Tampa Bay Sports Blog

Over the last couple years the Rays have made tremendous strides. They have gone from the perrenial loser to a contender. They have gone from a laughing stock to a respected organization. They are looked upon to contend against the big boys in the AL East. They have been praised for smart trades and drafting. I get all of this. Some of us disagree with some of the decisions (Kapler,Burell), but these are things that could be proven wrong still. I have now been completely lost by one decision and need an explanation.

What was the thought process behind the Adam Kennedy/Joe Dillon deal? What the hell happened here? It’s easy to question a move like this after Iwamura got hurt, I know, but how does this happen? What about this deal was so appealing to the Rays? Follow what I see and tell me what I see wrong.

Adam Kennedy is in the minor leagues under team control with no pressure to move him. He is a 32 year old proven 10 year major league second baseman that could provide quality depth and experience at both the minor and major league level. He is traded. A player of this caliber would bring back at least one decent lower level prospect, right?

He gets traded for the infamous player to be named later. That player becomes Joe Dillon. Dillon is a player who is older, less experienced, a worse fielder and goes against what the Rays supposedly are. I thought the Rays were a team that played good defense, manufactured runs and didn’t live by the long-ball. Not according to this move. I don’t get it.

How do you move a guy with proven major league ability for an older guy with none? In what universe is Adam Kennedy worth Joe Dillon? I have to question management’s moves still because of these things. I know that Friedman, Maddon and company go by the new stat crap, but how does this make sense even by those standards? We all know that I hate the new stat wave of scouting and what not, but I don’t get this at all. Can someone help me find what I’m missing here?

Technorati Tags: Adam Kennedy, Akinori Iwamura, AL, Andrew Friedman, Gabe Kapler, Joe Dillon, Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays

It was a busy week in the AL East and I had to sit down and look at it tonight. I’ve been listening to the radio and reading about the moves being made and I came up with this. The Rays are much smarter than the Yankees.  There are a few good things about being a small market team and they’re showing during the winter baseball season. Let’s break it down.

• The Yankees signed CC Sabathia to a $161 million deal and brought one of the best pitchers in baseball to New York. But how much did this improve them? I honestly don’t think it improved them much at all. Think about it like this. They signed a guy that won 17 games last year to replace a guy that won 20. Now I’ll say that Sabathia is better than Mussina and he would’ve probably won 22 or 23 games with the Yankees last year with the same run support Mussina got, but that’s still only a 3 game improvement. Not enough for that kind of money. They also signed AJ Burnett to fill in the rotation but they haven’t re-signed Andy Pettitte yet. That’s a 4 game improvement if Andy doesn’t come back. Not enough either. If Pettitte comes back and teams with Wang and Sabathia that should be a decent three man rotation. Then they’re counting on Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes to handle the rest of the load. I’ll take my chances. Burnett will get hurt, Wang and Sabathia will probably be ok, but I don’t think Chamberlain and Hughes will do what they’re expecting. The Yanks also are going to lose Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi, Jeter is another year older and slower and A-Rod will be useless when needed as he always is. I’m not writing the Yankees off before the season starts, but how many of these store bought teams have done what they’re supposed to do? Even Sabathia realizes that the pressure in NY is so silly that he got an opt-out clause after three years. How much you wanna bet that that gets exercised?
• In comparison, the Rays traded their fifth starter for a young RF prospect who is already an upgrade over anything they put out there last year in Matt Joyce. Replacing Jackson will be the best pitching prospect in baseball who already proved himself at the Major League level at the end of last season, including the playoffs. This move also puts a guy on the bench, Gabe Gross, who contributed in a major way throughout a championship season.  
• If we look at who’s not coming back and who is it’s a big difference as well. The Yankees may not have lost all these guys yet but have Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina and Wilson Betemit. Kyle Farnsworth is gone and so is Carl Pavano (useless) . I personally think Abreu will end up in Chicago and Pettite with the Dodgers. Mussina is retired and that tells me something right there. This is a guy, who at the age of 40 and just came off his first 20 win season, has decided to retire rather than come back to NY or anywhere else. How big a toll did playing in NY take on him? I can’t think of any other reason that he wouldn’t come back to play somewhere for a couple years and try to get his 300th win other than the pressure of playing in NY completely beat him down. There’s no telling what the same pressure will do to Sabathia, who has an awful postseason record, and Burnett. Burnett comes in with an injury history similar to Carl Pavano’s and don’t think that the NY media won’t be harping on that either. The Rays lost Jonny Gomes (finally), who was phased out anyway, Trever Miller and possibly Rocco Baldelli. Miller can be replaced without damage and Baldelli wasn’t counted on anyway.

In wrapping this up I come up with this. The Rays got better already while making one move, the Yankees may or may not have depending on who comes back. The Yankees could still get Abreu, Giambi and Pettite back and that would make them a better team. The main component there would be Pettitte. Even if all these guys came back, who do the Yankees have to fill in if someone goes down? The rotation could end up being a high priced nightmare if one or more of their pitchers get hurt. Who do they have to replace any one of those guys if someone goes down, Darrell Rasner? Again, I’ll take my chances. Their bullpen has already been weakened as well with the loss of Farnsworth and Chamberlain. They could sign Derek Lowe, but I think he’ll end up in Boston. On the Rays end, they have replaced Jackson with Price, Gross with Joyce and still may sign some guys to fill out the DH and bullpen needs. If one or more of the Rays pitchers gets hurt there’s guys like Wade Davis, Jason Hammel, Mitch Talbot, Jeremy Hellickson and Jeff Niemann to fill in. It shows that being small market forces a team to think about the future. Remember when George Steinbrenner was forced out and the team finally had to develop players? They got Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera out of that deal, among others. They got role players then like Scott Brosius, Chuck Knoblauch and Jim Leyritz to fill out the roster and that’s how they won all those Series rings. That’s the path the Rays are on now with pieces like Longoria, Price and Upton as they sign guys like Iwamura, Pena and Percival to fill things out. It’s the smart baseball people that win, not the big money teams. We’ve seen it over and over again with teams that try to outspend everyone and don’t succeed and it amazes me that more teams don’t do it better. The Red Soxhave the best combination of both sides right now unfortunately as they have great development and lots of money. They can sign anyone if they want and are developing guys like Papelbon, Pedroia and Youklis. That’s a hard mix to beat but the Rays have the core to compete with them right now, maybe not forever, but right now. The entire perception of these things make me laugh because people are too caught up in the money aspect to see what’s real. The Yankees are supposed to win because they have the most money, they won’t because they don’t have good baseball people. The Red Soxwin because they have both money and good baseball people. They can afford to pay Ortiz, Beckett and Matsuzaka but they don’t win if they don’t develop Pedroia, Youklis and Papelbon. We all hope the Rays can spend the money to keep all these guys but the realistic fact is that, 2 or 3 years from now, they will have to trade a Kazmir, Crawford or Upton to help reload with younger, cheaper players. I hate the thought of that but it’s the reality we live in as a small market team. The great part of it though is that we don’t have distorted thoughts about our teams here and appreciate the winning much more because of it. I can’t wait to see what happens during the rest of this off-season and the regular season next year.

