Tampa Bay Sports Blog

The Rays looked awful last night and it really came as no surprise after we saw the first pitched. Kaz sailed one and it just wasn’t pretty from there. I do believe it’s time that we start worrying about Kazmir and his erratic pitching. He hasn’t looked right for a while now and he doesn’t seem to be turning the corner at all. More concerning to me than the lack of fastball control is the lack of bite that the slider has these days. It just doesn’t move like it used to. Hope Kaz can get himself correct, but I’m not very optimistic at this point.

BJ still looks like crap and there is no excuse good enough for how horrible he looks. What I can’t understand is how he can look so nonchalant about being so bad. I keep laughing at all the so called experts out there that continue to defend this guy saying that he will shake this and have a good season. What is it that you’re seeing? Melvin looks terrible and even worse he looks like he doesn’t care. Even worse than that is the fact that Maddon looks like he doesn’t care either.

Joe Maddon is the most optimistic person I’ve ever heard speak. This is good I suppose to a point, but I can only hope that he does see a problem with his team and stops blowing smoke up everyone’s ass at some point. Maddon said Kaz pitched well after the first. What?! Were you watching the same game we were? He also made a point of saying that the fat catcher would start on Tuesday and not Hernandez. Why would you put that out there so early? Why are you defending your decision before it’s even questioned unless you know there is a problem?

I realize that I’m a cynical fan, but how can you not question what is going on out there right now?

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Dioner Navarro, Joe Maddon, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

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

   I realize what an awful time this is for my first post back but I had to write something. I want to say a couple quick things about the Rays in the series and the playoffs in general. They showed tremendous heart and fortitude throughout and played way above their heads. I have been in awe of this team all year and I’m more proud of them than I ever thought I would be at this moment. Whether they get back to the series or not, they have made me proud of their accomplishments this year and that’s something I’ll always remember this as a dream season. Now, to preface my second point I’m gonna sound like a homer whiner but, this looked like an impossible series for the Rays to win. They had to beat the Phillies and the UMPIRES! The shoebox strike zone that Kaz and Garza had to pitch to wasn’t questionable, it was disgustingly biased. Screw the missed calls on the bases and the other crap, no one could’ve pitched well enough to win with that strike zone and they still kept the games close. That was amazing to me! Now I would like to congratulate the Phillie TEAM and PLAYERS. Hats off to the TEAM that won, they deserve it, they earned it and I’m happy for THEM. I would now like to say, FUCK THE PHILLIE FANS! You are the worst people to walk the earth. I apologize to anyone with class who reads this site for the language that I have used to speak to the idiot fans from Filthadelphia, but it’s the only thing these jackasses understand. It’s one thing to root for your team and to give another team’s fans a hard time, hell I could understand a fight or two. But to call players wives whores and to throw things at children, you are pussy ass bitches! Fuck all you useless bags of shit, I will not cry if you burn yourselves up in the riot you’re about to have. Congrats on a great season Rays! I’ll be back on track tomorrow for some more rhetoric, but for now it’s time to get drunk and wallow in pity!

Technorati Tags: Matt Garza, Philadelphia Phillies, Scott Brannelly, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

I know, I know, but you should all know by now that since my life is chaotic, my postings become chaotic. I’m trying to slow things down a little now but we’ll see how it goes. Anyway, the ancient relics in pinstripes came to town and took game one of the series 7-2. I heard their pathetic chants at the game and I’m sure they’ll have a whole lot to say tomorrow so I will only say one thing, wait til the series is over idiots! The stat padder in blowout games that is Gay-Rod, oops A-Rod, came out to play and the man who should be wearing a Rays uni hit a bomb to left. It was hard to watch and even harder to listen to. The Yanks may have the oldest, most over-rated and overpaid team in baseball but they still have the most annoying fans. These are fans who didn’t bother to show up to the game either. I also hate to sound like one of those people here too but did anyone else feel like Matt Garza was being screwed tonight? Talk about an erratic umpire!

Now some notes….

• Even though the Rays didn’t produce too much, it’s still nice to see Barty, Pena, Aybar and Hinske still swinging the bat well. These guys have been very good lately, especially Barty, Pena and Aybar. I don’t think you could ask much more from these guys. How bout that bomb by Barty on Sunday too? I gotta admit, I didn’t think he had it in him.
• Melvin still hasn’t realized that he has to SWING the bat in order to drive in runs. He obviously doesn’t want to swing Maddon, he only appears interested in drawing walks and acts like he’s allergic to runners on base. How bout a benching for striking out looking too much with runners on?
• Garza got screwed by a Yankees paid umpire. How much did Mussina and the Yanks pay you Brian Runge? We could offer up some cash if you’re for sale. Shake it off Matt.
• And I must get to the attendance. There are a ton of reasons people are saying that they don’t go to games ranging from location, the team history, lack of time, etc… The one reason I do buy into is the economy. There is no real reason not to go, but this economy is hurting us all. It’s killing me and I know I’m not the only one. I’ve been to 50+ games this year and the only reason I don’t go to more is the fact that I have no money! Tickets are cheap, but not every night. I expected a bigger turnout for the Yankees but I guess their fans are either broke or embarrassed. Either way, I do think the Rays will draw here.

Technorati Tags: Alex Rodriguez, BJ Upton, Brian Runge, Carlos Pena, Eric Hinske, Jason Bartlett, Joe Maddon, Matt Garza, Mike Mussina, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Willy Aybar, Xavier Nady

   F*#K BJ Upton! I don’t care if BJ would have made that play, we all know he would have. HE took himself out of that ball game and Garza should whoop his ass for it. I’m extremely proud of Papa Joe right now as he is taking a stance against the super ass known as BJ Upton. I know I’ve been sick of watching him for a while and I dogged Maddon and company for not doing something about it sooner. I’m proud of Joe for doing something about it now. With all the talk around the deadline about “team chemistry” and the main reason behind no one wanting Barry Bonds here being the solid clubhouse atmosphere I would personally love to see a backdoor clubhouse ass-whoopin’ given to Upton’s punk ass! He struts around as if he’s the greatest player in the game and isn’t putting up the numbers or the effort to do so. I agree with all the BJ defenders in saying that he would’ve made that play in CF that Ruggiano botched, but I’m still happy to see his ass riding the pine. I fully expect Joe Maddon to sit his ass tomorrow also and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the “why are they singling me out?” rhetoric out of the punk asses mouth now too. It’s you and your attitude BJ, nothing else, so shut up before you start!

Technorati Tags: Barry Bonds, BJ Upton, Joe Maddon, Justin Ruggiano, Matt Garza, 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

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

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

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

Scott Brannelly

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

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

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

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

Scott Brannelly

Sources: Yahoo, Rays Index

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

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

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

Source: ESPN

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

   Andy Sonnanstine threw another gem tonight as the Rays beat the Oriole’s 8-1 to even the series at one. This is creating a nice problem for the Rays as Sonny has pitched very well so far to the tune of four wins in the first month. Jackson is still up and down and Hammel had a rough night last night but they seem to be locked into spots due to the lack of options. We have harped on this but what are the Rays going to do when Kaz comes back Sunday? I’ve been on board with shopping and moving Edwin Jackson (I still am) but that’s not likely to happen so I have thought of something and I would like some opinions on it. I’m not sure so I would like someone to tell me but I believe that Matt Garza has more options. If that is so I would love to see the Rays send him down when Kazmir returns. I like Garza and think he’ll do fine here and I understand the pressure on the organization to keep him up here because of the trade but it makes more sense to me to send him down if possible. He’s coming off an injury that we aren’t sure is fixed, he hasn’t pitched that great and I think it would be good for him to sort this out in AAA rather than in the bigs. I know Kirk Birkins is expendable but that doesn’t create a spot in the rotation. We’ve seen Hammel and Jackson in relief and it doesn’t seem to suit them. Sonnanstine has earned a spot so why not Garza? If there are no more options on him then this is irrelevant as Sonnanstine will be the odd man out, but if not then Garza should go. What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Andy Sonnanstine, Edwin Jackson, Jason Hammel, Kirk Birkins, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, 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

   There is a conundrum for the Rays they have never had to deal with before. They might have too much pitching. I’ll say it again, they just might have too much pitching. Crazy right? With Matt Garza due to come off the disable list and make a start on Friday and Scott Kazmir due back in early May the Rays have to make some tough decisions. The easiest choice I’m guessing would be to option Andy Sonnanstine to AAA Durham and stick with the rotation of Shields, Kazmir, Jackson, Garza and Hammel. What if Sonnanstine puts up another performance like he did Saturday? This is a good problem to have and we can only hope it works out for the Rays. Personally I think Jason Hammel is noticeably improved and from what I’ve seen from him mechanically and situational pitching he is for real and should be a good 4 or 5 starter in this league. The jury is still out on Matt Garza on whether the Twins pulled a fast one on us or not. I like his stuff but the rest leaves a lot to be desired. His mechanics are a little off and I’m not sure what to make of his poise on the hill yet. I would like to think the best is yet to come from him and the injury was the cause of his problems. Sonnanstine has smooth mechanics and is a strike throwing machine which is nice to see from our staff. His issue is his stuff. He doesn’t have one great pitch and can easily be lit up. I love his toughness and mound presence , he holds runners on well and history tells us that you don’t have to have great stuff to be productive. I like him for our rotation better than Jackson. It’s easy to fall in love with the high powered fastball Jackson throws but that is not going to get it done for him. I would love to see Sonny and Hammel remain in the back end of the rotation as both of these guys need major league innings to improve and Sonny especially can be a huge innings eater that will help out the bullpen dramatically. Obviously I’m getting to the point where I believe Jackson should be the odd man out. Part of me wants the Rays to try again to convert him into a reliever because of the stuff but he would be a nightmare one inning at a time. DRaysBay made a case for the Rays to trade Jackson a while back and I’m on board with them here. If there is some middle infield help or bullpen upgrades that could be had for this guy the Rays should jump on it. The most likely scenario is that Sonnanstine is optioned down but I don’t believe that helps him. He knows how to pitch in general, he needs to learn how to pitch at the Major League level. I know I’m not mentioning Jeff Niemann here but he still has a lot of work to do. I’ve stated before I think he’ll be a bust but we’ll have to wait and see there. It will be interesting to see what happens and the Rays are sure to take their time in making any major moves as they’re going to want to make sure Kaz and Garza are healthy before doing anything but it will be fun to speculate in the meantime.

Technorati Tags: Andy Sonnanstine, Edwin Jackson, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   The Rays may have a good problem on their hands here. With Jason Hammel and Edwin Jackson seemingly improved and making consistently good starts the Rays are holding down the fort pretty well with Kazmir and Garza out. Then Jeff Niemann comes in and performs nicely in his first major league start adding to the promise. Now Matt Garza and Scott Kazmir are heading to Vero Beach for rehab and may be back soon. When they come back the Rays have a dilemma, what to do with all this pitching? This is a little exaggerated as we all know these guys could revert back to last years form at any time and there is no such thing as too much pitching. This is nice to see with the Rays after all these years of horrid pitching and bad draft picks. There is a ton of pitching on the farm on the way and with everyone doing fairly well there could be some interesting things to deal with. Andy Sonnanstine has seemed to pitch his way back to Durham so that should be an easy one. If Niemann performs well again today it’s going to be hard to send him back down. Jackson and Hammel have both proved to be good enough at this point and neither one seems to do well out of the bullpen, Hammel especially. This leads me to think a possible trade announcement is coming today. The Rays have been linked to the Cubs Matt Murton for some time now over at MLBTR and this could be possible. A lot could go down and it’s nice to see the Rays having some good problem’s, especially with the injuries we’ve seen so far.

Technorati Tags: Andy Sonnanstine, Edwin Jackson, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   The Rays have experienced a multitude of injuries so far yet the newest could hurt badly. In last nights game Carlos Pena left with what is being called ‘hamstring tightness’ and this scares all Rays fans. Pena is off to a good start power-wise and is a great defensive first baseman. If he goes down for an extended period of time this could be trouble. Pena is struggling as far as his average goes but that’s a little deceptive as his presence is what matters. He is not the type of guy who is going to hit .300 but he will punish pitchers when they make mistakes. From what I’ve seen this year with Upton starting slow, but picking up lately, and no consistent protection established behind him yet Pena has not been getting much to hit and that is why his average is down. If he’s lost Eric Hinske can fill in and you won’t see a huge difference offensively but the defense will be sorely missed. Last night we saw a play where Evan Longoria had to rush a throw to first that went into the dirt and Hinske couldn’t dig it out. This is a play that’s becoming Pena’s trademark. He seems to dig most everything out of the dirt and with Longoria having already tossed a couple like this and Bartlett consistently having difficulty throwing to first this would translate into a huge problem for the team and the pitching staff. Hope it’s only tightness that a couple days off can mend. Keep your fingers crossed on this. In another quick note, The Heater is reporting there is a “major announcement” scheduled for 1pm today. With all the injuries we’ve seen so far with Kaz, Reyes, Garza, Floyd, Aybar, etc.. nothing would be shocking. No one seems to have any inclination what the announcement is so I guess we just have to wait and see.

Technorati Tags: Al Reyes, BJ Upton, Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, Willy Aybar

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

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

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

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

   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

   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