With the Major League Baseball season underway, the Tampa Bay Rays are off and running on their campaign to make the playoffs, and maybe more. This season has Rays fans hopeful, as the Rays didn’t trade Cy Young award-winning pitcher David Price over the offseason. The Rays also have good young players like pitchers Alex Cobb, Matt Moore, Chis Archer, and last season’s rookie of the year winner, Outfielder Wil Myers.

The Rays also re-signed First Baseman James Loney, who had the highest batting average on the team last season with a .299 average. The Rays also brought back former pitcher Grant Balfour, who pitched for the Rays from 2007-2010, and is back to close games for the Rays. Last season, Balfour set the Oakland Athletics record for most consecutive saves in a season with 41, and he was also named to the All-Star team.

This season, the Rays are once again stuck in a very tough and competitive division in the AL East. The Boston Red Sox are the reigning World Series Champions, and they are sure to be tough once again. The New York Yankees made quite a few transactions in the offseason. They lost star 2^nd baseman Robinson Cano to the Mariners, but made up for it by signing Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury. The Yankees also signed Masahiro Tananka, a star Japanese pitcher who signed for $155 million dollars.

This season has one Rays fan hopeful in particular. Wesley Morgan, 10^th grade, said, “I always enjoy going to Rays games.”

“The Rays have a good chance to win the AL East and maybe even the World Series,” said Morgan.