Technorati Tags: AJ Burnett, Akinori Iwamura, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, BJ Upton, Bobby Abreu, Boston Red Sox, Carl Crawford, Carl Pavano, Carlos Pena, CC Sabathia, Chien-Min Wang, Chuck Knoblauch, Darrell Rasner, David Ortiz, David Price, Derek Jeter, Derek Lowe, Dustin Pedroia, Edwin Jackson, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, George Steinbrenner, Jason Giambi, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, Jim Leyritz, Joba Chamberlain, Johnathan Papelbon, Jonny Gomes, Kevin Youkilis, Kyle Farnsworth, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mariano Rivera, Matt Joyce, Mike Mussina, Mitch Talbot, New York Yankees, Phil Hughes, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Brosius, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, Trever Miller, Troy Percival, Wade Davis, Wilson Betemit

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Andrew Friedman, Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Boston Red Sox, Brandon Lyon, Brian Fuentes, Carl Crawford, Carlos Guillen, Carlos Pena, Chad Bradford, Dan Wheeler, David Price, Dioner Navarro, Edwin Jackson, Elijah Dukes, Evan Longoria, Francisco Rodriguez, Gabe Gross, Gary Sheffield, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Joe Beimel, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Los Angeles Dodgers, Magglio Ordonez, Matt Garza, Miguel Cabrera, Mitch Talbot, Pat Burrell, Philadelphia Phillies, Reid Brignac, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays, Trever Miller, Willy Aybar

   Time to wrap up the Rays season. What a season we had here, never saw this coming. I thought, the same as everyone else, the Rays would improve but not to this extent. Let’s wrap it up…

• The defense: The most dramatically improved thing on this team was the defense. The arrival of Jason Bartlett and Evan Longoria made this into the best left side defense in baseball. I was skeptical of Bartlett in the beginning (no need to bring my stupidity there again) as he had some unexplained throwing errors early but recovered to have a great season (should’ve got the gold glove over Young in my opinion). Longo was great defensively from day one and that’s that. Aki transitioned nicely over to second and Pena (won gold glove) was phenomenal. Having Pena at the corner saved Barty and Longo at least 5 errors a piece. Navarro’s improvement behind the plate was far and away the most amazing difference I saw. He was such a different player all around this year that I want to compare images from last season to see if this is the same guy. Unreal! Crawford and Upton were very good and have the speed to make up for other mistakes they might make. Right field was our problem child but Gabe Gross, Eric Hinske, Nathan Haynes (remember him?), Jonny Gomes (worst of all), Rocco and Fernando Perez did good enough to stay out of the conversation. Riggans did fine as a backup and Ben Zobrist was also good enough in learning new positions that he warranted to complaints. Willy Aybar was a godsend. He started the year at third and gave up his spot to Evan after getting injured. When he returned he helped fill the voids left by Pena and Longoria while they were injured (separately of course).
• The starting pitching: The pitchers improvement was made by maturation and the defense if you ask me. James Shields continued his development into an innings eating machine who we can count on every fifth day to give us a quality start. Kazmir started great after his injury and reverted back to the 5 inning 100 pitch nightmare we’ve gotten too used to. I still think he was pitching through injuries as his slider was gone and we saw hitters make better contact off of him than ever before. Matt Garza was better than advertised and he should improve as he gets his emotions under control. Sonny ate innings as we expected and showed the mental toughness of an ace. Edwin Jackson pitched better than anyone expected. I would like to see more strikeouts from a power arm like his, but it’s hard to complain about 14 wins. We also saw the arrival of David Price. Not much to say there except, hello king David! Now either Sonny or EJax has to give way to Price, one of those nice problems we’ve heard about but rarely seen here. We also saw Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot and Jason Hammel make starts. Hammel should be a starter, just not here. Niemann and Talbot could be swingmen or trade bait. We also were lucky here in that there were no major injuries and we basically saw the same five guys all year. That’s a great accomplishment for that reason and for the fact that all five guys performed well enough to stay in the rotation.
• The bullpen: The second most surprising turnaround to me. JP Howell went from prospect on the bubble to a dominating short inning reliever who has become invaluable to this team. I gotta admit, I didn’t see that one coming. Howell not only dominated lefty’s but he shut down righty’s as well. Dan Wheeler rebounded from his bad showing after getting him back from Houston last season and was very good at the setup and closer roles. Grant Balfour was unhittable after his early season demotion and Trevor Miller did enough to get by. Troy Percival was very good until his age and weight caught up with him and his career should be over now. Jason Hammel played the villain role as the mop up/long relief guy and was doing decent until the meltdown against the Yanks. Chad Braford was a nice late season acquisition who performed well in his first round with the team. We saw Juan Salas, Mitch Talbot, Scott Dohman and Kurt Birkins make appearances and we said goodbye to Gary Glover and Al Reyes (yay!). Again this historical improvement I attribute to maturing and the defense.
• The offense: The offense was average for the most part all year and did enough to win. Longoria should be rookie of the year, Pena performed as expected and Aki continued his transition into the leadoff role. We saw down seasons from Upton (until the playoffs) and Crawford, mostly due to injuries. We saw marked improvement from Navarro who finished with the highest batting average at .295 (not .300 though, sorry Cork) and Jason Bartlett. Both of these guys shut me up with authority and became two guys I really like having now. Aybar was awesome off the bench filling in when needed. Gross had some big hits that we didn’t count on out of him. Zobrist and Hinske were good for some bombs at the right times. Floyd was decent at the DH role. Gomes played his way back to the minors (hopefully out of town) and Riggans did what a backup catcher should do. This is the area of the team you could say disappointed and needs to be improved on in the off-season.

