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

   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

   Obviously by reading what I do here I’m a fan of DRaysBay and I think they do a great job at what they do. I have a problem with some of their opinions in a recent interview now though. They did a nice Q & A with Keith Law of ESPN regarding the status of the Rays and after reading that I have a problem with some of their opinions. First off I’m in agreement with them regarding Evan Longoria in thinking that he should be the Rays opening day third baseman. I think the Rays are stupid here because it appears that they want to send Longoria down to delay his free-agency a year by bringing him up later. This is correct in theory and I understand the financial responsibilities involved in doing this but what everyone doesn’t seem to understand, including the Rays, is that even if the Rays send Longoria down to delay his arbitration eligibility a year he still can qualify as a ’super 2 ‘ player. If Longoria is half the player we think he is he will qualify as a super 2 and this is all meaningless then because he will then be arbitration eligible before the Rays want him to be. Stupid! Now back to DRaysBay. They are dogging Willy Aybar as a bad player, I’m assuming because of their love for Longoria, and they’re 100% wrong there. We all have opinions about people and players and you can judge this in many ways but to call Aybar a bad player is ignorant. He’s an above average hitter, average defensively yet apparently he’s a bad guy. I’m not defending his actions as a person, if you beat your wife you’re a piece of crap, but to say he’s not a good player because of that is stupid. Michael Pittman had domestic violence issues but was he good enough to win a Super Bowl with? Yes. Julio Lugo had domestic violence issues but did he perform well here? Yes. So why are they tagging someone as a bad player because he’s got domestic violence issues? I don’t know. Next there was the issue they brought up saying the Yankees were a “train-wreck waiting to happen”. What?! No matter what you think of the Yanks, and I’m no fan, they’re not a bad team. To pick on a team like the Yankees,with the firepower they still have, for banking on three young starting pitchers and thinking that they can’t overcome those guys not working out this year is dumb! Why pick on them when we’re doing the same thing but worse. If Hughes doesn’t work do you think the Yanks won’t trade for someone to replace him? If Chamberlain implodes do you think they’ll just quit? No! Focus on the Rays guys. If Kazmir gets hurt (which he already is) what will the Rays do? Can they replace him? What if Shields gets hurt, will we trade for a proven player to replace him? I’m not an idiot thinking the Rays can compete with the Yankees and Red Sox now but I do think they’re better. By the development of the team to this point of the Sternberg era this is the year they officially move forward and are taken seriously. This is the year you truly find out what your pitching staff is made of, what to expect from guys like Upton and Iwamura and even Carlos Pena as they all have had one good season. See if you can count on them again and if they can’t find who may be able to fill in. There’s alot of question marks on this team even though the baseball world sees the improvement and future possibilities. Think of these things. We got Matt Garza but was he great last year? No, he was average with great potential. Other than last year how much do we know about what Upton, Iwamura, Pena, Reyes and Garza are going to do this year? What have Navarro, Edwin Jackson, J.P. Howell, Jason Hammel, Andy Sonnanstine, etc… done to make us or anyone think they’re going to be good now? I’m not dogging these guys and I’m not trying to sound like I’m rooting against them. I’m optimistic and excited about the possibilities of the Rays future but what makes any Rays fan think it’s time to start picking on the Yankees? Let’s all continue to be happy about the future of the Rays, let’s be excited about this season because they do APPEAR to be better but let’s all check ourselves a little bit in the reality of what things really are. The Yankees don’t ’suck’ and the Red Sox are the defending champs still so chill on the trash-talking! I can’t wait until it’s actually time to run my mouth about the Sox and Yanks but we’re not there yet. My old coach always told me “confucius say, he who gets cocky gets doo-doo on face”. Remember that everyone as things go on. I’ll be right there with you yelling at every Sox and Yanks fan in and out of the stadium when we’re above them in the standings, but until then they still have scoreboard!

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Al Reyes, Andy Sonnanstine, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Edwin Jackson, Evan Longoria, J.P. Howell, Jason Hammel, Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays