Archive for February 5th, 2008

Feb 05

[THE HANGOVER] Babe Ruth Would Be A $400 Million Player Today

Babe Ruth, BJ Upton, DJ Jones, James Shields, Raymond is a sexy beast, Rocco Baldelli Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

Tampa Bay Rays (8 days until pitchers and catchers report)

Happy Birthday Babe Ruth! He would be 113 today if only he had not taken so many performance enhancing beers, hot dogs and whores…Which gets us to thinking. If The Bambino were playing today and had just completed his 6th season and was set to become a free agent how much would he be worth on the open market.

Under today’s CBA, Ruth would have become a free agent after the 1920 season. In 1920 Ruth hit .376-54-137, posted an OBP of .533(!) and an OPS+ of 256. And while he only made one start as a pitcher in 1920, his resume already included seasons of 18-8, 2.44…23-12, 1.75…24-13, 2.01…and 13-7, 2.22. And those are just the stats. Keep in mind that he was a left-handed pitcher, the most famous person in the country and was only entering his age 26 season.

Consider a bidding war between the Yankees and Red Sox…In today’s day and age you can bet your ass that both teams would envision Ruth as RF/DH/RP, with his pitching role most likely mimicking a left-handed Joba Chamberlain.

How much would a player like Ruth be worth? $30 million per year for 10 years ($300 million)? Actually we would guess that it would be closer to $35 million per year for 12 years ($420 million), with the final years of the deal north of $40 million.

Would the Yankees or the Red Sox go to $400 million for one player, if that one player was a 26 year old Babe Ruth? Consider how the Yankees just gave $275 million to Alex Rodriguez, who will be 32 on opening day, is not a pitcher and only posted 2007 OBP of .422 and an OPS+ of 177. Seem to us that $400 million for a player that could potentially win the Triple Crown and the Cy Young in the same season, would be a bargain.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Matt Bishoff interviews BJ Upton. [DRays Bay]
  • One blogger believes that more than half of the teams in baseball have zero chance of winning the World Series, even before spring training begins. For the most part agree, but most would have included the Rockies on the list of teams with “Zero chance” in 2007, and most would include the Rays on the same list in 2008. Yet, a look at our own recent poll of normally disgruntled and apocalyptic fans shows that more than half of Rays fans think the Rays have a shot at the playoffs this year if things break right. [MVN Outsider]
  • Rays of Light profiles the Rays 11th round pick from this past year, DJ Jones. We have said it repeatedly, a prospect has to be pretty darn special (ie. David Price) to get our attention before they have done anything at the AA-level. RoL is pretty high on Jones. They may be right. But we will reserve judgment on the high schooler until at least 2010. [Rays of Light]
  • The Zips projections for the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays have been released. Zips is one of three or four highly respected statistical projections. [Baseball Think Factory]
  • The Stat Pack talks to a pitching mechanics expert about recent concerns that have been brought up about James Shields mechanics. The verdict is that his changing mechanics is just a reflection of coaches trying to get Shields to learn a dominant breaking ball. [The Stat Pack]
  • The Sporting Newslooks at six players that could be potential comeback candidates and considers Rocco Baldelli one that won’t. [The Sporting News]
  • Stacy Long got a hold of The Baseball America Prospect Handbook and their projections for where each of the Rays’ top 30 prospects will start the season. [Riverwalk Talk]
  • Yankees Chick has here 2008 Tampa Bay Rays projections up. [Yankees Chick]
  • For those that care about fantasy values, MLB.com has the values for all the Rays. [MLB]
  • Raymond is brining the sexy back and he is excited about the upcoming season. [The Big Blue Blog]
  • The Tampa Tribune profiles Chris Lahey, the person responsible for promoting the sales of Rays tickets. [TBO]
Feb 05

[POWER RANKINGS] The Debut Of The Tampa Bay Rays Power Rankings

Rays Power Rankings Cork Gaines 4 Comments »

We are now less than two weeks away from Spring Training, so it is time to start taking a closer look at the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. What better way to do that than a good ole fashion Power Ranking. Everybody loves Power Rankings. These rankings are a combination of overall importance to the team and a general “who’s hot and who’s not”. The Tampa Bay Rays Power Rankings will appear every Tuesday.

Feb 05

[NEW UNIFORMS] One Blogger Is Fined For Using Moniker "Devil Rays"

Baseball Musings, Matt Silverman, New Uniforms Cork Gaines No Comments »

Seriously…We can’t make this shit up.

Baseball Musings has still been referring to the Tampa Bay Rays as the “Tampa Bay Devil Rays”. Well, after receiving a letter from Matt Silverman, president of the Devil Rays, they can no longer use the excuse that they “didn’t get the memo”. Baseball Musings was fined $1 by the Devil Rays for using the term (the money does go to a Devil Rays charity).

The Tampa Bay Rays found out I was still sometimes using the name “Devil.”
They’ve asked me to stop. I’ll be sending in a $10 fine.

(HERE is a link to a scan of the actual letter from the Devil Rays. Below is the full text of the letter from Devil Rays president Matt Silverman.)

