As James Shields looked around a White Sox clubhouse full of prospects and placeholders, the veteran pitcher reminisced about the cohesiveness of the Rays teams he was a part of that made three playoff appearances in four years, including a trip to the World Series.
“There was a lot of fun rebuilding over there,” Shields recalled.
Under manager Joe Maddon, those Rays teams improved from 61 wins in 2006 to 97 in two years, led by star players Evan Longoria, David Price, Carl Crawford and B.