2006 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Preview

2005 Overview:

There were very few bright spots for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005 including the final disappointing weekend when Tampa Bay fans were treated to 4 straight home losses compliments of the visiting Baltimore Orioles. 2005 also saw the final departure of Manager Lou Pinella who was granted a final buyout on his contract. The Devil Rays finished the season with a dismal 67-96 record, 28 games behind the division-leading Yankees and Red Sox.

Despite inconsistent offensive production during 2005, sophomore infielder Jorge Cantu (.286 28 117) and rookie outfielder Jonny Gomes (.282 21 54) provided Devil Ray fans with something to be optimistic about. While leftfielder Carl Crawford (.301 15 81) and rightfielder Aubrey Huff (.261 22 92) added some impressive offensive numbers as well.

Devil Ray fans had to look long and hard to find any quality starting pitching for much of the year. Only rookie pitcher Scott Kazmir (10-9 3.77) acquired from the NY Mets for Victor Zambrano at the end of 2004, displayed any consistency in the rotation. The rest of the starting pitching including; Mark Hendrickson (11-8 5.90), Casey Fossum (8-12 4.92), and Seth McClung (7-11 6.59) did very little to help solidify the floundering staff. Incredibly, closer Danys Baez (5-4 2.86) was somehow able to save 41 games in 49 opportunities for a baseball team that managed a total of 67 wins all season. It