"It is now less than a month until the pitchers and catchers report to Port Charlotte and the Rays have all their starting pitchers. Surprised?

Given the talk at the start of the offseason, when James Shields, Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis were popping up in trade rumors, it is surprising.

But Andrew Friedman is very protective of his stable of starters. It was going to take more than a handful of prospects for Friedman, the Rays executive vice president of baseball operations, to move one. Friedman was seeking help at the major league level, and as he's said often this offseason, moves of that nature are hard to line up.

Besides, with basically every team looking for young pitching, why would a team deep in young pitchers want to dig into that depth?

"Good, young pitchers are really hard to find," manager Joe Maddon said. "You can always get someone to play left field. You can always get someone to play first base. But it's tough to find a good pitcher, especially in our division.""