   Overall it was the best season we’ve had and looks to be the start of something very special here. These guys are young for the most part and are still learning. Much of the way Her Rays thinks now, maybe there’s something to the fact that this was my first year blogging, it was the first winning season in Rays history. I only hope that I can improve as much as these guys did. It was a season that was great for me as I said it was my first year doing this site, it was the first year my son really got into baseball and it has given us all a sense of excitement that we’ve never had here before. I’ve heard people telling me that they can’t wait for next year already, that’s never been said to me before! Thanks to everyone out there who supported me, especially Rays Index.  Great season guys!

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Al Reyes, Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Chad Bradford, Cliff Floyd, Dan Wheeler, David Price, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Fernando Perez, Gabe Gross, Gary Glover, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Jonny Gomes, Juan Salas, Kurt Birkins, Matt Garza, Mitch Talbot, Nathan Haynes, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Dohman, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays, Trevor Miller, Troy Percival, Willy Aybar

The Rays ended the madness tonight and got away with a 7-5 win to avoid being swept by the retirement home bandits. They had a big inning in the second in which they scored 5 runs on hits by Gross, Aki and Aybar and things looked back to normal on the mound and in the field. The crowds picked up the last two nights also with 25,000 plus at both games. It got scary but it worked out. Anyway, let’s get to it.

• Kazmir still isn’t right. He is slowly improving but there still appears to be something wrong with him. He threw 6 innings of one hit ball with five walks. That’s right, 5 freakin walks! I don’t know how he got away with it against the Yanks but he did. I can only hope that there’s nothing seriously wrong with him and it all is corrected by the time the playoffs roll around.
• I have given credit to Jason Hammel in the past for having the toughest job on the team. No more. That was completely embarrassing tonight to have to bring in your closer to finish off a game that you were winning 7-0 in the ninth. The role that Hammel fills is a thankless role, but c’mon, 5 runs in 2/3 on an inning?! What are you doing?!
• A-Rod is still useless when he’s needed. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
• I guess I need to lay off Melvin for now. The St. Pete Times broke the story today where Upton said he needs surgery after the season and that’s why he hasn’t been hitting any homeruns. Interperet that any way you want but I have a couple questions. If he’s not driving in runs and he’s looking to get on base for others, why is he not batting leadoff? I’ve been puzzled by this for a while and it only goes to prove the point even more. He draws walks, steals bases and has been downgraded to having warning track power. He’s obviously our best leadoff hitter so……….. My other question is toward Melvin. Haven’t you had this problem for some years now? He has apparently battled this shoulder thing since the minor league days at least, so why hasn’t this been addressed sooner? I tore my rotator cuff in high school so I know how bad a shoulder injury can hurt and if I had the resources I would’ve had surgery but we couldn’t afford it. You could afford it Melvin so what’s the excuse here?
• Last thing is to Barty and Whiskers. I dogged these guys hard early in the year, and with the bet with Rays Index looming, I want to give both of these guys credit. I looked at the stats when the game started and these two guys have the highest avg. of all the regulars on the team. Outstanding! Gotta give credit when it’s due.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Alex Rodriguez, BJ Upton, Dioner Navarro, Gabe Gross, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, New York Yankees, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, Willy Aybar

   I seem to have hit a nerve with my recent rant on BJ Upton. I find this funny because I rip everyone and people only seem to care about a select few when I do. That makes me laugh. Anyway, the biggest problem I have with Upton, isn’t Upton. You follow? As I pointed out before, Upton is a new wave athlete like pretty much everyone else and it’s got to be difficult for someone like Joe Maddon, who’s been around the game for so long, to deal with these guys. There still has to be an accountability factor involved with everything you preach. To Maddon and Upton’s credit, there has been a benching and public discussion of what I bitched about before and it was handled well by both of them. I give credit to both of them for this. What I have a problem with now is the defense being brought up about Upton and his play. Maddon obviously saw it and finally did something, so my bitching wasn’t unforeseen. I have read some stuff from some other sites that point out Upton’s OBP and his K’s going down and what not, but that is pointing out the problem more than defending him. Again, the problem is with Upton’s attitude and the management of his performance, not his actual performance. First, if you’re going to rip guys like Aki for not running balls out, you have to do it to Upton too. Props Joe Maddon, you finally did it. Now, if a guy is going to have a high OBP, lots of stolen bases and a seeming unwillingness to swing with runners on base, should he be batting third? No, how bout leadoff? Upton is our best LEADOFF hitter and is batting second now (after batting third most of the year) and it took way too long for a change to be made. I piss people off for ripping guys and being too negative, but I’m trying to see things in the big picture. Isn’t the goal to put guys in the best position possible for them to succeed? They are STILL winning in spite of this. Let me stay on Upton now. Upton has the talent to be one of the best players in the game and this is what makes me so upset. Let’s try to compare like this. I like Longoria because he’s trying to maximize his talent. He strikes out too much and can look like a little leaguer at the plate sometimes, but he’s playing the game to his strength. Upton isn’t. We saw the type of power and run producing ability Upton has last year, yet he seems to worry more about getting on base more than driving in runs. Why? This is my biggest problem with him. I call him a punk because people I know that spend time around him say he is, beside the fact that he whines when an umpire calls strikes on him (which what makes me want to fight someone like Kevin Youklis). I am frustrated because he hasn’t improved on what he did last year. He was counted on to be a run producing number three hitter and has evolved into a leadoff hitter (and isn’t batting leadoff Maddon!). Try to understand what I’m saying here within my endless thoughts being poured out, I don’t hate Upton, I hate that he’s not becoming what he should be. He should be evolving into someone like Hanley Ramirez and he’s not. Back to slurping down Captain Morgan now!

