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Rays have no right to benefit of the doubt

Do you feel better about the Rays today than you did three weeks ago?

By JOHN ROMANO
Published March 20, 2007

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ST. PETERSBURG

They are last in the majors in runs scored. In slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Not to mention home runs, and victories.

Also, apparently, the Devil Rays are last in worries.

No one in management seems concerned Tampa Bay may be on course to have baseball's worst spring training record in, oh, 40 years or so. Players seem convinced they can just flip a switch in April and begin that familiar march to 67 victories.

Not me. I am here to panic. To worry, fret and curse. My sweat is about to flop, and my nerves are on the verge of wracking.

Okay, am I exaggerating the level of concern? Yeah, a little. Is it too soon to wonder if tales of progress have been overstated? Probably.

Even so, stop and ask yourself this question:

Do you feel better about the Rays today than you did three weeks ago?

Spring training is heading into its final days, and we still don't know if there is a closer in the area code. We have seen little of the promise of Akinori Iwamura.

We now have more concerns about B.J. Upton's bat than his glove, and Jonny Gomes appears destined to start the season in Triple A.

The Rays draft pick the world is most excited about?

He now plays for the Reds.

So pardon me if my optimism, like Tampa Bay's offense, is off to a slow start this spring.

"The record would be entirely different had we been swinging the bats better," manager Joe Maddon said, pointing out the positives in pitching and defense.

"So I'm pleased with two-thirds of what we're doing, and I just want us to pick up offensively. We're going to try to get that done starting today. The lineup will play more intact deeper into the game, so we'll see where we're at at that point."

Look, no one really believes there is a direct correlation between a team's spring training record and its fortunes in the regular season.

The Reds won more spring games than anyone last season (22-11), then finished below .500. The White Sox went 14-18 in 2005, and won a World Series.

The problem is the Rays do not simply have a bad record. At 3-16, they have an embarrassing record. Potentially the worst record of any full spring since 1970.

If it were the Red Sox, you might say it was a fluke. If it were the Yankees, you could suggest they were protecting their veteran players.

But when you're talking about the Rays, rationalizations come out sounding more like excuses.

If the Yankees want to doodle during spring training, they've earned the right. You know what Derek Jeter is going to do in the regular season. You know what Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon and Mike Mussina are going to do. They've produced at high levels for a number of years. They have proven themselves.

Whom, among the Rays, can you say that about?

There is Carl Crawford, and then there is a lot of wishful thinking.

You hope Rocco Baldelli remains healthy. You hope Delmon Young is ready. You hope Scott Kazmir's shoulder is not going to be a problem. You hope Jorge Cantu bounces back. You hope Ty Wigginton didn't just have a career year.

So, around here, a slow start in the spring has to be a little more worrisome than anywhere else. It has to make you wonder if it isn't a sign of things to come instead of just a quirk of happenstance.

Pennants may not be won in the spring, but a tone can certainly be set. Lou Piniella was raising Cain when the Cubs were 1-3 earlier this month. Jim Leyland ripped into the Tigers last week when he thought they were acting nonchalant.

Given Tampa Bay's history, don't you think a little more urgency could help?

In the past, we have heard that wins were not the ultimate barometer in the regular season because the Rays were rebuilding. We have heard that they should not be expected to contend because they were so young. Now we hear that the won-loss record doesn't matter because it's only spring training.

At some point, shouldn't results matter?

This is not a suggestion that players be benched or tantrums be thrown, but it is a plea for just a little exasperation. Maybe a touch of annoyance.

This franchise has become far too comfortable with losing. That isn't going to change by tearing up the Grapefruit League, but it also doesn't need to be perpetuated with a lifeless spring effort.

It's possible that I have been conned. That the Rays have lulled me into this sense of doom, and I'll feel foolish when they play .500 ball this season.

All I'm looking for is a sign. A small gesture.

Like, perhaps, getting that spring winning percentage up to .300.

John Romano can be reached at (727) 893-8811 or romano@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 19, 2007, 23:29:21]

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