Evan Longoria… in this article from the Tampa Tribune... talks about how the team is all about clubhouse camaraderie and positive thinking and how everyone is on the same page with “The Rays Way.”  Part of why that is now? Because a couple of old holdovers from the pre-2008 Rays — the old Devil Rays –are gone:

“There was a lot of history with B.J. and Shields in this organization, and I think there were some things that were tough for them to get beyond,” Longoria said. “They were really the only ones that were left in here that were here before the Rays were in 2008 when we started to be the team that we are now. I think some of those things kind of stuck around, and as much as you try to instill the new way, some of those things, it was tough to get some of those thoughts out of their head.

... Know what keeps one from making such criticisms, however inadvertently? Not treating a baseball season as a grand tale in which there are necessarily good guys, bad guys, new beginnings and all the rest. It seems here that rather than have any actual criticism of his former teammates, Longoria was simply trying to fit the Tampa Bay Rays into some narrative, however contrived. Sportswriters are bad for this. But it seems that players do it too.

The Royals, who are searching for a top-of-the-rotation starter and have checked in on Jon Lester and James Shields, talked to the Mets about R.A. Dickey as well…

The Mets’ goal is to keep Dickey on a two-year extension, but if they did trade him would most prefer a catcher and outfield help. (As Mets GM Sandy Alderson said a few weeks ago regarding their roster, “What outfield?”)...

The Rays are willing to talk about just about anyone (except the recently extended Evan Longoria), but they love Shields’ durability, and seem willing to live with his $10-million salary, which is high for them. Jeremy Hellickson is a pitcher who might fit for the Royals, but they are at the moment looking for an ace…

The Royals have a terrific stash of prospects to dangle, and apparently would consider dealing even [Wil] Myers in the right deal, but aren’t looking to trade from their young nucleus that includes [Salvador] Perez, third baseman Mike Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer.

They see Alex Gordon and Billy Butler as close to untouchable as they don’t want to break up a strong homegrown positional group. They’ve also gotten a lot of calls of inquiry about shortstop Alcides Escobar, but they aren’t inclined to trade him, either.

The Royals are believed to have up to $6 million to spend so they are not in the market for a top free-agent pitcher (that includes their old fried Zack Greinke), though they could increase their spending power slightly if they could trade Luke Hochevar, Bruce Chen or Jeff Francoeur.