Any money crunch is well off. The org has done a good job in that regard. Shields is locked up, Pena too. The deals for Crawford and Baldelli (assuming he regains his health and performance) aren't out of line at all, and both are optionalfor 2 years. Navarro and BJ don't hit arb until 2009, Aki's deal is reasonable throught 2010. Then a bunch of prospects that likely won't be arb eligible until 2011. The bullpen will require continual tweaking, but that's what happens with them. You just hope the failed starters or guys less focused on (Morlan for example, fill some spots cheaply.

The Rays payroll will be pretty moderate right up to 2011. By then the decision on Kaz will be made, possibly to trade him for pieces and prospects if the kids pan out. The org is in an enviable financial position for quite a while. And assuming the winning starts, RJ's point about rising revenues is well taken. Remember, because teams only put 31% of local revenue into the revenue sharing pool, for every dollar lost there you've gained more than 2 kept. I wish I owned the Rays - financially things look great!