Bible Belt Baseball Report: Trades And Omaha Approaching

This week's baseball report across the Bible Belt puts the focus on the Tampa Bay Rays. They are now officially a force to be reckoned with in the A.L. East. We'll also make our usual stops, as well as tell you what to look for, and make some predictions on the College World Series.

Tampa Bay Rays

This season was supposed to be a throw-away year in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, but low and behold, the Rays are for real! After taking 2 of 3 from Baltimore this weekend, the Rays are in a deadlock with the Yankees for first place.

Tampa Bay has risen from the Maddon-less ashes, as he left for Chicago, despite the fact they have scored the fewest runs in the division. That just goes to show how excellent the Rays pitching staff is. Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi have anchored that rotation that has lost Alex Cobb for the year and Drew Smiley for all but three starts. Smiley is rehabbing in hopes that season-ending Tommy-John surgery won't be necessary. TJS would now, most likely, put him out until 2017. Fingers are crossed in the Bay area.

James Loney was placed on the DL this past week. This is a huge blow. Loney is the catalyst that seems to come up with big RBI's every time. Tampa hopes that he can return to the team by mid-June.

It is very obvious that the Rays need offense. With the team in the hunt past Memorial Day, there will be no good excuses if the Tampa Bay front office doesn't pull the trigger on a big bat. With New York and Boston hanging around, they'll have to keep up with the Joneses. It doesn't take a genius to know Boston and New York will come out with their guns-a-blazing.

The trading deadline is July 31, just 8 weeks away. Ryan Howard or Andre Ethier are on the Tampa Ray-dar (pun intended) and would be great fits. Another name has surfaced in the BBBR rumor mill, and that's Arizona's Mark Trumbo. That could be the answer that would pushes the Rays into October.

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are already looking like the N.L. team to beat -- although it is very early. Their great pitching and efficient offense that resembles of the 2013 World Series team. A few tweaks will be made, but this is the October favorite if laying bets in Vegas today.

Jason Heyward, after a decent start to the season, has fizzled to his predictable .250 average. He does have five home runs and 10 doubles, but the average has to come up. On the positive side, his glove and arm never slumps. He's still the best defensive right fielder there is. How good would the Cards be if they had held onto Shelby Miller and his 1.48 era?!

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta survived the Dodger-Giant road trip punch. Salvaging the finale in L.A. and the last two in San Fran, a 3-4 record versus those two is above and beyond respectable. They did it facing Kershaw, Grienke, Hudson and Bumgarner. Early reports of the Braves' demise has been greatly exaggerated.

Three in Arizona and a weekend home stand versus Pittsburgh is welcomed relief for the boys from Georgia. Three wins is a must; four to five is a realistic goal now that Eric Stults was traded and won't be going twice.

Rookie call-up Williams Perez has been a very welcomed edition to the rotation. In his 18 innings pitched in three starts, Perez has given up just two earned runs. He was supposed to be a stop-gap until highly touted starter Matt Wisler was MLB ready. Wisler might be getting Wally Pipped.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs are still in the thick of things in the N.L. wildcard standings, as they've fallen six behind the Cardinals in the divisional standings.
About a year ahead of schedule, Cubby fabs are resurfacing everywhere with much to be happy about. Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, both under the age of 26, might already be the best 1-2 offensive punch in the National League. They sure have the BBBR vote.

A couple of moves will catapult the Cubs into October. These are the rumors the BBBR is hearing swirl near the Windy City. Everybody will be in on the Cole Hamels and Johhny Cueto sweepstakes, so the cost will be high. Two targets that won't cost a heap of young talent are San Diego's Ian Kennedy and Texas's Yovani Gallardo. Both are gritty veterans that would add length to the Chicago rotation. Still, don't rule out Theo Epstein going all in for Cole Hamels. That rumor is starting to catch fire through the pipelines.

College World Series

If you're a novice college baseball fan and want to know what to watch for this CWS season, here are some quick hits:

• LSU is the best team in the nation. Pay no mind to the seedings and rankings; just trust this: the Tigers are a juggernaut.

• FSU is young and not likely to reach Omaha, but watch LF D.J. Stewart. He has a patient eye, thick frame and fast bat. A flat-out throwback hitter.

• UF 6'7", lefty hurler A.J. Puck is a monster. He has that Chris Sale, but bigger, look to him. His delivery is almost impossible for fellow lefties.

• BBBR predicts who's Omaha Bound from the Bible Belt: