I really love this: From Jayson Stark: Rumblings and Grumblings

"No Howel-ing in Tampa: Clubs that have spoken with the Rays say they don't expect Tampa Bay to react to J.P. Howell's season-ending shoulder surgery by running out and trading for bullpen help.

"They're already past that," said an executive of one club. "They've already got the [Randy] Choate factor going, and the [Lance] Cormier factor, and the [Andy] Sonnanstine factor. They're like Minnesota getting past losing [Joe] Nathan. That team has so much character and it's so focused, they just deal with it."

Down the road, the Rays might hunt around for another left-handed reliever. And "They'd love to add a couple of power arms in the 'pen," the same executive said. But in the short term, they're second in the league in bullpen ERA. And opponents are hitting .215 against that bullpen. So this is a team in no hurry to make a deal."

"That team has so much character and it's so focused, they just deal with it." Ok, it is about intangibles, but nobody said they don't exist, just that they are the lazy analyst's catchalll explanation. And if this team does have character and is focused, who gets at least some of the credit?