Were the Rays a Fluke Last Year?

[cowboysrule48]

Re: Good Ol' Sonny Boy

[quote="ahill1":2lymress][quote="Brett Keith":2lymress][quote="jbone17":2lymress]Ouch. It must be tough to be a Rays fan after a fluke year. There were a lot of band wagoners during that run and now look at their home games.... :? It just goes to show you what one good season followed by a bad season will do for you.

How was it a fluke year? They have a winning record and up until recently they were in the thick of the Wild Card race?

You really listen to what he has to say.....nothing about them is a fluke...They have made some bad decisions in upper management this year, but the team is there(besides the pen) for them to be on top or a threat damn near every year

I am saying last year was a fluke. Not this year. They are having an off season, but they are no fluke. No where in this post did I say that they were a fluke this year.

::facepalm::
So last year wasnt a fluke year.They were great last year and good this year,the competition has just improved which is why they are in third.....they earned their record last year.

They may have earned it because they played good ball last year. They had their best year in franchise history. Prior to last year they were horrible. It was a fluke when you look at the history of their franchise.[/quote:2lymress]


So because the franchise improved it must be a fluke year?
The fact that it was a totally different team has nothing to do with it right?[/quote:2lymress]

It does to a certain point. They are not the same team as last year or they would be playing better. Short and simple.[/quote:2lymress]


So the Yankees have been a fluke for the last 10 years? :lol:

 

[CAROLINA BOSOX]

Re: Good Ol' Sonny Boy

Tampa Bay Rays = PED

I have seen this before Bonds, Sosa, etc. It's a shame how one moment they are on top of the world and then the juice is taken away and BAM! 3rd place. Sad, just sad.

 

[jbone17]

Re: Good Ol' Sonny Boy

[quote="jbone17":r47kwx15][quote="ahill1":r47kwx15][quote="Brett Keith":r47kwx15][quote="jbone17":r47kwx15]Ouch. It must be tough to be a Rays fan after a fluke year. There were a lot of band wagoners during that run and now look at their home games.... :? It just goes to show you what one good season followed by a bad season will do for you.

How was it a fluke year? They have a winning record and up until recently they were in the thick of the Wild Card race?

You really listen to what he has to say.....nothing about them is a fluke...They have made some bad decisions in upper management this year, but the team is there(besides the pen) for them to be on top or a threat damn near every year

I am saying last year was a fluke. Not this year. They are having an off season, but they are no fluke. No where in this post did I say that they were a fluke this year.

::facepalm::
So last year wasnt a fluke year.They were great last year and good this year,the competition has just improved which is why they are in third.....they earned their record last year.

They may have earned it because they played good ball last year. They had their best year in franchise history. Prior to last year they were horrible. It was a fluke when you look at the history of their franchise.[/quote:r47kwx15]


So because the franchise improved it must be a fluke year?
The fact that it was a totally different team has nothing to do with it right?[/quote:r47kwx15]

It does to a certain point. They are not the same team as last year or they would be playing better. Short and simple.[/quote:r47kwx15]


So the Yankees have been a fluke for the last 10 years? :lol:[/quote:r47kwx15]

Obviously not lol. :lol: How are they a fluke if they have been doing bad? When someone gets lucky you call them a fluke. ::facepalm::

 

[cowboysrule48]

Re: Good Ol' Sonny Boy

I was just using your logic...

 

[dooly]

Re: Good Ol' Sonny Boy

Tampa would be winning many divisions outside of the AL East ... they went from last to very good because they were stock piling bunch of high draft picks and their young players were gaining experience the past few years

 

[cowboysrule48]

Re: Good Ol' Sonny Boy

Tampa would be winning many divisions outside of the AL East ... they went from last to very good because they were stock piling bunch of high draft picks and their young players were gaining experience the past few years

That theory that they got so good because they stock piled high draft picks is a myth. A lot of their pieces from last year were not from high draft picks including:

Iwamura
Pena
Crawford
Kazmir
Shields
Kazmir
Navarro
The whole bullpen

Sure, the picks helped. They would not have had Garza and Bartlett without trading Young. The only other two really high picks the Rays drafted were Upton and Longoria. Everyone else that played a big role in the team last year was either traded for, signed, or was picked later than the top 20. Would they have been there without the guys the "top picks" accounted for? Probably not, but they wouldn't have been there without these other guys either. If all it took was stockpiling draft picks, I think the Pirates and Royals would be competing by now...

 

[jcmint]

Re: Good Ol' Sonny Boy

edit double post

 

[jcmint]

Re: Good Ol' Sonny Boy

i agree with the fluke assessment I said it here the Rays woul not be close to what they were last year. It wasn't hard to see. To do anything close to what they did last year was asking far too much. The east is brutal.

