Rays & Red Sox (David & Goliath)

I don't normally write anything about the American League, but the Pirates season has been over for a long time and I figure maybe I can capture some interest talking about other teams.

That said, I can not tell you how badly I want to see the Red Sox miss the playoffs. They were the story of the offseason and were everybody's pick for AL Champion.

The signing of Carl Crawford was huge for them when it happened, but he has proved to not be worth the 7 year, $142 million deal they gave him. Crawford has a pretty pedestrian .255/.292/.402 line with 11 home runs and 18 stolen bases, by far the worst season of his career (his career triple-slash line is .293/.333/.440). Crawford's poor season is one of the biggest reasons that the Red Sox find themselves just 2 games up in the wild card race right now after losing 3 of 4 to the Rays.

The other big acquisition the Red Sox made this offseason was getting Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres. They acquired him in a December trade and gave him a hefty contract. From 2012 through 2018, Gonzalez will make $154 million dollars. He is making just $5.5 million this year but will make over $20 million a year for the next seven years starting in 2012. Unlike CrawfO.D. Gonzalez has actually performed for the Sox. He is hitting .338/.407/.551 with 26 home runs and 113 RBI in 151 games. He has been their best player and is the main reason that they are in playoff contention right now.

Right now, the Red Sox have a 87.8% chance of making the playoffs, while the Rays have an 11.8% chance. Those aren't great numbers for someone rooting against Boston. However, I really don't think any Boston fan expected that number to not be 100% with just 8 games left to play.

The Rays put themselves in much better position by taking three of four from the Sox last week, but they still have their work cut out for them. Seven of their final ten games are against the Yankees, with the other three coming against the Blue Jays. They are realistically going to have to win at least six of those games to have a prayer. The Red Sox finish with five games against the Orioles and three against the Yankees. The Rays do have the luxury of having two more games to play than the Red Sox, but the chances aren't great right now.

The fact that these two teams are even close in the race is pretty remarkable, as it has been for the last four years since Rays management turned their franchise around.

The Red Sox total payroll for 2011 is $161,762,475, the third highest in the league (behind the Yankees and Phillies). The Rays have a payroll of $41,053,571, which is second lowest in the league. That's a difference of 120,708,904. The Pirates payroll is even higher than the Rays. Only the Royals have a lower number than Tampa Bay (at $36,126,000).

Knowing that, how could you not root for Tampa Bay? I have been doing it ever since the turnaround in 2008 (bandwagon, yup). This year I find myself pulling even harder for them, since everybody wrote them off after they lost the best player in the history of their franchise (the aforementioned Crawford) to a division rival. Despite all the disadvantages they face being a small-market team, they find themselves right in the race yet again.

Yesterday, I wrote about the Arizona Diamondbacks, and how pitching has been the story for their turnaround. This is again true for the Rays this year. James Shields and Jeremy Hellickson have ERAs under 3, David Price has a 3.36 mark with a ridiculous 8.7 K/9 ratio. Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann have been inconsistent at times but have been serviceable starts and have 21 wins combined. That's how you win over a long stretch of time, starting pitching. The Rays have that figured out and they just keep producing good pitching prospects (they just brought up another possible phenom in Matt Moore who has been coming out of the bullpen, keep an eye out for him).

Major League Baseball is far from a perfect organization. The lack of a salary cap makes the game unfair, but stories like the Tampa Bay Rays gives us fans of other small market teams hope for the future.