***OFFICIAL 2018 Tampa Bay Rays MLB Season Thread!***

[PlinkoBuccaneer]

Hi, Buccaneers fans! Our Tampa Bay Rays won't begin their 2018 MLB spring schedule until February 23, but the Rays will host their annual Fan Fest at the Trop in February 10.

Players report to Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte in mid-February, before they start their Spring Training schedule on Friday, February 23.

Rays then begin and play the first of 162 regular season games, as they host the visiting Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field in St. Pete, on Thursday, March 29 at 1:05PM EST.

NO injuries, and GO RAYS!!!!!!

2018 Tampa Ray Rays Fan Fest, Spring Schedule, And Team Websites:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2061267134103905/

https://www.mlb.com/rays/schedule/2018-02

https://www.mlb.com/rays

[Rocker]

**** you.

**** the ownership.

**** any poor tool that continues to support the product put on the field.


I reserve the right to be a fan when relocation/new ownership happens.

This franchise will receive zero support from me and mine until I see proof positive that they give a damn about the fans and fielding a competitive product.



Sorry not sorry, St Pete.

[Kress]

Hard to believe we're approaching spring training already.

And Rocker, it goes both ways. If we all abandon the team, how are they going to manage to invest in a good product? Now if we pack the Trop and they keep selling off assets, that's a different story. But right now we're not holding up our end of the deal.

We bang the table for a better product, but don't show up to watch it. And I'm as guilty as anyone. I can WALK to the Trop from my house. I've been to maybe 2 or 3 games in the past 5 years.

[Mountaineer Buc]

Best I can do right now is help with the ratings on Fox Sports Sun.

I still say a new ballpark will help quite a bit, but the team has got to get serious about not being out of it by the all star break.

That bullpen...

[acmillis]

Best I can do right now is help with the ratings on Fox Sports Sun.

I still say a new ballpark will help quite a bit, but the team has got to get serious about not being out of it by the all star break.

That bullpen...

I disagree. Look at Miami's attendance after they got their new stadium. First year of new stadium they were middle of the pack. Every year since then...bottom 3.

[Phantom Phenom]

I went to Braves game in Marietta(Cobb County) last year. The stadium looks great..

Rays ? not so much

[Teitan]

People hate the Trop, and I get it. If you’re looking for that beautiful stadium that screams spring time and baseball, that’s not your place. For me it does it’s job as a place to watch baseball in Florida. Game won’t be canceled or postponed due to rain, and it’s always a cool 73 degrees or whatever they keep it at.

For me, the location of the Trop is the problem. It’s just not convenient for me to get there. I usually hit between 5-10 games a season. But weeknight games are out for me, I’d never make it in time. I can’t be the only one in that spot. So that severely limits the amount of games available to attend. If I was like Kress and could walk there, honestly, I’d probably go to a ton of games. Or be a total drunk because I can walk to Fergs. Either way..

But it’s certainly hard to see myself hitting that many, if any, games this season. They aren’t putting out a good product, trading away key players for peanuts, etc. It just doesn’t feel worth it to me in this moment. And that’s how supply and demand works. You offer a good product and people will consume it. Not the other way around.

[Rocker]

Hard to believe we're approaching spring training already.

And Rocker, it goes both ways. If we all abandon the team, how are they going to manage to invest in a good product? Now if we pack the Trop and they keep selling off assets, that's a different story. But right now we're not holding up our end of the deal.

We bang the table for a better product, but don't show up to watch it. And I'm as guilty as anyone. I can WALK to the Trop from my house. I've been to maybe 2 or 3 games in the past 5 years.

I get it. That was an emotional response after the news about the Longo deal came out.

The point stands that Sternberg appears uninterested in making the Rays at least a good time. I’m not asking for a dynasty... but the team, the experience, and the venue need major changes before I’m drawn back in. Until then, I’ll catch a few innings on the TV when the mood strikes.

[Kress]

That's the truth. It's not about the quality of the stadium as much as it is the location of it relative to the population. The Trop has more dolphins around it than people. And then there are guys like me who just watch on T.V. regardless. I can record the game, start an hour late, fast forward through the the commercials, and catch up live at the end. It's the problem with modern sports and HDTV.

[pewterpirates]

This is what I posted in the "OFFICIAL 2017 Tampa Bay Rays Season Thread" this time last year:

I'll be SHOCKED if we even are good enough to be a .500 team.

I was right. Granted, they were only off by 1 game (80-82) ... but I stand by this statement even more this season. I'll be shocked if we win 70 games this season.

Something's got to change drastically or this franchise will go back to the Devil Rays days, if we're not already there.

[acmillis]

This is a 100-loss team for sure

[Kress]

**** it. Let's lose 182.

[Ken Carson]

We some how lose out, get to the playoffs as a wildcard and get swept all the way through the World Series.

Still need to find a way to lose 9 more games.

[Nano]

This is what I posted in the "OFFICIAL 2017 Tampa Bay Rays Season Thread" this time last year:

I'll be SHOCKED if we even are good enough to be a .500 team.

I was right. Granted, they were only off by 1 game (80-82) ... but I stand by this statement even more this season. I'll be shocked if we win 70 games this season.

Something's got to change drastically or this franchise will go back to the Devil Rays days, if we're not already there.

I'd be shocked if we won 60 tbh. Who the **** do we even have anymore that makes you want to watch a game? Our pitching sucks cause most of our pitchers miss half the season and our supposed "Ace" hasn't played well since like 2014. Only thing our lineup will do consistently is not score runs.

Maybe Cash will make it more interesting by getting himself ejected from more games this year

[Teitan]

Don’t forget we lost Hickey. That can’t bode well for our pitching.

