The 2015 Tampa Bay Rays had the same fundamental approach to team building, armed with a good amount of young talent, and enough stuff to be a contender until injuries and a 9-20 midseason stretch took them out of the running, finishing 80-82. You can consider that a moral victory for a franchise expected to fall hard after the Andrew Friedman-Joe Maddon management tandem left for greener pastures.
What do they need? Evan Longoria to go back to being a player worthy of MVP ballot attention, with an OBP north of .