Call out people when your team does not have a history of doing anything other than getting plaudits from Sickels and Baseball America on their drafting ability. Let's take a look at this from an inverse direction and then you can understand why it is so easy to call out the Rays or D-Rays or whatever it is they want to be called.

The goal of every team is to reach the World Series. To do that, you need three things:

1.)Core players that play and follow management's unwritten philosophy.
          Examples: Jason Varitek, Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter

2.) Solid, if unspectacular, pitching. Tigers had it last year, Red Sox had it in 04 and 07, hell even Colorado up until running into the Red Sox if you are looking at the NL for an example.
          Examples: Beckett, Schilling, Bonderman, Carpenter

3.) A mix of younger and fringy players that somehow are effectively mixed in, and very importantly, play an integral role, by the skipper.
           Examples: David Eckstein, Nate Robertson, Chad Qualls, Jacoby Ellsbury

The point that I am making here is that when you analyze the playoff rosters of all the playoff teams through the last 5 years, they all have these common threads. You flaming people out because they don't have your expertise on the Rays is not what this argument is about. Rather, the argument should be focused on these things:

1.) The need on the roster for a veteran who has established himself in the clubhouse as a consummate professional, and one of the players who is most like one of the players I mentioned in #1. Not easy because they have things that can't be measured, but with the talent they have, they ought to be able to get someone who can show the kids how the game is played every day and will make them understand the definition of "consumate professional". Mike Lowell and Aaron Rowand would work well here.

2.) Acquire a front line starter who is a proven winner. Give up prosects if you have to, because you have waaaay to many for roster balance and true competitive integrity. Don't spend one minute on guys like this:
        Ex: Kurt Birkins, Grant Balfour
It gives your team a reputation as a dumping ground and doen't help your team all that much
This winter, there isn't much, but the way I would approach it is with two words in my mind: Johan Santana. 3 pitching prospects ought to do it, and make sure you sign him to an extension before you do the deal as well, because he would give your organization instant credibility, and ticket sales would instantly boom to offset the costs of the largest contract in team history.

3. Keep drafting the way you do, because your drafting philosphy will allow you to fill 7-8 roster spots every year at minimum dollars and allow the players to earn the postseason experience where they should - at the periphery.

I hope this really rights this "debate" for you while at the same time giving your organization the ability to see what successful organizations perform on an everyday basis.  

Jake - You can't win. The Devil Rays have always sucked and you have no basis for an argument. Prospects don't make a club! And, I have to disagree with Eric -- I don't think the Devil Rays know how to draft one bit! A helmet wearing, drool cup carrying moron can manage their team to last place every year and end up drafting the #1 pick year in, year out! They do absolutely nothing with the rest of their picks, and quite frankly Elijah Dukes is despicable human - and Young and Upton cried their way to the majors! They don't exactly help their clubs (errors, strikeouts) they just happen to get a hit once in a while, albeit out of the park sometimes.......

Nor do they know how to hang on to players. Andrew Miller (opted out and went back to school) - Mike Pelfrey (re-drafted) -- among others!

Baldelli isn't exactly turning out to be a gem, Huff never won them anything - they couldn't even manage to trade the guy before the deadline in his free agent year.

In fact, everyone is a bust! Crawford too! How the hell can you say Crawford, Huff, Hall and anyone else that's entered their system legitimizes them as a ball club - THEY'RE IN LAST EVERY YEAR! They can't fill their seats, noone routes for them but Jake, their uniform colors and logos show up on the twisted heads of gangsta's more often than baseball fans, and the words "Tampa Bay Devil Rays" show up on every short list of no-trade clauses!!

That is despicable!!!!!!!!!! And, routing for them makes you a terrorist!