The real surprise for the Rays in 2009, Ben Zobrist not only was a huge contributor for the Rays last season, he played so well he finished 8th in the MVP voting.
Before 2009, Ben Zobrist had averaged a HR for every 31.8 AB’s.  In 2010, he upped that number to 18.5.  That’s a pretty lofty [...]

3. Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays have graduated a fair amount of talent in recent years but continue to come up with arms, while using their stumble last year to flip Scott Kazmir and add three solid prospects to their system. They could easily graduate three more above-average or better prospects this year if openings arise [...]

The Rays enter the 2010 season with one of the best IF’s in MLB.  SS Jason Bartlett is one of the reasons why.
He followed up a Team MVP 2008 season with a markedly better 2009.  He was named to his first All Star team in 09 as well.

Year
G
PA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
SB
CS
BB
SO
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS
OPS+

2009
137
567
500
90
160
29
7
14
66
30
7
54
89
.320
.389
.490
.879
129

6 Seasons
586
2269
2033
292
583
102
20
25
195
89
21
170
315
.287
.350
.394
.744
97

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/27/2010.

He [...]

There has been a feeling in Tampa for a few seasons, that CF BJ Upton had no real interest in signing with the Rays long term.  Upton, before playing in the Second Annual BJ Upton Celebrity Golf Classic, might have dispelled those rumors a little bit.
“You know what, I’m definitely all for that,” said Upton [...]

The Rays most important player, Evan Longoria heads into his 2nd full season, having accumulated just over 1000 AB’s in his 1.75 seasons in the majors.
In both his first two years, the Longoria has been a top 20 MVP candidate.  In his rookie season, he won the Rookie of the Year Award and this past [...]

The Rays signed 3 players who were scheduled to have arbitration hearings in the next few weeks to one year deals today.
Jason Bartlett received a raise from 1.8 million to 4 million.
Matt Garza received a raise from 433,300 to 3.35 million.
JP Howell received a raise from 433,700 to 1.8 million.
The one arbitration eligible [...]

Acquired in a trade with the Detroit Tigers before the 2009 season for Edwin Jackson, many people assumed that Matt Joyce was going to play a large role for the Rays in 2009.  They were mistaken.  RF was manned by Gabe Kapler, Gabe Gross and Ben Zobrist, and Joyce only was on the big club [...]