Even when they split the team up, the Rays simply cannot be beaten this spring. Tampa Bay won it’s club record ninth consecutive spring training game as its split squads beat the Blue Jays and Pirates.

For those who believe Spring Training results don’t matter, consider this. The Rays have traditionally been an average Grapefruit League team. They meander around the .500 mark most seasons, using Spring Training for what it is, just tuning up for the regular season.

The only season the Rays dominated the Grapefruit League was 2008. That also happened to be the year they had their best start in franchise history, won the AL East and the AL Pennant before falling to the Phillies in the World Series.

Last spring, possibly feeling the World Series hangover, the Rays again had a subpar spring, going 15-16 while the Yankees had one of their best Springs in a decade. The Rays got off to a slow start during the regular season while the Yankees hit the ground running and Tampa Bay could never recover.

That’s not to say Spring Training results translate to October success. The Phillies, World Series champions in 2008 and 2009 NL champions have been horrible in Spring Training the couple seasons, managing a 25-37 record.

For the Rays though, a good April is imperative to their hopes to stay in contention throughout the pennant race.

Tampa Bay has seen some surprises in Spring Training.

Before being hit by a pitch during a pickoff attempt to first base, Dioner Navarro was playing well, batting 6-for-10 with an RBI. His competition for the catcher’s spot, Kelly Shoppach, has had more opportunity and has taken advantage, belting two homers and 4 RBI. 

Competition seems to have been bringing out the best in both players but Shoppach may get the job by default. X-rays on Navarro’s left thumb were inconclusive and the Rays plan to reevaluate after a few days.

Reid Brignac is definitely making a case for staying with the big club this year. Batting .476 with a whopping 13 RBI in 8 games, he leads all Rays batters in RBI.

Shortstop Sean Rodriguez is putting some heat on All-star Jason Bartlett, belting 3 homers and 7 RBI.

Veterans BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, and Carlos Pena have gotten off to very slow starts, each batting under .232 with 1 home run and 2 RBI among them.

Tampa Bay continued to work on their depth, adding Cuban defector Leslie Anderson. Anderson, who can play both the infield and outfield, reportedly signed a four-year, $3.75 million major-league contract and has drawn comparisons to Chicago infielder Alexei Ramirez.

Like Hank Blalock, Anderson could be an answer for the Rays if they lose first baseman Carlos Pena to free ageny after this season.

This early into spring training, it’s hard to gauge where the pitchers are. Only one pitcher has more than six innings in the books right now.

Matt Garza has looked solid, striking out six in five innings of work. Projected opening day starter James Shields has pitched just 3.2 innings thus far, but hasn’t allowed any runs.

Jeff Niemann seems to be picking up where he left of last season, allowing just 2 runs in six innings of work.

David Price, who was slightly injured by a bat shard from a broken bat, and Wade Davis both looked a little shaky in early work.

Jeremy Hellickson showed the Rays why they should be excited for their future, looking the best among the pitchers thus far. Hellickson struck out six and allowed just one hit in 2.2 innings of work.

With a 9-1 record through 10 games in Grapefruit League play, the Rays reconstitute as a team to face the Phillies, weather permitting.

Read more Tampa Bay Rays news on BleacherReport.com

Last March, most fantasy baseball owners saw Mets’s shortstop Jose Reyes , go in the first two rounds of their draft. His top flight speed, matched with above average hitting skills, mixed in with a position that lacks fantasy studs, there’s no question everyone who drafted him expected huge returns.

However, Reyes who had played 150+ games a season for the previous four years, managed only to squeak out 36 games played in 2009. He was still pretty good in those 36 games, but six weeks of playing doesn’t really pay off for a blue chip draft pick.

Coming into spring training this season, Jose appeared to be healthy, until doctors found out he had a thyroid issue. They prescribed rest to help the elevated levels return to normal.

The health issue is being described as not serious, but Jose’s weak hamstrings and now varying hormone levels are likely to scare away potential suitors come draft time. Their worry could be your potential gain.

What can we realistically expect from Reyes this season? According to FanGraphs.com  three of their four projection systems peg him to have a full season of over 150 games played. Only the Marcel projections have Reyes for half a season. These projections all came out before the thyroid condition came into play, which if it fixes itself, should not be much of an issue.

All four projection systems project Reyes to be a .351-.366 wOBA player which sticks him in between Tulowitski and Jeter being the third best hitting short stop when he’s playing. When he’s playing he does everything right, he gets on base, he hits with enough power to not hurt your team, and steals bases. This makes in an incredibly medium-high risk, very high reward player in any draft.

As long as Reyes on the field he is a fantasy game changer, the risk for Jose Reyes lies completely with how many games he plays in 2010. Because he is so good, he’s still valuable if he only gets in half a season as his production will likely out weigh a mid-level short stop, and generally those points, stats, or whatever counter your league(s) use still count.