February 1, 2008

Dear Mr. Pinto:

November 8, 2007 was a landmark day for our organization. On that day, we shed the “devil” from our name and became the Tampa Bay Rays. Our organization introduced a new logo, colors and uniforms to accompany the name change. A bright yellow sunburst now adorns our jerseys. Replacing the devil ray fish, this sunburst icon invokes the magnificence of life in the Sunshine State.

Thousands of Rays’ fans flocked to downtown St. Petersburg to celebrate the launch of our new team name. Players flaunted their new threads and described them as “fresh.” Community leaders and even Hollywood’s Kevin Costner joined in the fanfare.

Although these changes have been widely embraced, old habits often die hard. Here at our offices in Tropicana Field, we created “Drop the Devil” donation boxes. For each and every Devil Rays mention, employees must contribute one dollar to the donation box. All proceeds benefit the Rays Baseball Foundation, the official charity of the Rays which supports youth and education programs in the Tampa Bay community. Though costly for a forgetful few, it has been both fun and instructive, while also benefiting a worthy cause.

It has been brought to my attention that you, too, recently used our former team name. Accordingly, the Rays request a donation to the Rays Baseball Foundation in the amount of one dollar (though larger contributions are welcomed). Please note that repeat violations may carry a steeper penalty.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter. We hope to see you this season at a Rays’ game.

Yours truly,
Matt Silverman
President, Tampa Bay Rays

Wow. We guess that this means we will not be seeing any Devil Rays “Turn Back The Clock” nights anytime soon. Our favorite part is how the “sunburst icon invokes the magnificence of life in the Sunshine State”. Huh-wha? Of course, it does not invoke the magnificence of play in the Tropicana DOME, the home of the Devil Rays, which you know…has a roof. And where is our letter from the Devil Rays? We are apparently not invoking the use of the term “Devil Rays” nearly enough.

Other fines that Devil Rays’ employees can soon be expecting:

  • For wearing anything green. St. Patty’s Day is going to suck this year at Devil Rays headquarters. Of course last year on St. Patrick’s day, the Devil Rays actually wore less green than normal. It was prophetic.
  • For ever mentioning the name Chuck LaMar. OK, this is one that we will gladly enforce.
  • For any references to the movies Water World, the Postman, or any other crappy Kevin Costner flick.

I’m In Trouble! [Baseball Musings]


Feb 05

[NEW UNIFORMS] One Blogger Is Fined For Using Moniker "Devil Rays"

Baseball Musings, Matt Silverman, New Uniforms Cork Gaines 8 Comments »

Seriously…We can’t make this shit up.

Baseball Musings has still been referring to the Tampa Bay Rays as the “Tampa Bay Devil Rays”. Well, after receiving a letter from Matt Silverman, president of the Devil Rays, they can no longer use the excuse that they “didn’t get the memo”. Baseball Musings was fined $1 by the Devil Rays for using the term (the money does go to a Devil Rays charity).

The Tampa Bay Rays found out I was still sometimes using the name “Devil.”
They’ve asked me to stop. I’ll be sending in a $10 fine.

(HERE is a link to a scan of the actual letter from the Devil Rays. Below is the full text of the letter from Devil Rays president Matt Silverman.)

February 1, 2008

Dear Mr. Pinto:

November 8, 2007 was a landmark day for our organization. On that day, we shed the “devil” from our name and became the Tampa Bay Rays. Our organization introduced a new logo, colors and uniforms to accompany the name change. A bright yellow sunburst now adorns our jerseys. Replacing the devil ray fish, this sunburst icon invokes the magnificence of life in the Sunshine State.

Thousands of Rays’ fans flocked to downtown St. Petersburg to celebrate the launch of our new team name. Players flaunted their new threads and described them as “fresh.” Community leaders and even Hollywood’s Kevin Costner joined in the fanfare.

Although these changes have been widely embraced, old habits often die hard. Here at our offices in Tropicana Field, we created “Drop the Devil” donation boxes. For each and every Devil Rays mention, employees must contribute one dollar to the donation box. All proceeds benefit the Rays Baseball Foundation, the official charity of the Rays which supports youth and education programs in the Tampa Bay community. Though costly for a forgetful few, it has been both fun and instructive, while also benefiting a worthy cause.

It has been brought to my attention that you, too, recently used our former team name. Accordingly, the Rays request a donation to the Rays Baseball Foundation in the amount of one dollar (though larger contributions are welcomed). Please note that repeat violations may carry a steeper penalty.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter. We hope to see you this season at a Rays’ game.

Yours truly,
Matt Silverman
President, Tampa Bay Rays

Wow. We guess that this means we will not be seeing any Devil Rays “Turn Back The Clock” nights anytime soon. Our favorite part is how the “sunburst icon invokes the magnificence of life in the Sunshine State”. Huh-wha? Of course, it does not invoke the magnificence of play in the Tropicana DOME, the home of the Devil Rays, which you know…has a roof. And where is our letter from the Devil Rays? We are apparently not invoking the use of the term “Devil Rays” nearly enough.

