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The Rays' future? It's just too predictable

By GARY SHELTON
Published March 9, 2005

March 9, 2010

Here in the future, it is a lovely day. Look at that sky. Have you ever seen a lovelier shade of soot?

Arnold Schwarzenegger is president. Gas costs $7 a gallon. Ben Affleck has just won an Academy Award for Hamlet.

Welcome to the year 2010.

Isn't it about time the Rays made contact?

Here in the future, a lot of things are different. Cal Ripken is the new commissioner of baseball. Two of the three Dixie Chicks are in the Senate. England has applied for statehood.

In a changing world, however, you can count on the Rays to be the same as they ever were.

The bleachers are still the loneliest place in town. Vince Naimoli is still the owner, even though there are reports that Stuart Sternberg could take over next year, maybe the year after. Manager John Flaherty thinks the team could finally win 75 games in a season, particularly if rookie pitcher Danny Almonte is as good as advertised.

That's our Rays. Still here, still bad and still talking about tomorrow.

Things were going to be different by now, weren't they? This was supposed to be their year. After all the losing, after all the laughter, 2010 was finally going to be the year the Rays made a run at the playoffs. Remember back in 2005, when general-manager-for-life Chuck LaMar suggested in spring training the Rays would be in good shape "by 2009 or 2010?"

Well, here we are, and guess what?

Someday hasn't come.

Even now, even after a dozen seasons, the Rays plead for patience. As always, that misses the point. The problem with the Rays has never been about patience; it has been about faith. It isn't the waiting that vexes fans; it's the wondering.

Patience? Throughout their sports history, Tampa Bay fans have had plenty of patience. They simply need to believe a better day is coming. It was that way for the Bucs. It was that way for the Lightning. Rays fans? They're still waiting.

If the Rays haven't done much for Major League Baseball, it should be said baseball hasn't done much for them. No sport smothers the hope of its small-market franchises like baseball. That hasn't changed, either.

No, there hasn't been contraction. No, the playoffs haven't been expanded. No, there is no salary cap. No, the luxury tax doesn't create enough revenue sharing. All those things were going to be settled back in the strike of '07. None of them was.

Remember the way former commissioner Bud Selig would talk of realignment? The Rays were ready to move to the National League or, at least, the American League Central.

Like most of Selig's pet projects over the years, however, that didn't happen, either. The Rays are still trapped in the AL East with the Yankees and Red Sox, whose payrolls will combine for more than $700-million this season. That's a lot of money to out-think. (Isn't it hard to believe people thought the Yankees' spending might stop when Hal Steinbrenner took over for his dad as principal owner two years ago?)

By now, the Rays should be used to disappointment. Remember, we are talking about a franchise that lost its 1000th game halfway through the '08 season, an impressive figure in less than 11 seasons. We are talking about a team that traded Aubrey Huff, whose 127 RBIs for the Dodgers led the National League last season, for prospects back in '06. We are talking about a team that lost Rocco Baldelli to Boston in free agency last season.

Remember Lou Piniella, the most popular manager the Rays have had? He left for the Mets after the '06 season. Not to say Piniella got out of town in a hurry, but construction crews are still trying to remove the skid marks from 16th Street.

Then there were the stadium wars. For a year, the Rays talked about moving to a new stadium in Ybor City, near the junction of I-275 and I-4. The voters shot that down. There was a study to talk about expanding the old Al Lang Stadium into a new park with a retractable roof. That didn't succeed, either.

There also was talk the team might play in the Yankees' old home. In the end, however, Naimoli decided it was better to play in legendary Tropicana Field than in tropical Legends Field.

For a while, back in '08, there were rumors the Rays might even relocate, but that was before the old Marlins - now known as the Bandits - beat them to Las Vegas.

Successes? There have been few. Some say that since former shortstop B.J. Upton was moved to left to join Carl Crawford and Delmon Young, the Rays have the finest outfield in the league. However, there have been recent reports Crawford, a four-time All-Star, might be traded to the Astros for prospects.

Does that sound familiar? It should. If circumstances never change, promises aren't likely to be delivered. Everything that plagued the Rays five years ago, and 10 years ago, remains true today.

Looking back, did you really believe things would change by this year? When you consider the economics of the sport, the strength of the American League East, the payroll of the team, the emptiness in the stands, the absence of tradition, the familiarity of ownership, how could they?

Could the Rays have been smarter, richer, luckier? Sure.

How much would it have changed things? Well, third is a nice place to finish. Ninety victories sounds good. Either might have helped justify the latest ticket hike.

Here in the future, some things change. The hockey shutdown is over. O.J. Simpson finally caught the real killer. Jose Canseco and his wife, Jennifer Lopez, have their new reality series: J-Lo Loves J-Co.

As for the Rays? They're still struggling.

In 2015, however, things may be different. Just you wait.

[Last modified March 9, 2005, 04:40:40]