Spring training champs: Does that mean something?

Guess the Tampa Bay Rays have to win sometime, right? So they'll take spring training. Doesn't mean much starting next week, but the Rays (17-6 entering Thursday) believe that winning in the exhibition season has a purpose.

"We're having a good spring and you never know what that's going to mean, but it definitely gives us a better feeling going into the season,” outfielder Carl Crawford told the St. Petersburg Times. “You just want to try to go out and do good and get rid of all this negative stuff that's been going on."

The Rays have exorcised the Devil from their names, and it's already the 11th season for the franchise. Unfortunately, the Devil Rays finished in last place in nine of those 10 years, and had the worst record in the majors in four of them. The team's leadership hopes the name change will bring some kind of new beginning.

"There's been a little bit of buzz. People are a little excited because we've won so many games," senior advisor Don Zimmer told the Times. "There's no question at least going into Monday this team has to feel a lot more positive than they have the past years."

Other storylines for the Rays:

• As positive as the spring has been, the status of the Rays' ace is still iffy. Scott Kazmir will miss at least the first few weeks of the season, coming back from a strain in his left (pitching) elbow.
• The Rays' bullpen was historically bad in 2007. They had a combined 6.16 ERA, the worst in the last 50 years. It will be hard for Troy Percival, Trever Miller and Dan Wheeler to not be significantly better than that crew.
• The Rays are giving a second chance to third baseman Manny Aybar, who vanished without a trace from the Atlanta Braves last season. He was in a substance abuse treatment center and also was jailed in the Dominican Republic for a short time.

Photo: Scott Kazmir will miss the first part of the season with a strained elbow, but that hasn't hindered much of the optimism for the Tampa Bay Rays. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

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