Archive for February 12th, 2008

Feb 12

[THE HANGOVER] All Evan Longoria Needs Is A Chance, And Now He’s Got It

BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Cliff Floyd, David Price, Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes, Evan Longoria, Gary Glover, Jonny Gomes, Josh Paul, Mike DiFelice, Rocco Baldelli, Shawn Riggans Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (1 day until pitchers and catchers report)

It is what he wanted.

It is what we wanted.

It is not necessarily what the front office wanted.

But now it looks like Evan Longoria will get the opportunity to prove in Spring Training that he belongs in the majors.

And a chance is all the Dirtbag needs. It won’t take much to convince Joe Maddon. And we have a feeling that if Papa Joe can be convinced, it won’t take much to convince Andrew Friedman.

Longoria will not have to hit .400 in Spring Training and he will not have to hit 10 home runs. In fact, we have a feeling that as long as he does not fall flat on his face, he will be named the Rays opening day starter at third base. As much as Papa Joe likes to crunch numbers on his computer, he still loves himself a good ole fashioned baseball player. Evan Longoria is a baseball player. And Maddon will envision that rubbing off on the other players

Maddon is destined to fall in love with the 22 year old. He will see enough in his swing and his glove to know that he is not going to be over-matched at the major league level.

Longoria may struggle at first. But he is too good a hitter to fail. And Papa Joe will see that.

Longoria will get chance to earn spot [Rays Report]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • ESPN.com takes a closer look at the “revitalized” Carl Crawford. C.C. speaks about having more energy after learning that he was allergic to dairy and wheat products and the subsequent change in his diet. He has also upped his workout regimen and has dropped his body fat from 12% to 8% since December. He also doesn’t hold back in his portrayal of just how miserable 2007 was for the Rays. [ESPN]

“It’s just going to be about playing baseball again, that’s what I’m really excited about this season,” Crawford said at his offseason home. “With all the B.S. that was going on last year, I think we lost focus on the task at hand.” Crawford refers to the ongoing soap opera that featured Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young. Both of the enormously talented players couldn’t stay out of trouble; Dukes with his off-field issues, and Young with his me-first attitude that resulted in him at first walking out on manager Joe Maddon on the second-to-last day of the 2007 regular season. Crawford calls last season a year “he never wants to remember,” and the distractions, at times, were almost unbearable…”That move, for Garza, spoke volumes,” Crawford said. “For the first time I felt like this organization was serious about winning. That’s the reason why I think everybody is excited because everybody sees that.”

  • Joe Maddon confirmed something that we had expected, that is five of the seven bullpen spots are already spoken for, all but guaranteeing that Gary Glover will be on the opening day roster. That leaves one spot that will go to a “loser” in the battle for the starting rotation and the final spot will be between Juan Salas, Scott Dohmann and Grant Balfour. [The Heater]
  • Shawn Riggans enters Spring Training healthy and understands this may be his last shot at winning a job with the Rays now that John Jaso has been added to the 40-man roster. Marc Topkin refers to Riggans as the “apparent leading candidate for the backup catcher’s job.” This might be a stretch after the recent additions of one veteran catcher in Mike DiFelice and the return of Josh Paul who is familiar with the Rays pitching staff. It is our feeling that if the season started today Paul’s experience and familiarity with the pitching staff will be a better partner to the young Dioner Navarro. [St. Pete Times]
  • Marc Topkin reviews all the changes the Rays have made this off-season. [St. Pete Times]
  • The Columbus Catfish have been sold and plan to relocate to Bolling Green, Kentucky for the 2009 season. [Ledger-Enquirer]
  • Baseball Analysts continues their breakdown of the best baseball players by age. In the age 23 group, BJ Upton comes in at #6, while both Evan Longoria and David Price come in at #5 and #12 respectively. [Baseball Analysts]
  • The Ledger ranks the DHs. The Rays’ three-headed monster of Rocco Baldelli, Cliff Floyd and Jonny Gomes is ranked 7th. [The Ledger]
  • My Baseball Bias previews the Rays’ Spring Training. [My Baseball Bias]
  • Devil Rays Locker gives the Rays front office a B+ for this off-season’s moves. [Devil Rays Locker]
Feb 12

[POWER RANKINGS] The Tampa Bay Rays Power Rankings

Rays Power Rankings Cork Gaines 4 Comments »

Spring Training begins this week, 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 fashioned 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 12

[2008 ROSTER] 2008 40-Man Roster And Payroll Projections Redux

40-man Roster Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

The 2008 40-man roster and payroll projection is based only players currently within the organization and will be updated when trades are consummated and free agents are signed.

Last week we took at the latest 25-man roster projection, and with pitchers and catchers set to report this week let’s update our 40-man roster and payroll projections.

