Tampa Bay Sports Blog

Carl Crawford’s legs are back. CC has looked like the Carl of old so far this season and yesterday he put an exclamation point on it. It was nice to see the singles turning into doubles and triples yesterday as he pretended he was back in High School or something. Six steals in a game is impressive and it was icing on the cake that he blew by Ellsbury for the league lead in the process. My only problem with all the steals was seeing how many fastballs Evan looked at in allowing CC to do it.

Speaking of Evan, was anyone else as happy as I was when Evan gave the fans hell for screwing with that foul ball? When that fat idiot realized what he did he looked so pathetic and stupid that I almost felt bad for him. You can’t be that ignorant and Longoria had no problem letting him (and the other moron that tried to get the ball) know what jackasses they were. It got even more scary when Ellsbury sent that ball to the warning track. I thought he got it.

Finally I will get on Upton. I have decided that I will not let go of this. Upton is pissing me off to no end and it’s time for all the fans to let him and the team know. Someone needs to kick his ass and let him know that these games count also. He looks worse than ever right now and there shouldn’t be any more excuses made for him. He rarely swings and when he does he looks like he’s swinging a broomstick at a golf ball. It is ugly. I’m sure the Upton apologists and ass kissers will put some stupid graph or chart up to show that he is smart and only swinging at certain pitches and he’s still drawing walks, blah, blah blah. He is too talented to be this useless. He is batting .162 with 14 walks and 26 strikeouts so far. Outstanding!

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Boston Red Sox, Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Jacoby Ellsbury, Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays have had a fairly busy offseason and now look pretty well set for the upcoming 2009 season. They have signed a few minor league free agents over the last few weeks to fill things out, including Morgan Ensberg. Ensberg wil most likely end up playing 3B in Durham but is a very nice low risk acquisition. He looked like an up and coming power hitter 6 years ago and hit 94 homeruns from ‘03 to ‘06. He fell off after that and has hit 13 homeruns since with Houston, San Diego and the Yankees. He could win a bench job and could  be needed if injuries hit either Evan Longoria or Carlos Pena. I like the move with Ensberg.

All in all, it was a pretty good offseason for the Rays. I love the Matt Joyce/Edwin Jackson swap and I really think the Rays stole one there. Joyce will most likely start the season in the minors also as the Gabe platoon (Kapler/Gross) will hold down RF until the Rays feel he’s ready. When you look at how the Rays handle their organization they have seemingly set themselves up pretty nice. Joyce can stay in Durham and develop until either he’s ready or Gross/Kapler can’t handle the job. King David can also start in the minors and develop a little more while Jeff Niemann and Jason Hammel fight it out for the fifth starter/long reliever role. Make no mistake here as Price will take over for whoever wins this starter job, but it could work out to be a nice showcase for these guys. If someone goes down in the rotation these guys could be valuable, if not they could maybe bring a couple decent prospects back in a deal and stack up the farm system a little more. A nice situation here on the surface.

All the moves the Rays have made this offseason make sense and have seemingly improved an already good team. I also like the Brian Shouse move and think he’ll be an improvement over Trever Miller. There’s a lot of ex-Brewers on the roster, aren’t there? The Rays couldn’t be more lucky with the Bradford injury coming now either could they? Not that injuries are lucky, but it narrows down the bullpen battles in the short term and gives them another arm coming back in May or June that could step right in and be productive as we have already seen from him. I may pick on the Rays here and there for some moves, as any fan will, but it’s hard to argue with what they’ve done here and I have never gone into any prior season with more confidence and so little to bitch about as this one. It should be another great season and I am looking forward to seeing how the Sox and Yanks match up to our AL Champs.

Technorati Tags: Boston Red Sox, Brian Shouse, Carlos Pena, Chad Bradford, David Price, Durham Bulls, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, Gabe Kapler, Houston Astros, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Matt Joyce, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, Morgan Ensberg, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays

The Magic invited the Wizards into Orlando last night for what has become common occurrence, a loss. Granted these are the Gilbert Arenas-less Wizards, but they are an NBA team none the less. Caron Butler went off for 29 points but got little help as the Magic’s balanced scoring and good defense carried them throughout. Hedo looks to be shaking off the hideous slump he’s been in the last couple games as he scored 22 on 6 of 12 shooting to lead the Magic to the 89-80 win.

Dwight Howard chipped in his usual double double with 15/16 and the good offensive numbers pretty much end there. Lewis and Nelson had 26 combined on 9 of 29 combined shooting, though they hit 4 of 10 from down town. It looks like they may be headed toward a little slump themselves but I actually would like to see that. I personally would like to see the slumps go up and down until the end of the season and have everyone get hot for the playoff run, but maybe I’m being too optimistic. My favorite thing about tonight’s game was that Courtney Lee got the start. I’m developing an Evan Longoria like man-crush on this guy and really want to see him getting more action. He’s lightning quick and very aggressive on both ends of the floor. He really plays the type of ball that need more of here and he could definitely be the guy to compliment Turk in driving the lane and drawing some fouls while Nelson and Lewis drop bombs from the outside.

