ST. PETERSBURG -- Kevin Cash likes to think of the Rays' struggles earlier this year as a "road block." That's the 3-24 midsummer stretch that quickly dropped Tampa Bay out of playoff contention, the worst string of games in the franchise's 18-year history.
It's almost a dismissive term -- one the Rays manager used the day after the non-waiver Trade Deadline -- for such a costly stretch. But in the context of where the Rays are now, and what their plans are for the future, that stretch is truly being viewed as a "road block" that is starting to open up.