Did the Tampa Bay demise officially start yesterday?

Question

Crawford and Longoria out at the wrong time of season. Is this where the Beantown Boys take over the AL East?

Answer 1

No. Next question.

You make it sound as if Longo won't be back this season, which he will in a little over two weeks. And although Baldelli is no Crawford he is still a very capable player.

Answer 2

The Rays have better pitching so they may hold on!!

Answer 3

I would not say demise.  Crawford and Longoria are huge keys to their offense though.  You never know the impact your stars have on your team until they are actually out for a long period of time.  Sometimes teams can band together in the short term but eventually talent beats a team with alot of heart.  Red Sox should overtake that division now but the Rays still have a good chance at the wildcard spot.

Answer 4

Baldelli is back and he is a very good player when healthy so we can only hope. Kazmir really has to start working(He's logging about 5 innings per start, not acceptable) And Pena has to begin hitting for both average and power because he is not getting it done. Percival needs to settle down from his after the All-Star shakiness(he has begun already) Should these 4 step their games up, It should easily fill in the void of losing Crawford and Longo

Answer 5

Sure has and any Rays fan that says no is kidding themselves.

How is taking away your best 2 players NOT going to make you lose?

Evan Longoria was by far their best hitter. This not only takes his bat away, it makes everyone else that much worse. Carl Crawford was a sparkplug and his speed allowed the rather light hitting Rays to score runs. Not to mention both have great gloves out there.

Carl Crawford is basically out until the post season if there is one. The Rays are saying Evan is out for 2 weeks. ARE YOU JOKING ME? He broke his wrist. I will guarantee you he will not be back in the minimum. To rush their franchise player like that is unacceptable. Plus when he does come back, he will lose power. Wrist injuries (as shown by Derek Lee couple years ago and Papi this year) can sap the power.

I wouldn't say this automatically knocks them out of contention but they'll most likely lose that division. WC is a solid possibility though but Kazmir needs to go back to his Cy Young form.

Answer 6

Yes. And the Red Sox are gonna take the Cake!

Answer 7

no.

go rays.

Answer 8

Well, we'll just have to wait and see.  Many people said the same thing at the All-Star break after the Rays' 7 game losing streak.  The Rays have been playing team ball all year and everyone gets fairly significant playing time.  The test will be if Aybar can hold his own defensively at 3rd.  I just heard that Crawford is out til the 3rd week in Sept..   Barry Bonds for the league minimum is looking pretty good.

Plus, it's not like the Red Sox are playing much better.

Even if the Red Sox win the division, the Rays should make the play-offs, and have Longoria and Crawford healthy.

Answer 9

Aw c'mon.  Give them some credit!  This team has played with more heart than any other in the MLB.  The Red Sox have injuries (Wakefield, Lowell), the Yankees have injuries (Chamberlain, Jeter).  Its part of August baseball.

I think the Rays are going to pull it out, I really do!

Answer 10

It's possible but someone stated about that slugfest the other night & that was an awesome game but Boston's pullpen gave up too many runs that game even though the Sox ended up winning that game. It may be tough for the Rays to hold on to lead but I would rather see the Rays win AL East than the Red Sox. Red Sox bullpen isn't that great until you get to Papelbon

Answer 11

longoria is the best

Answer 12

the sox are red hot. Their slug fest the other night gave them the boost they need to take the divison

I don't think the rays are going to fade that easily. But who knows, the injuries are starting to pile up on them, we'll see what happens.

Answer 13

Nope, a couple of days ago!!

Answer 14

It very well could of been. I hope that the management pulls themselves together and makes a trade for Sheffield (he would be good for their marketing cuz he is chasing 500 HR's) or anybody else that could help them. This is a suprisingly good young ball team, I would love to see them in the playoffs.

Answer 15

as a soxfan i can only hope