ESPN.com - Major League Baseball - Tampa Bay Devil Rays preview


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Monday, April 2
Tampa Bay Devil Rays preview

ESPN.com

POWER RANKINGS


	Tampa Bay fans should warm up quickly to new No. 3 hitter Ben Grieve, acquired in the offseason from the A's.

Strength of schedule
.508, 4th in AL
Lineup ranking
13th in AL
Pitching ranking
12th in AL
Prediction
4th in AL East

The lowdown
2000 record: 69-92 (5th in AL East)
Runs scored: 733, 14th in AL
Runs allowed: 842, 8th in AL

Three key issues for 2001
1. Will the offense be any better? Order still lacks OBP at the top, first-rate power in the middle and something (anything!) from the end.

2. Can Albie Lopez and Paul Wilson pitch 200 innings as full-time rotation members?

3. Midseason deals sent away setup men Jim Mecir and Paul White and closer Roberto Hernandez was traded in the offseason. Who replaces those three in the bullpen?

Three key facts
1. The Devil Rays were the only team in the AL East to improve their winning percentage last season.

2. After struggling early, Tampa Bay pitchers posted the third-best ERA in the AL after June 1 (4.43).

3. Fred McGriff hit his 400th career homer, got his 2,000th hit and played in his 2,000th game in 2000. He also became the second player ever to hit 200 or more homers in each league.

RETURNING 2000 STATISTICAL LEADERS

AVG	F. McGriff	.277
HR	G. Vaughn	28
RBI	F. McGriff	106
RUN	G. Williams	87
SB	G. Williams	12
WIN	A. Lopez	11
SV	A. Lopez	2
ERA	A. Lopez	4.13
Complete 2000 Statistics: Batting \| Pitching

Tim Kurkjian's scenarios
Best case: Josh Hamilton makes the club, pitcher Paul Wilson continues his comeback, Vinny Castilla is traded for pitching help and the D-Rays win 75 games.

Worst case: Still not enough run production, no closer, Hamilton isn't ready and manager Larry Rothchild is canned a month into what will be another 95-loss season.

ESPN.com's lineup analysis
Player	Comment	Pos. rank*
G. Williams, CF	Your team MVP has a .739 OPS? Ouch	13
B. Abernathy, 2B	Came over from Toronto for Steve Trachsel	14
B. Grieve, RF	Could blossom as he leaves tough hitter's park	6
G. Vaughn, LF	Could be elsewhere by trading deadline	6
F. McGriff, 1B	.452 slugging from 1B doesn't cut it	10
V. Castilla, 3B	Prospect Aubrey Huff deserves job	12
S. Cox, DH	Grieve will DH some, with Jose Guillen in RF	6
J. Flaherty, C	1999 proved to be fluke year	13
F. Martinez, SS	Terrific glove, useless at the plate	13
ESPN.com's pitching staff analysis
A. Lopez, RHP	How will he do over full season in rotation?	24
B. Rekar, RHP	Throws strikes; just 39 BB in 173.1 IP	41
P. Wilson, RHP	Could be major surprise if arm holds up	17
R. Rupe, RHP	What happened to him last year?	54
Middle relief	Bullpen was depleted in trades last year	11
E. Yan, CL	Look for bullpen-by-committee	14

	Position average (AL rank):	10.33 (13th)
	Pitching index (AL rank):	10.75 (12th)

* Position rank, compiled by ESPN.com's baseball staff, compares each AL team's strength at that position, including platoons, based on players' total projected value (offense, defense, durability) for the 2001 season.

AL position players and bullpens ranked on a 1-14 basis, with 1 being best.
AL starting pitchers ranked on 1-56 basis, with 1 being best. Cumulative rankings of starting pitchers are combined with bullpen and closer for overall pitching index, with more weight given to starters.
In both rankings, 1.00 is the best possible score, 14.00 the worst.

Click here for AL position-by-position rankings.

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