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Making a pennant run just got harder for teams that don't win their division. Howard Bryant was cynical about the playoff expansion before talking to players at spring training softened his stance.

The Rays were done. The Red Sox had survived. And then suddenly, in a dizzying few minutes, all that changed.

Are you buying your team's vision for the future based on those hot prospects it just acquired by trade? A word of advice: Don't. Your favorite front office just surrendered.

Although there are more high-profile spots on the calendar, the next six weeks of the baseball season is by far the most intriguing. This period of discovery foreshadows the pennant finale and October glory.

The Rays and the A's keep learning the hard way that people won't watch baseball in a bad ballpark. But the problems in Tampa Bay and Oakland don't stop with their stadium issues.

It's always a harbinger of hope, sure. But in this year's mixed-up, locked-out sports world, baseball's Opening Day is something else, too. It's shelter from the storm.

It's always a harbinger of hope, sure. But in this year's mixed-up, locked-out sports world, baseball's Opening Day is something else, too. It's shelter from the storm.

Bud Selig talks about parity, but winter moves shift the power in baseball even more firmly to the east. A salary cap or other equalizing measure would limit the ability of its biggest, most watched teams to dominate.

The Rays have won the American League East in two of the past three seasons, but a lack of fan interest continues to trail the team.

From the diamond to the the tennis courts, bigger, more powerful is better. Is height and strength pushing skill out of sports?

They're one of the best and most exciting teams in baseball, but you wouldn't know it by the size of the crowds in Tropicana Field. The Rays are in trouble.

Four-game sweep makes you wonder whether Sox can keep up with Rays.

Baseball decided that the World Series would not end with an embarrassing rain-shortened finale, but nobody told the players.

Carlos Pena was steadfast in his belief on how to hit. And while he struggled early in his career, he's now flourishing with the Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays are at a critical juncture as a franchise. Even if they win the World Series, they just might lose.

After a devastating loss in Game 5, the Rays can't let their thoughts betray them if they hope to advance to the World Series.