Editor's note: With Spring Training fast approaching, MLB.com will take a look at a different aspect of this year's Rays squad each day this week. Today's topic: What's the Difference?
ST. PETERSBURG -- Change had to happen after the Rays posted a 68-win campaign in 2016, and it did. But the cornerstones of the team will still be in place for '17.
Tampa Bay traded away two big pieces in second baseman Logan Forsythe and left-hander Drew Smyly. Forsythe's departure left a hole to fill in the infield, while Smyly's thinned a deep starting pitching herd.