Who's In
2B Jorge Cantu 3.5 stars
1B Chase Ulrich 5.0 spect stars
SP Kyle Waldrop 4.0 spect stars
OF Richard Hidalgo 1.5 stars
C Ramon Castro 2.0 stars
C Yorvit Torrealba 2.5 stars
SP Jon Garland 2.5 stars
CF Wily Mo Pena 3.0 stars
LF Daren McNeil 3.5 spect stars
IF D'Angelo Jimenez 2.0 stars
SP/MR Jaret Wright 2.5 stars

Who's Out
SP Chris Mason 4.5 spect stars
SP James Houser 5.0 spect stars
OF Michael Alber 3.5 spect stars
OF Rocco Baldelli 2.5 stars
RP/SP Romelio Lopez 5.0/2.5 spect stars
SP/MR Seth McClung 2.5 stars
C Carlos Ruiz 2.0 stars

OUTLOOK
Optimism is high for the first time in the Rays' 12-year history. Tampa Bay has never had a winning season in its short existence. The D Rays are 0-for-11 in that category and haven't even come close. So why should expectations be relatively high in such a tough division? The Rays feature a core of young and talented players and should be ready to contend in the near future, especially with a lineup that should be vastly improved and score plenty of runs in Tropicana Field.



Lineup
1. CF Carl Crawford 3.0 stars 8-8-5-3-7 (9-9-6-6-7) 27 yrs old
Last season: .307 (5th in AL), 9 HR, 81 RBI, 71 SB (4th), 211 hits (2nd), 14 3B (4th)
2. RF James Poulin 5.0 prospect stars 9-6-7-9-6 (9-7-8-10-6) 25 yrs old
Last season: the minors
3. LF Delmon Young 3.0 stars 8-7-7-6-8 (9-8-8-7-8) 23 yrs old
Last season: .276, 19 HR, 84 RBI, .798 OPS
4. 2B Jorge Cantu 3.5 stars 8-7-9-4-7 (8-8-10-4-6) 27 yrs old
Last season: .282, 25 HR, 97 RBI, .826 OPS
5. 3B Ryan Zimmerman 3.0 stars 8-8-7-7-6 (8-7-9-8-6) 24 yrs old
Last season: .276, 13 HR, 74 RBI, 34 2B
6. DH Wily Mo Pena 3.0 stars 6-7-9-6-4 (6-7-10-6-4) 27 yrs old
Last season: .277, 31 HR (9th), 94 RBI, .867 OPS (8th), .511 SLG (5th)
7. SS Khalil Greene 2.5 stars 7-8-8-4-5 (8-9-9-5-6) 29 yrs old
Last season: .250, 23 HR, 88 RBI, .730 OPS, 37 2B
8. 1B Wes Bankston 3.0 prospect stars 5-7-9-6-4 (5-7-8-7-4) 25 yrs old
Last season: 31 HR in 92 games in AAA, 11 HR and .827 OPS in 62 games in MLB
9. C Yorvit Torrealba 2.5 stars 6-5-5-5-6 (6-6-6-6-6) 30 yrs old
Last year: .304, 7 HRs, .882 OPS in 44 games

Bench
C Ramon Castro 2.5 stars 5-7-7-5-4 (7-6-7-7-5) 33 yrs old
1B Ryan Shealy 1.0 stars 7-6-7-6-5 (8-6-7-6-6) 29 yrs old
IF D'Angelo Jimenez 2.0 stars 6-8-4-8-6 (7-8-4-7-6) 30 yrs old
OF Ryan Church 2.5 stars 7-8-6-6-5 (7-8-7-7-6) 30 yrs old
OF Richard Hidalgo 1.5 stars 5-8-7-6-5 (6-8-8-6-5) 33 yrs old


Part II: The Pitchers coming later...namely when I get home from school.