The Tampa Bay Rays were busy in the offseason and the results should be very good for the 2008 season. For once the Rays spent some of the pocket change they have saved the last couple of seasons on players’ contracts. The Rays added veterans Troy Percival and Trever Miller to the bullpen and Cliff Floyd to the outfield. The Rays have also improved the starting rotation by adding Matt Garza in the Delmon Young trade with the Twins. The Rays have also added Jason Bartlett, Willy Aybar, Eric Hinske and John Rodriguez to the team and they all have nice upsides. Bartlett will take over at shortstop for the departed Brendan Harris and he will add even more speed to the lineup for the Rays. Aybar and Hinske will compete for the starting 3B job if Evan Longoria is deemed not ready for Prime Time. The Rays also added righty reliever Eduardo Morlan and lefty starter Glenn Gibson in the trades for Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes and they both could have nice futures. The Rays did a good job in getting rid of Dukes and Young who both had huge issues off of the field despite having superior talent.

FRONT OFFICE GRADE FOR OFF SEASON: B+