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Rays

Rays buzz just another winter of our discontent

By GARY SHELTON
Published February 13, 2005

In Baltimore, the Orioles have Sammy Sosa, a corker of a hitter if there ever was one.

In New York, the Yankees have Randy Johnson, and followers are so tickled, no one is talking back to him ... yet. In Miami, the Marlins have Carlos Delgado, and the fans, both of them, are excited. In Washington, the public is stuck with a used team from Montreal. Nevertheless, fans are thrilled.

Around here, we have Hideo Nomo.

What's left of him, anyway.

I'm trying, Vince. Really I am. The Devil Rays pitchers and catchers report Thursday, along with the throwers and the chasers, and I'm working as hard as I can to muster some enthusiasm about it. Hey, it's spring training! Like all the other columnists, I would love to compose lyrics about the green of the grass, the blue of the sky and the rebirth of hope.

I'm failing, Vince. Really I am. I'm looking at a Rays roster, and I have to tell you, the butterflies are not swirling inside.

In New York, the Mets have Carlos Beltran, who deserved a $75-million contract. Unfortunately, the Mets paid him $119-million. In Detroit, the Tigers have Magglio Ordonez who, looking at the positive side of things, has one good knee. In Boston, they have a World Series title, and it's everyone else's turn to curse.

Around here, we have Robbie Alomar.

He hopes he can turn back time.

And so it goes. Each year it gets harder to find a reason to get interested in the Rays, a team that would love to talk to you about the 2007 season. That's what the Rays do. They show coming attractions. They sell tomorrow. Come tomorrow, they will sell the day after.

In the meantime, they have no chance. Again.

No, this isn't meant to pick on the players, who have enough odds stacked against them. Heck, if you talk to the players, they aren't crazy about the payroll either. Trust me: Most of the Rays players would love reinforcements if only they knew of starting pitchers who worked for minimum wage.

In the meantime, Tampa Bay does not seem to be atwitter. The phone lines are not jammed. There have been no reports of unruly crowds at the ticket window. Put it this way: Even in the offseason, if Jon Gruden sneezes, the e-mail is going to fill up. Twenty percent of people are going to accuse him of allergies, 30 percent are going to wonder if a prescription is going to count against the salary cap and 50 percent are going to accuse him of using Tony Dungy's Kleenex. With the Rays, however, the buzz appears to be broken.

If you are a fan with finite resources, like most of us, ask yourself this of the Rays lineup: Who gets you juiced? Say you have a visitor from out of town. Is there anyone on this roster you would drag your friend to see? Carl Crawford. Yeah. Aubrey Huff? Maybe. On a team that will win, oh, 67 games, who else is there?

The saddest part of all is this: No one expects anything else.

By now we have all bought into the meager expectations of this franchise. No one expects ownership to spend any money. No one expects significant improvement. No one expects big-name free agents or blockbuster trades or draftees to be signed before Halloween. No one expects Lou Piniella to win, because he lacks talent. No one expects Chuck LaMar to sign talent, because he lacks money.

On the other hand, is it too much to expect for Vince Naimoli to break a 20?

Look, given the number of empty seats in the Trop, it is silly for any of us to say what we might spend if we owned the Rays. I am willing to go this far: I would spend more than Vince.

In seven seasons we have established this: Tampa Bay isn't a great baseball market for a terrible team. How it will be for an average team, or a good one, we have no idea.

We also know this: For the Rays to stand a chance of drawing fans, they have to be better. To be better, they have to spend more than someone else, anyone else, in baseball.

It's a shame. Around here people should think of Naimoli as the man who brought baseball to town. Instead, they think of him as a guy who squeezes nickels until Thomas Jefferson's descendants start to pass out.

I know, I know. Given the financial history of the Rays, it is madness to expect money to be spent. Still, I found Vince's grip on his wallet particularly disappointing this offseason. Yeah, there were a lot of silly contracts given out. But with a little more payroll, the Rays could look a lot more enticing today.

Here's an example: Wouldn't this Rays offseason have been a little more interesting if it had included, say, Sammy Sosa?

Consider it. The Cubs, weary of a diva in the outfield, were willing to pay to get rid of Sosa.

Here, he would still be considered a star. Here, he would have been a face on a franchise. Here, he would have been a reason to go to the ballpark.

Ah, well. Maybe someday the Rays will demand more. More payroll. More victories. More interest.

In the meantime, the Rays did sign Denny Neagle.

Operators are standing by.

[Last modified February 13, 2005, 01:08:17]