The Rays still believe they’ll be competitive, which is cute

The Rays have used their offseason to deal Evan Longoria, Jake Odorizzi, Brad Boxberger, and Steven Souza, and straight-up designated 2017 All-Star Corey Dickerson for assignment because reasons, where reasons are “Sure, Mallex Smith is bad, but he makes one-tenth what Dickerson does.”

They did not get a significant return, as a whole, for this group. Denard Span is here to offset the addition of Longoria’s salary to the Giants, and while his bat was still average in 2017, his glove is not what it used to be. Christian Arroyo, also received for Longoria, could be useful, but he’s also not listed as a starter anywhere for 2018. C.J. Cron is the new first baseman, taking over for Logan Morrison, who hit 38 homers and led the Rays with a 135 OPS+ last year. Morrison, by the way, is still available as a free agent, while Cron hit like a middle infielder last summer.

While Morrison led in OPS+, Souza was second, at 121, and Dickerson -- who admittedly did have an extreme fade in the second half -- finished third at 120. Dickerson, though, also has a four-year stretch of hitting, as he has a 121 OPS+ since 2014, and was owed just $5.95 million with two years to go before free agency. He’s not exactly someone the Rays couldn’t afford to take the risk with.

The Rays were 80-82 with all of those bats and Longoria. Now they have a lesser lineup where Brad Miller, who posted a horrific 84 OPS+ last year, is their starting DH, and Kevin Kiermaier (114 OPS+) is their best hitter and player. Their 2017 lineup was right around average despite all the good bats they’ve sent packing, because of players like Miller, and previous DH Lucas Duda, and defense-first shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. Hechavarria and Miller are still around, but the players who helped carry the load for them are not.

And yet, despite all of this, the Rays’ front office is still out here saying the team is “going to be competitive.” Erik Neander, Rays’ GM, expects to now add pieces rather than subtract those like Chris Archer. They certainly have the money to do so, but given they’re happy to get nothing back for Corey Dickerson just because cutting him saves a few million, you can’t necessarily expect them to be convincing free agents to come play for them, either.

Maybe the Rays will convince Alex Cobb to come back and help Archer anchor a rotation that needs help. Maybe Brent Honeywell will get the call, and the young hurler will make everyone forget Jake Odorizzi. Maybe Christian Arroyo will work his way into a starting role and have a breakout campaign. Or, maybe the Rays will add a little on the margins, say they tried, complain about the economics of baseball, and the AL East will once again be dominated by the Yankees and Red Sox while teams that actually bothered to improve will comfortably control the wild card race all year long. Take your pick.