After offseason of change, Rays eager to get spring training under way
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- They emerged from a tunnel at Tropicana Field in shorts and T-shirts for relaxed drills, the waning hours of an offseason unlike any other in recent memory about to reach a spring resolution.
Before the Tampa Bay Rays begin their first spring training under manager Kevin Cash, before they begin a new era after the departures of Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman and Ben Zobrist and Wil Myers and more, they spent this recent Friday morning placing more distance between what the franchise had been since 2006 and what it has become since a new direction was introduced.
It has become clear that talk of change and renewal has a shelf life. The Rays, even with their new era holding a 0-0 record on the field, have almost reached a threshold in talking about "what could be" before an answer is discovered.
There was a time, shortly after Cash's hire in December, when all the questions were answered with enthusiasm, the deliveries to inquiries as clean cut as the new manager's No. 16 jersey. Now, as fields throughout Florida are prepped for the annual spring awakening, a move from all the talk of change to real developments on dirt and grass can't come soon enough.
"We're all excited for that," Cash said. "That's why I keep referring back to the (start of spring training), getting that going, because a lot of these conversations, we're having over and over. And it was change. And I think everybody has accepted it, and most have embraced it. So we're also ready to move past that."
The Rays' first workout for pitchers and catchers is Feb. 23 in Port Charlotte, Florida. How their season develops from there is anyone's guess, and with so many questions ranging from Cash's approach as a first-time manager to how the Rays will scrape together more runs after last season's 77-win letdown, it seems frivolous to make hot predictions about where they will finish in another American League East race.
Leave it to reliever Grant Balfour, a man with no shortage of motivation to rise from the ashes of 2014, to frame the upcoming transition in a proper way.
"It comes down to you've got a baseball in your hand, you're playing catch, you're going out there and preparing," he said. "You've got to go out there, and there's going to be a hitter in that box, and it doesn't matter who's coaching, who's in the front office or who's doing what, there's going to be a hitter in that box day one, and you've got to get him out. So the reality is, just go about your business. Don't worry about all that other stuff that goes on around you."
That's easier said than done, of course, and there will be plenty of worrying done for the Rays by voices around them. All this will start with the first pitch, on Opening Day against the Baltimore Orioles on April 6 at Tropicana Field, and the watch will continue until the season reaches its end.
Soon, we will find out how good they will actually be.
"Everybody is super eager to get down there," right-hander Chris Archer said. "We have a running joke that we're going to have to wear name tags -- coaches, players, front office, everybody is going to need name tags. If we can create that cohesiveness and that jell, that chemistry, it's going to be a special season."
Archer went on to say that he finds motivation in the Kansas City Royals' run to the World Series last season, that few expected much from the perennial AL Central also-ran at this time last year, that the Rays are equally as talented or more skilled than those 2014 Royals that charmed the country.
Sure, Tampa Bay still has the strong starting staff, led by right-hander Alex Cobb. The bullpen, with Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger as highlights, also figures to have depth.
But there are those questions, doubts that will linger until winter possibilities become spring lessons formed within the warm air on Florida's Gulf Coast: Where will an uptick in offense come from after producing just 612 runs last season? Will Steven Souza become an effective everyday outfielder? Will the decisions to part ways with Zobrist and Myers pay off or lead to more unknowns?
How will this whole thing come together?
"I think it will look good," catcher/designated hitter John Jaso said. "I think the absence of these big acquisitions also keeps big egos out of the clubhouse and makes the group of guys mesh together. I think it will all be good."
In the not-so-distant future, "I think" answers will be replaced by something real, something understood. "I think" will become "I know," the transition a welcome development on the horizon after so much off-the-field movement.
On this Friday morning, last-minute work toward that destination continued. There was no white chalk on the first- and third-base lines. The batter's box was missing, and no home plate could be found. The mound remained flat.
The setting, like the Rays, was a work in progress.
The talk is almost over. Sweet action is about to begin, and thank goodness for that.
You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
