The first-place Devil Rays make a move

Tampa Bay is still in first place despite their loss on Wednesday. But that wasn’t their biggest news of the day.

The Devil Rays gave Scott Kazmir a four-year, $28.5 million contract extension. This is after locking up Evan Longoria last month. It seems that the Rays are setting themselves up to compete now and in the future.

If Tampa Bay were to stay competitive all year long, it should be the best story in baseball. This team has never been competitive before — ever. The Devil Rays have never won more than 70 games in their franchise history.

As you can imagine, Devil Ray fans are very excited about being in first place. And they should be. The fans who have followed the team throughout deserve this, and it’s a fun team to watch.

And just because, here’s the True story behind Raymond, the Rays’ mascot:

Note: I know they’re the Rays now, not the Devil Rays, but I’m still calling them the Devil Rays in support of my Bugs & Cranks colleague David Chalk and his mission to keep the old team name.