ESPN's blatant bias against the Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays have made the playoffs in 3 out of the last 4 years. Twice, they have won the AL East, and they won the AL Championship once.

With a recent history of success, the Rays ought to be garnering a lot of respect nationally. Every year they're underestimated, and every year they prove the doubters wrong. With a second wild card team being added, the chances the Rays make the playoffs are even better. They have the best starting rotation in baseball, they bolstered an already strong bullpen, and they made significant improvements in 3 or 4 positions of need (1B, C, DH, SS if you count Keppinger). They should at the very least be in contention for the title of one of the best teams in baseball. Right?

Not according to ESPN.

This is a photo of a poll on ESPN's SportsNation website, where fans can vote in such polls. I'm not sure of the date that this poll was posted, so this may be old news, but to exclude the Rays is unexcusable. ESPN for the most part (with the exception of some, such as Buster Olney, who has the Rays near the top of his preaseason power rankings) is totally biased towards the big-market teams such as the Sox and Yanks. Certainly, all the teams up there deserve to be listed, but for the Rays to not be included in the discussion is just another example of ESPN's blatant bias against the Rays.