FanHouse CliffFloyd

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We're almost there. You can smell it in the air, can't you? That's right ... the NHL playoffs! Ha. I kid, of course. No one actually watches hockey (if it even exists). But people do get amped up for baseball, and the season is upon us. So, in that vein, we've got our final installment of preseason power rankings ready for your digestion. Play ball.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Tampa Bay Rays.

Although they ended up falling short at the end, 2008 was the year of the Rays. After being the butt of jokes for the first 10 years of its existence, Tampa Bay turned an impressive collection of baseball talent into an impressive team, finally assembling a competent bullpen, and utilizing some position shifts to put a much improved defense on the field. With the pieces in place, everything came together, and the Rays increased their win total by 31 games on their way to winning both the AL East and AL pennant.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

As you may have heard, the Tampa Bay Rays burst onto the scene in 2008, finishing the regular season with 97 wins, 27 more than their previous franchise high of 70. They then breezed past the White Sox in the ALDS and survived Boston's furious comeback in the ALCS before falling to the Phillies in the World Series.

On its face, Tampa's story may seem similar to that of the 2007 Rockies, who were an afterthought in the pennant race in early September yet ended up still playing in late October. But in reality, the surprise teams of the last two years couldn't be more different. While Colorado was led by guys in their late-20s having career years, the Rays were a very young team that came into its own earlier than expected. Nearly all of their key parts will be back for '09 and beyond; if Tampa Bay makes the right offseason moves, it is set up quite nicely for a potentially dominant 3-5 year run.

Don't you go worrying about those crazy Tampa Bay Rays, America. Sure, they had one of the biggest meltdowns in the history of baseball (or gave up a "comeback" if you prefer that parlance) Thursday night, but don't worry, they're still chock full of cockiness.

And sure, Josh Beckett might be on the mound for the Boston Red Sox in the next game, but again, no one's sweating his postseason pitching ability. Well, at least not Cliff Floyd.

"We don't go up there and think, Now we've got to beat Beckett - no one cares about Beckett," the Rays' Cliff Floyd said. "Face him the same way you face everybody else. If anything, Beckett should be worried about us. We just beat him."

Now, yes, the Rays did just beat Beckett. And yes, Josh has had less than a stellar year in comparison to previous seasons. And yes, it is important to make sure and keep up the angry/tough face as controversy stares back at your team.

But this, well, this is highly unnecessary, Cliff. Not only are you lobbing some ridiculously easy bulletin board material at the team that just came back from seven runs down in an elimination game against you, but you're actually flaming the fire inside one of the better (I'm not sure if I can safely lob out "great" here) postseason pitchers of the most recent generation.

Beckett has killed from the mound in the postseason before, and if you cheese him off enough, he will kill again.

The ALCS begins tonight. With the Red Sox and Rays getting ready to face off, the MLB FanHouse crew took some time to discuss the important issues of the series. Are the Rays too inexperienced? Does it matter that they don't have a closer? Do they stand a chance against the defending world champs?

Pat Lackey: This really is about as David and Goliath as baseball playoff series gets, isn't it? I know the Rays weren't intimidated by the White Sox, but I think there's more of a potential for them to be starstruck in this round. Not to use a gratuitous hockey/Pittsburgh comparison, but this match-up reminds me a lot of the Stanley Cup Finals in June where the young Penguins blew threw the Eastern Conference without serious challenge and met the experienced Red Wings in the Finals. The Pens played the Wings even for the final four games of the series, but they were starstruck and got blown off the ice in the first two and by the time they pulled it together, it was too late. There's certainly the potential for that to happen here, isn't there?

Despite being benched twice in the last two weeks for lackadaisical base running, B.J. Upton committed yet another mind-numbing mistake on Monday.

With two outs left in the fourth, Upton hit a line drive to left field. After rounding first base, he casually jogged toward second, apparently thinking that he'd just homered, completely oblivious that Juan Rivera had just rifled the ball to Mark Teixeira, who was chasing Upton down from behind. Instead of picking up an easy extra-base hit, Upton ended the inning with a preventable mistake.

The mistake didn't end up costing the Rays -- they still won the game 6-4 -- but it's more than a little disappointing on the heels of Upton's other recent gaffes. But instead of benching Upton (yet again), Joe Maddon said he'd let the players deal with this one -- and from the sounds of it, Cliff Floyd is ready. From MLB.com:

"You've got a guy who, in my opinion, is going to be different," Floyd said. "I'm going to put my butt on the line by saying that. I'm going to do everything possible, and I think everybody in here is going to do everything possible to make sure it don't happen again. It's not in Joe's hands anymore. It's not in anybody else's hands but ours as players."

"We really haven't put our finger on what it is he's doing. He's going to get it right, trust me. He will get it right before I leave here."

I'm not sure what Floyd had in mind to get his message across (a prescription for Adderall or Ritalin, perhaps?) , but the Rays better hope it works. At Upton's current rate, it won't be long until his mental lapses actually start costing the team wins.

