a good thing as 21 years younger than Moyer.  Even if Howell wins the job in the spring, he will not be here long.

24 year old righty Jason Hammel got a little taste of the majors last season and it didn’t go too well.  He started 9 games for the Rays and he was 0-6 with a 7.77 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP.  Hammel was pitching BP at the major league level as opposing hitters had a .333 batting average against him and whacked 7 homers in only 44 innings against him.  Hammel didn’t even pitch that well in AAA last year as he was 5-9 with a 4.23 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in 24 starts.  Hopefully the Devil Rays will be able to leave Hammel in the minors until he learns how to pitch.

Soon to be 29 year old righty Tim Corcoran actually did a decent job for the D-Rays last season.  He pitched in 21 games (16 starts) and he was 5-9 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP.  He walked too many batters as he allowed 48 walks in 90.1 innings last season.  Look for Corcoran to get some starts at some point but he might start the season in the bullpen for the Rays.

28 year old righty Brian Stokes pitched o.k. for the Rays last season.  He pitched in 5 games (4 starts) and he was 1-0 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP.  Still, Stokes would have to be real fine to succeed in the majors because he doesn’t have great stuff.  Regardless, he will probably get a shot at some point in the season for the Rays.

24 year old Jae Kuk Ryu will have a decent shot to make the rotation after being acquired in a trade with the Cubs.  Ryu was overmatched with the Cubs as he pitched in 10 games (1 start) and he was 0-1 with a 8.40 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP.  He did whiff 17 batters in only 15 innings and he has a decent arm so he’ll get a chance at some point with they Rays.  He did have success in the minors as he was 8-8 with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in  AAA last season.

23 year old Edwin Jackson is out of options so he will get a good chance to win a spot in the rotation.  He was 0-0 with a 5.45 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP in 23 games (1 start) with the Devil Rays last season.  Batters hit .292 against him last season and he allowed 25 walks in 36.1 innings.  Jackson has a great arm so if he just improves his control he could be a big surprise for the D-Rays this season.

26 year old righty Doug Waechter is recovering from surgery so he might have to rebound in the minors before the Rays give him a chance this season and he will have to pitch well there.  He was 1-4 with a 6.62 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP in 11 games (10 starts) for the Devil Rays in 2006.  Waechter will have to do a better job of missing bats (opposing batters hit .310 against him last year) to ever be a decent pitcher at the major league level.

There was an interesting article about some promising young arms the Rays have in their farm system in today’s edition of the St. Pete Times.  You can read it online at http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/08/Rays/Rays_cultivating_arms.shtml

While they do hype these guys a bit, at least they finally issued a dose of reality in summing up some previously hyped pitchers in the D-Rays system.  Remember Ryan Rupe and Dewon Brazelton?  Other than a few rare demonstrations of their talent, these guys were total disasters.  Hopefully this new crop turns out to be much better.  I certainly hope so, because the current pitching staff is virtually devoid of competent major league talent, with only a few exceptions.