The Devils Rays continued to struggle getting off to a horrible 8-16 start that saw them sink to the bottom of the AL East once again, where they would remain for the entire season, leading to increased frustration from Manager Lou Piniella who made it no secret that he wanted out of his contract, while Rocco Baldelli one of the Rays best young players a few years earlier missed the entire season with a knee injury. The Devil Rays continued to play terrible baseball into the All-Star Break as they held an awful 28-61 record. One of the only bright spots early was their play against the New York Yankees as they took 3 out 4 games in two separate series on the way to winning the season series against their famous division rivals. After the All-Star some of the Rays young talent began to filter up from the minors, while players already on the roster began to adjust to life in the Majors. Players like 2B Jorge Cantu who hit 28 homers while driving in 117 RBI, while on the mound there was Scott Kazmir who posted a 10-9 record with a 3.77 ERA, as the Rays bullpen had the best kept secret in baseball Danys Baez who saved who nearly saved two-thirds of the Devil Rays wins at 41. The Rays would play much better baseball in the second half posting a winning record in August. However, they would not escape last place as they finished with a 67-95 record. As the season came to an end an era came to an end as Vince Naimoli the man who led the group to bring baseball to Tampa Bay sold his controlling interest to Stuart Sternberg, while Lou Piniella made good on his threat to resign. The road to respectability is still a long way off for the Rays who were forced to trade their star close Danys Baez to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the off-season. However, with longtime Los Angeles Angels Coach Joe Maddon replacing Piniella and prospects like Delmon Young and B.J. Upton close to getting called up the Rays finally appear to have plan and foundation in place.