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, Hanley Ramirez, Joe Maddon, Kevin Youklis, Tampa Bay Rays

   All hell started to break loose now in Boston. After the incident with Crisp and Joe Maddon last night we all knew something would happen. Well here it is. James Shields hit Dustin Pedroia in the first which I thought would be it, but no! Shields came back in the second and hit Coco Crisp who then charged the mound. Shields took a wild swing at him and missed, after which TFC pulled Crisp to the ground where Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford went to work on Crisp. It was a pretty brawl as far as Baseball fights go, yet Aki showed us all that is an absolute wuss! Aki stood quietly in the middle of the field being restrained (not really) by one of the Red Sox coaches. I will have a hard time respecting this guy as a man from this point on. Earlier today I pointed out that Aki has not fought his own battles here, now he stands pat while the ENTIRE TEAM fights. There is no excuse for this at all. How can you just stand there while every guy you play with is involved in a brawl? Right or wrong, you NEVER stand pat when your friends, team mates, family or whatever fight! Never! maybe I’m over-reacting to this, but if I was in that locker room with him I would not let this go quietly. I’ll still pull for Aki on the field and that’s it. Time to turn in your package Aki, you no longer require one.

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford, James Shields, Jonny Gomes, Tampa Bay Rays, TFC

  If you watched the game last night you saw the confrontation between Manager Joe Maddon and Coco Crisp. Coco tried to steal second in the eighth inning of a 5-1 game and slid late and hard into Akinori Iwamura while being tagged out. It was a blatant cheap shot attempt and Joe Maddon had plenty to say to Crisp when he went out to the mound to replace Jason Hammel. They shouted at each other and eventually stared each other down from the dugout. I love the fact that Maddon is defending his players but I think it’s high time that Aki stopped letting everyone fight his battles for him. Crisp says he was mad at an earlier play in which he says Jason Bartlett blocked the bag at which point he said he told Bartlett to watch out. He then retaliates against Aki while trying to steal in the eighth? This is the second time Aki has been involved with dirty tactics at second and he has not even come close to defending himself. This time it was Maddon, the first time it was Jonny Gomes coming in from right field. I’m all for keeping your composure and what not, but a man needs to be a man! I like Aki and think he’s doing a great job at second, but he looks like a little boy waiting for his big brother to step in out there. He should’ve pummeled Shelley Duncan the first time and he should’ve done it to Crisp as well. In my old age I have learned to walk away from a fight, but I will never let someone treat me like a bitch! It makes me wonder about Aki’s toughness when he just allows people to do this. We saw both ends of the spectrum last night. Aki walked away without saying a word again and B.J. Upton cried like a little bitch after striking out looking for the 400th time this year. Both are wrong and both look bad. Upton needs to shut up and swing. Aki needs to stand up for himself. I’ve always said “if you’re afraid to fight but will, that’s normal. If you won’t fight because you’re afraid, you’re a bitch”. Have some backbone and stand up for yourself Aki! The video here is courtesy of David Chalk at Bugs and Cranks, it was brought to my attention by Rays Index. 

   The other thing that bothers me about this is that the Announcers, Fans, Coaches, Players, Bugs, Birds and everyone else expects the pitcher to hit him today. Our pitcher is Shields today and he gives us the biggest chance not to get swept. He could hit Crisp and could get ejected, not good. Then the Sox win again! Let’s wait to retaliate and how bout Aki stands up for himself now!

Scott Brannelly

Sources: Rays Index, Bugs and Cranks

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Jason Bartlett, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Tampa Bay Rays

   The series in Boston is pretty much going the way I thought it would. I’m not silly enough to think the Rays can go to Boston and sneak out with another series win. I figured they would drop the first two and grab the third behind James Shields. This isn’t being brought up because of the two losses, I’ve been meaning to bring this up for a while now. The Rays bats are not very good right now. Aki has picked it up over the last month, TFC and Bartlett are doing better. The problem is the middle of the order. Upton is still taking too many strikes and isn’t hitting for any power. Watching him at this point he looks to be a better leadoff hitter than number three hitter. Pena has struggled and is now hurt. Longoria hasn’t burst on the scene like we all anticipated. Looking at the lineup from top to bottom there is absolutely no one that would scare any pitcher out there. The Rays need to make a move to get a legit middle of the order hitter. To take it a step further in my little fantasy here, I want an elite type hitter. I saw a ridiculous rumor a week or two ago that had the Rays trading David Price among others to the Cards for Albert Pujols. I would do that in a heartbeat. I’m all about developing from within, maintaining a strong farm system and all that but why chase potential when a front line hitter like that may be available. I’m sure that rumor was bogus so don’t take it as me saying the Rays should get Pujols, I’m just saying it’s time to start looking at things a little different. If guys like Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols or Magglio Ordonez become available at a steep price I personally would rather see the Rays go for a more “win now” approach. Now understand, I’m not saying they should try to be the Yankees, they should try to be the Red Sox. Look at it like this, the Sox are a great team because the have Ramirez/Ortiz in the middle. They won without Beckett, Lowell, etc… (although Varitek aint hurtin’ them either). I think Longoria will eventually develop into a great middle order guy, Upton should hopefully find his power stroke again but what else is coming in the way of hitters, Ryan Royster? The Rays lack power throughout the organization and should move some of this pitching depth to get a feared hitter. The Rays originally had a plan to win more toward the ‘09 or ‘10 seasons but things have changed fellas. There should be more of a rush now because pitching is so volatile. Will Shields and Kaz be healthy next year? This seems to be the year that you want to start planning on. With Kazmir and Shields pitching well, Garza improving, a solid bullpen and David Price storming towards the bigs it’s time to start hunting. Here’s my logic. If you trade some guys like Wade Davis, Jake McGee, Jeff Niemann and Fernando Perez it would definitely hurt your minor league system, but you would get a big time bat or two back and that makes you Major League club better right now and for the next year or two after. During that time you can replenish your farm system through the draft and what not. You also still have guys like Mitch Talbot, Jeremy Hellickson, Desmond Jennings, Heath Rollins and Chris Mason down there. You have depth and it’s time to use it! We can’t continue to put this much pressure on the pitching staff and defense. This is why I was for Bonds over Floyd. Say what you want about Bonds, he is feared as a hitter every day he walks and that makes everyone better. Floyd is no Bonds and will probably not stay healthy for half of the teams games this year. Make a move for the sake of winning now please!

