Well, here we are at the world series and I'm beginning to get over the fact that the Cards are not there. But I'm pretty excited by the Tampa Bay Rays. Until this year, the most wins ever in franchise history was seventy. And that was not last year. They won ninety seven this year with a bunch of kids that came together. Does that remind you of anyone? 

The Rays have an exciting lineup with power, speed and flexibility. They feature a mvp core with a number of platoon or utility guys that they plug in as appropriate. And they usually do a very good job. This team has also vastly improved their defense over last year. The addition of Bartlett shored up the infield and moving Upton to center did the same for the outfield. And like the Cards of 06, they have one glaring weakness. The lack of a bona fide closer.

This is why they should take a page from the Cards playbook and use David Price as their closer. They have been using Wheeler, but he is more a Ryan Franklin type pitcher. Not overpowering but good pitch selection. My suggestion is that they put Wheeler into an eighth inning role ala Franklin.

Price is a rookie with great stuff much like Adam Wainwright in 2006. Price is a lefty whereas Waino hurls from the right side. Price has more heat where Waino has better control. It just makes sense to me that after that seventh game performance in the ALCS, using him to close is a no brainer.