Red Sox Reunion in Tampa

We all knew that the Tampa Bay Rays would be in rebuilding move this season. They didn't have the money to afford Carl Crawford, Matt Garza, and they didn't want Carlos Pena anymore.  Not to mention, they have a ton of young talent ready to make their impact in the major leagues.  But last night, they made two moves that make the AL East even tougher if that's even possible.

I am hoping he brings
this back. 

The Rays reeled in Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez who both could have an impact even at their old age. Damon's production fell off a cliff in his short stint with Detroit. Unless your name is Miguel Cabrera, most people struggle to do things in Comerica Park.  He always kept himself in pretty good shape therefore his age really doesn't bother me. I could see a great situational lineup with Damon and hot prospect Desmond Jennings.  My assumption is Jennings isn't ready to be a full time starter therefore the Rays' brass felt the need to bring in Damon.

From what I've read, Ramirez is in great shape. Now, I don't always buy into that. It's like a girl telling you her friend is pretty hot and dateable then you meet her and she is about 10 pounds overweight with a psycho personality.  It will be an interesting dynamic to see Joe Maddon handle Ramirez and how he responds to the occasional ManRam issues. If he can come up big, he is an obvious game changer.  I assume he will DH for them, but why could they try him at first base?  It would be an interesting experiment in Spring Training just to see how it works.

The other reason these deals make sense is because they are going to bring in revenue. Tampa's fan base deals with a ton of transplants from the northeast area. People who might not have had the chance to see Ramirez and Damon in their prime now get to see them in their twilight of their career trying to take down their former teams.

-Charlie.