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Barry Bonds, BJ Upton, Carlos Pena, Chris Mason, Cliff Floyd, David Price, Desmond Jennings, Evan Longoria, Fernando Perez, Heath Rollins, Jake McGee, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Garza, Mitch Talbot, Ryan Royster, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, TFC, Wade Davis

   Cliff Floyd has now made his mark. Floyd hit a shot to center that barely got over the wall for a walkoff 2-1 win. He’ll probably have to go on the DL now after running the bases and getting beat down by everyone when he got home. Some notes from the game.

•    James Shields got away with some average stuff tonight. He left ALOT of changeups up in the zone tonight and thankfully the “other” Sox were not killing him.
•    Aki has 41 hits in May now. That’s got to be a club record or something. The thing that makes me laugh watching him though is that they all seem to go to the same damn spot. How does he do it?!
•   Pena needs to hit the bench for a couple days. It has gotten embarrassingly painful to watch him swing and miss all night long. I feel terrible when I watch him and he needs to be sat for a couple days just to get his head straight (it’s true, sorry Mom). In his last 10 games Carlos is hitting .242 with 12 K’s in 33 AB’s. The stats aren’t showing how ugly it’s been to see though. Those aren’t great numbers and it’s been much worse to watch than it sounds. Watching Jose Contreras float 70 MPH curveballs over the plate while Carlos swung and missed by a foot was hurting my eyes! I love Pena and I think he just needs to flatten his swing out a little. I am now begging Maddon to give him a couple days off even though we’ll miss his glove.

   That’s all I’ve got from tonights game. I’m curious about tomorrows though. The Rays are saying they’ve sold out the game tomorrow and I’m wondering if it’s because of the concert or because they’re not on TV. Anyone got an opinion?

Scott Brannelly

Sources: Yahoo, Marc Lancaster

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays

   First thing to say here is that the players on the field are getting it done. All the credit in the world belongs to the guys on the field doing what needs to be done. No doubt about it. I am getting very frustrated with our idiot Manager now though. It seems at the moment that the players are winning in spite of what Mr. Maddon does. This creates a problem because Maddon isn’t going to try and correct what seems to be working even though it won’t continue to work. At the game today there a some things that stuck out to me.

•   First thing is a glaring issue. What the hell was Jason Bartlett doing batting sixth? Is a guy swinging a rubber bat (who’s BA, SLG and OBP were all under .300 to start the day) really going to protect Evan Longoria? In the first inning they walked Longoria intentionally to get to Bartlett and JB grounded out. I hope this was just an attempt at something different and doesn’t become some sort of new wave crap Maddon wants to try.
•    We don’t bunt enough! This is the main thing that bothers me where the players are overcoming stupid decisions. In the 5th inning today there was a perfect example. Riggans singled to lead off. Hot shot Ben Zobrist should’ve been bunting then but didn’t and luckily walked. Next up was Aki and he should’ve been bunting but again wasn’t. Aki got a hit and everything turned out ok but it’s not the right thing to do. This team strikes out a lot and they hit into a lot of double plays too. They are not putting themselves in the best spot to win. That’s what a manager is supposed to do. We are getting away with it now but it won’t hold up.
•    Crawford and Bartlett should be switched. Carl, as much as I love him, is no number two hitter. He is hurting more than helping in the two spot. He is way too chaotic at the plate and his bat control is not good enough for this spot. For someone who is a slap hitter (and he shouldn’t be) he doesn’t bunt enough and K’s too much. Bartlett is much better suited for the two hole as he should be sacrificing at bats more than anyone else. He should be trained to bunt, bunt, bunt! Carl is pressing hard and should be moved down as the alternative leadoff man in the nine hole.
•    And finally I’ll question the decision to leave Garza in for the eighth. Garza pitched very well today but this made me nervous. It worried me because this is a guy who has been on the DL already this year with arm trouble and I don’t see a need to try to stretch him out over 100 pitches in a game like this when you have Wheeler for the eighth and a day off tomorrow.

   Maybe I’m being a little nit picky with everything but I want this team to compete all year. What do you think?

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, Joe Maddon, Matt Garza, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays

   The Rays shut out another team tonight behind some nice pitching and defense. The defense is the main reason for the improvement of the pitching staff this year in my opinion and it’s time I gave some guys props for the work they’ve put in.

