Baseball Prospectus recently summarized and analyzed the Rays preseason roster cuts, with great things to say.
Review of Cuts
March 11: Optioned LHP Alexander Torres and OF Brandon Guyer to Durham (Triple-A); optioned RHP Matt Bush to Montgomery (Double-A); optioned RHP Albert Suarez to Charlotte (High-A).
March 15: Optioned RHPs Christopher Archer, Dane De La Rosa, Brandon Gomes, Alex Cobb, C Robinson Chirinos and Nevin Ashley, and OF Desmond Jennings to Durham.
Baseball Prospectus:
That's an insane swag of good stuff getting sent down, from the prizes from Chicago received in the Matt Garza trade, or Torres, the best of what they got from the Angels in the Scott Kazmir trade, or Jennings, their best position-playing prospect. Almost all of them are close to ready or ready, and yet there's no space. In another organization, sending down a prospect like Alex Cobb would be front-page news, but in St. Pete, it's a fait accompli, ... after due consideration.
... the Rays aren't restructuring. Because they don't need to rebuild, they've already reloaded ... they never run out of bullets in the first place. ... pegging their post-season odds at 17.5 percent seems low
(site)
Notes
Those are very kind words from a very balanced baseball site. A lot of fans are up in arms about sending top prospects to the minors, but that should be reason for optimism! One injury, one phone call, one trade and the Rays will have the coveted Chirinos behind the plate - but it takes time.
Many factors play in to when a rookie is called up. Sometimes it's an opportunity for improving mechanics or a bat swing. Sometimes it's holding off the clock for arbitration - giving the club an extra year of salary control. Sometimes the depth is just stacked. Whatever the reason, the Rays have blue skies ahead. Rejoice!