Never mind the end result, the Rays had a strong showing in a 6-3 Grapefruit League loss to Toronto at chilly Charlotte Sports Park on Sunday. ...more

March 1, 2009

Every morning, James Shields reports to the ballpark along with the rest of his Rays teammates. He goes through his prescribed workouts in the morning, whether throwing a bullpen session or doing a bit of conditioning work. ...more

February 28, 2009

As is usually the case when the Tampa Bay Rays play the Boston Red Sox, even in spring training, there's a lot of red in the stands at Charlotte Sports Park today, and hearty cheers greeted Boston's hitters as they stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning. Red Sox stalwarts Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie and Kevin Youkilis each got a nice hand from a good chunk of the assembled masses. But when the fourth man in Boston's lineup, Rocco Baldelli, stepped to the plate, everyone cheered. ...more

February 27, 2009

The Yankees trotted out some of their luminaries before their Grapefruit League home opener Thursday against the Rays, and they added some prestige to the game. ...more

February 26, 2009

The addition of free agent designated hitter Pat Burrell has Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon contemplating a lineup that would drop second baseman Akinori Iwamura out of the lead-off spot. ...more

February 26, 2009

You couldn't call it a storybook opener, what with the 7-0 drubbing absorbed by the home team and a traffic jam that kept many fans from reaching the stadium on time, but the Rays didn't have many complaints as they began Grapefruit League play Wednesday. ...more

February 26, 2009

The Rays could have given the start in their Grapefruit League opener to Jason Hammel, an established member of the team who is battling for a rotation spot. ...more

February 26, 2009

The big question surrounding Alex Rodriguez this spring and into the season promises to be how he will handle the negative reaction from the fans and media as he travels around the country. ...more

February 25, 2009

Mark Teixeira found out quickly what life would be like on his new team when he reported to New York Yankees camp last week at Steinbrenner Field. He had signed an eight-year, $180 million contract over the winter, one of three premier free agents that cost the Yanks about half a billion big ones. ...more

February 25, 2009

Now that they've arrived, the Rays are eager to prove they belong. ...more

February 22, 2009