•    Matt Garza is almost as unpredictable as Edwin Jackson but he continues to put up solid performances when needed. He threw seven plus innings of shutout ball tonight and since coming off of the DL has been good. He is 3-1 in 36.1 innings with an ERA of 2.99 since his short DL stint and the team is 6-2 in his starts during that time. He has walked 15 and struckout 14 in that span which is troublesome but he’s getting it done.
•    Troy Percival is holding up better than I expected. I thought that, given his injury history and age, that Percy would have a hard time being a full time closer again but he’s doing it. Troy has saved 14 games so far and he appears to be all that was advertised. The games he’s given up don’t seem to effect him the next time out and he’s taking control of the bullpen. You can probably attribute some of Wheeler and Howell’s success to him but whether you do or not he has definitely made a big difference.
•    Aki and Bartlett have gotten their averages up and quieted my stupid ass. Aki I never picked on much, I had confidence that he would get better. My only thing with him is I don’t understand how he’s doing it. He is still pulling off the ball more than he did last year and his at bats early in the game are generally ugly. I would much rather see him outside the leadoff spot but there’s no one to put there now so he’ll do. Jason Bartlett is an entirely different story. I’ve never had a player turn my opinion so much and shut me up so bad. He has played outstanding defense and is picking it up with the stick. He’s no Omar Vizquel but he has sold me in every way that the Rays did the right thing in swapping him for Harris. I loved Harris last year and my feelings for him blinded me on Bartlett early but damn has he turned me.
•    The fat catcher is improving and continues to hit. Here is where I slow down a bit. I love that the fat catcher is hitting now but I’m not getting over-excited about this. I’m still extremely skeptical about this as there is nothing in his swing or ability that makes me think he can keep this up (contrary to what Rays Index thinks). I’m elated that he is hitting and could finish the year somewhere around .270 or above but there is no way I see him hitting .300 or more. I’m not talking trash here, I just am curious, please guys tell me what you saw in his swing or ability that makes you think he can hit .320 or .330. If there is something I’m missing please tell me and I’ll jump on board (even though he’ll always be the fat catcher here).

   The best thing about watching this team now is the fact that the flaws are still so prominent yet they keep winning. It gives me so much excitement when I think that there is still so much to bitch about with a winning record. I love this team and, even though I bitch, there is nothing more I look forward to now than watching my Rays!

Scott Brannelly

Sources: Yahoo, Rays Index

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Dan Wheeler, Dioner Navarro, Edwin Jackson, J.P. Howell, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival

   The Rays kept things rolling by defeating the Yanks 7-1 in the first game of a four game series. The Matt Garza we were sold on in the trade showed up last night getting ground balls and keeping hitters off balance all night. I think we would all like to see him get the pitch count down (108 in seven innings) but all was good. It appears that the bats have awakened also. Aki and Longoria both had two hits helping their averages and Jonny Gomes looked like Rickey freakin’ Henderson last night. The ‘fat catcher’ kept up his hot streak getting three more hits raising his average to .362. I’m trying not to get too excited but good lord these guys are fun to watch right now. Some notes now for all.

•    More fans need to show: There should be no excuse now for all of you not going to these games. I realize that I only live two miles from the stadium so I’m not saying everyone should make it to the same amount of games I do but less than 15,000 for the Yankees? Get off your asses and go people!
•    Yankees fans are useless!: What a bunch of useless wastes of flesh you Yankers are. Your “team” is in town, the team you follow instead of your hometown one, and you are either too ashamed of the sorry performance of your billion dollar empire of misfits to show or you’re too afraid to get some back from us Rays fans who have been tortured long enough. Either way you are all sorry ass little punks for not going! The ones who did show up started off being arrogant and cocky as usual but quickly became quiet and were gone before they could see their team finally score off Gary Glover. If your that disappointed in your ‘pin-striped pretty boys’ then go let them know about it, or come over from the dark side and join us. Idiots.
•   All Star vote: Don’t forget to get your votes in today. I got a total of 50 in yesterday. I did 25 online and 25 at the game. The online voting doesn’t take long, maybe 5 minutes, so get it done.
•    The parking situation: Just a note here and a complaint to the city of St. Pete. Everyone needs to know that the city is not being nice about the parking. I got a parking ticket on Saturday night for parking in one of the 2 hour zones. They have recently changed all the signs downtown from ‘2 hour M-F 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.’ to ‘2 hour all the time’. You can park free if you have groups of 4 or more, if you don’t just find a safe place or pay the $10, it’s better than getting a ticket for $17.50. This is pretty petty of the city, they never enforced this rule before and with changing the signs it appears they’re going after it now. Jerkoffs!

Source: ESPN

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, Gary Glover, Jonny Gomes, Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays

   Eric Hinske continued to beat up on his old team tonight going 2 for 4 with a homer and a stolen base in the Rays 5-4 victory in Toronto. This breaks the Rays three game losing streak as Andy Sonnanstine has become the team ’stopper’ of late. Sonny has been on a roll and he pulled out his 5th victory of the season. It wasn;t pretty but he did enough to get the job done with a line of 6 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 1 BB and 2 K’s. Not pretty but it works. Upton and Aki had decent nights chipping in with 2 hits each. We need to stop and recognize this bullpen though. It’s gotten to the point this year where we, as fans, are confident that things are going to be fine when the game gets turned over to the bullpen. Remember last year? It’s a good thing I shave my head because I would’ve pulled my hair out with Camp, Lugo, Stoksie, blah blah blah! Troy Percival picked up his 7th save and Dan Wheeler gave us another two scoreless innings. What a difference. Did you see Shawn Camp by the way? He’s gone 5+ innings so far this year without giving up a run. Amazing!

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Andy Sonnanstine, Dan Wheeler, Eric Hinske, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival

   James Shields took the hill and looked bad from the first pitch tonight. These things happen. Shields is a good pitcher and this is just something that happens to all pitchers from time to time. The bullpen is starting to come down to earth as Howell and Dohman both gave up runs. Anyone who thought this team would finish the season with the best bullpen was crazy anyway. It was a bad night all around and there does need to be some changes made soon. I’m sick of watching Dioner Navarro act like he’s sitting on a bar stool behind the plate and not even attempting to move sideways or even drop down to block wild pitches. You can visually see each and every pitcher on the staff working to keep the ball down and in doing so they are ALL bouncing more pitches to the plate than normal. When you are having your pitchers do this the catcher must be aware and REACT accordingly. The fat catcher is a statue behind the plate and it’s getting worse. He will no longer be referred to by his given name on this site as the fat catcher has earned his new name and will not lose it. The fat catcher is definitely swinging the bat better but it’s not helping the pitching staff when he can’t move out of his squat! There are other problems that must be addressed soon. First we need a leadoff hitter now! I like Aki and he did hit a homer tonight but he is no leadoff hitter. This is killing the offense. Something must be done to fix this. The other problem is the Gabe Gross project. Defensively he looks adequate but his bat is not going to cut it. Gross hit a homer tonight but he is now batting .143. He came into the game batting .105 and someone like Jonny Gomes or even Justin Ruggiano must be thinking, ‘am I that bad against righty’s that a guy batting .105 is starting ahead of me?’. I’m not a huge fan of Gomes but c’mon here, why is he benched in favor of Gabe Gross? Even put Nathan Haynes out there and bat him leadoff and I could swallow that better than Gabe Gross. I appreciate the patience these guys have sometimes but we need a little better sense of urgency and competition now. I hope the Rays are looking to go after a guy like Willy Tavares or someone like that who could fill both the RF and leadoff problem. I’m happ with the progress the Rays have made but with the progress comes a new sense of urgency to stop running guys out there and ‘waiting’ for them to get going.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Dioner Navarro, Gabe Gross, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jonny Gomes, Justin Ruggiano, Nathan Haynes, Scott Dohman, Tampa Bay Rays

