One year ago on Rays Index we were perplexed by the apparent ADD of the Rays’ media coverage and were trying to figure out why Gary Shelton felt it was better to not try and improve a 100-loss ballclub.
Writers That Cover The Devil Rays Have ADD [Rays Index]
One year ago on Rays Index we told you that the Rays had sent a very clear message to Elijah Dukes that his days with the Rays were over, even though they would not trade him for several more months.
Rays Send Message To Elijah Dukes: You Are Not Welcome Back [Rays Index]
Two years ago on Rays Index we told you that Elijah Dukes was contemplating an end to his baseball career after his latest suspension.
More Bad News: Elijah Dukes Suspended Indefinitely [Rays Index]
FIRST INNING
A look back…
After only managing a split of the 4-game set in Kansas City, the Rays managed to take 2 of 3 from a Blue Jays squad that thinks it is still in the playoff hunt…Was this a good road trip or still a bit disappointing?
You have to consider the Rays were only a half-game up when the road trip started, and now they have a 3-game cushion on the Sox. And we have said all along, that if the Rays can play .500 on the road, they should be fine. Still, there is a part of us that feels like the Rays missed an opportunity to be up 4. Winning 2 north of the border is all we could hope for but would have liked to the Rays get the third win in KC. This is the easy part of the schedule for the Rays. They need a nice little cushion when they start playing the Angels and the White Sox and the Yankees and the Red Sox in the end of August and early September…A LITTLE DISAPPOINTING
SECOND INNING
Headlines…
For about 20 minutes yesterday, it looked like the Rays had traded for Jason Bay, acquiring the right-handed bat that many thought the team needed. In the end, the Rays did not make a single move…Should Rays fans be upset?
We must admit, there was a sense of disappointment when we finally heard Jason Bay was going to Boston. But once we heard the package the Pirates received, the pain was eased. There was no way the Rays were going to be able to match that offer without giving up Jeremy Hellickson and Reid Brignac, and that is too big a price for 1.3 seasons of Bay. And while the Rays failed to make a move, the Red Sox did and the Rays are stronger for it. No matter what the numbers say (Bay = Manny), the Red Sox are a weaker team today then they were yesterday. Not only is Bay not Manny, but he doesn’t have the postseason experience. But by far the biggest difference will be the effect on David Ortiz. Big Papi has been feeding on a nice diet of meaty pitches for the past few years and other teams will now be able to pitch around him. Nobody will fear Bay the way teams feared Manny…NOT AT ALL
THIRD INNING
Headlines…
While Jason Bay did ultimately end up on another team, Jeff Niemann and Reid Brignac did not…What does this mean for their future?
This will be an interesting situaton to watch play-out. Niemann would have moved right into the Pirates rotation and Brignac would probably be guaranteed a starting job in the majors in ’09. And yet, both remain with the Rays knowing they were that close to the majors. So do they sulk and allow their game to go in the toilet for the rest of ’08? Or do they see the barrier and raise their game a notch to force the Rays hands to either make a spot or trade one or both this off-season? In the meantime, neither is any closer to regular jobs although there is a good chance we will see both on the roster in September…TIME TO TAKE THEIR GAMES UP A NOTCH
FOURTH INNING
Headlines…
Now that the non-waiver trade deadline has passed…what are the chances the Rays complete any deals in August?
History has shown that many teams are able to make deals in August, after sneaking players through waivers. However, that becomes much more difficult for a team in first place. Any player the Rays may desire can be blocked by a team below them in the standings. That means both the Yankees and Red Sox can claim a player and block a deal for the Rays. This happened in 2000 when the Rays tried to sneak Jose Canseco through waivers, only to have him claimed by the Yankees, for the sole purpose of keeping him off a rival’s roster. Rather than pull Canseco back, the Rays let the Yankees keep him. So don’t look for any trades in August unless it is for a bench player…SLIM
FIFTH INNING
Headlines…
Rocco Baldelli’s rehab assignment ends today in Montgomery and Joe Maddon has said Rocco will not need any more time in the minors…When might we see Rocco in a Rays’ uniform and what does it mean for the roster?
