Guest AuthorNo end-of-the-year compilation of stories would be complete in Florida without including what is fast-becoming Florida’s favorite team to watch (mostly on television), the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays are the only team to have more than 90 wins during the past four seasons of Major League Baseball and made the playoffs again this year.
What a great year it was for the Rays despite an injury to their star pitcher, David Price, who ended up with just 10 wins following his Cy Young campaign of 2012.
By New Year’s Day, we will be just 45 days from pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training and the No. 1 question in the baseball world is, “Will David Price be in Port Charlotte for the Rays or will he be lacing up his cleats for another team?”
I believe Price stays. There are many who say the Rays have to move Price because he’s going to be too expensive. He’s in an arbitration year and likely to make about $13 million in 2014 after making $10 million in 2013.
Some say that is too expensive for the Rays, who historically have had a total team salary of less than $70 million (it was less than $50 million in the World Series appearance year of 2008). But, the Rays know a bargain when they see one and they have Price under contract for both the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Some say Price’s trade value will never be higher. I disagree. If he wins 20 games and the Rays play deep into the playoffs, his trade value will be much higher. Even at the trade deadline in 2015, we have seen teams on the cusp of the playoffs rent a talent like Price for their post-season run and pay a ransom in prospects.
The Rays are likely to move Price only if they get major league-ready prospects. The Cleveland Indians said the week before Christmas that the asking price by the Rays was too high and that they couldn’t “rent” Price for that exchange of talent. If major league teams are looking at a two-year contract as a “rental,” the Rays will not get the talent they need for Price.
Plus, the Rays need a new stadium and the way to get it is to win a World Series. They have the team to do it with Price. Without him, the Rays may again be a 90-win team, but they likely will not go deep into the playoffs.
When pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 14, expect David Price to be in Port Charlotte.
PREDICTION: If Price, Evan Longoria and Wil Myers stay healthy in 2014, the Rays not only go to the World Series but win it! Happy New Year, Rays fans!
