Division by Division Preview: AL East

should be given an extended look in the seventh inning, and Percival should be his mentor. The kid has the stuff; he is just erratic and could probably use a positive role model.

This is not the Rays strongest area but, as I mentioned, they have the depth in the minor league system to make moves. I wonder how long the Rocks hang on to Fuentes?

Offensively the Rays have enormous potential.

Navarro is on the cusp of great things in my opinion and should really help the team develop. It is only a matter of time before Evan Longoria is the everyday guy at the hot corner. While he may be a year or two from being David Wright, he’s infinitely better than what the Rays had at the position in 2007.

In fact, Longoria’s presence and the addition of Bartlett will make the Rays infield solid both defensively and offensively. Also look for Crawford and Upton to be among the best outfielders (again both defensively and offensively) in the American League.

 

Breakout Candidate: Dioner Navarro

I wrote about him at length at Baseball Digest Daily, and my opinion still stands. Navarro is having an excellent spring and looks to be ready to build off of a solid 2007 second half.

 

Major Addition: Matt Garza

The Rays haven’t had the best luck developing starting pitchers, and Garza has the ability to be an ace. He will be the number three guy in Tampa and won’t be relied on heavily to contribute what he is capable of doing.

 

Major Subtraction: Rocco Baldelli/Elijah Dukes

It sounds as if Rocco’s career is over, and he wasn’t that much assistance in 2007, but the team was counting on him to help in the outfield in 2008. In fact, I ascertain that much of the reason the Rays were willing to let Dukes go (personality issues aside) was the thinking that the outfield would be too crowded in 2008.

 

2. Toronto Blue Jays

Hopefully my analysis of the Rays saved me to this point, but hear me out.

The Jays suffered a lot of major injuries and under-performance in 2007, yet only finished 13 games out of first in the league. Comparatively, the Red Sox had an essentially perfect season and only

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