Tampa Bay Rays' Inactivity Not Sitting Well with Fan Base

They cringed at Cliff Lee moving to the Land of Cheesesteaks. They gritted their teeth as Jarrod Washburn was sent to the Tigers. They fumed when the Marlins—THE MARLINS—made a move and acquired Nick Johnson. What really set them off, though, was when the hated Boston Red Sox acquired Cleveland catcher Victor Martinez.

For the second straight deadline, a player Tampa Bay had focused on went to Beantown. The rub? The price tag wasn't even that much. Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Bryan Price...not even their top prospects.

So basically for the Tampa Bay Rays—it came down to money...again.

Hindsight is 20-20 but let's go on the fantasy train.

Let's say Tampa Bay decided to give up Jeff Niemann and another set of prospects to Pittsburgh for Jason Bay in 2008. Not only would they have the right-handed bat and solution in right field, but they would not have had a need for their biggest free agent bust since Vinny Castilla (called "Cash Stealla" by the fans), Pat Burrell.

That money could have been placed toward the closer they are missing and still have the flexibility to add Martinez to the lineup.

Imagine that lineup...

SS Jason Bartlett

LF Carl Crawford

RF Jason Bay

3B Evan Longoria

C Victor Martinez

2B Ben Zobrist

1b Carlos Pena

DH Willy Aybar

CF BJ Upton

With Wade Davis filling in Niemann's shoes and Fuentes locking things down.

All for about an extra $5 million in payroll.

Instead Pat Burrell is an auto-out at DH, we have the Gabe show at right field and no legitimate close because the Rays have gone on the cheap.

The fans rancor is definitely understandable, but one just has to remember that Andrew Friedman built this team into the champions they are. While Boston and New York have the extra millions to throw around—it's not really about the money. It's the prospects.

Teams like the Tampa Bay Rays live on their prospects. Without them they are doomed to return to the bottom of the AL East.

So yes, Rays fans, be frustrated as the Red Sox shore up their needs and other teams around the majors make their final tweaks before the stretch run. Get mad that your team decided to sit this one out yet again.

Just remember, the reason you have a team in contention is because the guardians of the Rays minor league system kept the Evan Longoria's and Ben Zobrist's of the world. They have big Jeff Niemann leading the team in wins instead of losing games in Pittsburgh.

Help is still in Durham when the Rays can't afford Carl Crawford and other blossoming players.

Mainly, the only way Tampa Bay will continue to compete with the Red Sox and Yankees is to stay strong in the system.