The Rays play the Tigers this weekend and specifically, they face Kenny Rogers, a tough veteran lefty on Saturday. A small part of us wonders if the Rays will activate Rocco for that game to be the DH. That would create quite a dramatic moment in front of a sell-out crowd. It would also mean the end of Jonny Gomes career with the Rays. Gomes would be the player to be removed from the roster and he does not have any minor league options left. If the Rays want to activate Rocco, Gomes will have to be DFA’d and it is almost certain somebody will claim him or Gomes will choose free agency over a trip back to Durham…MAYBE TOMORROW AND BYE BYE GOMES
SIXTH INNING
A look outside the box…
With the Rays magic number for the playoffs closing in on 50 (51 before tonight’s games)…what other series should RAYSHEADS keep their eyes on this weekend?
Angels at the Yankees. The Angels have already taken 6 straight from the Sox in the second-half, now they can help out the Rays again by beating up on the Yankees and putting some more room between the Rays and the Wild Card race. And without looking too far ahead, we would love to see the Angels clinch a playoff spot in early September and coast to the finish line. Maybe they will have a little trouble revving the engine in October…ANGELS AT YANKEES
SEVENTH INNING
Over/Unders…
15-game winners for the Rays this season: 0.5
Amazingly, with all the geat pitching the Rays have experienced this season, they still only have one 10-game winner and that is from the 5th best pitcher in the rotation. All of the starters have about 12 starts left before the season ends. Andy Sonnanstine (10), James Shields (9), Matt Garza (9) and Scott Kazmir (8) all have an outside shot, but none are a lock. We have to think at least one of these guys will be strong down the stretch and win 6-7 games. Which one will it be? Could be any one of them…OVER
Runs against the Tigers this weekend: 10
The Rays are averaging 3.2 runs per game since the All-Star break and 2.7 in their last 20 games. But we have seen signs of life. Carl Crawford is starting to hit triples with regularity and Carlos Pena is hitting home runs in the second half at a rate similar to last season. Still, the team is struggling mightily with runners in scoring position. Eventuallt those hits will start to fall. We fully expect to see at least one game this weekend in which the offense opens up and scores at least 9 runs…OVER
Wins versus the Tigers at the Trop this weekend: 1.5
Andy Sonnanstine versus Kenny Rogers on Saturday looks like a loss to us. But the Rays do have James Shields and Scott Kazmir in the other two games. Shields usually bounces back from losses strong but Kid K is always a mystery. He will pitch well, but will he give the Rays 5 innings or 7?. We have a good feeling about this series…OVER
EIGHTH INNING
On deck…
Which of the 3 games this weekend versus the Tigers should RAYSHEADS pay the most attention?
On Saturday night Andy Sonnanstine goes up against the veteran Kenny Rogers. This game is huge for the Rays on many levels. First, the Rays will be facing a lefty for the first-time since the trade deadline, and it is no secret the Rays struggle against lefties. This will be the first test to show whether Andrew Friedman and Co. were justified in not acquiring a right-handed bat. With the lefty on the mound, this could also be the ’08 debut for the Rays’ Prodigal Son, Rocco Baldelli. This game will also mark the beginning of the David Price-watch. It has become clear Edwin Jackson’s spot in the rotation is safe. If and when Price is called up and if he is used as a starter, it will be Sonny that is the starting pitcher without a chair when the music stops. By our count, Sonny has about a handful of starts to prove he belongs in the rotation. Finally Saturday night is a sellout and it should be a playoff atmosphere. It will be fun to see how the team reacts to the crowd in an underdog pitching matchup…SATURDAY
NINTH INNING
Putting out the fire…
Many are saying the Rays were “losers” at the trade deadline, having missed an opportunity to improve the team and accusing the Rays of being too stingy with their prospects…Are they right?
If the Rays had turned down a deal that was reasonable then we would tend to agree, but all indications were the Pirates demanded Wade Davis and that is just too big a price for 1.3 years of Jason Bay. So when people like Jayson Stark say the Rays are “losers” they are basically saying they would have been winners if they had given up Davis and Brignac for Bay. In what universe is that reasonable? Many would have called the Rays losers for getting ripped-off…NO
The Rays just signed Heath Phillips, who was the pitcher that hit Evan Longoria back in Spring Training and was ejected in the same game which later featured Shelley Duncan sliding hard into Aki Iwamura starting a brawl…Got a problem with the signing?
No. Phillips handled the situation the proper way. We thought the original collision was fair, but the Yankees did not. When Phillips hit Longoria, the Yankees made their point. It should have ended there. We never had a problem with that pitch…NO
A pizzeria in Colorado is offering free pizzas if the Rays win the World Series…Are you really going to fly to Colorado to collect if the Rays win it all?
