33-year old righty swinging DH Pat Burrell had the worst year of his career in 2009 for the Rays. He played in 122 games for the Rays last season and he was 91 for 412 (.221 avg, .682 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 14 homers and 64 RBIs. The Rays hope that Burrell is not one of those players who needs to be in the field to hit the ball because it won’t happen with them in 2010. The Rays would take a average season from Burrell which would make him a .254 hitter (.838 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 26.5 homers and 89.1 RBIs in 2010. He didn’t hit a homer against a lefty pitcher last season so he is not really a platoon candidate either.

26-year old switch hitting Willy Aybar is the biggest threat to Pat Burrell’s P.T. in 2010. Aybar played in 105 games for the Rays last season and he was 75 of 296 (.253 avg, .747 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 12 homers and 41 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DH IN 2010: C-

24-year old righty swinging Evan Longoria is one of the best all around 3B in all of baseball right now and he is only getting better. Longoria played in 157 games for the Rays last season and he was 164 for 584 (.281 avg, .890 OPS) with 100 runs scored, 33 homers, 113 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. The sky is the limit for Longoria as a hitter. Longoria played in 151 games at 3B for the Rays last season and he made 13 errors while showing great range. Longoria is quite simply one of the best players in all of baseball and the Rays are going to just sit back and watch him dominate.

26-year old switch hitting Willy Aybar will back up Longoria at 3B again in 2010. He played in 18 games for the Rays at 3B last season and he made 2 errors there while showing above average range. Aybar would do a good job at 3B if Longoria got injured.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 3B IN 2010: A

30-year old righty swinging Jason Bartlett is coming off an outstanding season with the bat in his hands. He played in 137 games for the Rays last season and he was 160 for 500 (.320 avg, .879 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 14 homers, 66 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see if Bartlett can put up huge numbers like he did in 2009 again. After all he has a career batting average of .287 with a .744 OPS. Bartlett will have to hit to make himself useful to the Rays as he made 20 errors in 134 games at shortstop while showing poor range. He makes the highlight reel play once in a while but he is not a consistent fielder.

24-year old lefty swinging Reid Brignac will likely make the Rays in 2010 as a backup infielder. He played in 31 games for the Rays last season and he was 25 for 90 (.278 avg, .745 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Brignac made 2 errors in 28 games at shortstop for the Rays last season but he also showed poor range.

28-year old switch-hitting Ben Zobrist will likely get most of his P.T. in 2010 at 2B and RF for the Rays but he is a natural shortstop. Zobrist made 2 errors in 13 games at shortstop for the Rays last season while showing poor range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SHORTSTOPS IN 2010: B

The way the Rays are set up right now it looks like Ben Zobrist will be playing every day in 2010. He will likely play 2B against righty pitchers and RF against lefty pitchers. What that really does is that it means that Sean Rodriguez will likely be starting at 2B against lefty starting pitchers and Matt Joyce will be starting in RF against righty starting pitchers. 28-year old switch hitting Ben Zobrist will get most of the playing time at 2B for the Rays in 2010 as things stand right now. He had a breakout year for the Rays in 2009 and they are hoping that he can repeat it. 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. Zobrist made 4 errors at 2B in 91 games while showing slightly below average range at 2B last season. Look for him to improve on defense there as he is a natural shortstop.

24-year old righty swinging Sean Rodriguez was the key player in the Scott Kazmir trade last Summer. He played in 5 games for the Angels last season and he was 5 for 25 (.200 avg, .716 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Rodriguez played in 108 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 113 for 385 (.294 avg, 1.005 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 30 homers, 98 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. He has a nice upside for the Rays and he will likely start for them at 2B against lefty starting pitchers. He didn’t make any errors in 5 games at 2B for the Angels last season but he showed poor range. He will likely improve his range factor in 2010 so I wouldn’t be too worried about it.

26-year old switch-hitting Willy Aybar will likely be third on the depth chart at 2B this season for the Rays. He showed outstanding range in his 28 games for the Rays at 2B last season but he made 5 errors which is way too many.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: B

31-year old lefty swinging Carlos Pena is back to man first base for the Rays again in 2010. He played in 135 games last season in which he was 107 for 471 (.227 avg, .893 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 39 homers (tied for the league lead) and 100 RBIs. He would have led the league in homers by himself if he didn’t get hit on the hand by C.C. Sabathia with a pitch breaking a couple of fingers. Pena’s average has dipped the last three years for the Rays but he has still been very productive averaging 88.7 runs scored, 38.7 homers and 107.7 RBIs per season. He has won a Gold Glove with the Rays and he has outstanding range but he made 10 errors last season and that’s too many.

26-year old switch-hitting Willy Aybar can also play 2B and 3B but 1B is his best position defensively. He played in 105 games for the Rays last season and he was 75 for 296 (.253 avg, .747 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 12 homers and 41 RBIs. Aybar only made 1 error in 31 games last season at 1B for the Rays as he finished out the season there replacing the injured Carlos Pena.

35-year old lefty swinging Chris Richard is back with the Rays this season. He played in 13 games for the Rays last season and he was 2 for 19 (.105 avg, .366 OPS) with 1 run scored. Richard also played in 100 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 96 for 365 (.263 avg, .885 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 24 homers and 75 RBIs. Richard made 1 error in 13 games at 1B for the Rays. He will likely again start the season in AAA and get a call from the Rays if the need arises.

The Rays have brought back 30-year old lefty swinging Dan Johnson. He played last season in Japan and he didn’t like it too much. He played in 10 games for the Rays in 2008 and he was 5 for 25 (.200 avg, .726 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Johnson has played in 328 games in his major league career and he is 273 for 1,103 (.248 avg, .763 OPS) with 140 runs scored, 44 homers and 161 RBIs. Johnson did get some key hits in 2008 after rosters expanded that September so he will likely be on the Rays’ roster at some point in 2010.

30-year old righty swinging Ryan Shealy will also be in camp on a minor league deal. He played in 25 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 30 for 87 (.345 avg, .879 OPS) with 15 runs scored and 12 RBIs. Shealy has now played in 164 games in his major league career and he is 146 for 538 (.271 avg, .764 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 19 homers and 94 RBIs. If Shealy can prove that he is healthy he could surprise the Rays as he has had success in the show before.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: A