Archive for June 6th, 2008

Jun 06

[SHOWER-SHOE FUNGUS] Playing A Little Pepper: Texas Rangers

Pepper Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

FIRST INNING…
The Rays just lost 3 in a row to the Red Sox and dropped out of first place for the first time since May 24th…Should Rays fans be worried?

Not at all. The Red Sox are a more talented team. They have a solid core of veterans with a winning track record and they have plenty of post-season experience. The Rays do not. Even with the Rays strong start, winning the division is a longshot at best. The Rays best hopes for the playoffs lie in the Wild Card race and in those standings the Rays the Rays still have a 2 game lead and the closest competitors are the A’s (will fall off pace) with the Twins and the Jays sitting 4 back. The Jays and the Yankees (5 games behind) appear to be the biggest threats and the Rays are still in the driver’s seat for now…NO

SECOND INNING…
Gary Shelton said of hitting Coco Crisp… “…in the second inning of a game this size? How smart is that? Why not wait until the eighth inning of a game that has already been decided? Why not wait until the next time the teams played? What not drive Coco cuckoo from the waiting for revenge to be served cold?“…Is he right?

Yes and no. This was our initial reaction. In fact we predicted that this would go down later in the game. But in hindsight, we have no problem with the way that Joe Maddon and James Shields went about it. A message needed to be sent and there was no way to predict how the game was going to look in the 7th or 8th inning. Our other thought was, and we have read this same sentiment in several locales, we were surprised that Crisp charged the mound. Maybe yell a little bit. Maybe take a few steps. But he had to know it was coming. In fact, he practically begged for it after Wednesday’s game while talking to reporters. We said it during the Live Blog. Coco Crisp won that game. But sometimes the bigger picture is more important than one game. Besides, the reason the Rays lost the games last night was not because Shields got ejected, but because Maddon chose to pitch to Manny Ramirez in the first inning with first base open…We don’t have a problem with the timing.

THIRD INNING…
Yesterday the Rays selected Tim Beckham, a high school shortstop with the first pick of the amateur draft…Did they make the right move?

How the hell do we know? It is not like we have actually ever seen this kid play. We have seen highlights of the other choice, Buster Posey and he certainly looked impressive. However, everything we have read says that the upside on Beckham is higher and even though he is only 18, he is not that far away from being ready for the big leagues. This is the way the Rays have gotten to be a contending team, and we are glad that they didn’t deviate from the model just because there are no legit catching prospects in the minors. We hear all about the plethora of pitching prospects. Why not trade one of those for a catcher?…YES

FOURTH INNING…
Do you believe Andrew Friedman when he says the decision to draft Beckham had nothing to do with signing demands of Buster Posey?

We do believe that the Rays got the player they wanted and we do believe that the demands by Posey for $12 million had something to do with it. There were reports that the Rays brass was split between Beckham and Posey. The scouts preferred Beckham. The front office preferred Posey. If there were eyes that looked at both players and saw a future major league all-star and one was demanding a heck of a lot more money, why not pick the cheaper one? Sounds like good business sense to us. Last year David Price got $8.5 million guaranteed with the chance to earn another $3 million. There is no way Posey was worth $12 million. He might only be worth half that. It looks like the Rays wanted both players and took the cheaper option…NO

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING…FIFTH INNING…
In the most recent confidence graph results, Rays fans gave the ’08 Rays a 7.9 and the future of the franchise a 9.3. Are these a little high?

Personally we would have gone 8 and 8. They will be in playoff contention all season, or at least they will be playing meaningful games in September, and that is all that matters. As far as the future of the franchise goes…The Rays are still a small-market team, and until the stadium issue gets resolved, there is still room to worry…JUST A TAD

SIXTH INNING…
Matt Garza was awful in his last outing and gave up 7 runs and was pulled in the 6th inning. Should Rays fans be worried?