Ouch. It must be tough to be a Rays fan after a fluke year. There were a lot of band wagoners during that run and now look at their home games.... :? It just goes to show you what one good season followed by a bad season will do for you.

How was it a fluke year? They have a winning record and up until recently they were in the thick of the Wild Card race?

 

[Brett Keith]

Re: Good Ol' Sonny Boy

i agree with the fluke assessment I said it here the Rays woul not be close to what they were last year. It wasn't hard to see

Ouch. It must be tough to be a Rays fan after a fluke year. There were a lot of band wagoners during that run and now look at their home games.... :? It just goes to show you what one good season followed by a bad season will do for you.

How was it a fluke year? They have a winning record and up until recently they were in the thick of the Wild Card race?

I just for the life of me don't understand how anybody can say it was a fluke. As was said, it would seem like a fluke if they went back to one of the worst teams in the league. Does not compute.

 

[Jaypers]

I decided to turn this thread into a poll.

VOTE!

 

[thenumberonemetfan]

No

 

[vwnut13]

I do know the Rays are a cheap team, maybe thats why they aren't doing so well?

They trade of Kazmir to save $8 million?

They don't want to pay him for next year as he wasn't great this year.

If teams want to contend year after year they have to invest in the team, not just trade their players to get minor league players in return.

If the Rays finish in third again next season I predict half of their "fans" will forget about baseball again.

 

[trademhigh]

I'll say fluke. But, I think they will be a very good team from years to come. Finishing in contention in the AL East is an accomplishment in and of itself though. But, I don't think they have what it takes to make it to the World Series.

 

[braden]

I said all offseason, to anyone who would listen, that the Rays would be at best an 87 win team this year, and likely closer to .500. However, that doesn't mean for a second that last year was a fluke. They were the sexy pick for 2008 and followed through with a hell of a year. Sure, they got lucky with injuries and one-run games, but they were a young team on the upswing.

What's happened to them this year is what happens to almost every young team who succeeds in a short amount of time. They regress for a year or two. Players don't have career years every season. Bullpens never perform the same as the year before. But none of that means 2008 was a fluke.

 

[All The Hype]

NO WAY.



They went from 66-96 to 97-65 and at least were a contender this year before their recent slump. They have lots of young talent and I expect them to compete for a playoff spot for years to come.

 

[KandKCards]

I don't think the answer is as simple as yes or no. On one hand, I would say no because they have a ton of talent; Crawford, Longo, Pena, Zobrist, etc. They are still above .500 with Upton, a major 2008 contributor, failing miserably.
The fluke part was the bullpen. Every single reliever had a career year last year, and have returned to mediocrity (or atrocity) this year. That's really been the only difference, but it's a big one.

 

[onehrk]

I don't think the answer is as simple as yes or no. On one hand, I would say no because they have a ton of talent; Crawford, Longo, Pena, Zobrist, etc. They are still above .500 with Upton, a major 2008 contributor, failing miserably.
The fluke part was the bullpen. Every single reliever had a career year last year, and have returned to mediocrity (or atrocity) this year. That's really been the only difference, but it's a big one.

That's something I can agree with.

 

[andyduke86]

Balfour was really the only fluke in the bullpen last year. Maybe some of them had good years but certainly no fluke. Their pen has just fallen apart this year plus they've had some injuries. JP and Wheeler have still been very good this year, JP was even better up until the last 2 or 3 weeks.

I'd also argue that teams having fluke years is impossible in baseball. The length of the season prevents that. Players might have fluke years, especailly relievers though, simply because of their limited number of appearances. If anything is a fluke, it's been their play in the past month.

Also, the Rays are still a very good team. If they were in the NL they would have the best record in baseball. The same can be said for at least 5 other AL teams. If they were in just about any other division, they'd be leading it too.

 

[Big Mac McGwire]

No they were not a fluke, but their BULLPEN was.

 

[Big Mac McGwire]

The question is how many games did the bullpen blow this year. How many leads did they cough up after the 7th inning. I can recall at least 5 games i watched this year that were after the 7 inning when they had the lead and just gave it up like virginity. If their bullpen did half of what they did last year, their in the Wild Card lead. Up until August 21st they were 3 games back.

Ton of talent - longoria, pena, crawford, zobrist, bartlett, iwamura, garza, shields,price but absolutely NO BULLPEN.

The need to gut the pen and rebuild it. its full of journey men pitchers. And please get rid of Andy "I throw meatballs" Sonnastine.