Alright, I understand that the Rays are going into 2007 with a smaller payroll than that which they had in ’06, but I thought it would be fun to see what the D-Rays could’ve done with the $35 million plus they spent last year.

First off, a couple of rules:

• I understand that there is no general manager that could’ve ever put this team together. I am not saying that the Rays should have done the following, nor am I saying that I expect a team like this be fielded. I just wanted to see what kind of team last year’s payroll COULD have bought.
• In order to qualify for this team, a player needed to meet one of two criteria:
  • Either a current Rays player
  • Or NOT with the team he originally made his Major League Debut with
    • I didn’t think it would be fair to include players that were still with their original teams, because these players were never available. Players that were traded to a new team are fair game.

So, that being said, over the next 4 days leading up to Spring Training, we’re going to run down the best team $35,417,967 can buy, starting with the starting pitchers!