Tampa Bay Sports Blog

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

   Who would’ve thought that as late as Memorial Day, your Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in baseball? Not just the A.L. East or even the A.L., but in all of Major League Baseball. This is crazy! I would’ve never thought it but its’ here. This has prompted me to start looking at certain scenarios for the Rays continuous contention throughout.

•    It might be time for the Rays to start targeting positions to improve on. First place to start for me would be RF. I think that the trio of Hinske, Gomes and Gross have done an adequate enough job but if the Rays want to compete for a playoff spot they are going to need to improve here. Depending on the asking prices of course, I would like them to start looking at guys like Jason Bay and Andre Ethier. The Rays looked at Ethier in the off season and seem to have a good working relationship with the Dodgers so maybe start there.
•    They are also going to need a couple more pitchers. If you wanna get crazy, let’s go ahead and do it, I would keep an eye on the Brewers situation, namely Ben Sheets. If the crew fall out of contention and Sheets could stay healthy it could be a beautiful thing. It would take a nice ransom to grab Sheets, even though he is in a walk year, so maybe look elsewhere. Joe Blanton will probably be available and, if you wanna really push it, a Matt Cain may be had as well. They will also need another arm in the pen. Gary Glover is soon going to be replaced by Juan Salas I would think so hopefully the Glover experiment is over. The rest of the pen has been pretty solid so any target here will have to be an upgrade and could prove costly. This will have to wait and see for sure, especially since most relievers that will be available are going to be either injury prone, old or overpaid. Tough call here. Hopefully Salas can pitch well when he returns and if Howell, Wheeler, Percival and Reyes can hold up they may be ok here.

   Any way you cut it, it’s looking like it’s going to be a fun summer here. Make sure you keep up with the regulars in the hot stove net to see what the Rays may do. MLB Trade Rumors, Rays Index, DRays Bay.

   Hat tip to DRays Bay by the way for the Jason Bay link.

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Al Reyes, Dan Wheeler, Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross, Gary Glover, J.P. Howell, Jonny Gomes, Juan Salas, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival

   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

    After a weekend series in St. Louis there are still some problems that need immediate attention.

• The baserunning is terrible. There are still way too many mistakes being made on the basepaths that are unforgivable. There is no excuse for the mistakes that are being made. It would be one thing if they were just being over aggressive sometimes or the occasional blunder but these are little league mistakes. These are things guys should know by the time they’re in high school much less the major leagues. I’m tired of hearing what a great “teacher of kids” when these guys are making little league mistakes. This needs to be fixed.
• Still too many strikeouts! They are second in the A.L. in strikeouts and it is aggravating. I know I keep beating a dead horse here but it is so frustrating to watch guys take so many good pitches and leave themselves in horrible hitters counts. If someone could possibly teach B.J. Upton to cut down his swing with two strikes or even teach him it’s ok to swing at a fastball down the middle early in the count it wouldn’t be near as bad. Carlos Pena needs to flatten out his golf swing a little or pitchers will keep abusing him above the knees. Carl Crawford, blah blah blah… I’ve been through this way too much and I can’t let it go. Someone help them please!
• The pitching is starting to level out. I hear everyone complaining about Wheeler blowing a couple games and oh no! Gary Glover. These guys aren’t bad and things will get a little worse but they are fine. The defense is holding them in games and guys are improving, namely Howell and Sonnanstine, so all will be good here but they can’t carry the load all year. The offense needs to show up.

   All the bitching will commence when these guys drop a few more games but they are improved and I would just like to see them expect a little more from themselves now. The Rays need not settle now on being better, they need to improve on what they’re doing. It’s still all good in Rays land though, have fun boys.

Scott Brannelly

Source: ESPN

Technorati Tags: Andy Sonnanstine, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dan Wheeler, Gary Glover, J.P. Howell, 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

   The Rays didn’t play today but they still had some news courtesy of the St. Pete Times.

•    The Rays picked up the option on Carl Crawford’s option for the 2009 season for $8.25 million. Today was the deadline for this and for Rocco’s option who’s obviously wasn’t picked up. No shocker on either here as Rocco appears headed toward retirement with his mysterious ailments and C.C. is the face of the franchise. This insures Carl’s presence here for at least next year and the team has another option on him for 2010. In Crawford’s statement he released today he indicated he would like to stay beyond that also but I’m sure there will be no discount this time and the Rays are looking at a contract similar to Tori Hunter’s at least in order to keep him beyond 2010.
•    In a somewhat surprising move the team signed reliever Dan Wheeler to a three year deal today which essentially is a two year extension as the first year of the deal replaces this years contract and actually cuts his salary from $2.85 million to $2.8 million. The next two years are worth $3.2 million  and $3.5 million for ‘09 and ‘10. There also is a team option for 2011 for $4 million or a $1 million buy-out. I’m surprised by this because Wheeler has struggled since coming back to the Rays in the Ty Wiggington trade last year and I thought they would’ve waited until the all-star break to see how Wheeler performs this year. It looks like a good faith move to me that won’t hurt too bad if Wheeler does implode. Anyway all’s still looking good for the Rays right now.
•    Scott Kazmir said he felt great in his bullpen session yesterday and thinks he’ll be back sooner rather than later. I’m still a little hesitant here as he said he threw all fastballs and the slider is what puts the strain on his elbow. When he says he’s throwing sliders consistently without discomfort then I’ll be happy. Wait and see.
•    Don’t miss the game tomorrow as we all finally get to see Matt Garza and start judging the Delmon Young trade. You can’t judge it in one day or one year even but it won’t stop the naysayers out there if he doesn’t come out strong.

Technorati Tags: Carl Crawford, Dan Wheeler, James Shields, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays