24-year old righty swinging 3B Evan Longoria finished in 19th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. He played in 157 games for the Rays last season and he was 164 for 584 (.281 avg, .889 OPS) with 100 runs scored, 33 homers, 113 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Longoria has now played in 279 games in his first two major league seasons and he is 286 for 1,032 (.277 avg, .883 OPS) with 167 runs scored, 60 homers, 198 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Don’t be surprised if Longoria wins one of this Awards for his trophy case eventually as he is a great hitter and defender at 3B. He is just scratching the surface of his potential.

28-year old switch hitting 2B/SS/OF Ben Zobrist finished in 8th place in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award which is the highest placing ever for a Devil Rays/Rays player. He played in 152 games for the Rays last season and he was 149 for 501 (.297 avg, .948 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 27 homers, 91 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He has now played four years for the Rays appearing in 297 games in which he was 255 for 979 (.260 avg, .805 OPS) with 141 runs scored, 42 homers, 148 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. Zobrist will be the starting 2B for the Rays next season and they need him to keep up the good work.

26-year old righty starting pitcher Jeff Niemann finished fourth in the voting for the Rookie of the Year Award in the American League. Niemann pitched in 31 games (30 starts) for the Rays last season and he was 13-6 with a 3.94 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Niemann proved the front office of the Rays right when they traded Edwin Jackson and went with him in the rotation instead. Niemann has a nice upside and he should continue to improve with age.