One difficulty in writing about the Rays is recognizing the realities of balling on a budget. There’s always an elephant in the room and it’s never getting smaller, and most of the time it goes unacknowledged by the players and staff.
That recently changed.
Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg was asked on Feb 19 about whether the team could pursue generational closer and free agent Craig Kimbrel, who remains unsigned. Surprisingly, Sternberg was willing to answer that question with honesty:
“I’ll be frank with you: it’s too much money for us. It’s just too much money.