Relief pitcher Chad Bradford has made six trips to the playoffs, with three different teams, in 11 major league seasons. While the Yankees and Red Sox bolstered their rosters with blockbuster trades, Bradford was picked up from the Orioles a few days after the deadline.

Bradford quickly noticed the looseness of the Rays’ clubhouse, and it reminds him of the dominant Oakland squads he played with from 2001-2004.

“We had a lot of good young players who were confident in their abilities — not cocky or anything, but just confident in what they could do,” Bradford said. “They were just hard workers and that reminds me of what’s going on here.”

The A’s averaged 98 wins over those four seasons, and that type of comparison is O.K. with his new manager. Maddon often draws upon his Angels experience as a model for how to play baseball games. His focus is on how the team prepares to position itself to win over the long haul.

That process begins at the minor league level, through the creation of an organization-wide code of discipline. With that uniformity in place, both the Tampa Bay Rays and Princeton (W. Va.) Rays are aware of how players with issues are treated.

In turn, Maddon believes winning will be a consistent part of Rays baseball.

“It has to bleed through the entire organization if it’s going to work,” Maddon said. “You look at the Angels, that's why they're good right now.”

At a major league-leading 31 games over .500, the Angels appear primed to return to their first World Series since 2002. No matter who surfaces as a winner in the AL East, all three teams face the proposition of going through Los Angeles to reach the Fall Classic.

That’s another scenario that Maddon doesn’t get too caught up in. The only channel he watches is his franchise moving forward.

“You never take anything for granted,” he said. “Every day matters, and every day counts. The moment you do, it will all go away very fast.”

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