The Tampa Bay Rays

In 2011 The Rays made the playoffs after the miraculous game 162. That day game 162 took place will go down in history. The Rays finished with a record of 91-71 and won the wild card, but were eliminated by The Texas Ranges in the ALDS.

I don't know how The Rays managed to get four playoff appearances since 2008 with a payroll under $80 million. They do things like extending players, such as Even Logoria and Matt Moore when they are young. They offer these contracts for a long time favoring the team, and offering less money than the player would deserve in the future.

The Rays strengthened their lineup by bringing back Carlos Pena. He has hit 172 home runs since 2007, giving him an average of 34.4 home runs a year. He is a definite slugger. His defense is also very under rated, he earned a gold glove award in 2008. They also have the face of their franchise Even Longoria. Longoria is 26 and has 4 years in the major leagues. He has a .360 on base percentage and a .515 slugging percentage over that time. He is a definite force to be reckoned with. The Rays also have the most under rated player in all of baseball, he is Ben Zobrist. This guy can play almost every position and he has played 150 or more games for the past 3 seasons. He has a .367 OBP over those 3 years with an average of 19 home runs and 85 RBI's. People underrate him and I don't know why.

Lets not forget about The Ray's rotation. David Price emerged on the scene in 2010 finishing second in the Cy Young voting, but in 2011 he had a fluctuation in ERA. He had a 3.49 ERA in 2011 which is acceptable seeing that he pitched 224 innings and had 212 strikeouts. The star pitcher for The Rays in 2011 was James Shields. Shields pitched 249 innings with a 2.82 ERA and 225 strikeouts. That was good enough for him to finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting. Finally Matt Moore is the young 22 year old left hander for The Rays who was miraculous for The Rays in the short time we saw him in 2011. He is currently rated the number 1 pitching prospect and has a lot to prove.

I honestly don't know how The Rays finished ball games. They don't have any notable relievers. Kyle Farnsworth picked up 25 saves with a 2.18 ERA over 57 innings pitched. So I guess he took the role of the closer for The Rays.He was really the only one worth mentioning. The Rays pretty much stitched things together for the other innings.

The final thing worth discussing is BJ Upton. Upton had 1 good season in 2007, collecting a .386 on base percentage and a .508 slugging percentage. Since then he took has been taking a steep decline. In 2011 he bounced back a little bit collecting a .331 on base percentage and a .429 slugging percentage . I expect him to be on the climb again and help The Rays offensively this season.

Top Players 25 and Younger

If you want a successful franchise you're going to need young players with talent. In this post I will name and evaluate the top players by position of the age 25 or younger.

Pitchers:

Clayton Kershaw (23) - Kershaw holds a 2.66 ERA over the past 3 years for the LA Dodgers. That also gives him a 143 ERA+ over that span. That means he is 43% better than the average pitcher which is really good. consistently getting around 200+ innings pitched and 200 strikeouts every year, Kershaw has proven the pitcher that he is at a young age.

Felix Hernandez (25) - King Felix has been in the major leagues since he was 19. Everyone knows about his dominance of the game collecting the 2010 Cy Young award. He has a 2.74 ERA over his past 3 seasons which translates to a 152 ERA+. That means he is 52% better than the average pitcher. 200+ strikeouts and well over 200 innings pitched in his past 3 seasons make him one of the most dominate young pitchers.

Neftali Feliz (23) - A 2.55 ERA for a closer  is pretty decent. At a young age its more respectable. With 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings Feliz makes an excellent closer. he can absolutely develop into a star with the years to come.

Offensive players:

Buster Posey (24) - Posey is an excellent catcher. Although getting injured in the 2011 season ended his season early he earned the rookie of the year in 2010. He had an average on base percentage of  .362 over his past 2 seasons, which is excellent. If you juxtapose that with a 162 game average of 22 home runs and 88 RBI's Posey could be a deadly force down the road for the the Giants.

Billy Butler (25) - Playing in the Kansas City Royals' home field Kaufman Field can destroy offensive players' numbers. For Billy Butler that is not a problem. Holding a .370 on base percentage over the past 3 years is miraculous. With about 18 home runs and 90 RBI's a year if Butler was added to a team with more offense he can provide a lot of run support.

Pablo Sandoval (25) - Sandoval holds a .355 on base percentage over the past 3 seasons. A disappointing 2010 brings that number down, but about 20 home runs a year proves otherwise. Being a switch hitter, Sandoval can provide plenty of offense for a ball club .

Mike Stanton (22) - Micheal Stanton is a power house. He has a 162 game average of  34 home runs and a 132 OPS+. That means he ranks 32% better than the average offensive player. With the new Miami Marlins Stanton can put up some big numbers. Although his on base percentage is only .344 over 2  seasons, he can drive runs in like no tomorrow.

Evan Longoria (26) - Even though Longoria is 26 I included him in this post becuase of his incredible numbers. Averaging 28 home runs a year 105 RBI's and a .363 on base percentage, Longoria is a big part of any offense. He can be a number 3 or a number 4 hitter on any team and can play stellar defense.