Notes on the projections can be found after the roster…


A few notes on the 40-man roster and payroll projections…

  • All of the Rays arbitration-eligible players have signed contracts and avoided arbitration.
  • This roster and payroll projection is based on our 25-man roster projection in which Evan Longoria is in the minors, Josh Paul is the backup catcher and Scott Dohmann beats out Juan Salas for the final bullpen spot.
  • Only five players on the 2007 opening day roster had a salary of at least $1 million (Carl Crawford, Casey Fossum, Akinori Iwamura, Jae Seo and Ty Wigginton). Only Fossum ($2.2 million) and Crawford ($4.0 million) made more than $2 million. This year, 12 players will make more than $1.0 million and nine of those will make more than $2.0 million.
Feb 12

[THE HANGOVER] Rays To Watch In Spring Training

David Price, Glenn Gibson, Jeff Niemann, John Jaso, Jon Lester, Matt Garza, Reid Brignac, Scott Kazmir Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (2 days until pitchers and catchers report)
The Tampa Tribune lists “Five Rays To Watch” in Spring Training. The list includes several obvious names, including Akinori Iwamura, Rocco Baldelli, Edwin Jackson, Dioner Navarro and Trever Miller.

We are not sure Trever Miller needs to be on this list. His role is set and he will be fine. However we would add three more players to the list of players to watch: Jeff Niemann, John Jaso and David Price.

Niemann’s bandwagon is starting to gain some steam. He is 25 and it may be now or never for the big right hander. Now comes word that he is in much better shape this Spring. If the front office was being honest, it is our belief that they would prefer Niemann to step-up and take the last spot in the rotation from Edwin Jackson.

Jaso, on the other hand, has zero chance of making the roster, but 2008 could be a referendum on Navarro’s future with the Rays. He needs to at least maintain the pace, offensively, that he set in the second half of 2007 and he needs to make great strides defensively. Jaso will spend all of 2008 in AAA, but you can be sure the team is going to be watching him closely to see if Navarro’s potential replacement is in-house.This year’s Spring Training could go a long ways to convincing the coaching staff and front office that Jaso deserves at least a platoon position in 2009.

Price made news when he stated that he wants to be in the majors by the beginning of July. Even prior to this statement many outlets speculated that Price could be ready for the majors by the second half of 2008. This seams awfully quick for an organization as patient as the Rays. It seems more likely that Price will spend 2007 at AA, with a possible late-season promotion to AAA. He would then begin the 2009 season at AAA with a June call-up being the most likely scenario. The only way we can see Price in the majors this season is if he is posting Tim Lincecum-type numbers (62.2 ip, 26h, 23bb, 104k, 1.01era) in the minors.

The Rays front office has been typically mum on the subject but they may tip their hand in Spring Training. If the Rays believe there is even a possibility of promoting Price to the bigs in 2008, he will see action in Spring Training games. If they plan on keeping him in the minors the entire season, he will be given a cursory 2 weeks with the parent club and then shipped over to minor league camp for the remainder of Spring Training without ever appearing in a Spring game. This was how Evan Longoria was handled last year.

Five Players To Watch [Tampa Tribune]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • If you haven’t had a chance to vote in our “Rays Confidence Graph” survey. Please do so now. We will update the results tomorrow. [Rays Index]
  • Marc Lancaster asks five questions that the Rays will need to answer in Spring Training. [Tampa Tribune]
  • During our “12 Days of Raysmas”, we wished for a no-hitter from Scott Kazmir. Well, The Bill James Handbook lists Kid K as the most likely pitcher in baseball today to throw a no-no, with a 24% chance. And you guys thought we were being too optimistic in the Raysmas posts. Tisk, tisk. [Joe Posnanski]
  • Rays Anatomy debates Matt Garza vs. Jon Lester. This is a rare case where we actually know more about the other team’s player than we do about our own. [Rays Anatomy]
  • Project Prospect lists Reid Brignac as the top shortstop prospect. [Project Prospect]


The year 2006, however, was much kinder to Brignac, as the 6-foot-3, 180-pounder tabbed a stellar .321/.376/.539 line between High-A and Double-A. While the 2006 campaign may have put him on the map, you shouldn’t be navigating away from Brignac because of his 2007 showing. The St. Amant, La. native’s line drive rate from ’06 stayed true to form in ’07, while his BABIP tanked from .395 to .288. Though he was in the hitter-friendly California League in ’06, there’s still reason to believe that Brignac was a bit unlucky last season. He still holds the skills and power potential to become an above-average shortstop at the Major League level

  • Kevin Gengler is up to #14 Glenn Gibson and #13 John Jaso in his prospect countdown. [DRays Bay]
  • Baseball Analysts list the top 24 year olds in baseball. Scott Kazmir is ranked #5. [Baseball Analysts]
  • As we get closer to the baseball season, the new Rays blogs are starting to roll out fast and furious. The latest is Outs Per Swing, which is a play on what OPS stand for. This brings up a question that DRG and I were debating recently and he may write-up at some point from a more mathematical point-of-view. 383 times in the history of baseball, a player has posted an OPS greater than 1.000. In essence that means a player is earning more than 1 base per plate appearance. So, if a player has an OPS greater than 1.000 shouldn’t the opposition intentionally walk him every time up? That would be an OPS of exactly 1.000. [Outs Per Swing]
  • A 2008 Tampa Bay Rays preview. Looks like we the Rays are going to be the chic pick to do well in 2008. [Jim & Bob's Palatial Baseball Blog]