With 2008 in the rear-view mirror, and the Tampa Bay Rays the newest force to be reckoned with in the Majors, naysayers are still lining up around the block to discount the Ray's chances at making the postseason once again.

The trendy worry...workload.

The spectre of the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox is often invoked when trying to explain the reasons that a staff being too good. Being overworked can spell disaster the next year.

Which I understand mind you, but it's apples to oranges when you look closer.

The similarities are there if you look; Both staffs had four starters with 30+ starts and 180+ innings.

Also, both teams pitched into the World Series.

That's about where the similarities end.

The White Sox had a staff with an average age of 30.6, whereas the Tampa Bay Rays are sporting a spry young average age of 25.6 among their starting rotation this year.

The only pitcher to experience a heavy change in workload from '07 to '08 on the Rays was Matt Garza (Going from 83 IP to 184 IP); Granted, the only pitcher to receive a boost in workload among the '05 White Sox was Jose Contreras (from 74 IP to 204 IP).

However, all three of the other starters who started 30+ games for the White Sox in '05 had 200+ IP at least four seasons!

These were by no means fresh arms.

Down the stretch, people expected the Tampa Bay Rays to implode on themselves since the arms hadn't pitched that long before (Which was wrong since Shields and Kazmir had both pitched 200+ innings the year before).

The Rays overcame, and went on to win the American League Pennant.

Whether the talk starts in May, June, July, August, or September, sports writers and skeptics around the Majors will count out this rotation for the exact opposite reason they counted them out last year.

They've been their before, too recently.

In this writers opinion...don't believe the hype.