Mar 23
Last year the Tampa Bay Rays picked up Joe Maddon‘s two-year option. In reality it was a one-year deal as few teams are willing to enter a season with a manager that only has one year left on his contract. In 2008, Papa Joe and the Rays will either take Two Steps forward, earning Maddon an extension…or he will be fired.
I do not want to place a number on how many wins Papa Joe needed in order to earn an extension. Obviously Stuart Sternberg and Andrew Friedman will judge a number of factors before making a decision. Each week I will take a look at how Maddon is performing in each of five categories. While this list is likely not complete, I do believe these are the most important factors in determining whether or not Joe Maddon can be a winning baseball manager.
- Wins: The Rays still boast the best record in spring training. Maddon says he doesn’t put much stock in spring numbers. Still, as Carl Crawford said there is some importance in spring success for a team like the Rays. However, with a starting rotation that includes Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel and with Willy Aybar likely starting at third base and no scheduled return of either Scott Kazmir or Evan Longoria I have to believe that wins are going to be rare early in the season.
- Fundamentals on the field: The offense is starting to slump a little at the wrong time. The Rays OBP has slipped to 5th in the spring at .364 after being at .386 a week ago. The Rays have committed only 18 errors in 21 games. Only 9 teams have fewer errors. Behind the plate, opponents are only 11-18 in steals. Only two teams have allowed fewer stolen bases. The Rays also have the 6th best Defensive Efficiency Rating (.715). In 2007 the Rays had the worst DER in baseball at .669.
- Consistently competetive: N/A
- Avoid prolonged slumps: N/A
- Control the clubhouse: Maddon will have a big task on his hands if/when the team decides to demote Longoria who has been one of the team’s top performers in the spring. Other players will start to question the team’s commitment to winning.
- Summary: Let’s face it. Maddon has a tall task until Kazmir returns and there is no sign that is going to happen anytime soon. And even when he does return, he will be on a strict pitch limit. And that is not the only problem with this roster. The bullpen is no longer one of the worst in history, but is it really any good? I would say average at best. And that is assuming everybody can stay healthy. The Rays need to win this year for Madden to come back and right now, he does not have a roster to win more than 75 games. Will that be enough? A bad start and the needle will drop below 50%
Mar 23
Before Spring Training began one of the biggest concerns the Rays expressed over the potential promotion of Evan Longoria was that he had yet to experience a prolonged slump in the minor leagues. The Rays wanted to see how their top prospect would handle a situation knowing it will eventually happen at the big league level. At the time it seemed like a trivial reason to keep a top prospect in the minors.
If the Rays do indeed demote Longoria to Durham to start the season, many people are going to wonder why. I think I figured out the answer to that question. Or at least I think I figured out why they chose the excuse they will use:
DRays Bay paraphrases Joe Maddon from friday night’s pre-game show.
To paraphrase Joe Maddon on the radio pre-game show: “[Evan] hasn’t been hitting the breaking balls well.”
And here is a quote from our very own Professor on February 25:
If [Longoria's lack of struggles in the minors] is the biggest concern the Rays have with Longoria, then they have no concerns. “He has never slumped” is not a reason to keep somebody in the minors. “He can’t handle curveballs” or “He smokes too much weed” are reasons to keep somebody in the minors. “He is too good” is not.
Did the Rays heed the words of The Professor when discussing how to swing the news of Longoria’s demotion to the press? I guess it is a good thing the Rays didn’t choose option B.
Longoria: Ready? Or Not? [St. Pete Times]
Rays May Keep Evan Longoria In Minors To See Him Struggle [Rays Index]
Mar 23
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: Rained Out
Quotes:
The boys at Rays of Light caught a Buster Olney interview from a radio broadcast in which he touches on the Rays decision concerning Evan Longoria. They are paraphrasing:
Over the past few days, I’ve begun to hear some things that the Rays are feeling some pressure to keep Longoria on the big league roster rather than sending him down. As it relates to his contract and arbitration status, he’s signed with an agent who is considered to be a “do what the player wants” kind of agent, so the Rays are beginning to think that they can sign him long-term without ever having to go to arbitration.
Joe Maddon on the Longoria decision:
“We’re still really looking at that whole thing,” Maddon said, noting that the decision is also likely to be made next week.
Summary: If I would have heard just the second half of the Buster Olney I would probably push the Dirtbag-O-Meter up even higher, but the Rays do not seem like a team that is going to succumb to public pressure. On the other hand, fir the first time, the Rays are going to make a decision that the national media is waiting to scrutinize. So I will give the Dirtbag-O-Meter a bump one spot today and hope there are more telling quotes today or tomorrow.
Mar 23
Tampa Bay Devil Dogs (8 days until opening day)
DRG here again to get you through the weekend…
Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays. Rained out.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Jeremy Guthrie will be the Orioles opening day starter against the Rays on March 31. The O’s are yet to reveal the remaining rotation. [Baltimore Sun]
- Jeff Niemann was not happy about his demotion. Joe Maddon sounds as if a major league debut in the near future is no guarantee for Niemann. [Tampa Tribune]
If he can get a little consistent roll in Triple-A and there’s a need, he could be very interesting.”
- Rays of Light laments the decision to include Jason Hammel in the rotation, and wonders if the decision was based in part of the fear of seeing Hammel become a better pitcher somewhere else. [Rays of Light]
- Joe Maddon hinted that Grant Balfour might have overtaken Scott Dohmann for the final bullpen slot, although he won’t make a decision until the end of the week. [Tampa Bay Rays]
“The location of the pitches have been much better,” Maddon said. “[Balfour's] throwing a strike when he needs to, and he’s been down [in the strike zone], and it’s really nice to see.”
- DRays Bay interviews Keith Law. [DRays Bay]
- Joe Maddon does not see any correlation between success in the spring and the regular season, although Carl Crawford says building a winning atmosphere has to start someplace. [Tampa Tribune]
“I’m just so cognizant of the regular season, how different it is from spring training,” he said. “And then you also have to guard against this sense of ‘We’re so much better because we’ve had a good spring training.’
“It depends on who you ask,” left fielder Carl Crawford said. “If you ask a team on the other side, they might say, ‘It’s just spring training, it don’t mean nothing.’ But a team like us, where we’re trying to build some momentum going into the season, it’s a good thing.
- When the Rays drafted Fernando Perez, they converted him to a switch-hitter. The team wanted him to bunt a lot from the left side to utilize his speed. Perez had other ideas. He refuse to bunt a lot preferring to become a good hitter from both sides of the plate. [Herald-Tribune]
- While the Rays have made significant efforts to reach out to fans in other markets, especially Orlando, little effort has been made in the Gainesville area. The Rays say they are waiting to see if their is demand for the Rays in the area before making an effort, which seems the opposite of other areas. [Gainesville Sun]
