2008 Fantasy Baseball in Review: Tampa Bay Rays Lineup and Hitting

The Tampa Bay Rays have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2008 Major League Baseball season. With all of their success on the field, there has been a great deal of fantasy baseball worthy talent also arising from south Florida. Being a Rays fan myself, I am proud to be the owner of many of these players, but just exactly which players am I referring to?

Here is a breakdown of the Tampa Bay Rays batting roster, and a small reflection on their usefulness in fantasy baseball leagues for 2008.

Dioner Navarro (Undrafted): The former top prospect has delivered nice numbers to date for the Rays, batting a nice .293 with six home runs to date. He is not the best fantasy catcher by any means, but he did go to the All Star game this year. Good value for an undrafted player at the beginning of the season.

Carlos Pena (Average Draft Position - 49.4): That batting average sure is ugly, but Pena has gotten on base (.354 OBP). I am a big fan of Pena and his power bat (26 HRs to date). He isn't the prototypical middle-of-the-lineup hitter but he has sure delivered for the Rays.

Akinori Iwamura (223.0): Merely a placeholder as a middle infielder, but he gets on base and does enough for now to warrant the leadoff spot in Tampa.

Evan Longoria (199.2): What a superior value in drafts this year. If you were lucky enough to draft (or snatch up) the young phenom, congratulations: he is the kind of player that wins and loses fantasy leagues. His numbers have been very strong (.278 BA, 22 HR, 71 RBI, .352 OBP). We have a special fantasy player on our hands here, and he will only get better.

Carl Crawford (11.8): A bit of a disappointment for fantasy owners in 2008, he looks destined to miss the remainder of the season after a hand injury. Crawford's overall numbers were not that spectacular, but fantasy owners drafted him for his stealing ability, on which he delivered nicely (25 SB). Let's hope for a nice bounceback and a successful 2009 campaign.

BJ Upton (26.6): I have always been a big fan of BJ Upton, a former top prospect who spent a little extra time in the minors because he couldn't field. Looks like he settled on center field, and that is a shame, because he could deliver more value for fantasy owners in the middle infield. Like Crawford, Upton's numbers have not been stellar, but his steals have been nice. His batting eye is there (.379 OBP), so it may be a matter of time before his average rises and his bat becomes a true threat.