Archive for December 31st, 2008

Dec 31

[2009 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 7 (Seven-Year Extension For BJ Upton)

Uncategorized Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and try to project what they will do based on what we have learned. Unlike most team blogs, we do not very often tell you what the Tampa Bay Rays should do. However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans.

On the seventh day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, a SEVEN-year extension for BJ Upton…

Two days ago we hoped the Rays would give Matt Garza a five-year extension. While they are being generous, they might as well go ahead secure BJ Upton for the next seven seasons (including options).

Upton is eligible for free agency following the 2012 season, so a seven-year deal would buy out his first three years of free agency. That may seem like a lot, but we can dream can’t we?

Last season, Upton was worth 4.3 wins with only one arm. So if the Rays love their fans, they will sign Upton long-term, before he grows a cape, tattoos an “S” to his chest and starts announcing his presence with authority.

And if Upton agrees to a deal, we promise to stop calling him Melvin…well, we promise to stop doing it so often.

On the seventh day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is a SEVEN-year extension for BJ Upton and…
SIX months with at least 15 wins [Day 6]
FIVE-year extension for Matt Garza [Day 5]
FOUR pitchers with 15 wins [Day 4]
THREE Gold Glove awards [Day 3]
TWO months in triple-A for David Price [Day 2]
ONE impact bat with a bow on top [Day 1]

Dec 31

[THE HANGOVER] Willy Aybar Just Called To Say ‘I Glove You’

Doug Salinas, Joe Maddon, Joe Nelson, JP Howell, Ray Olmedo, Ray Sadler, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

Not the best video in the world, but if you fast-forward to the 2:22 mark, you will see Willy Aybar making a nice grab while playing third base for Licey in the Dominican Winter League. Not sure how updated these numbers are, but Aybar was hitting .286-0-9 with a .712 OPS in 15 games for Licey.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • JP Howell was the 118th player to appear in both the College World Series and the Major League World Series. [bNet]
  • Joe Maddon is back in his hometown of Hazleton, PA to visit family and help raise funds to renovate the auditorium of his former high school. [Times-Leader]
  • Rays Party of America shows that the Rays’ bullpen had the second slowest average velocity in baseball. [Rays Party of America]
  • The Rays made the Joe Nelson signing official yesterday. [The Heater]
  • The Rays resigned Jon Weber to a minor league deal. Weber is nice to have around considering he has been on a playoff team eight straight seasons and in six of those seasons his team won a championship. The Rays also signed three other minor leaguers including Ray Olmedo, a shortstop who has played parts of five big league seasons with the Reds and Jays. He will likely serve as the Rays glass case middle infielder. You know. Break only in case of emergency. Ray Sadler is an outfielder, who played 3 games with the Pirates in 2005 and spent last year at double-A and triple-A in the Astros’ organization hitting 25 home runs in 126 games. Finally there is Doug Salinas, a right-handed pitcher. Salinas posted a 5.53 ERA in low-A last year in the Mariners’ organization. That was actually good, considering it was 5.91 the year before in the same league. Another 5 years or so, and he might be ready for double-A. [Baseball America]
  • Rob Quinn of Examiner.com has some New Year’s resolutions for the Rays. [Examiner.com]
  • Rays Prospects takes a look at how some Rays performed in the lower-level Venezuelan Winter League. Rays prospects in this league come from the Rays’ Venezuelan Summer League team, the Princeton Rays and recent international signings. [Rays Prospects]