The shortstop position is thin for elite talent, so getting a great player pays great dividends, while having a bust here, and having to replace a Hanley, Tulo, or Jose, doesn’t put you to far behind most of the teams. The risk is there, but it is far from crippling.

I would be comfortable taking Jose Reyes before or after Jeter is off the table, likely in the second or third round, if it’s round four and you haven’t filled the shortstop position, calling out Jose Reyes’ name should be extremely exciting.

Nabbing a backup shortstop would not be a high priority either, as the mid level short stops are not likely to be much better than the waiver wire pick-ups likely to be available, depending how deep your league goes.

Jordan Gillis is a writer from South Dakota wishing he was located in or around Seattle. You can keep up with Jordan’s passions at his baseball blog Fantasy By The Book and follow him on twitter @FantasyBtB.

Read more New York Mets news on BleacherReport.com

March 17– Last day to place a player on unconditional release waivers and pay 30 days termination pay instead of 45 days. March 31 — Last day to request unconditional release waivers on a player without having to pay his full 2010 salary. April 4 — Opening day, New York Yankees at Boston, active rosters reduced to 25 players.

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Manny Ramirez is one of the premier right-handed sluggers of all-time.  No one is going to question that fact.  However, he’ll turn 38-years-old in May and is coming off a season where he was suspended for 50-games.  So how much could we expect him to have left in the tank?

Before we get to that, let’s look at how he performed last season:

352 At Bats
.290 Batting Average (102 Hits)
19 Home Runs
63 RBI
62 Runs
0 Stolen Bases
.418 On Base Percentage
.531 Slugging Percentage
.328 Batting Average on Balls in Play

It was just the third time since 1995 that he has failed to reach 100 RBI, but for obvious reasons.  If he had kept the same RBI pace he had set, he would have had 98 RBI if he had 550 AB.  You would think that would tell you that he still has it, but numbers can often be deceiving.

Just look at his splits for pre and post All-Star Break:

• First Half: .355, 9 HRs, 29 RBI over 121 ABs
• Second Half: .255, 10 HRs, 34 RBI over 231 ABs

You can draw whatever conclusion you’d like from his suspension, but the numbers clearly speak volumes.  If he was one of the notorious second half sliders, that’s one thing, but that just isn’t the case.

Ramirez has always been a consistent thumper.  It didn’t matter if it was April or September.  It didn’t matter if he was home or away.  It didn’t matter if it was night or day.  The guy could just flat out hit.  That second half just makes you wonder.

The lineup could be a bit of a saving grace for him.  He’s joined in the middle of the lineup by Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, two burgeoning superstars.  While that will help offer him opportunities for success, whether he is going to take advantage of it is a completely different story.

Was he pressing in the second half?  Was it a case of “Manny being Manny”?  Well, we know the bloom is certainly off the rose in the LA, with Ramirez’ pronouncement this spring that 2010 will be his final year in the city.  Will he give maximum effort?  You would think he would, trying to maximize his payout in free agency, but with Manny Ramirez you just never know.

Just throw it on top of the other concerns we already have.

How about his strikeout rate in the second half?  His career mark is at 22.0 percent, but it increased to 26.0 percent in the second half.  Again, given his long track record, it’s hard to say that he is going to stay at that rate, but given what we know about his 2009 season?

Have we really answered any questions about him?  Of course not, but would you expect anything less when looking at Manny?  We still can look at my 2010 projection, however:

.295 (140-475), 24 HRs, 90 RBI, 80 Rs, 1 SB, .335 BABIP, .404 OBP, .507 SLG

Can I say for sure that he’s going to reach those marks?  Could he potentially substantially exceed these marks?  Either could be yes, which makes him an extremely frustrating player to project.  If you select him or not, it all comes down to what you can stomach.

While he could perform like a Top 10 outfielder, he is just too big of a risk for me.  It’s highly unlikely I end up with him on any of my teams.

What about you?  What type of production do you see from Manny?  Is he a player you’d be willing to draft?

If you would like to see a free preview of the Rotoprofessor 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide (available for just $5) now including a Top 50 Prospects for 2010 List, click here .

For more 2010 projections, click here .  Among those we’ve already covered include:

• Butler, Billy
• Cain, Matt
• Cueto, Johnny
• Gutierrez, Franklin
• Hamels, Cole
• Hamilton, Josh
• Kershaw, Clayton
• Martin, Russell
• Morneau, Justin
• Peralta, Jhonny
• Ramirez, Alexei
• Sizemore, Grady
• Vazquez, Javier
• Votto, Joey
• Youkilis, Kevin
• Young, Michael

THIS ARTICLE IS ALSO FEATURED ON WWW.ROTOPROFESSOR.COM

Read more Los Angeles Dodgers news on BleacherReport.com

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By COLIN FLY AP Sports Writer