That’s the wrong question. Stop asking it.
The question no longer is whether the Tampa Bay Rays are for real. It’s how did they get so good, so fast?
How did they become one of the best teams in the major leagues after a decade going nowhere, including a 66-96 finish in 2007, when they dropped few hints about their upcoming turnaround?
Also, please forget asking whether the Rays can hold up with Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria and Troy Percival on the disabled list. They answered that by continuing to win series — seven in a row entering this weekend’s meeting with the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, including a just-completed near-sweep of the powerful Los Angeles Angels.
During that series, the Angels paid their respects to the Rays.
“They have a lot of young guys, they play hard every night and they can taste the playoffs,” right-hander Jon Garland, traded by the White Sox to the Angels, told the Los Angeles Times. “They’re gunning for it. They want it bad.”
With a five-game playoff cushion and 36 games left to play, the Rays should get their playoff spot. They have a chance to become the first team in professional sports to have the best record in its league one year having the worst record.
The keys to getting there, in order of significance, were:
1. Realizing they were going nowhere unless they overhauled the infield defense and the bullpen.
Game-winning hits are so dramatic because more often than not teams win by stopping rallies, not creating them. The one true way to improve is to do a better job getting outs, especially big outs. The Rays are doing that (opponents’ batting average with men in scoring position: .309 in 2007, .241 in ’08).
The Rays scored enough runs to compete a year ago but allowed 944 runs, 131 more than any American League team with a winning record. Brendan Harris was one of the most productive shortstops in the league, finishing behind only Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada and Michael Young in OPS, but was essentially out of position, lacking the range and sure hands for shortstop.
Third-year general manager Andrew Friedman said his analysis midway through 2007 told him it was time to focus on “run prevention.”
Drawing on the input of hired mentor Gerry Hunsicker, Friedman started the ball rolling on a pitching-and-defense improvement by dealing Ty Wigginton to Houston for set-up man Dan Wheeler a little more than a year ago. He subsequently signed Percival and lefty Trever Miller as free agents. Manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Jim Hickey converted J.P. Howell from fringe starter into a valuable bullpen lefty.
“The Wheeler trade was the first move we made that way,” Friedman said Thursday. “That’s when things really shifted for us.”
2. Cutting ties with Lou Piniella.
For all his success with the Cubs and previously, Piniella was the wrong man for the job when he went to Tampa Bay in 2004. His decision to leave after ’05, with one year left on his contract, was the right one for all parties concerned.
3. Hiring Maddon.
At 51 and after 12 seasons as bench coach in Anaheim, the last six working alongside Mike Scioscia, Maddon was as ready to run a club as a first-time manager can be. He is a creative thinker, which is vital when running an underfinanced team in a division that includes the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and he combines enthusiasm and patience in just the right amounts.
Unlike Piniella or another experienced manager, Maddon was willing to suffer along with young starters Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine. Those two (11-25, 5.81 in 2007) are 22-14 with a 4.18 ERA this season, doing their share in the Rays’ jump from last to second in the AL in staff ERA. Give Maddon and his coaches credit for developing those two, along with No. 2 starter James Shields.
He also has made his mark as a strategist, most notably intentionally walking Josh Hamilton with the bases loaded in the ninth inning Sunday.
“This is what he does,” Brian Anderson, the former big-league left-hander who is now a helper on Tampa Bay’s coaching staff, told the St. Petersburg Times. “He’s not afraid. That’s the thing I love about watching him manage.”
4. The nerve to trade Delmon Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft, at age 22.
Friedman put the pitching-and-defense commitment into action with the six-player deal that sent Young to Minnesota for starter Matt Garza and defense-first shortstop Jason Bartlett. Bill Smith, the rookie Twins general manager, got his lunch handed to him in this trade. It also made life easier for Maddon, as Young and Elijah Dukes (traded to Washington) were unpopular with veteran teammates.
“It’s not a case that I was looking to trade Delmon Young,” Friedman said. “But if we were going to, we were going to address the two areas that were most important to us — pitching and defense.”
Garza has joined Scott Kazmir, Shields, Jackson and Sonnanstine to give the lightly regarded Rays better starting pitching than the Red Sox and Yankees.
5. Stanford’s Greg Reynolds beating Washington’s Tim Lincecum and California’s Brandon Morrow in showcase matchups before the 2006 draft.
The Colorado Rockies, picking second behind Kansas City, had been expected to draft Long Beach State’s Longoria but decided to go with Reynolds instead. The Rays were thrilled to get Longoria with the third pick, behind Luke Hochevar and Reynolds. Longoria needed only 205 minor-league games to reach the big leagues and was hitting .278 with 22 homers when he went on the disabled list Aug. 8 with a broken right wrist. He hopes to be back in early September.
Longoria is considered a Gold Glove-caliber third baseman. He allowed 2007 signee Akinori Iwamura to move from third to second, where he has committed only four errors while turning 85 double plays, third among big-league second basemen.
6. Carlos Pena finally proving scouts right.
A first-round pick by Texas in 1998, Pena had passed through five organizations (most recently Boston and the Yankees) before signing a minor-league contract with Tampa Bay after the 2006 season. He went to camp with no guarantees but wound up hitting 46 home runs and driving in 128 runs — the kind of performance Carlos Quentin is turning in for the Sox.
Pena hasn’t been nearly as productive this season (.238-25-73) but he has been hot since the All-Star break. His presence in the middle of the lineup made it easier for Friedman to deal Young.
7. Though anything but a quick fix, the amateur draft working as it was designed to work — as an equalizer for weak teams.
Because teams can’t trade picks or lose those in the top half of the first round as free-agent compensation, a perennial weakling like Tampa Bay will accrue picks by the bushel basket. The Rays picked in the top four eight times in a decade, with those picks producing B.J. Upton and Longoria, in addition to Garza and Bartlett (for Young).
Left-hander David Price, the first pick overall in 2007, is acing his first full season (11-1, 2.15 ERA among three levels) and may yet contribute before this season is over. Jeff Niemann, the Rays’ first-rounder in 2004, has been slowed by injuries but adds depth to the system.
8. Understanding the value of gristle.
Once one of the best closers in the majors, Percival had retired before making a comeback with St. Louis in 2007. He pitched well enough to enter the mind of Maddon, who had shared a clubhouse with him in Anaheim and knew he could be a valuable resource for an unproven pitching staff.
Friedman put together a creative deal: two years, $8 million plus the sweetener of a “vintage car,” playing to Percival’s passion for hot-rodding. The 39-year-old closer has gone 27-for-30 in save situations while providing valuable leadership. Veterans Cliff Floyd and Eric Hinske have also been nice additions.
9. Valuing your ace.
Next to perhaps Crawford, none of the Rays has gone through more growing pains than Kazmir. Former Tampa Bay GM Chuck LaMar stole Kazmir from the New York Mets in a deal for the lesser of the pitching Zambranos (Victor) at the trade deadline in 2004. Kazmir’s talent was wasted on last-place teams, but Friedman wasn’t about to move him in the kind of quantity-for-quality trades he was approached with the last two off-seasons.
10. Getting the name right.
After the worst decade ever for an expansion team (645-972), Tampa Bay’s second ownership group decided before the 2008 season to call the team the Rays, not the Devil Rays. The team’s turnaround has surely provided interesting conversation for Tampa’s vibrant evangelical Christian community. But viewed from any perspective, there’s no arguing that a new day has dawned.
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progers@tribune.com
