This is what happens when you give up on your team

The moment I heard about the Scott Kazmir trade, I knew this was what we were going to be left with.

Argue about the prospects. Argue about the money. Argue about the future. Argue all you want, but this is what happens when you give up on a a team: The team gives up on you.

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of blame to go around.  We can blame Joe Maddon. We can blame the Carlos Pena injury. We can blame the bullpen. But ultimately, the slide started the day the Rays front office secretly traded Scott Kazmir to another contending AL team.

Maybe ownership learned a valuable lesson this year. Maybe they learned the value of a "team" over the value of "money." I'm not asking them to break the bank to compete. I'm not even asking for trading deadline additions. All I'm asking is that the Rays front office give this team the chance to win.  That chance was clearly taken from them and their play on the field shows.