   Let me give it to myself before I get shell shocked by Rays Index and the rest of them. Jason Bartlett is better than Brendan Harris. I judged Bartlett too quick and I have to retract my earlier statements. In the first few weeks of the season I was so unimpressed by the play of Jason Bartlett that I started speaking out of turn on some things. Bartlett still makes me miss Harris offensively at the moment but after seeing him play short the last few weeks, the defense is noticeably improved. At the moment Bartlett has seemed to put the throwing problems behind him but the range is there. He has made some great plays and I feel the need as a man to let everyone know that I have tasted my foot and have decided to remove it. I still have some complaints about some things on the defensive side but this is a much better team. We obviously miss Delmon Young is right field but Gross and Haynes seem to be fine out there. B.J. Upton still plays too shallow in center and whenever Hisnke or Gomes is in right is hold my breath. None of this is horrible though which leads me to Dioner Navarro. Navarro seems to be swinging the bat better so far this year but he is still a statue behind the plate. I have never understood the love affair with this guy. He stabs at too many balls instead of sliding his body, his arm is average at best and from what I can see he is still looking to the dugout to call a game. I think Shawn Riggans does a fine job behind the plate and would like to see him get more playing time but this is all minor. This team is light years ahead of last year as Longoria is as good if not better than Aki at third and Aki has translated nicely to second. Pena is one of the best I’ve seen at first and Crawford makes up for bad jumps with great speed. The right field platoon is working and Upton is slowly improving in center. The biggest difference is Bartlett. I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong and I’ll take my lumps for running my mouth. Bartlett has made a huge difference on defense and I’m glad he has. If Aki and Bartlett would start hitting I would be much happier but they are part of the solution right now and I’ll take whatever is given to me on this as I was WRONG!.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, Jason Bartlett, Jonny Gomes, Nathan Haynes, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays

   I’ve never been more excited to be a Rays fan. The Rays beat Boston again tonight 2-1 and it was an awesome game. Edwin Jackson pitched well and the bullpen did too. The Rays hung in against the Sox all the way Akinori Iwamura finally came through in the eighth with a two run homer that sealed the deal. Clay Buchholz pitched a great game and kept the Rays hitters off balance all night yet the Rays did enough to get by and that was great to see, again! My seats tonight were right behind the Boston dugout and I figured I would be hounded and annoyed all night by the front-running Tampa Bay Red Sox fans. There were less than expected and it was a beautiful thing to be a part of. There are still more Sox fans at the game than Rays fans most likely but it was much more even tonight than in the past. As I told one of the Sox fans, I’m not saying the Rays are going to win the division or even go to the playoffs this year but it’s nice to have scoreboard, even if it’s just for a weekend. I heard all the crap from the idiots tonight about how they are the Champs and I’m not disagreeing but how can you blame us fans for getting excited. Most of the excitement in it is BECAUSE the Sox are the Champs. We’re not taking the title from you, we’re just excited that things seem to be going in the right direction and we beat the Champs in a series. Think about it. Tim Wakefield, who has been pitching since Babe Ruth, is like 152-2 or something against the Rays in the Trop but we pulled that game out last night. The Rays were dominated by Clay Buchholz for seven innings only to break through on a homer and pull out another one. This is competing. This is exciting. The Rays may not be able to keep it up through the entire season but whether they do or not, right now we are competing and winning. The Rays have done this with guys like Bartlett, Pena, Garza and Iwamura underachieving, Kazmir and Floyd hurt and a multitude of other things that in the past they would have never overcome. It is becoming a time in Tampa Bay where it is harder to except when the Rays lose. It is more fun to watch this team, win or lose, than it ever has been in it’s history. What a game and series so far. Sorry Sox fans but even though the Rays may not quite be there and they may have been a laughing stock since their inception, the Rays are close. They beat you this weekend and regardless of the trash you may talk they haven’t gone 80+ years without a ring, just 10.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Edwin Jackson, Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays

   What a huge night for the Rays and their fans. Rays Index wrote today about how big this series actually is for the Rays and I’m in complete agreement on this. This series with Boston is a show a prove opportunity for the Rays. This is huge not just for the fans, who finally get to see how this team matches up against the big boys. It’s not just big for the league to see what the Rays are made of. It’s biggest for the players themselves. This is a chance to get out there and finally realize that they ARE good enough to compete with these guys. I’ve been a fan since day one here as this is my hometown and I am loyal to a fault and this is by far the best TEAM the Rays have fielded since their inception. I will now delve into tonight’s game with the most positive thought I have had of this team to date. I’ve been very critical of the team, players and so on. Sometimes it’s fair and sometimes not. There will be no negativity tonight. I saw something in this team tonight that has been rare in the past. They believed. They showed they believed and they showed they belonged. It was great to see it in their faces and in their body language. Sure there were guys still visibly tight and pressing in the pressure situations but that’s understandable. Their was a different look to these guys though, even the ones pressing. They didn’t look nervous like they did in the past like they were worried about being the guy to screw it up. They looked like they wanted to be the guy to get it done. In the past a situation like the one we saw with Dan Wheeler facing Ortiz, and then Manny Ramirez, us fans and players would be all but sure that something bad was going to happen. Even though the thought still may have been there (I admit I thought it) and Wheeler put it to bed with authority. Again in the 11th, Scott Dohman got a double play out of David Ortiz to shut the Sox down. This was a beautiful thing to watch. I was more excited watching this game tonight than any I game I can remember watching. I will say nothing negative about anyone this evening, not even Joe Maddon. I know I believe the Rays are closer than ever to competing, but the RAYS should now too. At this point in my post it’s in the bottom of the 11th and C.C. just stroked a single to left and stole second and I’m going insane so I need to get away from the computer. I hope everyone out there is as excited as I am about the Rays tonight, win or lose. 

