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Signing players early can be risky, but rewarding for Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays (the team we cover here now instead of the Lightning) are and will perennially be a small market team. Their budget will remain small. Even a new stadium in a better location to attract more fans is unlikely to change that by much.

They’ll never have the national fan base that the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs enjoy that drive so much of their revenue. This team will always have to be creative in how they compete. At least until MLB beats the MLBPA into submission on a salary cap and more extensive revenue sharing.