Other fines that Devil Rays’ employees can soon be expecting:

  • For wearing anything green. St. Patty’s Day is going to suck this year at Devil Rays headquarters. Of course last year on St. Patrick’s day, the Devil Rays actually wore less green than normal. It was prophetic.
  • For ever mentioning the name Chuck LaMar. OK, this is one that we will gladly enforce.
  • For any references to the movies Water World, the Postman, or any other crappy Kevin Costner flick.

I’m In Trouble! [Baseball Musings]


Feb 05

[WILLY AYBAR] Willy Aybar Jailed In D.R.; Longoria’s Fate Should Not Be Affected

Evan Longoria, Joel Guzman, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

It seems as if the Rays rid themselves of one Mischievous Little Badger and acquired another one…

As you have no doubt heard by now, Willy Aybar has been arrested in the Dominican Republic on Domestic Abuse charges. He has been held without bail since last week and faces three months in jail if convicted. The latest reports indicate that the charges are expected to be dropped.

Aybar’s lawyers told appeals court prosecutor Jesus Fernandez Velez on Friday that Aybar’s wife had agreed to drop the charges, but had not done so yet.

Aybar is expected to either be the Rays opening day third baseman or be part of a platoon with Joel Guzman if Evan Longoria does not start the season on major league roster. However, if he remains in jail for any significant amount of time, this will certainly force the Rays to alter their plans. Even if the charges are dropped, Aybar will almost certainly miss the beginning of Spring Training. Aybar has not played a regular season game since 2006 after missing all of 2007 due to a wrist injury and a stint in rehab, and Spring Training is expected to be a very important tune-up.

While Aybar’s situation will certainly be discussed when the team decides whether or not to start Longoria on the big league roster, Aybar’s availability should have little bearing on the ultimate outcome. The Rays are not likely to decide the fate of their top prospect based on needs of the 25-man roster. If Aybar is unavailable or not ready for opening day, the team will either proceed with Guzman as the everyday third baseman or they will sign a cheap veteran free agent to fill the void until June when Longoria is expected to be called-up.

Report: Infielder Aybar jailed [DevilRays.com]

Feb 05

[THE HANGOVER]

Alex Rios, BJ Upton, Chris Mason, Edwin Jackson, Hank Aaron, Hank Aaron Award, New Stadium, Rocco Baldelli, Troy Percival, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines No Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (9 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Today is Hank Aaron’s birthday. Major League Baseball tried to honor Aaron by naming an award after him, when in fact the award does nothing to honor his legacy. We have made our feelings known about the Hank Aaron Award in the past, but in short it is a glorified advertising opportunity for MLB to make money off of Hank Aaron’s name, and the award needs to be overhauled or it will never have any legitimacy.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • If you have not had a chance to vote in our “Tampa Bay Rays Confidence” polls, please do so. This will become a weekly feature and the resulting graph will makes it debut tomorrow. [Rays Index]
  • Willy Aybar has been jailed in the Dominican Republic on charges of domestic violence. He has been held without bail since last week. We will have more on this topic later on this morning. [ESPN]
  • Rays of Light reports that Rocco Baldelli stated in a radio interview that he has been working out at first base in the off-season. Do the Rays think this will actually help? We are talking about a guy who once needed Tommy John surgery after injuring his knee. Rocco could pull a hamstring just thinking about running. [Rays of Light]
  • Tom Singer believes the Rays are one team that could surprise in 2008, comparing them to the 1969 Mets. [MLB]

The rest of the AL East is concerned. In fact, Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi has frankly branded the Rays a team “no one will want to face.”…But why stop at .500 — the Rays haven’t been closer than 11 games to that — as a major surprise? We keep looking at Tampa Bay’s new uniforms and seeing “Mets” scrawled across the chest…The Amazin’s averaged 56 wins in their first seven seasons, then broke loose for a World Series title in the eighth. And they did so without any major roster additions; a young team simply grew into it.

  • The Rays have planned a series of appearances in neighboring counties with players and staff, in their effort to expand the team’s fan base. [TampaBay.com]
  • Edwin Jackson is one of several major leaguers working to bring baseball back to young African-Americans. We wish we had not read that. Last thing in the world we need is a soft-spot for Nuke. [MLB]

“In the black schools, football and basketball are getting more attention than baseball,” Jackson said. “We need to expose it within the community, talk about it more. It starts in the household, where most parents are talking about basketball and football to their young black children.”

  • One website names the best and worst moves of the off-season for each team. Signing Troy Percival to a two-year contract is rated as the Rays worst move. [SWB Yankees Blog]
  • One fantasy baseball site compares BJ Upton to Alex Rios. [The Fantasy Man]
  • The Rays will be offering free skin cancer screenings throughout March at various spring training facilities. We will avoid the obvious joke of a team that plays in a dome offering skin cancer screening. [DevilRays.com]
  • The Gaston Gazette profiles Chris Mason. [Gaston Gazette]
  • One protester is creating a Manatee named “Pete” made of duct tape to help bring awareness to the plight of the Manatees and to dredge up support for the opposition of the Rays new stadium…seriously [Tampa Bays 10]