Pretty awesome footage, no? Anyhow, to extend this to baseball's toughest division, the Red Sox and Yankees are the lions and crocodiles — powerful, predatory, perched squarely atop the food chain. The historically feckless Rays are the water buffalo — dinner for the lions and crocs, most often. Last season, though, the Rays/water buffalo subverted the natural order of things. They won the pennant and in the process sent lions flying through the air and crocodiles slinking back into the watering hole, all still hungry. The video above — and the standings — tell the story. (Metaphor over ... for now.)

Certainly, though, it was a one-time thing, right? The Rays, young and financially hamstrung, can't possibly keep it going. Right?

Wrong. Dead wrong, in fact. Not only are the Rays poised to contend for years to come, but also this offseason they have fewer needs to address than any other team in baseball. Yes, for the reigning AL champs to stay on top, they'll need to do, well, not much of anything.

So while the Red Sox, Yankees, and other terminally frantic big-spenders scramble for free agents, the Rays can enjoy a leisurely, pressure-free winter. All that's needed is a little tweaking at the margins. That's what happens when a team is obscenely young and obscenely good.

Consider that the Rays already have under contract their eight starting position players, the five likely members of the rotation, six bullpen arms and five bench guys. As the simple math will tell you, that's almost a full active roster. The offense wasn't a strong suit last season, but anticipated skills growth from Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Dioner Navarro should help quite a bit.

On the rotation front, Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza and Andrew Sonnanstine will all be another year closer to their prime seasons. The Rays will also enjoy a full season from David Price, who's the early favorite for AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2009. In the bullpen, they'll return Grant Balfour, Dan Wheeler, Troy Percival, J.P. Howell, Edwin Jackson and Chad Bradford, among others. Young arms like Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann are also ready to contribute.

As for the "tweaking at the margins" part, the Rays could use a right-handed bat to pair with Gabe Gross in left field (bringing back Rocco Baldelli certainly makes sense), and they also need a left-handed bat at DH.

Names like Adam Dunn, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu and Raul Ibanez have already been mentioned. Otherwise, Pat Burrell (although he bats right-handed) would also be a nice fit. Although adding a second lefty to the pen isn't necessary, it's something the front office can explore in the coming days.

Money will certainly be a consideration. The Rays are going to owe arbitration pay raises to Navarro, Gross, Balfour, Jackson, Jason Bartlett and Johnny Gomes. As well, they might look to sign some of their young core contributors to long-term contracts (Upton and Garza, for example). So it's a good thing that the Rays figure to enjoy a revenue boost in 2009.

Last season, despite 97 wins and a division title, the Rays ranked just 12th in the 14-team AL in home attendance. Historically, though, teams make gains at the turnstile a year after making gains on the field. You can bet the Rays, awful home park and everything, won't be near the bottom in 2009 attendance.

As for those lions and crocs, they have many more holes to fill than do the superior Rays. The Red Sox need at least one more starting pitcher and perhaps upgrades at third and short. That's to say nothing of the work they must do in the bullpen. The Yankees, meanwhile, must round up a right fielder, two starting pitchers, relief help, and perhaps a regular center fielder (since Johnny Damon can't field and Melky Cabrera can't hit). That's a lot to get done, and it's not a particularly deep free-agent market. They should envy the Rays, what with their stable roster, scarcity of needs, and prevailing excellence.

In other words, that water buffalo in Tampa might hibernate through most of the Hot Stove season, but come April he'll be ready to bust up a few more lions and crocs.