Sternberg Forecasts Sunny Skies
March 2nd, 2016It wouldn’t be spring without sunny skies, college kids raiding beach-side tiki bars and rosy outlooks from major league teams popping up all over the place.
The Rays are no different than other Grapefruit League dreamers.
Anything seems possible now. The dog days – and stone-cold realities – of June, July and beyond are no more than a speck in the distance.
On Tuesday, Rays owner Stu Sternberg dropped by camp in Port Charlotte and splashed a little sunshine of his own. To little surprise, he’s bullish on his team’s chances, per the Tampa Bay Times.
“This offseason it think we did what we needed to do to improve the ball club and really added some stuff, and I’m really looking forward to it,” Sternberg said.
“It looks like we’re raised our game, but [opponents’] has gone up more dramatically. You take a look at Toronto — it’s a beast. The thing I’m holding my hat on here is I do believe we had a great season last year. Clearly, injuries are part of the game. But the first four months of the season it was unprecedented for us, and I’d like it to stay unprecedented. … So to know where we were last year, we have the opportunity to improve on that, not only with the guys we brought in, but with the health of the guys, having Kevin (Cash) here and some of the coaches here for the second year, just the cohesiveness is dramatically different this year. So all of that should add up for a better season.”
There you have it, the Rays’ big boss expects more than 80 wins. This is no shock, given the likelihood that Tampa Bay won’t make as many trips to the infirmary again. Remember, Cash will have more comfort and perspective in his second year, as well.
Joe likes the high bar, but there are so many questions: Will the Rays show more teeth offensively? Will the rotation live up to its promise? How will the bullpen shake out?
Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. A few thunderstorms come with each season.
March 2nd, 2016 at 7:45 pm
Love it Joe, keep it coming!