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SI at Spring Training: Devil Rays
Posted: Friday February 18, 2000 05:53 PM As spring training camps open up, Sports Illustrated's baseball writers will be checking in with updates. On Feb. 18, CNNSI.com caught up with Jeff Pearlman in St. Petersburg, Fla., where he's covering the Devil Rays. CNNSI.com: I know you've only spent a day with the team, but what are your first impressions? Pearlman: Well, you can't tell how good they're going to be from one day. But it was blatantly, blatantly obvious that this team is a more fun team. Last year it was just grim. It was horrible. Coming to spring training was not fun and the attitude wasn't great. Players know when they're on a good team and when they're not on a good team and everyone knew last year this team wasn't so hot.
A good indicator is that their manager, Larry Rothschild, who can be a somewhat surly interview, was great. He was great, he was excited, he said he was excited about this team. He thinks this is clearly the best group he's had. He knows they have a good chance of winning. They consider themselves a wild card contender. And I think that's good. CNNSI.com: Does their activity in the off-season make you think better of the Rays? Jeff Pearlman: Well, they're not going to be a great team -- if they can get 75 to 82 or 83 wins, that would be great -- but they are definitely doing things differently. They increased the payroll by $20 million. And they really do have a good lineup now. They don't have anything great at the top of the lineup, they don't have anybody who can get on base, but they finally have a legitimate major league lineup. And they don't have an ace, but they brought in Juan Guzman, Steve Trachsel and with Wilson Alvarez, that's a respectable top three. CNNSI.com: They've also added some pop to the lineup, including Vinny Castilla and Greg Vaughn. Along with Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff, people are talking up the Murderers Row. But it is an aging row, isn't it? Pearlman: I think the biggest question mark for them is Vinny Castilla. Last year he hit .295 and it was the first time in five years he hadn't hit at least .300. That's a big worry. The problem here is, none of these guys -- except maybe for Canseco -- are guarantees. Greg Vaughn is not a guarantee to hit 40 home runs. Fred McGriff had a great first half of the season and a not-so-great second half. They could still be a bad team, but at least they made moves to be competitive. And that's important. CNNSI.com: As for pitching, besides the fact there's no legit No. 1, what is the biggest concern? Is it the starting rotation or is it the bullpen? Pearlman: I think it's the bullpen. Except for Roberto Hernandez and Jim Mecir, they have a pretty mediocre bullpen. They have a ton of arms in camp, just a ton and somebody's going to have to prove themselves. It's been the same thing every year for them when it comes to pitching -- they haven't had the starting pitching they now have, but they've never had anyone who can get them to Hernandez. CNNSI.com: Would you even hazard a guess on an Opening Day starter? Pearlman: It's either going to be Alvarez or Guzman. Probably Alvarez, I think they still consider him the ace and he pitched pretty well for them in the second half of the season. CNNSI.com: What part of the roster will be changing the most over the next few weeks? Pearlman: If they can, they're going to make a trade before Opening Day
and deal one of their outfielders. They have too many outfielders, and as Larry
Rothschild noted, this year they have guys who are good. If you look their
outfield situation, you have Dave Martinez, Quinton McCracken, Jose Guillen,
Bubba Trammell, Greg Vaughn, Gerald Williams and Randy Winn. That's a pretty
good collection of outfielders and they feel they can take one or two of these
guys and deal them for some bullpen
depth.
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