Feb 29
Tampa Bay Rays (30.5 days until Opening Day)
Went out to check the mail today and we were surprised with quite a little present.
That my friends is the Tampa Bay Rays’ very own BJ Upton along with his brother Justin Upton of the D-Backs. And no, this is not a fake magazine mock-up from one of those booths at the Trop. A major sports magazine actually put a Ray on the cover. We don’t recall this ever happening before. Can anybody think of an example?
And how about that uni on BJ? We were tentative supporters of the new uni’s since the beginning, but now we are really getting excited. We understand the green was unique and set the Rays apart…but boy, BJ sure looks more like a baseball player now. We likey.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- The first spring game is not quite over. Edwin Jackson looked strong allowing only one hit in two innings. He went 1-2-3 in the first and after giving up a leadoff single in the second, he got the last two outs on strikeouts to get out of the inning. Rays had bases loaded in the first one out, but Willy Aybar struck out in his first at bat for the Rays. Jonny Gomes ended the inning without a run. Evan Longoria drove in a run with an rbi-double in his second at bat in the Rays 3-run 4th inning. Ben Zobrist has two hits including a double. Jason Hammel gave up two runs in two innings and Jake McGee got knocked around pretty good in his first spring appearance allowing four runs on three hits and three walks in one inning. Shawn Riggans was 0-3 on base stealers, while John Jaso gunned down his only chance. Last spring base stealers were 10-11 against Riggans. [MLB]
- Rays Anatomy takes an in depth look at the top prospect lists from several major outlets. [Rays Anatomy]
- The Rays continue to try and sell their product the old fashioned way…door-to-door. Dick Crippen a senior advisor for the Rays promoted the Rays recently at a rotary club meeting in New Port Richey. [The Suncoast News]
Feb 29
The 2008 25-man roster prediction is based only on players currently within the organization and will be updated when trades are consummated and free agents are signed.
With Spring Training games underway, let’s update our 25-man roster projections with a couple of changes.
Notes on the projection can be found after the roster…
A FEW NOTES ON THE 25-MAN ROSTER…
- Lineup: We know that we keep going back-and-forth, but now our gut is saying that Evan Longoria will start the season with the Rays. We don’t think it will take long for Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman to realize that The Dirtbag is the best third baseman in camp, on the field and off. Cliff Floyd is going to be the DH most days and if healthy, Rocco Baldelli will be in right. That means limited ABs for Jonny Gomes, who needs regular ABs to be effective. If Aybar can play the outfield, the Rays may look to trade Gomes before opening day.
- Bench: If Evan Longoria makes the team, and Jonny Gomes is not traded, that leaves one spot for Willy Aybar and Joel Guzman. Both are out of options. One will need to be traded or released. Guzman may have more value on the trade market right now. Joe Maddon keeps telling us that Shawn Riggans is the favorite to be the backup catcher, so he gets the edge right now. Seems surprising consider the team repeatedly stated they wanted a veteran backup catcher and have two in camp.
- Rotation: Andy Sonnanstine is technically battling for a spot, but he would have to be awful this spring to not get a job. Edwin Jackson looked solid in his spring debut this morning which gives him an early leg up on the competition. Our feeling is that JP Howell and Jason Hammel are longshots at best. Jeff Niemann is the darkhorse that could force Jackson to the bullpen or to another team.
- Bullpen: Five spots are locked. One spot will likely go to one of the odd-men out of the rotation. That leaves one spot and a number of names. Juan Salas, Grant Balfour, Brian Anderson and Scott Dohmann. Salas is still in the D.R. and his clock is running out fast. Balfour is a longshot. Dohmann is the early leader, but there have been positive reports from veteran Anderson.
Feb 29
Tampa Bay Rays (31 days until Opening Day)
The Rays and James Houser have found a loophole in his suspension.
The Rays added the Sarasota native to their 40-man roster in November to protect him from being taken in the Rule 5 draft, and that move apparently trumps the suspension, even when Houser is eventually sent to the minors—which he will be at some point in March.
Houser was originally suspended for 50-games with 17 games remaining in the 2007 season. He was also suspended for the Montgomery Biscuits’ playoff run. He had approximately 26 games remaining on the suspension. However, Houser was suspended as a minor leaguer. He is now technically a major leaguer (even if he is in the minors) and no longer subject to minor league roster rules. If Houser is ever out-righted off of the 40-man roster, he will be forced to finish serving the suspension.
Houser’s suspension evaporates [Rays Report]
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- Dioner Navarro will not see action until at least Monday. Navarro, who missed the beginning of camp late to be with his ailing mother, feels his arm is not quite ready to let loose. [Tampa Tribune]
- In the same piece we learn that Rocco Baldelli’s 2008 outfield debut is now being pushed back to the end of next week. We know the team is just being cautious, but this sort of news makes us hang our head and cry a little. This is starting to sound eerily familiar. Last year it was “Rocco’s minor league rehab is being pushed back”. Then it was “Rocco should be able to join the Rays next week. Nope. Make that the week after. Nevermind. Rocco isn’t coming back.” We are hoping this is just some watered-down baseball version of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. [Tampa Tribune]
- Rays of Light thinks the loophole that got James Houser out of his suspension for Performance Enhancing Drugs is a slap in the face of baseball’s drug testing system, and yet another sign that baseball is dropping the ball on this issue. [Rays of Light]
- This is not the most flattering image of Evan Longoria we have ever seen. [Art of Beast]
- While most of the roster spots are spoken for, there are still a number of decisions that Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon will have to make prior to opening day. Edwin Jackson who is battling for a spot in the rotation, says he is ready to go today in today’s spring opener. [Tampa Tribune]
“I’m ready to go,” Jackson said. “I know it’s not the season, but spring training’s still pretty important to me. Unless you have a roster spot on lock, you pretty much have to be in game mode if you’re trying to battle for a spot.”
- The Bradenton Herald takes a look at the Rays Spring Training. With so few roster battles, the Rays will concentrate on fundamentals. At this point in the Spring batters are just trying to comfortable in the box, recognizing pitches. [Bradenton Herald]
“At this point, as a hitter, you try to get as comfortable as you possibly can in the box,” Pena said. “You focus on seeing the ball and recognizing pitches and getting to that comfort level that you want…The most important thing at this point is to get comfortable in the box. See the ball. See the ball, see the ball, see the ball, see the ball. Get that trust back with your eyes, trust in your hands. Pretty soon you start feeling that swing. Right there. Right there. Right there.”
- Remember when we mentioned that PECOTA projected that the Rays would win 88 games? WEll, Bugs & Cranks did their own math and they are projecting the Rays to win 118 games. B&C said it, so it must be true. [Bugs & Cranks]
- Yankees Chick takes a look at the 2008 Rays and their increased payroll. The tone of the piece is very…Ahhhh, how cute. [Yankees Chick]
- We have mentioned this before, but it is worth mentioning again. The Rays will be partnering with the Moffitt Cancer Center to offer free skin cancer screenings at select Spring Training games. Tomorrow’s game versus the Jays will be the first game on the schedule. Follow the link for a full schedule of games. [Tampa Bay's 10]