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jonny Gomes, Matt Garza, Nathan Haynes, Tampa Bay Rays

   Let’s do some catching up on a busy week where my family kept me busy.  I know it’s early in the season but it appears the Rays have more problems than expected. First off it’s quickly looking like swapping Brendan Harris for Jason Bartlett was a huge mistake. Harris was average defensively but made every play in front of him and Bartlett’s range was overrated and he’s botching easy plays. To compare these guys at the plate isn’t even a discussion, Harris is by far a better hitter so things are looking bleak there. The major part of the deal is debatable and isn’t worth arguing about as even if Delmon Young hits like he can and Garza doesn’t pan out it was more of a failed attempt to rid themselves of a malcontent so that’s that. The surprising things are these….

•    James Shields has looked off. He’s not throwing strikes like we’re accustomed to seeing from him and when he does the hitters are seeing the ball very well. I think he’ll get turned around and let me point out that his being off is still not bad. He’s getting through the tough parts and we’ll see better from him.
•    The defense is not improved, it’s possibly worse. We’ve already pointed out that Bartlett is not good (I’m actually looking forward to Ben Zobrist coming back) so we’ll leave that alone. Aki is transitioning to second base and he’s doing fine and will improve. Pena is Pena, no problems. With Longoria locked in now we fixed an early problem as Aybar was inconsistent, Hinske is slow and Elliot Johnson hasn’t looked good anywhere. The problem is the outfield. Crawford has looked below average as he’s not getting good jumps. Upton looks terrible in center right now. I know he’s learning the position still but there’s no excuse for most of what he’s doing. I’ve got a problem with Upton all around right now but I’ll get to that later, he needs to do a better job taking command in the outfield needs to take better routes to the ball. In right the only guy playing decent is Nathan Haynes, everyone else is a liability.
•    Now onto the biggest problem. Everyone will have patience with Aki and Upton and other things defensively that will improve over time. I can’t forgive the approach I’ve seen at the plate from EVERYONE except Carlos Pena. Aki looks like a high school hitter. He can’t hit the outside pitch and he swinging and missing more than I saw at all from hm last year. He’s not a leadoff hitter and that’s a problem. No surprises from Gomes and Upton as they both continue to strike out looking at an alarming rate. The ball is not coming off the bat the same way it did last year for Upton and I can’t seem to see anything different in him to explain why so I’ll assume he’ll come around. The problem with everyone is there seems to be no plan at the plate what so ever! Let’s list this out so I can point out everyone.
• Iwamura: Too far off the plate while pulling off the ball. Not bunting at all. No plan at all in approach.
• Crawford (who is the most surprising): C.C.’s biggest problem still prevalent and getting worse t seems. There is no excuse anyone on the planet can give me to explain why a player with this sort of talent is slapping, yes slapping at a ball with one strike or less. He looks like he’s just trying to touch it. He needs to be driving the ball. No plan.
• Pena: He’s got a plan. See ball, murder ball. He’ll never hit for a high average but he will hit homeruns. Great plan.
• Upton: Looks at too many called third strikes. They teach in little league, protect the plate with two strikes. Bad plan.
• Gomes: I’ve never seen a so called “power hitter” take so many fastballs and swing at so many curveballs. He should be sitting on fastballs and killing them. Instead he’s trying to hit breaking pitches and it even looks like he’s trying to walk sometimes. Let me explain this too you Mr. Gomes, power hitters draw walks because the pitcher won’t throw them anything to hit, they don’t LOOK for them. Keep it simple stupid, see fastball hit fastball. No plan/Bad plan.
• Let’s shorten this up now,I know too late, the only guys left on the team that seem to have a plan to what they’re doing are Hinske, Longoria and Haynes. Everyone else simply looks bad. I only include Longoria in this because he’s had a plan in the minors. This could change but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

   There’s alot more to complain about but I’ll let you soak this up for now. The reason I’m bringing this up is not a knock on the players but the coaches, namely our hitting coach Steve Henderson. Henderson has been the hitting coach for three years now and all these trends I’m talking about have been consistently bad since he’s been here. If these trends continue, and there’s no reason to think they won’t, Mr Henderson should receive his walking papers. There is no excuse for this kind of talent to suffer from bad coaching.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jonny Gomes, Matt Garza, Nathan Haynes, Tampa Bay Rays

   On Sunday and Monday the Devil Rays apparently showed up to play. James Shields didn’t pitch badly but the Rays couldn’t get anything going against Chen-Ming Wang. Not an unforgivable offense there. Just one of those pitching duels that the Yanks were not giving up as they quickly went to Joba to keep things in check. Monday was the ugly one. A feeble Mike Mussina made most of the Rays look silly up at the plate. Mussina got through the first inning on 8 pitches as Aki and Crawford both looked like little leaguers not only in that inning but all day long. Jason Hammel didn’t pitch as bad as it looked but I can’t wait for Kazmir or someone better to step in. Hammel should be a starter but I think the Rays should dump him for anything so he can learn without pitching to the Yanks and Sox. Hopefully the Rays bring their A-game tonight as they are facing Eric Bedard. The game is sold out but I managed to wrangle up seven tickets for the fam’ for what should be a great opener. Hope to see everyone at the game and I’ll be checking in afterwards.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford, James Shields, Jason Hammel, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays