The Tamp Bay Devil Rays Need New Team Motivation

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have been around since 1998 and so far have not had one winning season. The best they've ever finished is 4^th place but just about every year they finish last. Why does this team show no sign of improvement? I wonder that myself because even the Diamondbacks, whom also formed on that same year, has all ready won a World Series and has made the playoffs a few years. They've yet to make the playoffs because the team hasn't put the effort into improving overall as a franchise. Why has this team not even played as well as they possibly could? Because there's neither direction nor motivation for this team to even bother improving in the 1^st place.

They have the talent but the problem is there is no commitment from the owners to really make this team better than it has ever been. If the owner doesn't care one way or the other on making this team better, then quite frankly they won't improve. Teams that continue to play bad year after year is a sign of not caring about how to make them better. The money can be spent but it is not being done to make The Devil Rays an even better team than what could they possibly be. They have potential as a whole to have a decent season and not continue to play under this dead last baseball. It's as if the team is just stagnant and doesn't want to move no matter what. If they don't allow the GMs to make the moves and they don't spend the money to improve, this team will continue to play bad.

Another factor could be the team is not used to playing as a team together. If breaking the team up every season doesn't work, then maybe try keeping them together and having a great team. It can be done believe it or not. The Indians have for the most part kept their team together and have been playing good baseball fighting to get into the playoffs at the end. I'm not drawing a comparison team wise but to illustrate that a team can do well if they're kept together and used to each other. I know the 1^st year is not going to go well, it usually never does for a new team that joins the league. The next season however should have showed some signs of improvement but that did not happen. It was only until 2004 when they won 70 games but lost 91, an improvement and currently the best record this team has ever had.

Different ownership came into play in 2006 and there was a chance that this team could actually contend but it did not happen. They finished in dead last continuing the trend of being a last place team. This season they are currently in 4^th place behind a miserable Baltimore Orioles club that somehow managed to do worse. Maybe Tampa Bay can improve themselves by not thinking about constant rebuild or in their case building for the future. Time is running out for them this season to even make a decent impact.

They can't move at this time so no plans of relocation are a sign for them. Two players had died in Cory Lidle and Erik Walker, two key players in different accidents. That hurt the team without question but the rest of the pitchers have to get on the ball and start pitching good if they expect to ever be anything more than a team that just under achieves year after year. Every year, they are expected to finish last and so far except for 2004 have done so.