[Swashy]

https://www.draysbay.com/2018/1//169498 ... -financing

I don't know what to make of this. I've almost reached a point of apathy with the Rays. From AL Champions to a team that couldn't buy a run in a 1-0 game to save its life under Maddon to completely changing our philosophy to the total opposite under Cash and in the process lose every great we've ever had in a collection of middling players. Meanwhile in the stadium conquest Stu's getting blue balls and it looks like Tampa and Hillsborough are gonna have to suck it up and pay the price because Pinellas had neither the business or population base to sufficiently support the team. I wish I could get excited but this has been the most frustrating 10 years I could have ever imagined.

The only thing giving me any hope is that it's not hard to blow this up. We need to do it right. No half measures. Go full ****ing 'Stros and have a team ready for the playoffs by 2020 and ready for the new ballpark. Add a nice TV deal and maybe.... MAYBE we can crack a payroll of $100 million and SOMETIMES retain some talent.

[Swashy]

If this Ybor City ballpark project ever happens then hopefully Jeff Vinik can get his hands dirty somehow and get involved. As a business partner, minority owner, I don't care. It's his city and the Rays are pretty much going to be playing in it. Everything that man touches turns to gold and if the Rays ever associated with him the whole damn thing would turn around for the better. All I can do is pray he gets involved with the team somehow.

[Teitan]

I wish he’d just buy the team. That would be great.

[Bootz2004]

If this Ybor City ballpark project ever happens then hopefully Jeff Vinik can get his hands dirty somehow and get involved. As a business partner, minority owner, I don't care. It's his city and the Rays are pretty much going to be playing in it. Everything that man touches turns to gold and if the Rays ever associated with him the whole damn thing would turn around for the better. All I can do is pray he gets involved with the team somehow.

Tell that to the Storm. Where are they now?

[Bootz2004]

I wish he’d just buy the team. That would be great.

The payroll would be even less. Even still he doesn't have the assets to become majority owner of an MLB franchise.

[DreadNaught]

If this Ybor City ballpark project ever happens then hopefully Jeff Vinik can get his hands dirty somehow and get involved. As a business partner, minority owner, I don't care. It's his city and the Rays are pretty much going to be playing in it. Everything that man touches turns to gold and if the Rays ever associated with him the whole damn thing would turn around for the better. All I can do is pray he gets involved with the team somehow.

Tell that to the Storm. Where are they now?

Yeah dude, Vinik sucks.. Hot take!!!

[Swashy]

Vinik doesn't need to have any ownership stake in the Rays. He's already said he's not buying the team or building the ballpark. But that doesn't mean that he cannot join the team as a chairman that helps in the business decisions of what the Rays are doing, or organizing an even bigger Rays based charity like he has with the Lightning. The dude managed to team up with theBill Gates as part of the renovation project of downtown Tampa.

No matter what way we slice it, Bootz the Rays need a complete and total culture change. Everything you ever needed to know can be summed up in a 2010 interview with Carlos Pena. We forced game 5 with the Texas Rangers and the reporter asked, "Anything you want to say to Rays fans?" "Yeah... show up!!" St Petersburg was a failure and Tampa is not going to be warm to the idea of literally and figuratively paying for the mistakes. At least if Vinik got in on it things no matter how minute it would help things feel different this time and Lightning fans would go to Rays games in droves simply out of loyalty to him. I sure as hell would. But otherwise it's been 10 years of sell low, buy lower with no playoff success outside of the World Series run in 2008. The Rays need a fresh start and so to do the fans.

If we're gonna go all in on the ball park then go all in on the rebuild. Get a 90 win team together built from the farm system and you'll have 25,000 people on a Tuesday night and 36,000 on a weekend. Add a nice TV deal and maybe... just maybe we might be able to crack a $100 million payroll and LEGITIMATELY compete longer than a 3 year window like we did in 2008-2010. The following years were just hanging on for dear life while we still had pitching prospects to burn through.

[bucfanclw]

If this Ybor City ballpark project ever happens then hopefully Jeff Vinik can get his hands dirty somehow and get involved. As a business partner, minority owner, I don't care. It's his city and the Rays are pretty much going to be playing in it. Everything that man touches turns to gold and if the Rays ever associated with him the whole damn thing would turn around for the better. All I can do is pray he gets involved with the team somehow.

Tell that to the Storm. Where are they now?

Good point. I mean, what kind of owner can't pack a stadium for a team that has 4 whole opponents to showcase in a 14 game season?

[Swashy]

Tell that to the Storm. Where are they now?

Good point. I mean, what kind of owner can't pack a stadium for a team that has 4 whole opponents to showcase in a 14 game season?

The Arena League is gonna fold in a couple of years at this rate. If the XFL is even moderately successful then there's not going to be a market for Arena football anymore

[Phantom Phenom]

Brewers called Rays asking about Archer.

[Swashy]

Brewers called Rays asking about Archer.

lol probably for cash and their 3rd ranked shortstop

[Phantom Phenom]

Rays stadium tidbit

http://www.wtsp.com/news/investigations ... /513676806

[Mountaineer Buc]

Devil Rays throwbacks for four games this year.

https://twitter.com/TBTimes_Rays/status/961256645316751360




Personally, I always liked these...

[Teitan]

Rays acquire CJ Cron from Angels. Corey Dickerson DFA to make room.

Done with this team.

[Crocaneers]

Per Rays Twitter.. I liked Jake. I also thought I was a fan, but this fire sale sucks


We've acquired minor league INF Jermaine Palacios from the Twins in exchange for RH Jake Odorizzi.

Palacios batted .296/.333/.454 between Class-A Cedar Rapids and Class-A Fort Myers last year. https://t.co/o73aTE0Do3