Archive for March 11th, 2008

Mar 11

[HAPPY HOUR] New Stadium Should Have Plenty Of Parking

Ben Zobrist, Jake McGee, Jeff Niemann, Kenny Lofton, New Stadium, Reid Brignac, Wade Davis Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (20 days until Opening Day)

Links are coming in fast and furious today, so let’s throw a few more out for your Happy Hour amusement…

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • A consultant for the Rays notes that 14,000 off-street parking spots would be available during Rays home games at their proposed stadium, while sellout crowd would only require 11,950. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Jayson Stark of ESPN.com is reporting that the Rays have expressed interest in acquiring Kenny Lofton. According to R.J. Anderson of DRays Bay this is not the first time the Rays have flirted with the veteran outfielder. [DRays Bay]
  • Bill Chastain explores the different possibilities to replace Ben Zobrist on the opening day roster, including Reid Brignac who would be happy to play a backup role for a few weeks. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“Absolutely,” Brignac said. “If that’s what it comes down to, I’ll be very ready for whatever option comes up. I want to play every day. But if they need me to be a utility guy for a couple of weeks, I’d be more than happy to help them out, get my at-bats here and there, be a back up at second and short.”

  • Outs Per Swing is playing catch-up on their “40 Rays 40 Days” feature, throwing a bunch out today tomorrow. Our favorite is Jeff Niemann. Our love for Niemann is thinly veiled on this site. We just feel, that Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel are known commodities and they are not going to help the Rays over the top. Niemann at least has the possibility to be very good or even great and he has enough minor league innings under his belt that we feel he is ready. [Outs Per Swing]
  • Marc Lancaster takes a look at the parallel careers of Jake McGee and Wade Davis. [Tampa Tribune]
  • The Rays submitted a preliminary project design for their proposed stadium to St. Pete officials. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“This preliminary design consideration document illustrates how the Rays’ new ballpark will respect and enhance the rich history of baseball on the Al Lang site and its dynamic downtown waterfront location; we expect this project will mean as much to downtown St. Petersburg as most of our other projects have meant to their communities,” said Joe Spear, founding senior principal of HOK Sport, in a release by the Rays.

  • FoxSports.com handicaps the rookie of the year races. [FoxSports.com]
Mar 11

[POWER RANKINGS] The Tampa Bay Rays Power Rankings

Rays Power Rankings Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

It’s Tuesday so it is time to update the Tampa Bay Rays Power Rankings. These rankings are a combination of overall importance to the team and a general “who’s hot and who’s not”, mixed with how we currently feel about and perceive each member of the team. It is by far, the least scientific thing we do on this site…

Mar 11

[JORGE CANTU] Separated At Birth?

Jorge Cantu, Luke Skywalker, Separated at Birth? Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

We are going to keep doing this until we run out of ideas so bear with us. This week we are going old school…

Former Devil Ray Jorge Cantu and………………..Luke Skywalker
Mar 11

[ELLIOT JOHNSON] The Elliot Johnson Collision: Rays Index Talks With My Baseball Bias

Carl Crawford, Elliot Johnson, Joe Girardi, My Baseball Bias Cork Gaines 4 Comments »

Yesterday we participated in a little back-and-forth with My Baseball Bias, a Yankees blog, about the Elliot Johnson/Francisco Cervelli collision from the past weekend.

You can read the entire exchange HERE. We have included a few snippets below…

MBB: …Young guys are out there playing hard trying to make an impression which I’m all for. But does running over a catcher late in a spring training game constitute a “nice hard-ball play” as Joe Maddon called it, or sheer stupidity? The game was an exhibition where the standings are meaningless. If the Rays goal is to win the Grapefruit League, then yes, I can understand it. But with Johnson’s collision coming only days after Carl Crawford ran over Houston catcher Humberto Quintero, you would think that Maddon would have at least reminded his players that these games don’t really count and to use caution. Instead, Maddon seems to be telling his team – bully the bully, take-no-prisoners and worry what happens later. If that’s his philosophy, I think it could lead to unforeseen consequences, especially if the Rays don’t live up to the hype that’s being placed upon them in ‘08…

