As it stands, there have been concerns about Price’s possibly decreased velocity – and it appears as though those fears may be valid. Jason Collete took a look at Price’s velocity over his fist seven starts, as well as during his outing against the Rockies, and noticed that while the average speed of his secondary pitches has remained roughly the same over the past year, Price’s fastball is two miles per hour slower.

It was also further noted that Price was able to keep his velocity consistently in the mid 90′s for his first 50 pitches, that velocity began to decrease thereafter, with Price needing to rely more upon his breaking pitches. When looking at his other starts, his fastball velocity had been relatively consistent throughout the game, with his speed dropping after approximately 75 pitches against both the Orioles and the Yankees in back to back starts.

Granted, pitching in Colorado is far different than pitching anywhere else, as the thin air and inability to get consistent depth on breaking pitches can wear on a pitcher. However, the earlier decrease in velocity for Price is concerning, particularly given how he has pitched this season. Is that decrease merely just a factor of pitching in Colorado, or a sign of something else?

In a study done by Alan M. Nathan of the University of Illinois, it was determined that a fastball actually loses less velocity at Coors Field than it does elsewhere. If a fastball is generally a bit faster at Colorado, then the effects of the ballpark would likely be removed as the problem. Therefore, the next likely explanation may be an injury. Is it possible that Price is hurt, and is trying to pitch through the injury?

Losing Price for any stretch of time would be rough for the Rays, as he is likely aware. Before the start of the regular season, he spoke about how he, and the rest of the pitching staff, would need to step up this season. Perhaps he feels that if he reveals any soreness or misses a start, that he would be letting the Rays down.

While there is no proof that David Price is hurt, it is also not outside the realm of possibility. Perhaps it would be best for Price to miss a start, just to get himself back together and to rest up. It would be far better to miss just one of two starts, than to have to worry about going an extended period of time without one of the best pitchers in the game.

With that in mind, Joel Sherman had an interesting piece wondering if baseball may be heading into a Golden Age of trading. In the piece, he wonders if there will be more blockbuster trades, as the pool of available free agents decreases. Also, those free agents are more likely to be older, and approaching the downside of their careers, as they are being extended throughout most of their prime.

As such, the lack of available free agents and more teams in the market to trade for talented players may end up helping the Rays. As it stands presently, the Rays cannot afford to have many overly expensive players on their roster. With David Price becoming more expensive with each passing year, teams are waiting for the point in time where the Rays are anticipated to trade him, since he may soon be beyond their budget limitations. By having more potential suitors than there may have been in the past, since more teams may feel that a player like Price could be the piece needed to catapult them into the playoffs, the Rays may be able to maximize his trade value for than they could have even a year before.

Already, it appears as though the return in trades has been higher than it had been. Consider the hauls that the Rays received for James Shields, or the return the Mets got for R.A. Dickey. For one year of Shin-Soo Choo, the Indians got back a top pitching prospect in Trevor Bauer. With the possibility that free agency may be becoming a bit de-emphasized due to fewer players in the peak of their careers being available, trades are likely to increase, with the returns potentially being higher than they had been before.

Even though certain aspects of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement may have hurt, such as the spending cap in the draft and the changes in regards to compensatory picks, the changing landscape of free agency may end up being helpful as the Rays continue to find ways to remain competitive. If fewer players hit free agency, then the Rays financial disadvantages may end up being less of a factor than they have been, since there would be fewer players for teams to spend money on. Although they would still likely have to part with players as they reach certain financial thresholds, they may be able to continue to build upon their already excellent farm system. By continuing to receive top prospects for those players, and extending their younger players before free agency, the Rays may be able to continue their run of success.

It may be that baseball is truly about to enter a Golden Age for trades. If so, the increased emphasis upon the trade market may help the Rays in both the long and short term.

In what may be a bit of a mild surprise, each expert predicted that the Rays will make the playoffs, with four experts anticipating that the Rays win the American League East. Even more surprising is that the Rays joined the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Nationals as the only teams unanimously expected to make the postseason. Both the Tigers and Nationals would seemingly have advantages over the Rays in terms of their ability to make the postseason – the Tigers play in a much weaker division and the Nationals may be the most complete team in baseball. Yet, these are the three that are expected by the SI panel to be in the postseason.

Beyond making the postseason, the Rays appear to be expected to make some noise in the postseason, as four of those polled expect the Rays to win the American League title. Ben Reiter expects them to do more than make the World Series – he has the Rays as his preseason World Series Champions. The factors that Reiter mentions – the Rays deep pitching staff, their versatility, fielding and relentlessness – may be enough to propel them on a playoff run. It would certainly be more of a possibility with a healthy Evan Longoria for a full season, as well as a step forward by either Matt Moore or Jeremy Hellickson.

Speaking of Longoria and Moore, both players received votes as potential the potential American League MVP and the league’s breakout player, respectively. In fact, a case could have been made for Longoria as MVP last year, as the Rays were 44-45 without him in the lineup, yet 47-27 when he played. Moore had a stretch in the middle of the season where he was fairly dominant, going 9-2 with a 2.79 ERA and 80 strikeouts from June 3rd through August 19th. Another yuong starter, Alex Cobb, also received a vote for breakout player. Like Moore, he also had a period where he pitched quite well, as Cobb finished the season by going 7-1 with a 3.09 ERA over the final two months of the season. If either starter is able to build off that stretch, it would certainly help solidify the rotation and help their playoff aspirations.

Defending Cy Young Award winner David Price received a vote to win the award again this year. As Price has seemingly gotten better in each of the past three seasons, earning All-Star nods each time while decreasing the number of baserunners allowed and increasing his strikeout rate, it would certainly not be a surprise if he continued this trend. If Price was to win back to back Cy Young Awards, he would not only be the first American League pitcher to do so since Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000, but would also be the first left handed pitcher to do so in the AL.

Finally, when it came to the Rookie of the Year vote, Wil Myers received five of the votes, despite the fact that he will start the year in Durham. Yet, it is expected that he will be up to Tampa as soon as his arbitration clock would be pushed back a year, and that there will be a starting position awaiting him upon his arrival. Myers certainly has tremendous power potential, and if he ends up being the second power bat behind Longoria in the lineup, his four months of action may be good enough to capture the Rookie of the Year Award.

Based off the projections of the Sports Illustrated baseball experts, there should be a lot of reasons for optimism around the Tampa Bay Rays in 2013. In fact, 2013 could be quite the memorable year, as this could be the year that the scrappy underdogs that have managed to compete despite their financial limitations end up winning it all.