Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: 2016 Tampa Bay Rays Preview

We concluded our look at the AL East by previewing the Tampa Bay Rays in Kevin Cash’s second season

On last Thursday’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, we previewed the final teams as part of our State Of The AL East series for 2016. That team was the Tampa Bay Rays. Last season, in Kevin Cash’s first year as manager, the Rays finished in fourth place in the AL East with a 80-82 record. However, that was a three-win improvement from 2014.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Did Yankees troll Jon Heyman with Aaron Judge contract tweet?
• Matt Carpenter leaving Yankees for massive raise is hard to argue with
• What on earth is going on with Yankees, Fernando Tatis Jr. and flight to New York?
• 4 former Yankees players New York can still reunite with in free agency
• Yankees top prospects butt heads after Giants’ gritty win over Commanders

This offseason, the Rays made two major trades. In a few days after the World Series, the Rays acquired shortstop Brad Miller, first baseman/outfielder Logan Morrison, and reliever Danny Farquhar from the Seattle Mariners for starter Nate Karns, outfielder Boog Powell, and reliever C.J. Riefenhauser. Then, in January, Tampa added Corey Dickerson in a trade with the Rockies for reliever Jake McGee.

To learn more about the Rays, I spoke with Peter Gordon, who is one of the writers at the Rays’ SB Nation site, DRaysBay. The first topic that Peter and I talked about was Tampa Bay’s recent exhibition game in Havana, Cuba where the Rays won 4-1 in the first Major League Baseball game in Cuba since 1999.

After grading the Rays’ offseason, Peter gave us what impact Dickerson will have on the lineup. Last year, with the Rockies, Dickerson hit .304 in 65 games with ten home runs and 31 RBI’s., but he was a .257 hitter away from hitter friendly Coors Field (.395 at home).

More from Yankees News

• Did Yankees troll Jon Heyman with Aaron Judge contract tweet?
• Matt Carpenter leaving Yankees for massive raise is hard to argue with
• Yankees top prospects butt heads after Giants’ gritty win over Commanders
• CC Sabathia defends Yankees’ massive Aaron Judge contract
• Scott Boras closed Yankees-Carlos Rodón deal from Fenway Park, put cherry on top

This spring, in Port Charlotte, the Rays have been hit with one serious injury. Their closer, Brad Boxberger (who led the American League in saves last season), will miss the start of the year because of core muscle surgery. After discussing how big of a loss Boxberger is to the bullpen, we took a look at some other closer options, which included Alex Colome, Enny Romero, or Farquhar.

Our final topics on our conversation included some of the position battles to keep an eye on, impact prospects to watch such as left-handed pitcher Blake Snell, and what were Peter’s thoughts on how Cash did in his first year, and the X-Factors for Tampa Bay, including starting pitcher Matt Moore, who is trying to get back to what he was in 2013 when he won 17 games.

Also, on this episode, my second guest was the new co-editor here at YGY, Mike Daniello. Mike and I talked more about Rob Refsnyder, the Yankees’ fifth starter spot, Bryan Mitchell, and I got Mike’s thoughts on his expectations for the Yankees as well as how he graded their offseason.

Tune in this Thursday night at 9 PM ET for our final episode of the offseason. Co-editor Mike Daniello and staff writer/frequent YGY host Harrison Marder will join me to look at the State of the Yankees heading into the season and we will make our official picks before the first series preview show of the season, which will be this weekend.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE YANKS GO YARD RADIO SHOW!!!