This was a nice warmup game for the Magic as they head to Atlanta to take on the Hawks, who are only 4 games behind the Magic and hold the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta seems to be the team everyone forgets about when they’re talking about the Eastern Conference, but these guys are tough and they always give us a tough game, so the Magic better be ready.

Technorati Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Caron Butler, Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Evan Longoria, Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Washington Wizards

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

There are numerous reasons to think the Rays will or won’t make the playoffs. We know them all down here. I have watched and been a fan of this team since it’s inception and I, along with everyone else here, have been waiting for that breakout year like the Bucs or the Lightning had. The Rays compare more to the Bucs for me as I believe this is the first of many years of relevance. The Lightning had a more of a flash and dash type of thing and have struggled to remain a power since their Stanley Cup victory. The Bucs have been up and down since their Super Bowl run yet were “almost” there many times before. It’s hard to predict what the Rays will be. Here are some reasons to think they won’t make the playoffs.

• The Pink Sox will make a run as they’ve been there before and have the firepower to overcome mediocre pitching.
• The Rays have yet to really slump yet this year. Aside from the losing streak going into the all-star break, they haven’t stumbled over themselves too much.
• Injuries have started to hit at the wrong time. Crawford, Longoria and Percival are down and the only one of those three I would really count on contributing down the stretch would be Longo.
• They have the toughest schedule in baseball in September with a horrific 9 game road trip going to Toronto, Boston and New York. They follow that up with Boston and Minnesota at home. Pretty scary!

Now for some reasons to think they will make the big show.

• They seem to win games that make no sense. They win with timely hits, quality pitching and great defense. Not that that doesn’t make sense but there are no guys putting up superstar like numbers and it’s a different guy every night getting it done. We’ve had clutch hits from reserve players like Aybar, Gross and Riggans. How can you count on that?
• They are winning without Longoria, Crawford and Percival. In this same note they’re winning while not getting the production they thought they would from guys like Upton, Crawford and Pena. Pena and Upton have been better lately along with Floyd and Hinske and you could argue that they all might get hot down the stretch. It also appears that Kazmir may be shaking off his recent struggles so that helps.
• They have a large enough lead at this point that they should at least get a wild card.

Let’s throw all that crap aside now and point out the number one reason that we should know that the Rays will make it to the playoffs. Skip Bayless has jumped off the bandwagon. That’s right, with this genius finally jumping off the Rays train we can all rest comfortably. This is the guy who picks against everything sane and goes with the most outrageous predictions he can find. I find Bayless entertaining and I’m sure part of his agenda is meant to be over the top, but if he picks against you then you are destined for great things. I will now prematurely congratulate the Rays on their playoff birth based on this alone!

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival, 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

   Pat yourself on the back Andrew Friedman, you stole a good hitter today. Friedman didn’t blink and nabbed the best right handed hitter available for two over rated prospects. I love this deal. I’m not sure how good an outfielder Bay is but his bat is what we wanted. This should mean two things for the Rays. They now have someone to throw out there every day who opposing pitchers have to respect. And it should mean the end of the line for Jonny Gomes! Two birds with one stone cliche inserted here. I would assume Bay takes over batting 3rd or 4th in some sort of Bay/Pena/Longoria sandwich. I don’t think I’ve been as excited about a trade since the raping of the Mets for Scott Kazmir. Awesome job Andy!

Scott

Source: MLB Trade Rumors

Technorati Tags: Andrew Friedman, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, Jason Bay, Jeff Niemann, Jonny Gomes, Reid Brignac, Scott Kazmir, 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

   Two things today. It appears that 1B Carlos Pena broke his finger in his first at bat yesterday and, even though he went on to homer and double, has found himself on the 15 day disabled list. I think this could work out well for Carlos and the Rays. If he can take this time off to heal his finger and his hamstring and comeback a little more relaxed it could be the best thing for him. This is not exactly the best time for the Rays to lose their Gold Glove caliber first baseman but if a guy like Longoria or Hinske can find their power stroke and take over the four spot in the order it could relieve Pena of some pressure when he returns. He is being counted on to be a big time cleanup hitter and is just not responding at the moment. Hopefully it works out this way, I don’t even want to think about how bad this could be.

