Archive for October 31st, 2008

Oct 31

[LONG COLD WINTERS] We Miss Our Woobie

Nice little offseason Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

You know that scene at the end of “Bull Durham” when Crash Davis returns to Durham after retiring. Crash is tired. He doesn’t want to think about baseball. He doesn’t want to think about Quantum Physics. He didn’t want to think about anything. He just wanted to be.

We feel a little like that right now only worse, because we are pretty sure we broke our liver during this postseason run. After being on edge for the last two months, the sudden disappearance of the baseball season has left us wondering around the house sober and actually getting work done. That’s not good for us. That’s not good for anybody.

So we are going to take a few days off. We have a pretty nice little weekend planned. We’re going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, We don’t know, we don’t know if we’ll have enough time. Oh yeah, and a little thing called The Second Best Holiday of the Year.

Next week we will be back on board. We have a few loose ends to tie up for the 2008 season and then we will start working on 2009. The first step will be to update our Trade Value Index and both the 40-man and 25-man roster projections for 2009.

So have a good weekend, don’t do anything we would do and when you drink, raise a glass to the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, American League Champions.

Oct 31

[THE ARCHIVES] One Year Ago On Rays Index

The Archives Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

One year ago on Rays Index some thought Joe Maddon was among the “Crappiest Baseball Managers.”

Joe Maddon Is Too Good For Rays [Rays Index]

Oct 31

[THE HANGOVER] Time To Start Looking At 2009

Adam Dunn, Ben Zobrist, Brad Lidge, Dave Wills, Eric Hinske, Fernando Perez, Gabe Gross, Gerry Hunsicker, Jason Bartlett, Mike Wlodarczyk, Reid Brignac, Rocco Baldelli, Stuart Sternberg, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 25 Comments »

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Another day, another feature piece on the Rays in the New York Times. This time they take a look at the staying power of the team in the AL East, noting that core of the team could be unchanged in 2009 and beyond. However, Gerry Hunsicker reiterated that due to financial limitations, the team is always “trying to trade people a year too soon than a year too late.”. The piece also speculates that Scott Kazmir could be traded along with one or more of the arbitration-eligible players (Edwin Jackson?)…In the piece it is indicated that the Rays likely turned a profit for the first time under Stuart Sternberg thanks to reaching the World Series. [New York Times]
  • Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says the Rays have “started – and are winning – a war for supremacy with the Red Sox” in the AL East and that the rivalry between the Sox and Yankees has been put on ice for now. Silverman says the Rays are good for baseball and refreshing for the Red Sox. [Boston Herald]
  • Eric Hinske gets to face Brad Lidge again. They are in a Fantasy Football league together. Seriously. [Fanhouse]
  • There is a rally tentatively scheduled for 4:30pm on Friday at Straub Park in St. Pete. [MLB]
  • We wish we could have muted Tim McCarver and Joe Buck and instead listened to Sully’s wife. She had more insight…Speaking of which, did any of you watching on TV know that Jason Bartlett ran through a stop sign in the 7th inning? Us neither. We listened to Dave Wills call during the Rays’ radio broadcast and indicates that Bartlett indeed ran through a stop sign. Of course we never saw replay from FOX TV and McCarver and Buck never even bring the issue up. [Sully Baseball]
  • Jerry Crasnick of ESPN takes a look at what the World Series means for the Rays moving forward and how this is a team that could be better next year. [ESPN]
  • Jon Heyman says there was no disappointment, anger or bitterness in the Rays locker room following their game 5 loss…There is a part of us that wished the Rays had taken the World Series loss a little tougher. But then again, this is what has been great about the Rays all season. They are able to get over losses very quickly and move forward. [SI.com]
  • Jordi over at The Serious Tip opens up about what the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays meant to him. [The Serious Tip]
  • Will never happen. NEV-er. [Chicago Tribune]
  • A Joe Maddon pumpkin? Wow. That’s all we got. Wow. [The Heater]
  • Mike Wlodarczyk is blogging from the Arizona Fall League. [Rays Prospects]