RI:Let me remind everybody…this was not a “dirty” play. This was not an illegal play. Yankees fans are upset because a player was playing hard. On the surface…do you know how silly that sounds? I know you are upset a guy got hurt, but geez…all he did was make a normal everyday baseball play. He was playing hard. Nobody threw a pitch at somebody’s head. Nobody slide into second with spikes raised. It was a clean play…

For a team that does not have the birthright to buy an all-star for every position, winning takes a little more than just filling out a lineup card. It is a mentality. To steal the words from my co-writer, DRG, If the Rays are going to compete in the AL East against teams that think the playoffs are just handed to them on a silver platter their attitude needs to change, The Rays could put their collective tails between their legs and accept losing or they can stand up to the bullies. With some drunk in the right field bleachers screaming “Get him a body bag, yeaaahhh!”, Daniel LaRusso just punched the Cobra Kai in the nose, and it sure sounds like the Cobra Kai would rather cry about it than fight back.

MBB: I like the fact that Maddon is trying to instill a new “mentality” in the Rays after losing the clubhouse a bit last year when he had trouble controlling the now departed Delmon Young and hoodlum Elijah Dukes. He has an obligation to get his team to believe in themselves and compete hard everyday. I just think telling your players it’s okay to run over an opposing team’s catcher is careless, especially when the end game doesn’t mean much in the spring. All you do is risk injury to both players and for a young and promising team like the Rays, I’m surprised Maddon is advocating it.

—————

To add one thought that was not included in the exchange, let us say that from a philosophical point-of-view, we wouldn’t advocate running over catchers in spring training, but we also don’t see it as a dirty play. When we first heard that Crawford had run over an Astros’ catcher our first reaction was, “what is he thinking? We can’t afford to have CC get hurt in the spring”. Obviously this was less of a concern with Johnson as he does not figure into the Rays immediate plans. So maybe we are being hypocritical. We are OK with that.

The Cervelli/Johnson Incident: Rays Index talks with My Baseball Bias [My Baseball Bias]

Mar 11

[EVAN LONGORIA] Dirtbag-O-Meter: 20 Days Until Opening Day

Dirtbag-O-Meter, Evan Longoria, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 9 Comments »

We call him The Dirtbag because of how he plays and because he played college ball at Long Beach State whose baseball team has the coolest mascot in sports…The Dirtbags.

The biggest question mark for the Tampa Bay Rays in Spring Training is whether or not Evan Longoria will be named the opening day third baseman. Manager Joe Maddon has repeatedly stated that the decision will be based less on his stats, and more on how the 22-year old handles himself on a day-to-day basis and how well The Dirtbag adjusts to everyday life as a major leaguer. From now until the Rays announce a decision on Longoria’s fate, we will track The Dirtbag’s progress through his numbers, our own observations and quotes from Maddon and Andrew Friedman…

Notes on the Dirtbag-O-Meter…

Yesterday at the plate: Longoria started at third going 2-5 with an RBI. Longoria flied out to center in the first and to left in the third. In the sixth, Longoria hit a two-out groundball single to the opposite field. He hit another opposite field groundball single in the next inning. He later stole second. In the ninth he grounded out to shortstop. In the field, Longoria handled his only chance, a pop up.

Quotes: none reported

Summary: (As per yesterday’s comments, Thanks Robert) Joe Maddon expressed some concerns about some of The Dirtbag’s at bats, noting that at times he has looked ‘not so good’. This is the first time that Maddon has made statements about Longoria’s readiness for the major leagues and opens the door to start the season in Durham. On the other hand Longoria added two more hits yesterday and is 6-16 (.375) with 4 walks (.500 OBP) and has yet to make an error at third. Willy Aybar is 4-17 (.235) with 4 walks (.391 OBP) with 1 error. After logging 9 innings yesterday, Longoria has actually seen more PT at third (32 inn) compared to Aybar (29 inn.)…We have no doubt that Longoria has looked bad a few times this spring, but what batter doesn’t have a few bad at bats in the spring? He is still hitting .375 and has been on base half the time. If that was not the case, Maddon’s comments alone might bring the Meter down to 20-30%. Can the team really ignore how well Longoria is playing? It is starting to look that way.

