[THE SATURDAY MORNING REVOLUTION] In A Revolution, One Triumphs Or One Dies
Akinori Iwamura, Brian Anderson, Dioner Navarro, Johan Santana, John Flaherty, Josh Paul, Mike DiFelice, Nick Barnese, Will Kline February 2nd. 2008, 11:35amTampa Bay Devil Dogs (12 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Please allow myself to introduce…myself. The name is DEVIL RAY GUEVARA. You can call me DRG for short. I will be manning the ship on most weekends from now on and if I behave myself, the Prof says I might be able to post during the week every now and then. So I guess I will be seeing you on the weekends.
I have been involved with RI behind the scenes for a while now. I like to think of myself as the Prof’s consigliare. The problem is, The Prof has all these rules that I am supposed to follow. The first post of the day must include a “webtopia”, minimize the vulgarity, player names in bold type, don’t pick apart every single post written by Marc Topkin and try not to include pictures of Joe Maddon in a thong. Blah, Blah, Blah. Horseshit. I am so sick of Maddon and his Pollyanna-speak, that the next time he praises a relief pitcher after he blows a 4-run lead in the 7th inning, that picture of him in a thong is going up.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- The Devil Dogs continue their quest to bring back every mediocre catcher in the franchise history. The latest to sign is Josh Paul whom the Rays inked to a minor league deal. Paul played 35 games for the Rays in 2007 posting an OPS+ of 29. Wait…*speaking to copy editor*…29? Is that correct? Isn’t 100 an average OPS+? I did not even know it was possible to have an OPS+ that low…Paul joins Mike DiFelice in the battle for the back up catchers position. No word yet on how negotiations are proceeding with John Flaherty…Is it just me, or is anybody else worried about what happens if Dioner Navarro is injured or slumps like he did in the first half of 2007? [TBO.com]
- The Rays also continued their fascination with pitchers that have not pitched since Tommy John surgery by signing left handed pitcher Brian Anderson. Anderson has not pitched since 2005. A starting pitcher most of his career, Anderson is expected to compete for a spot in the Rays bullpen. As scary as it sounds, if Anderson still has a left arm, he may have the best chance right now of being the Rays left-handed specialist out of the ‘pen. [TampaBay.com]
- Kevin Gengler rolls on with his profiles of the Rays top prospects. He is up to #16 Nick Barnese and #15 Will Kline. [DRays Bay]
- One believes that Akinori Iwamura is the key to the Rays 2008 infield. [365 Days of Dough, Rays and Me]
- The Mets and Johan Santana finally reached an agreement on a contract extension and our own Cork Gaines appears to have been the first to report it on the internet. [MLB Trade Rumors]
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would you do us all a favor…when you decide to post that picture of Maddon in a thong…and you will have to post that picture based on your criteria…can you give us at least a 30-minute heads up so we can be as far away from our computers as possible.
thank you. and welcome aboard.
If you think that Maddon is or talks like a Pollyanna, you are not listening very carefully. His public comments are as specific, precise and attentive to detail as any you will ever hear from a manager. He may not berate players in public-thank goodness-but his evaluations of them and of what the Rays are doing is generally spot on.
I do concede there are times that he focuses more on a player’s strengths than the situation seems to call for, or that he is sometimes overly optimistic about what a player’s talents are. That is pretty much de rigeur for all managers at some point. But if you read him regularly, he is really astonishingly incisive.
I try to read everything Maddon says, and I will admit that he seemed to get better in the second half of the season, after there was growing descent among the masses. but there is still plenty of room for improvement
it is just nice to know that the players are being held accountable.
I think many people underestimate Maddon’s toughness and his clarity of thought. When he was in LA, reporters came to him for analysis of the opposing team because he always offered such clear and accurate insights. So too in TB, the surface may appear all good cheer, but more than most he has substantive things to say.
I sometimes find his rhetoric rather strange. He seems to coin rather peculiar phrases and uses odd imagery. But in-between is a lot of solid information. And there is a pervasively realistic appraisal of what is going on despite the refusal to give in to sarcasm, ranting, accusations and discouragement. To me, that is actually being tough-minded, not Pollyannish. Blowing one’s top is the easy way out; maintaining an even keel in the face of excruciating provocation takes guts.
Please, Maddon is not some person you go to for mangers advise. He finished in Last place two years and only wants 500 this year. He is a big media guy thats it.
” (Maddon) only wants 500 this year.”
This is an outrageously dishonest statement! You are lying.
Thanks for mentioning my blog, Buddy.
It’s going to be a slow week for me – but I’ll have a good one out by Friday.