The Rays bad start has got me a little down. So not that im giving up on this years team, but i cant help looking forward into the future. Here is my take on the possible Rays in 2012.

1.       CF- Desmond Jennings- I’m assuming this will be Jennings debut season, although he could be up in 2011 I we have to trade Crawford in order to save money…which we should. But anyway, we have been hearing his name for a long time but not seen much of him. Injuries have slowed his progress but should be ready to ball on opening day. The proposition of having the second coming of Carl Crawford batting at the top of our lineup is just sick. Except he is more athletic and has the potential to be a better defender. (That’s scary too) Point is he can hit for average and makes good contact. He can also use his wheels to reek havoc on the base paths. DJ fits nice right here

2.       SS- Tim Beckham- Just typing his name gets me all hot and bothered. Now I know what you’re thinking, two rookies batting one- two…bad Idea. You need proven table setters at the top of the lineup. I agree but I’m basing this on the pure badassness that would occur if it worked out, so use your imagination. Tim has all the tools to hit in the two spot. Lots of teams just kind of stick someone here, but he has the right stuff. The perfect combo between speed and power, he is the second coming of another ray…B.J. Upton.

3.       RF-B.J. Upton- Notice I moved him to right field. You almost have to do it because he has corner outfielder written all over him. With a cannon of an arm and a powerful bat, he deserves to be a featured player in a lineup. Evan could be a better hitter by now, but having three guys at the top of an order with the green light to steal means that other teams will lose sleep every night thinking about our blazing speed. Now I know to have Bossman Jr. around for four more years will mean spending mucho dinero. But a player like him does not come around that often. Trade people if we have to but having him with the Rays means championship hopes. And besides, he’ll have even more trade value when he is twenty-seven and coming off a 30-40 season. Think about it….

4.       DH- Matt Joyce- Though it hurts me to have Evan batting 5th I think it will have to be this way. Joyce has the left-handed power bat needed to fill the power role in the lineup. I know he is athletic and can play the field, but I don’t believe we have the money to pick up a different DH. So we save money and improve our outfield defense by having him just hitting.

5.       3B- Jesus Christ- Yeah I said it. Gods son can bat right here in the five spot. With those three speed demons setting the table at the top of the lineup, there will still be lots of RBI’s to go around. Matt Joyce can run decent himself so don’t freak out because I didn’t put him batting 3rd. Though he is the best hitter, I’m thinking he has to go right here. If you switched him and Upton, Bossman could be slown down with a slower runner in front of him. That means less chaos on the bases, and who don’t love chaos??

6.       1B- Willy Aybar- Now I think Pena will still be able to perform at this point, you have to prioritize. If we could possibly trade him for someone we could distribute his salary amongst the people we would need to give it to. Aybar is no pansy regardless. If he can accept his utility role for a couple years this could get his chance to shine. His switching hitting approach looks useful here in this lineup. He has some nice pop in his bat and a good glove at first until his younger replacement is ready. (don’t know who that Is yet, maybe if we trade CC that’s what we could get.)

7.       C- Dioner Navaro- This is one spot in not sure about. Navaro is blossoming into a top tier catching talent in the majors. So he could demand an amount of money that we aren’t willing to pay. In that case we just need a good defensive catcher here because we have enough bats. But if Navaro is around, that would be ideal. He is also a switch hitter. He doesn’t have sexy stats, but he is efficient and can get some clutch hits. Not to mention he does a great job handling the staff.

8.       2B- Elliot Johnson- If we are going to cut some cash, this is a main area. Iwamura has no doubt earned his keep but his 5 million a year could be better served elsewhere. Elliot Johnson is a fresh farm raised bag of fun that would be perfect to step in. He has a mean glove up the middle and has a good approach at the plate. He also posses my two favorite characteristics in baseball players…Speed and Hustle. He also should be a bargain if we can keep him around.

9.       LF- Fernando Perez- He is in here because of Crawford’s departure.  CC will demand big money when his contract is up in 2010. (assuming we use our option…why wouldn’t we?) The right move for a small market team would be to use him all you can and trade him. I know we could get a top 1B prospect to assume Pena’s duties down the road.  Perez has cheetah like speed. He flips the switch and is in bed before the light goes off. He is also a very smart player and can be the third piece to the best defensive outfield baseball has ever seen. (Jennings, Upton, Perez). His switch hitting style and god like quick’s would set the table nicely for the five star talents at the top of the lineup.

Now the moral to this post is that we need to keep some key guys in order to be succesful in the future. No matter the cost. If we manage things correctly we can keep Longo, Upton, Price, Sheild, Beckam and Garza. But this may mean letting go names like Pena, Kazmir, Iwamura, Sonnastine, and Crawford.

From a business stand point optioning David Price to Durham was definitely the move to make. But he won’t be gone for long. The David Price movement will come sooner than many baseball minds believe when calling him back to the bigs. In this case, making the 5th starter slot may be a bad thing as far as the two pitchers are concerned. In my mind whoever wins, Hammel or Niemann is merely auditioning for a future spot on another team. It's near impossible to keep them both around with the rays outstanding bullpen depth. Thus, at least one must go. In the near future, Niemann’s power pitches would serve well for the rays coming from the pen. Tampa has also invested a lot in Niemann as a first round pick. So let’s make Hammel the starter for a month or so. If you leave Price in the minors anymore then that he might just decide to rip a whole in the universe. So Hammel can be shipped off to a national league team that needs pitching and can give some decent prospects in return. Maybe a young first basemen or a young arm for the bullpen from the Nationals?

Besides that…is anyone on here bold enough to make a prediction of the opening day starting lineup and batting order will be? And if you dare the entire 25 man roster.