By Martin Renzhofer
The Tampa Bay Rays and their puny $43 million payroll made it all the way to the World Series last year, becoming just the fourth team in Major League Baseball history to make it to the sport's pinnacle after losing 90 games the year before.
Shocking? Yes. Until one considers that the Detroit Tigers did the same thing in 2006.
Cinderella is making waves in the major leagues like never before. A sport that has long been castigated for its lack of parity now has dark horses and underdogs rising up all over the place, be it the Rays, the Tigers or the Colorado Rockies, who got to the World Series in 2007.
Revenue sharing has certainly played a role -- how significant is debatable -- giving traditional no-hopers like Tampa Bay and Milwaukee a financial boost. But MLB's better small-market teams have also figured out that developing a quality farm system and finding the right veterans at the right price can help close the gap with the big market behemoths -- at least up to a point.Which team will wear the glass slipper in 2009?
Four clubs, whether due to trades, free agency or the maturation of youth, stick out this season as having a chance to beat the odds: Kansas City, Cincinnati, San Francisco and Oakland.
The perpetually rebuilding A's, 75-86 last season, are drastically improved from a year ago and probably have the most expectations among the four teams. Newcomers Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi and Orlando Cabrera may give the defending division champion Los Angeles Angels a run for the A.L. West.
San Francisco's cause would have been greatly enhanced had Manny Ramirez taken the Giants seriously.
As 2008 was winding down and the Royals were headed for yet another 100-loss season, a strange thing happened. Kansas City went 17-8 in September and its young roster took a ton of confidence into the offseason. This season could resemble 2003, when K.C. remained in the race through August.
Like the Royals, Cincinnati is young and hungry. The Reds finished fifth in the N.L. Central last year and look like a prime Wild Card candidate.Cincinnati is loaded with young hitters. Remember the names Joey Votto, Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce. Cinderella will smile upon the Reds should starter Aaron Harang rebound from 17 losses and Edinson Volquez continue to improve.
There is no set formula for Cinderella-type magic. In 2006, Detroit won big early, then survived a September swoon that saw the Tigers barely clinch the Wild Card. Yet, they caught fire in the playoffs.
Colorado was just the opposite, sort of treading water for much of the season until entering September and winning 20 of 21 games. The Rockies needed a memorable 13-inning tiebreaker victory against San Diego just to make the playoffs.
Tampa Bay didn't have a blistering start or hot finish. The Rays did start slowly in April, but from Memorial Day on just played great baseball all season.
Midnight never came.
Source:sltrib.com
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