HELL YES
C’mon, you guys knew this was coming eventually…There is a general sense amongst some of our readers that all we do is bash the Rays media coverage. The truth is we actually admire most of the working media and respect most of their work. We just get a sense that the Rays media coverage can at times be lazy. Just because the Rays were a second-class team for many years doesn’t mean we as fans deserved second-class coverage. So while our frustration can manifest itself at times on this site, we want to know what you guys think of various members of the Rays media coverage. Next up…Tampa Tribune beat writer Marc Lancaster…
Marc Lancaster gets a demerit right off the bat for being a University of Georgia graduate, but we will try to look past that. Before coming to the Tampa Tribune Lancaster covered the Reds for the Cincinnati Enquirer and as far as we can tell, he was one of the first baseball beat writers to start blogging on a newspaper’s website.
For the last three years he has covered the Rays for the Tampa Tribune and spends a lot of time blogging on the paper’s website under the title of “Rays Report“.
We have on occasion, been hard on Lancaster…ok, very hard, and yet we never take the time to praise Marc. We do like 87.3% of his work. But he seems to disappear when we need him most. While we were updating this site yesterday 21 times with trade rumors and reports, we got one update from Lancaster that was based on a report from the day before. Lancaster is the beat writer for the Rays with a blog that is supposed to be utilized to provide information in a more timely manner than the morning paper. And yet, with all the buzz surrounding the Rays yesterday, Lancaster was noticiably absent.
So: Do you like Marc Lancaster? And let’s hear your reasons in the comments…
If the Tampa Bay Rays win the World Series this year, everybody gets a free pizza. But there is a catch…You have to go to Lakewood, Colorado.
A pizzeria in a Denver suburb is offering free pizza to anybody that wants one, if the Rays win the World Series this season. Seem like a long-shot? Well, John Keiley has offered free pizzas based on sporting results twice in the past and both times he had to pay up.
He made his first such deal in June 2007, offering free pizza in the unlikely event his hometown Rockies swept the Yankees.
They did, and Keiley gave away 2,500 pizzas — at a cost of about $12,000.
As football season kicked off, he figured he would do it again: Free pizza if any NFL team went 16-0. The New England Patriots did. So on a Sunday in January, Keiley gave away about 1,500 pizzas.
In response to this unusual declaration of support for our beloved Rays, we are hereby declaring…If the Tampa Bay Rays win the World Series this year, we will fly to Colorado and gladly collect our free pizza.
Rays win Series? Pizza for all [St. Pete Times]
THE BAD: We have to admit, that for about 20 minutes yesterday (as this site turned into a Live Blog-A-Baloo for the trade deadline), when we heard that the deal to send Jason Bay to the Rays was going to happen, we got a little excited. The package seemed fair, and maybe even a bit of a steal, and we started envisioning a lineup in which Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria are forced to hit 5th and 6th in the order. We were down-right giddy…The future of Jeff Niemann and Reid Brignac. Both could have gone to the Pirates and had a chance to be regulars on that ballclub. Now they are still stuck in triple-A.
THE TELLING: Several outlets are already declaring the Rays “losers” at the trade deadline. On the one hand we understand the perception that the Rays missed an opportunity to improve the club. Of course, these are the same people that still feel the Rays are behind the Sox and Yankees in the standings. We could understand saying the Rays were “losers” if they had turned down an offer. But seeing the package the Pirates received for Jason Bay, it is clear that the Rays would have never been able to match that deal. And remember the Rays are still going to be adding pieces to the mix. It is just those pieces will come from the farm system.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
Buffalo 12, Durham 2. Heath Phillips made his first start since being signed by the Rays. He was pulled after 2.2 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits and 4 walks…Chris Richard was 2-3 with a double and his 20th home run.
Montgomery 9, Huntsville 8. Mike Prochaska gave up 7 runs in 6.2 innings, but only 2 were earned…Rashad Eldridge finished 3-4 with a double, a walk and 2 RBI. He raised his average to .306.
Daytona 7, Vero Beach 2. Ryan Royster drove in 2 with a triple.
Columbus 6, Augusta 5 (11). After giving up 4 runs in the top of the 11th, the Catfish rallied for 5 runs in the bottom half of the inning. The last 3 runs came off a walk-off home run from Greg Sexton. Mike McCormick also homered in the 11th to lead off the inning…Alex Cobb started and struck out 9 in 5.2 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 run…
Princeton 10, Johnson City 6. Tim Beckham played for the first time in 4 games and had the best game of his young career going 4-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. He did commit his 7th error on a throw, but did contribute to 2 double-plays.
NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…
