He and Carl Crawford represent two premier building blocks of the organization.

In our outreach efforts and charitable endeavors, the Rays place a great emphasis on helping improve the lives of our area's youths. We are pleased to be able to partner with the education foundations and provide a new element to help our educators motivate their students and make education fun.

In the five months between Stuart Sternberg taking over until opening day, we want a complete transformation of the perception of the team to be progressive and family friendly. We want to build a tradition of winning.

If people don't even remember the (catch phrase), that won't bother us. It's more about building awareness and excitement and carrying it through the course of the season.

It's not about geography. It's about putting a product on the field.

It was a great crowd. The parking lots were full, there were lines at almost every booth and there were lots of kids sliding into home plate.

Tampa is certainly a focus as we head out with our mobilization efforts.

It's our honor to be able to come out here and speak with our troops and learn more about the military operation coming out of Tampa.

It's a sign your minds are open to the promise of what we can become. Now it's our turn to deliver on those expectations.

That news, combined with Rocco's great work ethic and dedication to his rehabilitation, gave us the confidence to make this deal.