Was thinking about what it would take for Tampa to finally get over the hump and make the playoffs and came up with some things:
1.) The development of Tim Alderson and/or Cyril O'Reilly into actual pitchers who get ERAs below 6. With Alderson, this is something that I feel should have happened already and will hopefully happen this season. I feel that O'Reilly is a lost cause, but I hope to be proven wrong.
2.) The progression of OF Brian Ragira into a starting-caliber player before mid-season, so that I may play him, and the hopeful development of Aurelio Velasco (AAA 1Bman with major potential, big part of the Morneau deal, who just REFUSES to develop). Pretty self-explanatory: gain some talent, maybe allow me to move a guy or two.
3.) The resuscitation of C/1B/3B Luke Bailey's contact talent back to 8. I don't recall if his contact talent was 9 or 8 (fairly sure it was 9), but I will be happy with a bump up to 8 so that he may develop further contact against right-handers. After all, I did deal Peavy for him, a pitcher who I know will continue to perform at a high level, and I hope that Bailey will progress up to a level where I can say that I've made a good trade. Not that it's a bad trade now, the way things are, but I am hoping for some more.
4.) Jake Turker. His progression throughout the season has been undeniable; in fact, it's been nearly identical to Tampa ace and Cy Young contender David Price's 1st season in the bigs, when he started out extremely poorly and finished well. I'm hoping Turner follows Price's path to success.
5.) The development of lesser-tiered prospects like MR/OF Anthony Gose (who actually went down in talent this season), 1B/3B Theo Eppstein (bastard), and OF Hugh G. Dick into good role/bench players or perhaps even starters. I have found depth to be the difference in simply making it to the playoffs and actually winning a championship, and I would like to continue building from the inside even when it comes to depth.
6.) The acquisition of a real power threat. I'm hoping to combine two players at the ML level (guys like Helickson, Volstad, O'Reilly, Bridges, possibly Longoria and perhaps McCann) in a deal (potentially adding a prospect, depends on the return) in order to acquire a big-time power threat to bat 4th behind Kaenie or 5th behind Skipworth (who I'm hoping gets a contact boost to go up to the original 8 that he had when I acquired him). The ability to draw walks (at least 60-70 a season) is a must, and if this player was not a complete liability in the field would not adversely affect my opinion of him. Finally, avoid Ks is probably my 2nd favorite rating in OOTP (behind eye), and a high (above 6) number in that would be a plus.
7.) Continued progress in the bullpen. Nevius and Hidalgo have shown excellent progress the past 2 seasons and they are clearly my numbers 1 and 2 in the pen. Howell did great this past season, though I don't know if I can count on him as a number 3 guy because of his lack of effectiveness (ratings-wise) against righties. Ideally, Tim Alderson would be my number 3 guy; however, he made no progress in performance this season so I can't count on him. Look for a trade or possibly a FA signing if I have any money to resolve this situation.
Please contribute your own, I would love to hear what people around the league think about their teams!