Matt Garza is what he is. On some nights he is going to look like the second coming of John Smoltz and on other nights, he is going to look like Victor Zambrano. And we never seem to see anything in between. The part that scares us is we don’t know if a team can truly contend with this level of inconsistency from their 3rd starter. The good thing is The Garza Complex is now with a franchise that will be patient and let him grow as a pitcher. He will get better and more consistent. It just might not happen until 2009…A LITTLE BIT

SEVENTH INNING (OVER/UNDERS)…
9 wins for Scott Kazmir by the All-Star break.

He is 5-1 now and nearly unhittable and he looks to have 6 or 7 more starts before the break. He is on an absolute roll right now and despite the tough roadtrip, Kazmir should have at least a couple of easy wins in the next month, including the Pirates, the Royals and a couple of starts against the Marlins who may be playing well, but let’s see that young lineup handle a pitcher like Kazmir…OVER

5-game suspension for James Shields; 5 games for Jonny Gomes and 3 games for Carl Crawford.

The rule of thumb with starting pitchers is make sure they miss at least one start. However, the trend in recent years seems to be, give the player an extra game in anticipation of an appeal and then knock 1 game off then. So look for a 6-gamer for Shields…Gomes might be in trouble. This is his second incident of the year and even though he was in the lineup, he did come from the bench and that will be frowned upon. Crawford is probably in a bit of trouble also since this had little or nothing to do with him…OVER FOR ALL 3 BUT LOOK FOR APPEALS TO BRING SHIELDS’ AND CRAWFORD’S DOWN TO THESE NUMBERS

1.5 Wins against the Rangers in this weekend set.

The Rangers have their Ace, Vincent Padilla going tonight against Scott Kazmir, but the Rays will avoid Sidney Ponson and Kevin Millwood. Kazmir has been unbeatable so far this season and until we see something different we have to expect more of the same. And with decent matchups the next two days and what we have to expect is a fired-up clubhouse, the Rays should get back on the winning track this weekend…OVER

EIGHTH INNING…
After dropping out of first place in the East, the Rays now move on to the Rangers and then the Angels. How important is this series for the Rays’ season?

This series is immensely important. We will be worried if the Rays lose 2 of 3, but we will be down-right scared if they get swept. If that happened, we could easily see the Rays fall into a free-fall that will get blamed on game 3 of the Red Sox series and the brawl. The Rays HAVE to win a game in this series and we will feel a lot better if they win 2.

NINTH INNING (PUTTING OUT THE FIRE)…
Even though Kazmir missed the first month of the season, is he a legitimate contender for the Cy Young award?

AL Pitcher of the Month in the only month he has pitched…YES

The Boston Globe said this week that the Rays are the team that other GMs will be jealous of for the next 10 years…Are they right?

What’s not to love? One of the best records in baseball. The best farm system in baseball and they just added Tim Beckham…YES

Bugs & Cranks has a power poll in which the Rays are ranked #1 for the second straight week…Was this justified?

After the Red Sox series? More like 4-6…NO

Raymond was #4 on Maxim’s list of “5 MLB Mascots That Deserve a Groin-Punching” Is this deserved?

Does Raymond even have a groin?

Jun 06

[RULE 4 DRAFT] Recapping The First Day Of The Draft

Andrew Friedman, Buster Posey, David Price, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, Jason Christian, Reid Brignac, Tim Beckham Cork Gaines 11 Comments »

THE GOOD: The consensus seem to be that the Rays took the player with the best chance to be a superstar in the big leagues, in Tim Beckham.

THE BAD: Can somebody please explain to us why Tim Beckham was wearing an old Devil Rays’ cap after he was drafted? And apparently Mr. Beckham needs to work on his telephone interview skills.

THE TELLING: While people differ on what kind of bat Tim Beckham has, most seem to agree that he is already at or near major league caliber defensively.

The question then becomes: How does this selection affect the future of Reid Brignac? There were already questions over his future with the gold clove-caliber defense of Jason Bartlett now manning the shortstop position for the Rays at the big league level. Bartlett, who will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this off-season, is still under the Rays control for the next three seasons. While Brignac certainly is better offensively, there are concerns over inserting him next season considering much of the Rays emergence is due to the improved defense and the chemistry between Bartlett and Aki Iwamura.

