What follows here, with a couple of spelling corrections, is a posting from this blog from Dec. 1, in the wake of the Bartlett-Young-Garza-Harris trade. Then I'll comment in light of a half-season of play.

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One doesn't often give the Tampa Bay team much attention. The Rays — no Devil now — have never lost fewer than 91 games in the 10 seasons the franchise has existed. The .398 total winning percentage is ... well, that's a decade of futility indeed. They play in what is universally regarded as the worst stadium in the majors, worse even than the Metrodome.

And stuck as they are in a division with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, two operations that outspend some Third World countries, more futility is easily foreseeable.

And yet the Rays have an impressive young lineup. (They ought to, considering how many high draft choices they've had.) In the wake of this week's trade with the Twins, let's consider the Rays:

Catcher: A weak spot. Dioner Navarro is the incumbent.

First base: Carlos Pena washed out in Texas, Oakland, Detroit, New York Yankees and Boston but he finally showed last season why he got that many chances: 46 homers, 121 RBI.

Second base: A problem last year. Akinori Iwamura, a Japanese veteran who hit .285 last season, is being shifted from third base. I would have loved the Young-Garza trade without reservation had the Twins landed Iwamura instead of Harris, but maybe the Rays wouldn't have made the trade with Iwamura.