MLB: Florida Baseball Dominance Could be Here to Stay

Most teams in divisions with perennial superpowers such as the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Phillies and Braves go into the season with tempered expectations.

The low-spending Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins enter play today in first place in the AL and NL East, respectively. They have gotten there the only way small market teams know, with almost exclusively homegrown talent.

Tampa Bay is a year ahead of schedule as an organization. Many experts saw this team as one that could contend for years to come, starting in 2009, not in 2008.

The biggest difference between this Rays team and teams from the past is in their pitching. Starters James Shields and Scott Kazmir (when healthy) have been exceptional. Edwin Jackson has given this team a third starter they did not know they had going in to the season.

The bullpen, normally horrendous, has been dominant. The addition of Troy Percival (possibly the most underrated signing of the off season) has led to better performances from Al Reyes, and Dan Wheeler, who currently leads the league in holds.

The everyday lineup features substantial "in-house" talent. Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton are all 26 years old or younger and appear primed for All-Star invites for the next 10 years.

The Florida Marlins finished yet another off-season fire sale, dealing Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit for prospects, including Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller. In losing Cabrera and Willis, the Fins also lost their franchise's two most identifiable stars.

Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla have given the fans (all 12 of them) something to talk about for the present and the future. While the pitching and defense has been suspect thus far, the bats have kept this team rolling. Mike Jacobs, Jeremy Hermida, Josh Willingham, Uggla and Han-Ram form one of the NL's best lineups as well as one of it's youngest.

Waiting in the wings is Cameron Maybin, a 21-year-old, five-tool talent who gave fans a sample of what he can do last year while up with Detroit, turning around a Roger Clemens fastball for a  home run at Yankee Stadium.

The Sunshine State should get used to seeing good baseball. Both teams appear committed to winning, a departure from old practice. Florida extended Hanley Ramirez earlier this week, while Tampa Bay committed to Evan Longoria after just a few weeks in the majors.

This season could be one that fans and players point to as the season where the power shifted. In the AL East, the Yankees and Red Sox still loom large. However, their young talent, as a whole, appears to be a step or two behind the youth movement in Tampa Bay.

In the NL East, the Mets, Braves and Phillies are flawed teams. The Mets, after Johan Santana, are unsure what they are getting from the starters, and appear to still be in a lull from last season's epic collapse. The John Smoltz question needs to be answered in Atlanta, and Ryan Howard and Brett Myers need to revert to the ways of old if they hope to contend.

For fans in Florida, 2008 appears to be the dawning of a new era in Major League Baseball.