   The bet has been accepted and is now on after my banter with Rays Index yesterday. Rays Index wrote a post about TFC’s Historical Season in the making comparing him to the likes of Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk and I felt the need to say something. I’m not disagreeing that TFC is off to a great start, I just felt it was a little premature to start comparing him to the greats. Rays Index weren’t really comparing him to Bench and the like, they were essentially making a point about his great season. It has worked out now between us in a wager that goes like this. If TFC hits below .300 for the year, I’ve been invited to write a post on Rays Index of my own choosing. If TFC hits .300 or above I have agreed to write 10 positive things about TFC and Jason Bartlett. It should be interesting to see how things work out although I do want to say one thing in general here, I never ever root against anyone that plays for the Rays. I’m very critical of the Rays but make no mistake, I’m a fan. If TFC does hit .300 I’ll be happy to write positively about him. Good times!

Scott Brannelly can be reached here.

Rays Index: Historic Season, Defending TFC

TBSB: Relax with praise of TFC

Technorati Tags: Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Rays Index, Tampa Bay Rays, TFC

   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 lost a tough one tonight 2-1. There were a few things I took from the game and the aftermath in general. Here we go..

•    Regardless of my bitching about the fans not showing up, there are more Rays fans in the park. Well not really regardless but this is it. There were noticeably more fans there tonight (almost 21,000) and from the looks of things the Rays fans were more abundant. This is what I’m talking about. The Rays are slowly building a fan base (when I say slowly I mean a snail would be proud). The problem is, as always, the Rays count on the Yankees and Red Sox drawing big crowds. As I said before the Yankees fans should be ashamed because they wait for there team to come to town and refuse to root for the Rays. Now your team is here and you can’t sell out? I don’t care if it’s a week series and not the weekend, you wait for this A-Holes! Now they’re here and you can’t come out because they’re not winning?! Wusses! I know for a fact that the Sox fans would have been there and they will be there in the future. I hate Sox fan but at least they show up to support their team. If you’re going to live in the Tampa Bay area and stay Yankee fans you should at least show up and support your team. If not, you should go ahead and be turncoats and support the Rays! Hell, at least we have a better short term future than the Yanks and, oh by the way, you LIVE HERE!
•    The Rays are becoming over-confident. I know I’ve been bitching about this for a while but stop looking at called third strikes! I know I’ve made the point of saying that I’m not a stat guy so I’m not going to go there but I think everyone can agree that there are more positive things that can happen by SWINGING at an iffy pitch than looking at a pitch close enough to be called a strike! I’m tired of the approach from certain guys, Upton, Gomes and Longoria, that makes them take called third strikes when the count ISN’T 3-2. Anyone that has played baseball at any point knows that you PROTECT THE PLATE with two strikes, especially when it’s not 3-2. This is becoming a horrid trend and it needs to stop. Let’s try to figure this out real quick. If it’s not 3-2, say it’s 2-2, what can happen by taking? You strike out looking, bad! You get another pitch, good. Wow great options. Now let’s figure out what happens when you swing the freakin bat. You strike out swinging, bad. You foul a pitch off, count stays the same and you draw another pitch out of the pitcher. You ground out, pop out or line out, bad. You get a hit of any kind! Now lets sum up, if you look you have no chance of getting a hit but if you swing you could get a hit, which would you choose? I could tolerate this better from anyone on the team if they had more walks than strikeouts but no one, I mean no one, does! Striking out has become too acceptable in today’s game. I’m all about drawing pitches out of a pitcher,working the count and looking for certain pitches to hit early in the count but one thing should remain constant throughout, protect the plate with two strikes! Let me make the point here. Barry Bonds became the greatest hitter of our generation not because of steroids, because he looked for his pitch and when he got it, he hit it. Everyone can debate all the crap they want about him but he knew how to hit, period. He only struck out more than he walked three times in his career. Those were the first three years of his career. This is what I’m talking about. The strike zone is catered to the hitter, the ball parks are catered to the hitter and the game in general is catered to the hitter. This should make a hitter want to hit, not walk. There aren’t many guys anymore that strikeout less than they walk and I can live with this change in the game but I’ll never go along with a guy that isn’t looking to hit all the time. Give me Vlad Guerrero over Frank Thomas anywhere anytime!
•    Ferg’s needs a rival somewhere. After the game my buddy and I went to Ferg’s to have a couple beers and it was unbearable. Ferg is my old PE teacher from Southside Fundamental Middle School and he is prepared for any crowd at his joint. I’ve never seen another bar that is more prepared for the crowds that come in than his but the crowds are ridiculous! I like the fact that I can get a beer within 5 minutes regardless of the crowd but damn I need some elbow room! Ferg should buy more property or someone should open up something near the stadium to take in some of the overflow. I’ve talked to Ferg about this and he wouldn’t mind the competition. Someone do something please! By the way, if you want to get on Ferg’s good side tell him you were in the Lucas Smith, Tommy Kidwell, Scott Brannelly and Keith Crosby class and he’ll love you!