Mar 11

[THE HANGOVER] Jason Hammel Makes Strong Case For Jeff Niemann

Andrew Friedman, Ben Zobrist, Elliot Johnson, Fernando Perez, Jake McGee, Jason Hammel, Joe Maddon, John Jaso, Lou Piniella, Mike Scioscia, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Kazmir, Shelly Duncan, Wade Davis Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (20 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Indians 12, Tampa Bay Rays 10. Jason Hammel did not help himself in an effort to make the Rays roster giving up 9 runs in 3+ innings. At one point after giving up 2 runs in the first inning Hammel retired seven straight before unraveling in the fourth giving up six hits and a walk in the inning. Wade Davis and Jake McGee both pitched a scoreless inning in their final spring appearances. BJ Upton had a sac fly and a 2-run home run. Reid Brignac saw action at short, going 0-2 with a walk. Evan Longoria started at third and went 2-5 with an RBI. Shawn Riggans was the starting catcher and Eric Hinske started in right seeking to be the Rays 4th outfielder.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • If you haven’t had a chance to vote in this week’s “Rays Confidence Survey”, you can do so right HERE. [Rays Index]
  • Ben Zobrist had his hot spring come to a screeching halt yesterday. Zobrist broke the tip of his thumb sliding into second base. He will miss four weeks. His absence opens the door for Andy Cannizaro to make the squad as Joe Maddon will need a backup shortstop. Then again, Joel Guzman could fill the backup role for a week or two. Look to see who gets more reps at short in the next couple of days. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  • Andrew Friedman spoke yesterday about Rocco Baldelli reiterating that Rocco needs to get on the field soon with only 18 days left in Spring Training. Marc Topkin speculates on possible replacements if Rocco can’t go. including James Lofton, Barry Bonds and several in-house candidates. [St. Pete Times]

“I think the only way all of us, including Rocco, can get a good feel for that is if we can get him on the field and see how he does and how he feels and kind of get him back into a fairly regular routine of playing,” Friedman said.

  • Scott Kazmir is hoping to make his spring debut on Sunday. When asked about starting on opening day, he was less forceful than he was in the past acknowledging the need to not rush things. [Rays Report]
  • The Rays made their first round of cuts yesterday. No surprise names, although the list includes some of the Rays biggest prospects including Jake McGee, Wade Davis, John Jaso and Fernando Perez. A couple of weeks ago, we wondered if Perez might see time in right field during the season for the Rays. An exit this early from camp suggests that this is not likely. [The Heater]
  • Joe Maddon maintains his original stance on the Elliot Johnson collision from this past Saturday, that it was a fair, hard-nosed play. He refuses to make any further comments stating that he believes the entire situation was overblown. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  • Both Lou Piniella and Mike Scioscia (a former catcher) backed the Rays and elliot Johnson saying that it was just a good clean hard play. Piniella questioned how somebody can ask a young player not to play hard. Scioscia noted that injuries are more likely if you ask players to curb the intensity. [The Heater]
  • Shelly Duncan chimed in on the collision and warned that “They showed what is acceptable to them and how they’re going to play the game, so we’re going to go out there to match their intensity – or even exceed it.” When Duncan says “we”, we assume he is referring to the Yankees that will actually be playing. Mr. Duncan, please meet Kevin Maas and Shane Spencer. Your 15 minutes is about up. [Fanhouse]
  • Former Rays’ prospect Jason Pridie was interviewed on MLB on XM Radio and among the topics he covered was his former teammate Evan Longoria. [MLB on XM]

I haven’t seen too many people who can just make solid contact and are just pure hitters like him. And a lot of people focus on his bat but I think people are going to be surprised when they see him out on the field because I’ve seen him make some plays that you just couldn’t believe, you know, those top ‘Web Gem’ plays.

  • The Herald-Tribune gives a play-by-play of the goings-on in the locker room. [Herald-Tribune]
  • Bleacher Report tells their readers why teams should fear the Rays in 2008, in one of the better and more complete Rays previews we have read. [Bleacher Report]