Archive for September 13th, 2008

Sep 13

[HAPPY HOUR] Rays’ Magic Number Now Single Digits

Magic Number, Rays are magiliscious Cork Gaines No Comments »

The New York Roadkills didn’t even show up this afternoon and with the Rays’ win, coupled with the Red Sox loss to the Jays, the magic number is now 14 to win the division…More importantly, the magic number to clinch at least a wild card is…

And both the Rays and the Sox still have one to play tonight and the Twins are in progress with a second game later. The number could be as little as 6 by the end of the night.

Sep 13

[THE HANGOVER] Evan Longoria To Return To Lineup Today

BJ Upton, David Price, Evan Longoria, Jeff Niemann, Joe Maddon, Joel Guzman, Jonny Gomes, Mitch Talbot, The Trop, Troy Percival Cork Gaines 23 Comments »



Last night’s contest was rained out. The Rays and Yankees will play a day-night double-header with the first going at the originally scheduled 1:05 and the night-cap will be at 7:05…Boston beat the Jays last night 7-0, and will also play a double-header today…The Twins were rained out in Baltimore so the magic number remains 10.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • DRays Bay doesn’t understand why all 29 Major League GMs, who are actually, you know, paid to make such decisions, passed on the opportunity to add a guy to their roster who had 103 strikeouts and only 19 walks in triple-A. A player that will be out of minor league options in ’09. A player that has a career minor league OBP of .311. A player, who despite all of his “power potential” has only hit 20 home runs once in 7 minor league seasons…And when we *tried* to have an intelligent discussion on the matter in their comments section, the only responses were vile attacks on our website and on us personally. Having a conversation with them is like a Martian talking to a fungo. [Drays Bay]
  • In case you missed it last night in the Twitter updates in the right-hand column or this morning in the “Down on the Farm” segment, David Price, Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot and Jonny Gomes will join the Rays today, now that Durham’s season is over. Despite pitching on Tuesday, Price is available to pitch during today’s double-header. Niemann last pitched on Wednesday, so we expect he will not be available today. All three, Price, Niemann and Talbot will work out of the bullpen for now. [Rays Report]
  • Evan Longoria will return to the lineup in game 1 today. He will not start in game 2. BJ Upton is not expected to play today and Troy Percival is expected to be day-to-day for the rest of the season. [Tampa Tribune]
  • John Romano wants to give Joe Maddon the benefit of the doubt, but if Maddon truly has the team’s best interest at heart, then Romano thinks Troy Percival should not be closing any longer. [St. Pete Times]
  • Take away the historical context and the $20 million players, and we fully agree, the Trop is better than Yankee Stadium. And unlike 99% of the people that badmouth the Trop, we have actually been to games in both stadiums. I would also say that the level of comfort and enjoyment of the Trop is better than Fenway where only people 5’2″ can be comfortable and half the seats face the outfield wall, Shea Stadium which is a dump and new Commiskey, which is boring. We are sure there are others. [Bugs and Cranks]
  • The Rays lost the coin-flip to decide who would host a matchup should a one-game playoff be needed to decide the AL East crown…To clarify, a one-game playoff will only be necessary if both the White Sox and Twins have better records than the Rays and the Red Sox. One-game playoffs are not used if both teams are guaranteed a playoff spot. In this case it is very likely that both the Rays and the Red Sox will be in the playoffs making this entire matter moot. [The Heater]
  • The Florida Aquarium has given five new baby Rays some familiar names. [Tampa Bay's 10]
Sep 13

[DOWN ON THE FARM] Price, Niemann And 2 Others To Join Rays

David Price, Jeff Niemann, Jonny Gomes, Mitch Talbot Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 20, Durham 2 (Scranton/WB wins 3-1). Wade Davis gave up 8 runs (5 earned) in only 2 innings, as Scranton had innings of 5,5 and 8 runs…Phil Hughes struck out 12 Bulls in just 5 innings as the Yankees won the IL Governor’s Cup Finals…Gaby Martinez hit his first triple-A home run for Durham.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Following the game, the Rays promoted last year’s top pick David Price as well as Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot and Jonny Gomes. The only name that surprises us a bit is Talbot. You may recall that Talbot was acquired along with Ben Zobrist in the trade that sent Aubrey Huff to Houston. Talbot has been the Rays most consistent pitcher in triple-A all season. He has clearly earned the promotion, but we did not think Joe Maddon would have enough room in the locker room. Papa Joe has repeatedly stated that he did not want to many new bodies in the locker room at this time of year. However, with injuries the Rays have now promoted 10 players, about twice as many as expected. [Rays Report]
  • This will be the final “Down on the Farm” segment of 2008. Any minor league news over the next few months will go in the daily “Hangover” posts…See you next Spring.