Beckham is expected to move quickly through the minors, even as a high school draftee. It is not out of the realm of possibilities that he will be ready for the big leagues by the end of 2010. It seems more than likely that the Rays will stick with Bartlett for the next 2+ seasons until Beckham is ready to make the jump.

So then the next question is: What happens to Reid Brignac? Brignac who is now considered an above-average defensive shortstop may have to move to a new position (right field?) if he is to make his break with the Rays. Otherwise, Brignac’s future may lie with another organization.

DRAFT WEBTOPIA…

  • Baseball America says that when push came to shove, the Rays drafted the player with the best ability. [Baseball America]
  • Minor League Ball says that the Rays 5th round pick, Jason Christian Michael Sheriden, a college first baseman, could be a sleeper. [Minor League Ball]
  • Andrew Friedman commented on reports that the Rays steered away from Buster Posey because of his pre-draft demands for a $12 million guaranteed contract. [Rays Report]

“That had zero factor in our decision,” he said. “We’re confident that whoever we would have taken, with the size of the check we were going to go to the table with that we’d be able to sign whoever we took. Look, everyone makes different demands leading up to the draft – even second-rounders, third-rounders. We trust our process and our ability to get players signed and the relationships that our area [scouts] have made with the players. It had zero factor for us.”

  • The Rays hope to sign Beckham quickly. Marc Lancaster speculates it will take longer than the agreement reached with Evan Longoria but shouldn’t take nearly as long as the deal with David Price which went right down to the August 15th deadline. Lancaster notes that the Rays will move more quickly with Beckham not being a pitcher as innings thrown is not a concern. Last year, the Rays did not want to add any more innings to Price’s arm after his college season. [Rays Report]
  • Marc Topkin has reactions from the Rays and from Tim Beckham. [St. Pete Times]
  • Today the Rays drafted Tim Beckham’s older brother, Jeremy Beckham, a second baseman from Georgia Southern University. [Rays Report]
Jun 06

[JAMES SHIELDS] James Shields’ Arm Only Knows One Motion

Coco Crisp Is CooCoo, James Shields Cork Gaines 4 Comments »


(click on image for a larger version)

By now everybody has seen the image on the left (above). We knew there was something familiar about it, and now we know. James Shields threw a pitch at Coco Crisps leg and then when Crisp charged the mound, Shields threw another “pitch” at Crisp’s head. Luckily for Crisp, it was either a change up or his head wasn’t in the strike zone.

Jun 06

[THE ARCHIVES] Two Years Ago On Rays Index

The Archives Cork Gaines No Comments »

Two years ago on Rays Index we told you that most of the “experts” were projecting the Rays to select pitcher Brad Lincoln, with the 3rd overall pick. Lincoln ended up going to the Pirates with the next pick. Lincoln is still in low-A and is 3-2 with a 3.80 ERA in 8 career starts. The Rays drafted some kid named Evan Longoria. We hear he is doing pretty good.

Draft Day 2006 [Rays Index]

Jun 06

[THE ARCHIVES] One Year Ago On Rays Index

The Archives Cork Gaines No Comments »

One year ago on Rays Index we took exception to some writers suggesting that a change of scenery would be good for Elijah Dukes. We took a closer look at Duke’s troubled past and wondered why it would be any different if he were not playing for his hometown team.

Playing For The Rays Is Not Why Elijah Dukes Is A Mischievous Little Badger [Rays Index]

Jun 06

[TWITTER ME THIS] Follow The Rays And Rays Index On Twitter

Twitter Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

Rays Index is now on Twitter.

If you are not familiar with Twitter, it is a social networking device that allows people to stay in touch more frequently with quick little posts (usually 1-3 sentences).

[From Twitter.com] Twitter is for staying in touch and keeping up with friends no matter where you are or what you’re doing. For some friends you might want instant mobile updates—for others, you can just check the web. Invite your friends to Twitter and decide how connected you want you to be.

