Owner Stuart Sternberg not showing nerves ahead of 2012 Spring Training – MLB Tampa Bay Rays News
Tampa Bay Rays’ owner Stuart Sternberg is extremely excited about the upcoming season these days. The Rays missed out on too many opportunities last season as they failed to deliver the goods. Although Sternberg has spent great amount of money on his desired players this offseason, he does not want to have unrealistic expectations from his team.
Sternberg has been very proactive this offseason. Boosting his club’s payrolls by more than 50 percent, he is looking to build a team that is capable to win the World Series Title. However, despite spending lavishly on the players and the coaching staff, the owner is reluctant to say that he is not going to settle for anything less than a World Series title. Rays’ manager Joe Maddon is also working very hard with the pitchers and batters to form the best possible combinations ahead of 2012 season.
“Our expectations are that we have a very very good team this year. Ideally you’d like to say the best team we’ve put out. You never really know until we go out there,” Sternberg said Tuesday during a visit to spring training.
“We’d like to win a lot of games. I can’t say if I expect to win 80 or 100,” he added. “You can never expect to make the playoffs. I don’t think any team does that other than one or two of them. Everybody knows the challenges in the division. You can never assume you’re going.”
Maddon’s had his contracted upgraded only a few days ago after he helped the Rays reach playoffs in three of the last four seasons. With the inclusion of Luke Scott and Carlos Pena, Rays’ offence is looking stronger than ever before.
Burke Badenhop and Fernando Rodney have also been added to the bullpen to power Rays’ closing strength. Undoubtedly, the Rays’ have the resources to accomplish greater things this season. In an interview, Sternberg stated that the Rays will be looking to win consistently to make it to the postseason. It will be interesting to see if the Rays can live up to all the hype to win back their fans’ trust.
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