No one inspires more absolutely horrible, extemporaneous-letter, fantasy writing jokes than Jhonny Peralta. This makes zero sense, because the "H" is the only bizarre letter in his name, and there are only one of them. Yet, somehow I am able to fight through that fact and persevere with my putrid humor. Point being that Peralta tops the list of players you should consider adding this week.

Jhonny Peralta
7 day stats -- .333/.385/.708, 2HR, 3RBI, 2BB, 0SB
Peralta is the eternal fantasy tease after his monster season a few years back. He is streak, just like most free agent options, but he's white hot now and the Indians get four games at Texas followed by three games at Detroit, so you should expect to see him continue raking.

Mark Reynolds
7 day stats -- .359/.450/.941, 3HR, 3RBI, 3BB, 0SB
You may remember Reynolds from such hits as "Early April Fraud" and "Chris Shelton, Part Deux". Reynolds appears to have gotten sloppy with all the attention he got and fell off the radar. Then Chad Tracy came back and the dood started raking again. Snatch him up this week and start him while he's hot.

Jerry Hairston
7 day stats -- .458/.464/.652, 0HR, 4RBI, 4BB, 3SB
Guy just won't go away will he? Hairston continues to start, steal bases and have MI eligibility. That makes him start worthy in a large number of fantasy leagues. He's not a great player but you can't kill speed.

Cliff Floyd
7 day starts -- .357/.500/1.00, 3HR, 5RBI, 4BB, 0SB
You know what you're getting with ole' Cliff -- some taterjacks, some strikeouts and possibly limited AB's, in this case. Still, he's certainly a nice deeper end pickup and he's streaking now so that makes him a pretty nice option.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

It's pretty remarkable what the Rays have achieved so far this season (14-12 record, one game out of first in the AL East), when you consider they've been without ace Scott Kazmir. They won't have to wait much longer to get the left-hander back. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon told me and the other reporters assembled before tonight's game against the Orioles that Kazmir is set to make his first start of the year at Fenway Park on Sunday.

Just who he'll bump from the rotation remains unknown, though it will probably be either Jason Hammel or tonight's starter Andy Sonnanstine. Hammel would make a lot of sense because he has pitched in the bullpen in the past and his next turn in the rotation would be Sunday, but he's not pitching terribly (4.88 ERA).

"It's a good problem to have," said Tampa starter James Shields of the upcoming roster dilemma. Shields has pitched like an ace in Kazmir's stead, most recently beating Josh Beckett in a shutout win against Boston over the weekend.

There's a palpable giddiness about this Rays team, maybe even a sense that they're going to do something special this season, but that's speculation. What's very real is that for the first time in franchise history they have pitching in spades. Jeff Niemann can help on the major league level, and later this summer Tampa's trio of Top 50 pitching prospects -- David Price, Jacob McGee and Wade Davis -- could all play a role. "I think we've got all the parts out there, unfortunately, we only have 25 spots on the roster," said Rays owner Stuart Sternberg.

Cliff Floyd is no stranger to Florida. He played there from 1996 to 2002, winning a World Series and cementing himself as one of the better left-handed hitting players in the National League. Then he was traded -- in typical Marlin fashion -- and has since bounced from the Expos to the Red Sox to the Mets to his landing place on the Cubs last year. But the Cubs have Kosuke Fukudome now. What's a marginally effective lefty to do?

Head back to Florida, that's what:

The Tampa Bay Rays are in serious discussions with free-agent outfielder Cliff Floyd and could have an agreement in place by the weekend, baseball sources told ESPN.com. The Rays have been looking for a bat in right field since sending Delmon Young to Minnesota two weeks ago in a multiplayer trade that brought pitcher Matt Garza to Tampa.

This is good news for Rays fans, but not just because Floyd can still provide a little pop and a solid OBP. The news is good because it shows the Devil Rays, believe it or not, seem willing to invest in a veteran here and there if it means improving the team. With the huge amount of young talent in the system, the Devil Rays are legitimately two years from competing in the AL East. The occasional smart veteran signing can't hurt, and Rays fans should be doubly excited.

Yesterday the Chicago Cubs made a trade with the Detroit Tigers that sent Jacque Jones back to the AL Central, and brought Omar Infante to the north side of Chicago. It was the second trade the Cubs had made with Detroit in the last three months, as they acquired Craig Monroe from Detroit in August.

Well apparently there's a "One Former Tiger At A Time" rule with the Cubs, because they've now shipped Monroe to the Minnesota Twins. In return the Cubs will be getting the infamous player to be named later.

As far as Monroe's concerned, this is a good thing for him. He never found much playing time with the Cubs, and even though the team has said goodbye to both Jacque Jones and Cliff Floyd in recent days, it didn't look like he'd get much playing time next season either.

There are more rumors out there that the Cubs are currently talking to Tampa Bay about a deal that would bring Carl Crawford to Chicago for prospects. Whether or not those talks are going to become a reality remains to be seen, but it's obvious the Cubs are looking to make more changes to their outfield.

In Minnesota, Monroe will have the chance to compete with Jason Kubel for playing time in the Twins outfield. Which there should be plenty of to go around should Torii Hunter sign elsewhere this offseason.