Brian Cashman Saw the Rays Coming

· Steele: <a href="http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/10/06/curt-flood-an-extraordinary-man-of-principle-and-conviction/">Man of Conviction | <a href="http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/10/06/hank-greenberg-could-relate-to-flood/">Greenberg Relates
· Moore: Flood's Peers Owe Him Apology
· Blackistone: <a href="http://kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com/2009/10/06/curt-flood-belongs-in-the-hall-of-fame/">Cooperstown Should Open Doors
· Fletcher: <a href="http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/10/06/curt-flood-a-hero-to-todays-players-those-who-know-his-name/">Modern Players Know Little of Flood
· Stradley: <a href="http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/10/06/for-curt-flood-antitrust-meant-exactly-that-at-supreme-court/">Antitrust Meant Just That

The Rays, fresh off their entertaining sweep of the Red Sox, are in full-on euphoria mode. The team is young and entertaining, the fan base is slowly buying in, and the millions of people who breathe baseball every day are still trying to figure out how a team with no payroll and no history of success is leading baseball's toughest division. The answer came to different people at different times -- Baseball Prospectus predicted it well before this season -- but Yankees GM Brian Cashman saw it last September:

"It's not going to be a situation where they add 10 wins next year and 10 more the year after that. It's not going to be slow. When it happens, it will happen quick. Now. That growing stuff is behind them now. It's going to come fast."

Cashman hit it on the head -- the Rays made tweaks, not giant changes, and flipped on a powerhouse of a team that was waiting to explode. Whether Tampa can maintain 2008's defensive prowess is yet to be seen, but the future is pretty clear. The Rays are not going away.

(HT: Baseball Musings)