The Next Hope

When you're in the number four slot of the draft you can probably use several things. This is true of the TWSL Tampa Bay Rays. One large area of need was first base and trying to guess what the three picks ahead of Tampa would be was largely futile. As the draft commenced the first pick was Brett Lawrie. Fine young player and there would have been room for him in Tampa, but he was now gone so scratch him off of the list. The Angels sat in the number two slot and they had a tough decision. They had some nice pieces so were they going to go for the most help in this seasons draft or go for the future? With Konerko still manning first base Eric Hosmer wasn't the best fit. Pairing ace starting pitcher Justin Verlander with Michael Pineda certainly looked tempting. With Nyjer Morgan as the long term Center Field option the Angels decided to go with Mike Trout to hopefully lock down that position for the next decade. One pick left before the Rays turn and that pick belonged to St. Louis. The Cardinals had options at first base with youngsters Ike Davis and Justin Smoak. Although Second Baseman Dustin Ackley could have been a good fit, the Cardinals just loved the potential of starting pitcher Matt Moore and didn't hesitate to take him. Now with the Rays turn to select, welcome Eric Hosmer.

Eric Hosmer was the third overall selection in the 2008 Major League Draft, straight out of High School in Plantation, Florida he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals. In 272 minor league games Hosmer smacked 29 homers with an overall .312 batting average. In 2011 Eric began the season in AAA Omaha. After 26 games Hosmer was hitting .439 so the Royals decided he was ready for the big leagues. In 128 games with the Royals Hosmer batted .293 with 19 home runs. Just for good measure he added 11 stolen bases to his stat line.

Now you hear raves about Eric, things like "the sky's the limit", "unlimited potential", ...can be an "elite player" and now as an owner I want to believe it. We're talking about a 22 year old who is 6'4" 230 pounds and he can hit, field and run. I want to believe that here's a player who will eventually put 30 homers in the middle of my lineup and he'll be a mainstay for the next 10 years. That's the dream but the reality has to play itself out. We've all seen rookies shine like meteors and just like those brilliant flashes of light they would just burn out and crash.

All I can really be sure about is what Hosmer will give me for this season. He will be a dangerous hitter with some power, good defender and provide some base running ability. What he won't be is the final piece of the puzzle that puts Tampa Bay into the TWSL playoffs this season. I feel fortunate to have been able to draft him, now we'll have to wait and see how both Eric and the Rays develop.

Two sides of the coin

Tampa Bay inherits two very young, very gifted outfielders who each had distinctly different 2011 seasons. Justin Upton first appeared as a teenage phenom for Arizona in 2007. In 2011 Upton demonstrated where his talents can take him by pounding 31 homers to go along with 21 steals. He was named to his second N.L. All-Star team and earned the Silver Slugger Award for his efforts. Jason Heyward debuted as a twenty year old and had an All-Star 2010 season with the promise of better things to come. Well 2011 was far from what many had pictured for Heyward. First came the nagging injuries, which led to altering his approach to the plate and the next thing you know the season is over and the final stats were not pretty. As the 2012 season approaches I feel pretty good having these two in the Rays clubhouse. Being an optimist I would like to think that I have 10 years of production ahead of me from this outfield duo. If Justin and Jason can both put together strong campaigns in 2012, the middle of the Tampa Bay lineup will be looking pretty good.

Rays Double Play Combo

It helps your pitching staff so much when you can catch the ball, especially when you can catch the ball in the middle of the diamond. The Rays have a duo that does a pretty solid job in that area with Shortstop J.J. Hardy and Second baseman Ben Zobrist. J.J.'s fielding percentage placed him second in the league at the Shortstop position, committing just six errors on the season. Meanwhile, Ben Zobrist matched that error total while covering a lot of ground at second base. Together the duo combined for 50 home runs in 2011, so the Rays feel comfortable with that foundation backing up the pitching staff.

Rays Starting Rotation

With a manager new to the TWSL the Rays head into the the draft with six starting pitchers. From L-R:

Daniel Hudson - Madison Bumgarner - Bud Norris - Jake Peavy - Fausto Carmona - Paul Maholm

This collection of arms may not have the sizzle of some of the bigger names but there is some steak on the plate. Together these pitchers combined for 173 starts in 2011 as Hudson and Bumgarner led the way with 33 starts each. With an influx of health from Peavy, Tampa Bay may be fairly decent at the position moving forward. At this moment, Fausto Carmona and his false identity penalty scenario hasn't played out, so his availability for the coming year is in limbo. The Rays will need to rely on their arms because this current edition doesn't appear to be a juggernaut capable of generating many runs in 2011.