CNN/SI Preview: Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Posted: Thursday March 04, 1999 03:42 PM
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Disastrous debut: Alvarez opened the Rays' inaugural season by giving up six runs in 2 1/3 innings Peter J. Taylor/Allsport |
By Ryan Hunt, CNN/SI When he was signed as a free agent on Dec. 7, 1997,
Wilson Alvarez brought immediate legitimacy to the Devil Rays' starting
rotation. He then proceeded to be legitimately pounded in his first season
in Tampa Bay. The recipient of a five-year, $35 million deal,
Alvarez was just as congenial as hitter-friendly Tropicana Field,
especially at home. Alvarez lost eight of his 13 starts at the Trop,
posting an ugly 6.18 ERA. Alvarez was just 6-14 last season -- his
lowest victory total since his second major league season -- and won just
twice after the All-Star break. His stint as the Devil Rays' ace was
shorter than most of his appearances; he lasted fewer than six innings in
14 of his 25 starts in 1998. In 1999, however, Alvarez won't have the
pressure or the expectations of being the Rays' No. 1 starter, which will
fall on Cuban Rolando Arrojo. Alvarez has experimented with adding a
split-fingered fastball to his repertoire. But, alas, if his
bread-and-butter pitch -- the fastball -- isn't getting more hitters out,
both Alvarez and the Devil Rays can expect to have a long, painful summer.
1998 Recap (63-99, 5th place AL East) The Rays can look
at their 63-99 inaugural season, good for last in the AL East, in two ways.
They avoided a 100-loss season -- a feat that recent expansion brethren
Florida, Colorado and Arizona also accomplished -- and were nine games
better last season than the in-state rival Marlins. Yet, Tampa Bay also had
the worst offense in the majors, getting shut out a league-high 17 times.
After getting off to a hot start, winning 10 of their first 16
games, the Devil Rays took their lumps in their expansion campaign. Tampa
Bay had losing streaks of more than four games eight times throughout the
year, including losing 23 of 29 games at one point and ending the season on
a six-game slide. Surprisingly, pitching was the strength of the
Rays, with the exception of Alvarez and inconsistent closer Roberto
Hernandez. Arrojo won an expansion-record 14 games and was second in AL
Rookie of the Year balloting. The bullpen was steady and at times
spectacular, with Albie Lopez and
Jim Mecir each
winning seven games. Offensively, though, is where the Devil Rays
struggled, mainly in the power department. The Devil Rays as a team only
had 41 more homers than Mark McGwire.
Both Fred
McGriff and Paul Sorrento
had down years at the plate, combining for just 36 home runs. Tampa Bay
also didn't have a player with more than 300 at-bats post a .300 average,
while three regulars -- Sorrento, Kevin Stocker
and John
Flaherty -- hit below .230. 1999 Outlook The
honeymoon has ended for the Devil Rays. Now they have to find a way to
compete in the tough AL East. In their only major offseason
acquisition, the Rays moved to rectify their power problem by signing Jose Canseco.
The former Blue Jay hit a career-high 46 homers in 1998 and could challenge
50 in the cozy confines of Tropicana Field. At the very least, Canseco will
give McGriff more pitches to hit. Canseco will be a defensive liability,
but he has speedy Randy Winn and 1998 team MVP Quinton
McCracken in the outfield to lean on. McCracken and Winn will have to
get on base if Canseco is going to match his 107-RBI total from last year.
Tampa Bay did little to upgrade its floundering catching situation,
signing only journeyman Joe Oliver.
Incumbent catchers Flaherty and Mike DiFelice combined to hit .217 with six
homers and 47 RBIs. Tampa Bay also brought in a number of players on the
downside of their careers -- Oliver, Julio Franco,
Ben
McDonald, Bobby Witt, Steve
Ontiveros and Norm Charlton
-- who won't add anything more than experience.
| Roster roundup |
Who's
new
OF/DH Jose Canseco, P Ben McDonald, IF Julio Franco, OF Billy Ashley, P
Bobby Witt, P Norm Charlton, C Joe Oliver Who's gone
P Dennis
Springer | | | |
The rotation is solid, if Alvarez returns to his 1996 form. With a
year under his belt, Arrojo could challenge the 20-win plateau with a
little help from his offense. Tony Saunders
has to regroup from a down year, while the rest of the rotation -- from
either Julio
Santana, Terrell Wade,
Bryan Rekar
and Jason Johnson, Bobby Witt and Dave Eiland -- must contribute more in
1999 for the Rays to be a factor. But the only thing Devil Rays
fans likely will be looking forward to when the dog days of summer roll
around will be the Wade Boggs Watch.
Boggs, who will platoon with Bobby Smith at third, is only 78 hits away
from 3,000.
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