Tampa Bay Devil Rays

A baseball franchise that continues to struggle despite bringing in Lou Piniella to manage the team for three seasons. For some reason professional franchises in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area have a difficult time setting a precedent for winning (e.g. Buccaneers and Lightning). Although this appears to be the case, both the Buccaneers and the Lightning won championships. The Devil Rays have the lowest payroll and will continue to have a difficult time winning on account of this as well as the management being ideal about the future. The Devil Rays will surpass the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates in the next few seasons, and could put together 70 wins depending on how well the youth progresses and whether or not an identity is established. Mind you the Devil Rays do play in one of the more difficult divisions. They were never blessed with much luck initially.