Jon Morosi writes lazy article about the Rays

I shouldn't be giving this any time out of my day, I have too many other things to do, but given this morning's discussion of the meaning of "trolling" Rays fans -- you know, kicking a fanbase when they're down (a dis-heartening but not impossible 5.5 games back in the division in early May) -- we should discuss this incredibly lazy article.

May I present one of the worst written articles of the year, courtesy of Jon Morosi:

"If early-season struggles continue, will Tampa Bay break up the band?"

Wait! Don't read it just yet.

Let's discuss the key ingredients for a lazy article written about the Rays. Off the top of your head, what would you discuss?

1. Trading David Price -- because why wouldn't they?

2. Attendance talk -- in case people didn't know it's a problem that the stadium is more than an hour away from the majority of the fan base... except don't mention that, just blame the dome ceiling

3. Move the Rays to Montreal -- because East coast?

4. Payroll issues -- small markets can't afford to pay real life contracts to players or something like that

5. Bad Drafting -- I don't know, this sounds hard. Just mention the Rays skipped on Buster Posey! You know, like other teams did (wait, don't mention the other teams, this is about the Rays!)

Then conclude with a Joe Maddon wild card -- add a neat qualifier to say Joe Maddon can fix anything, so the writer *might* be wrong. Yeah, that sound good. Oh, and call the owner cheap. People like that.

Pretty sure that's all you'd need.

Now read it and let me know what you find...

***

Oh look, Morosi covered all five topics! And even had the Joe Maddon wild card at the end!

Favorite moment might have been this valuable sentiment: For some reason, David Price's ERA does not equal his FIP, you guys! Something might be wrong!

To be fair, there are two worthwhile statements in the article:

...from 2008 through 2010 - a prime three-year span for present major-league impact... Rays' draft classes ... have combined for 0.7 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball-Reference.com... the lowest mark in baseball during that period.

He's right, a focus on drafting high school players and then trading prospects for major league players could produce an anomaly like the lowest WAR in the majors for those draft classes. But ignore that, dammit, he's talking.

In the last two decades alone, nine teams overcame 16-22 starts to reach the postseason, according to STATS LLC; in fact, the Los Angeles Dodgers did it last year.

IT HAPPENS. It really does. You could build an article off this thought, but it's just shoved in ahead of the Joe Maddon qualifying comment to prove you can't predict ball.

Morosi, this article sucked eggs.

Stop wasting our time.