A couple of things. The Rays biggest blessing (which I previously believed was their downfall), is they can never sign their stars back. They have almost no fans, so there is never pressure to sign some of their biggest names. Soooo, they always have to trade their stars away for prospects.... This approach, turns out to be the best approach IMO, because they always get the best years out of the stars anyway... don't have the burden of having to pay a BJ upton a tonne of money and usually at least one of their prospects in these trades pan out... giving them new stars, with lots of control.
The new CBA and smarter GM's might hurt them going forward. I can't see GM's willing to pay the huge price much longer. The new draft compensation rules will give teams like the Rays fewer picks.