Tampa Bay Rays: 5 Things Rays Must Change in Offseason

The Tampa Bay Rays got off to one of the rockiest starts at the beginning of the 2011 season.

The team started the season losing six straight games and struggled to put runs on the board.

Newly acquired Manny Ramirez, who was sure to be a Hall of Famer before the season started, was irrelevant and was unable to contribute anything to the Rays offense.

As quick as Ramirez's tenure with the Rays had begun, it came to an end, after it was discovered that he had failed a urine test and he decided to retire instead of serve the lengthy suspension.

After Ramirez's retirement, the Rays' play began to improve and they were able to finish the month of April with a 15-12 record.

At one point, the Rays were leading the division and looked to give the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees a run for their money.

However, the Rays' impressive play soon diminished as the team just could not keep up with the Red Sox and Yankees.

Although Tampa was able to win a good chunk of their games, both Boston and New York got hot in the middle of the summer and the Rays were only mediocre.

Now with only a month left in the season, Tampa finds themselves nine-and-a-half games back in the AL East and on the brink of elimination.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the offseason and here are five things they need to do in able to return to their winning ways.

Sign Younger Free Agents

The two biggest offseason signings for the Rays this season were Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez.

Now, unfortunately for the Rays, Ramirez did not pan out so well for the team as he failed a urine sample and decided to retire. Damon has played well this season, but it has not been enough to keep the Rays competitive alongside the Red Sox and Yankees.

The problem for the Rays is that they do not have the money to spend on big-name free agents like the division leaders do.

Each year it seems like some of the best players the Rays have on the roster are sent elsewhere because they cannot afford to keep them around and last offseason was no different.

The team said goodbye to a big part of their power in Carlos Pena as well as a talented pitcher in Matt Garza.

This offseason, it will be interesting to see what the team does with center fielder BJ Upton, who was granted a one-year contract via arbitration, but the $6.5-7 million he is owed may be too much for the Rays to pay.

If the Rays are going to improve from this season, they need to stop signing veterans who are at the end of their career. Players who were once highly sought-after a few years back are no longer where they were in the prime of their career.

Damon is still a competitive player, but his statistics have been decreasing every year for the past few years. Since 2008, Damon's batting average, on-base percentage and on-base plus slugging percentage have all diminished.

Yes, the Rays cannot afford to go after the Carl Crawfords and Adrian Gonzalezes that are available in free agency each year.

But, they could go after those players that are not the top players, but are still talented and still have a lot of time left in their career and a lot to contribute.

More Power in the Lineup

In the offseason, the Rays lost a lot of power from their lineup.

First baseman Carlos Pena was signed by the Chicago Cubs, while left fielder Carl Crawford had one of the biggest paydays in the offseason with the Boston Red Sox.

The Rays tried to fill the power void with aging veterans in Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon and Casey Kotchman.

The Rays thought they had found the answer to their power in Matt Joyce, who got off to a hot start in the month of May with a .414 batting average and seven home runs. Joyce did a nice job batting cleanup behind Evan Longoria, who was trying to get back into a groove after an oblique injury.

However, Joyce's hot streak quickly ended as the month ended and he had an awful June and July, finishing with a combined .178 batting average and only six home runs.

His home run total slipped again in August as he only registered two home runs for the entire month.

Joyce was not the only one who struggled to hit the long ball as Longoria also struggled with power and could not get to double-digit home runs per month until August. Longoria has missed 52 games this season due to injury and has not been able to return to the 33-HR season he had in 2009

In able for Tampa Bay to keep up with the powerhouses that are the Yankees and Red Sox, they need to go out and find a player, whether through free agency or their farm system, that can hit for power consistently, as Carlos Pena did while with the team.

They will not be able to stay competitive only putting up one or two runs a game.

Run Support

If you took a look at the league leaders in runs, the Rays were right in the middle at 14th with 593 runs.

Having middle-of-the-pack run support is not terrible, but compared to the Yankees and Red Sox, who ranked No. 1 and 2 respectively, it won't cut it.

Both teams have scored over 150 more runs than the Rays and have pulled away in the standings.

On average, the Rays score 4.26 runs a game, while the Yankees and Red Sox both average one run more a game.

The only way a team could win on an average of four runs a game is if they had stellar pitching, which unfortunately the Rays bullpen does not (we'll get to that later).

The Rays also rank in the top half of the league in strikeouts, several times with runners in scoring position.

In able for Tampa to improve their runs per game, the Rays need to improve their plate discipline.

Another solution is to improve the atrocious bullpen, which brings us to...

Find Better Setup Pitchers in the Bullpen

Kyle Farnsworth, the Rays' current closer, has been one of the bright spots in the team's bullpen. So far this season, the 35-year-old has put together a 5-1 record, 23 saves and has the lowest ERA on the team at 1.87.

The only problem with this is Farnsworth has been the only bright spot in the Rays bullpen.

Not counting Farnsworth, no one in the bullpen has an ERA below three.

With a team that struggles to put runs on the board, giving up more than three runs a game is a recipe for disaster.

One of the prime examples of the team's struggles is JP Howell. The 28-year-old put together one of the worst three-month stretches on the team, with an ERA of 9.34 for May, June and July.

The Rays have a talented starting rotation, with David Price, James Shields and emerging star Jeremy Hellickson, but unfortunately they cannot throw complete games every outing.

When the staff decides to hand the ball over to the bullpen, there was a very good chance this season that their lead would decrease or their deficit would increase.

Luckily for the Rays, they have a lot of young talent in their farm system that will hopefully be ready to take their game to the next level this offseason and improve the team's bullpen next year.

Prospects, combined with some veterans added during free agency, could finally take the Rays to where they need to be when it comes to pitching. 

Change of Venue?

Every time I watch the Rays on TV, I can't help but notice that the fans are scarce on a regular basis at Tropicana Field.

Although it can be seen as an excuse to blame a team's play on the attendance around them, the amount of fans could have very well affected how well the Rays played this season.

A reason for such a low attendance season after season is that a bulk of the Rays fanbase is located in Tampa, which is a good 30- to 45-minute drive to the stadium.

Now that isn't a lot, but making that trip several times over the course of a summer can add up over time. The other problem is the fact that Tropicana Field is not much of an attraction to begin with.

The low attendance is one of the main reasons the Rays cannot hang onto their top players because they cannot afford to pay them, Carl Crawford being the latest victim last offseason.

If the Rays were to relocate, possibly to Tampa, their attendance would most likely improve and their player budgets would increase, allowing them to go after big-name free agents instead of signing aging veterans who are at the end of their careers.

Even with a cheaper roster than most teams, the Rays are still hurting to make money and could soon be forced to relocate, maybe outside of the state of Florida.

A change needs to be made quickly while the Rays can still control their own destiny. A simple change of venue could lead to an improvement in play and bring back another contender in the AL East.