Here is how it will work on Rays Index…

Rays Index on Twitter will be the “Devil Rays Webtopia” in real-time: You know the “Devil Rays Webtopia” feature that you guys love so much? The beauty of that feature is that it takes a bunch of random Rays happenings, or other writer’s thoughts on the Rays and gives you a nice little summary in the morning after it all happens. Many of you would like to see that information in a little more real-time. Twitter will give us an opportunity to let you guys know what is going on when we find out about it, rather than waiting until the morning. At the same time, we don’t have to clutter this site with 25 posts a day with things like “Gary Glover crapped in his pants during a bullpen session”…OK, that might have been a bad example. That would definitely get it’s own post.

Nothing will change about the “Webtopia” feature or this site: The Twitter feed will not have the relevant links. Those will still show up during “The Hangover” in the Webtopia section. Also, not all of the Webtopia links will be included in the Twitter feed and we may include some items in the Twitter Feed that don’t make the cut in “The Hangover”.

There are several ways to follow Rays Index on Twitter: In addition to just checking the Rays Index Twitter Page, we will be including a mini-feed of our Twitter posts in the sidebar to the right. However, the easiest way to follow the Twitter feed is to subscribe to the RSS FEED for those of you that are into that sorta thing. And quite frankly, if you are not, what are you waiting for?

We hope you will enjoy this new feature. And as always, if there is something you would love to see on Rays Index please don’t hesitate to ask. You can even leave an anonymous comment if you so choose.

Jun 06

[THE HANGOVER] Rays Pay Price For Playing Game The Right Way

Coco Crisp Is CooCoo, James Shields, Joe Maddon, Manny Ramirez Cork Gaines 8 Comments »



THE GOOD: Playing the game the right way. The Rays did everything right in the last two games. Coocoo Crisp did everything wrong. If Crisp walks to first base the situation is over.

THE BAD: Giving Coocoo Crisp an opportunity to win the game by getting James Shields ejected in the second inning. We really thought Crisp had something coming but we assumed it would wait until later in the game to find a less meaningful moment or a time when losing Shields would mean less. Still, there was little reason to expect CooCoo to charge the mound. And we can’t fault Shields for sticking up for his teammates. Shields had to throw at CooCoo for the bushleague slide on Wednesday and Shields handled the situation perfectly. The ball was at CooCoo’s leg. Not his head. If that pitch cost the Rays one win for the sake of playing the game the right way and for a little extra team unity, we are all for it…The umpires letting Jon Lester get away with several inside pitches and never even issuing a warning. At least one of those pitches was intentional…Pitching to Manny Ramirez in the first inning with 1 out, first base open and Mike Lowell on deck. The worst-case scenario if Joe Maddon walks ManRam is a 2-run wall-ball double. The best-case scenario is a double-play waiting to happen. Instead, Papa Joe chose to pitch to Manny Being Manny and Manny Was Manny, hitting a 3-run home run.

THE TELLING: The Rays have a 2 game lead over Oakland and a 4 games lead over Toronto and Minnesota in the wild card race.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • The best news we heard all day yesterday? The Bucs original “Bucco Bruce” helmet was named the “2nd Coolest Helmet in History”. [Shutdown Corner]
  • Don’t forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven’t voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
  • Bugs and Cranks has their weekly power rankings up and the Rays are #1 again…These posts say they are written by the “B&C Staff” but we have a funny feeling that Chalk is stuffing the ballot box. [Bugs and Cranks]
  • Joe Maddon met with his hitters before last night’s game and emphasized the need to cut down on the strikeouts. After striking out 19 times in the first two games of the series, the Rays struck out 9 times last night. [MLB]
Jun 06

[DOWN ON THE FARM] Hellickson And Niemann With Strong Outings

Uncategorized Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

Durham 3, Richmond 0. Jeff Niemann rebounded from his last start in which he was pounded to throw 6 shutout innings while striking out 10. He walked none…Reid Brignac was 2-3 with 2 RBI, including his 23rd double and he now has 33 RBI.

Birmingham 3, Montgomery 1.

Vero Beach 5, Sarasota 1. Jeremy Hellickson pitched 5 perfect innings with 7 strikeouts. No word yet why he was pulled after 5 innings. No word yet why he was pulled from the game.

Savannah 5, Columbus 0.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

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