The Rays have turned around this year and become one of the best teams in baseball for 2008. I can't figure out why they have improved so much in the last year, and being a boston fan, i'm starting to worry about how the AL East is shaping up.

Going back to 2001, the most wins the Rays had in a single year was 67. This year, the Rays have 68 wins with still nearly 2 months of baseball left. I'm having trouble figuring out how they've improved so much.

During the last few seasons, the Rays have been plagued by multiple injuries, which may have hurt their record. This year, they have had littl eproblems with injuries, and the team is playing well. I heard on some sports show that the Rays should have done better during the last few seasons but again the injuries limited the team. If Rocco Baldeli returns this year, and matches his previous numbers, the Rays have a great chance of winning the AL East.

The Rays haven't had any major aquisitions during the offseason. However, having the rookie Evan Longoria has helped the team, and he has the most home runs hit by a Rays rookie, wiht still two months of baseball to go. He is a great third baseman, and undoubtibly has helped the team.

I also heard somewhere that their schedule has been easy this year, helping the team. I have yet to look at the Rays schedule this year, so I don't know how good of a reason this is. Anyway, if this is the case, than that will also have an impact on how the team does this year. We'll just have to see how everything shapes up.