Sources: Baseball Reference, Yahoo

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, Jonny Gomes, Tampa Bay Rays

   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

   I’m confused by the lack of attendance at the Rays games. The Rays have yet to start hitting yet they win. You could go watch Shields, Kazmir and Sonnanstine. You don’t have to see the crap that was continuously rotated out of the bullpen last year. You can see one of the best defense’s in baseball every night. Every game seems to be close and for the first time in our history they are winning more than they are losing. Where is everyone? I know it’s too much too ask for people to go every night, hell I can’t do that, but is it too much to ask for more than 12,000 people to come see our second place Rays? There are no more excuses for you right now. It’s still easy to find parking. It’s not a long drive for anyone from Tampa to Sarasota. What’s your excuse people? Every day I hear on the radio people calling in to the local shows and they say “when they win I’ll go”. They’re winning now so where are you? It’s time for the fans to stop making excuses. We can still bitch and moan about the dumb moves our retard of a manager makes and the stupid moves the ownership group makes but they’re winning in spite of it. I’m not saying we’re going to make the playoffs this year but it’s not out of the question either. Sternberg and his crew have assembled a quality team here. They seem to be poised for a good run as well also. Think about it for a second. The bullpen is pitching way above expectations and when they come down to earth the bats might come alive and save them. We have yet to see the real Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and even the real Evan Longoria. It looks as if the Rays might get so lucky that when the arms start faltering the bats might save them. At this point you couldn’t ask for more from this over-achieving team right now so GO WATCH THEM!!!!

Technorati Tags: Andy Sonnanstine, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   One pitch, one swing and that’s the only thing keeping James Shields out of the history books tonight. James Shields looked outstanding tonight against the Angels. He mowed down man after man never slowing down to take a breath it seemed. You could not have asked for anything better from your ace after the marathon game last night. He shut down the Angels in less than 2 and 1/2 hours and Evan Longoria helped close this thing down so the Rays could get some rest. Shields pitched 9 innings giving up one hit and no walks while striking out 8 in a shutout of the Angels. Longo came through with a walk-off two run homer in the bottom of the ninth to clinch it. The defense was phenominal tonight as well as Crawford, Upton, Pena and Longoria all made great plays to help out. The Rays just keep winning despite the lack of offense.

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, James Shields, 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

   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

   The Rays are now 6-0 in Disney’s Wide World of Sports Stadium and have gotten back to the .500 mark. There was some sketchy play on the field (Dioner Navarro) but the Rays overcame it behind Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford to finish off the Toronto Blue Jays. Surprisingly Troy Percival was used for a third straight day and Joe Maddon said in an interview with Todd Kalas after the game that Percival “will not be available” tomorrow regardless of the situation. That’s comforting with Boston coming to town. It was a great series for the Rays and they most definitely look improved over last years club all the way around.

Technorati Tags: Carl Crawford, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival

   If the Rays keep this up the ownership group may look at a new ballpark in Orlando instead. Just kidding (hopefully). Shields pitched well, Longoria homered, Navarro made a nice return and Eric Hinske had a good time bashing his former team. I’m of course speaking literally here as Hinske darn near hit for the cycle against his former team. A nice game all around for the Rays and they have won four straight in Orlando now dating back to the last years sweep of the Rangers. The fun part of this win today was that earlier today DRaysBay interviewed Drunk Jays Fans and they seemed pretty happy not to have Eric Hinske anymore. How bout now? I’m not going to make too much of that because we can relate with Aubrey Huff. Huff kills us every time it seems but I don’t want him back, so believe me I can relate.

   In other Rays news today the Rays picked up another lefthanded outfielder from the Milwaukee Brewers in Gabe Gross for minor league pitcher Josh Butler. You can read about the trade in a brief mention over at MLBTR. I’m puzzled as to why the Rays need another LH outfielder. What exactly are they trying to do here? We now have Dan Johnson, Eric Hinske, Nathan Haynes and eventually Cliff Floyd. Hmmmmm…… Hinske has definitely earned more playing time and Jonny Gomes is hitting his way into an everyday spot soooooo…… OK, sorry. I’ve got to assume that Haynes is on the way out and don’t forget Justin Ruggiano is still on the roster, for now. I’ve never seen Gabe Gross play so I’m not knocking him, maybe he’s good. This is just strange though. I’m not a fan of Nathan Haynes but I think he’s done a good enough job to keep a roster spot and when Pena can play first again I’ve got to assume that Hinske will be the DH with Gomes receiving most of the playing time in right. This is why I like Haynes on the roster as with Hinske or Gomes in right we need someone to be a late inning defensive replacement. I guess this will all sort itself out and we need to see what Gross can do but this is still very questionable right now. I’ll leave it alone and see how it goes.

Technorati Tags: Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, Dan Johnson, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, James Shields, Jonny Gomes, Justin Ruggiano, Nathan Haynes, Tampa Bay Rays