The biggest hole I see on that team right now is at first base. And quite frankly that was a hole the past couple seasons as well with Pena hitting well below the Mendoza line already. If they are smart they’ll put Zobrist at first and let Joyce and Jennings take the corners.

And Hellickson in 2011 will be a significant upgrade over Garza in 2010.

I’m not calling them to win the division. But they’ll be better than you seem to think. Around 90 wins IMO.

You’re looking at a best case scenario of 84 wins, or the average performance of 2009, and the attendance will plummet. I have nothing against the Rays, they’ve over achieved in ’08 and ’10, but reality will set in soon.

Pitching I think also improved. Hellickson has shown far more consistency than Garza, and the prospect they got for him should be ready next year or the year after and is himself a potential ace.

Honestly with the Yankees in decline, and the Red Sox not improving their pitching, I think the Rays have as much shot this year and next as they did the last three years.

The Trop itself is a sterile environment for baseball, worse than even those old cookie cutter stadiums. With a decent facility, and time, mlb could succeed in the bay area. I’m one of the many northern transplants who rarely attended Rays games because I didn’t have a connection with the team. In time, people without those connections could provide the support, but this isn’t 2000. Ownership is unhappy, and has made that known in the media. Had the ’08 Rays finished the job with a world title, they might have gained a new stadium. But in these difficult economic times, a new facility is a long shot.

The 2008 Rays were truly a Cinderella team, but that AL pennant will likely turn out to be the highlight of their time in Florida. As bad as the Pirates and Royals have been, at least those franchises have world championships and hall of fame players, and aren’t relocating. Big difference.

Player development is important, but that division is a killer, and everyone knows it. Expect the Rays to be a .500 team or worse for some time.

This is the worst cliche ever. The Rays have drafted extremely well in the past decade and this is a fantastic draft class. Yes, there’s a lot of uncertainty, but to just dismiss everything with “eh, they’re just prospects” is very ignorant of the realities of player development.

You don’t have to out bid those teams to sign your picks, and the cost of drafting and developing an ace pitcher or elite hitter even after a signing bonus is 5-10% of that of signing one on the free agent market. I will say, however, that Pittsburgh deserves kudos for their last couple of drafts. I just hope they can keep it up and bring themselves back to relevance. That’s a storied franchise that deserves better. Ditto for the Royals considering they were one of the best 5 teams in baseball regularly from 1975 to 1987.

After last years playoff exit(not winning any games at home), and losing players like Crawford, etc. look for another mediocre season for the Rays. And you better believe the attendance will drop even more.