The Bizarro Supermen

"Revenue sharing may have helped [the trend]," says Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin, "but I think that it's a change in the industry mind-set more than anything.... Look at [Phillies] first baseman Ryan Howard; he's making $10 million with less than three years [in the league]. By the time these guys are free agents, you're talking $15 million to $20 million a year. Not a lot of teams can pay one guy that kind of money and still compete. Then you look at Morneau's deal, and he's making $14 million a year in his free-agent years. It makes sense for the player too. Now he has security and can concentrate on what he does best: Just go out and play ball."

The shift toward emphasizing younger players was dramatically evident during last week's Yankees-Rays series. New York features seven regulars who are 32 or older. Two of them (third baseman Alex Rodriguez and catcher Jorge Posada) were on the disabled list, and four others were hitting below their career averages (outfielders Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu, shortstop Derek Jeter and first baseman Jason Giambi). The Yankees scored only six runs in the four games, hit only one home run and stole no bases (they ranked last in the league at week's end) and showed little range defensively.

The Rays, meanwhile, ran the bases aggressively, chased down just about anything airborne in the outfield, turned key double plays and shackled New York hitters with power pitching. In short, Tampa Bay looked nothing like anything seen before in the franchise's history. Gone are the name (Devil Rays), uniform (so long, green, turquoise and yellow), worst bullpen in more than half a century (6.16 ERA last year) and loser's attitude. ("We've always been concerned about the lack of professionalism in the past," Maddon says.)

THE REMAKING of the Rays actually began last July, when the club used the trading deadline to get a jump on the 2008 season. "Overhauling the bullpen was daunting," says G.M. Andrew Friedman, who shipped infielder Ty Wigginton to Houston for reliever Dan Wheeler.

In September the Rays sent scout Larry Doughty to file a report on free-agent-to-be reliever Troy Percival, then with the Cardinals. "He was raving about him," Friedman says. Friedman and Maddon recruited Percival with a visit to his California home in November, convincing Percival that the Rays were ready to take a leap forward but needed his veteran influence. On Nov. 30 they signed Percival to a two-year, $8 million contract. "The first day of spring training Percy walks in with his cup of coffee and starts talking to people, walking around the room, getting on guys. We never had that before," Maddon says. "Nobody ever did that. Guys just did their own thing."

The chatty Percival keeps players loose and humble. For instance, he promised to fine pitcher Matt Garza, who was obtained in a trade with the Twins, $500 every time he acted like a jerk on the mound, though Percival used a more colorful term.

"What's the matter? Nobody in Minnesota ever said you acted like a [jerk]?" Percival asked him.

"Uh, yeah, they did," Garza admitted.

The Rays went 18--8 in spring training. Says Friedman, "Guys like Percy and Cliff Floyd were able to tell these guys, 'We've been to the playoffs, and we're just as talented as those teams.' Now it's a matter of learning how to win. Spring training games are usually worthless, except for us. Spring training had more value to us than anybody else. The team for the first time started to think about challenging to play in October. And now they believe it."

The Rays also added lefthander Trever Miller to the bullpen and bumped closer Al Reyes to setup duty to make room for Percival, who has backed up his clubhouse chatter with 11 saves in 13 opportunities and a 0.53 WHIP at week's end. They also sealed a leaky infield by getting sticky-handed shortstop Jason Bartlett in the Minnesota deal with Garza (for outfielder Delmon Young) and moved third baseman Aki Iwamura to second base to make room for Longoria, who figures to be a franchise fixture. Says one AL G.M. of Longoria, "I think he's the most impressive young player that's come up in the past couple of years. I'd take him over anybody. And he's going to be a 40-home-run hitter."