Feb 28
John Romano of the St. Pete Times gives us some quotes from Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman that make it sound as if the Rays are leaning towards using Jeff Niemann in the bullpen despite assertions that he is competing for the final spot in the rotation.
“You always think about the possibility [of Niemann being a reliever], and then when you actually see it, it becomes even more of a possibility,” Maddon said. “You put him in late in a game and see 96, 97 mph and the downhill look, and it’s like, ‘Holy (cow)’ [ed. note: Romano substituted 'cow' for another word to protect the innocent]…”Now we’re going to give him a chance, absolutely, to be the fifth starter. But there’s a real possibility he could go to the bullpen and really help us. He’s the kind of guy you’d have to nurture through, but he’s got real potential.”
Maddon and Friedman said that one relief appearance last September convinced them that Niemann could be a dominant reliever.(…)
Read the rest of Is Jeff Niemann’s Fate Already Sealed? (317 words)
Feb 28
Sorry. Not GBT sandwich today. But a quick reminder, that the Rays spring game today will be televised on the MLB Network.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Troy Percival says he is ahead of schedule and his spring debut has been moved from March 17 to March 12…Sounds like we need to update our 25-man roster projection. [MLB]
- Big League Stew writes about Rocco Baldelli’s reunion with the Rays and includes a sobering pic of Rocco in Red Sox colors. [Big League Stew]
- The Rays head trainer Ron Porterfield, looks back on his team handling Rocco Baldelli’s condition. [Providence Journal]
- The Rays Party updates their 25-man roster projection. [The Rays Party]
- The Press-Enterprise has a picture of Troy Percival’s ‘56 Ford Pickup that was stolen. The truck is valued at $100,000. [The Press-Enterprise]
Feb 27
Time to bring back the GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
YANKEES 5, RAYS 1.
THE GOOD: Wade Davis. There has been chatter recently about how Davis’ 2009 season could follow the same path as what David Price did in 2008. That is, Davis could be the “jolt in the arm” the bullpen needs for the playoff run and in the playoffs if they make it that far. While other teams are giving up prospects for pitching help in July, the Rays may need only book a flight from Durham to Tampa. So it was fitting that Davis’ spring debut rang familiar yesterday, reminding us of the dominating debut of Price a year ago. Like Price Davis faced the Yankees, striking out 3 without giving up a hit or a walk…Chad Orvella. He gave up a home run in his one inning of work, but it was good to see Orvella back on the mound after missing all of 2008…
THE BAD: The Offense. It took 16 innings to score their first run and of their 9 hits in 18 innings, the Rays only have 2 extra-base hits, both doubles. And they only drew 1 walk yesterday. In two games the Rays have struck out 14 times and drawn 3 walks.
THE TELLING: It is still too early to get too worked up about the offense. Yesterday’s lineup featured only one player that figures to be a starter on opening day, Carl Crawford.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Those Rays photo day images we posted the other day? One of our readers put together a nice wallpaper using some of those images (thanks David). [Rays Wallpaper]
- Aaron Sharockman is trying to figure out exactly how much money the Rays contributed to the new ballpark in Charlotte County. [Ballpark Frankness]
- Tony Fabrizio explores who Joe Maddon might have leading off in 2009…At this point we are not sure BJ Upton is our first choice but we wouldn’t mind seeing how it works for a while. [Tampa Tribune]
- While Joe Maddon is still not sure who will lead off, he has no question who will bat second. Carl Crawford. [MLB]
- And Joe Maddon is already declaring that right field will be a platoon this season…Anybody else notice that MLB’s efforts to have their beat writers write blogs is about the same amount of effort they put into eliminating steroids? [Rays Plays]
- Jason Isringhausen and Troy Percival each threw in the bullpen yesterday. Maddon said Izzy “threw everything and threw everything well.”…Apparently Maddon did not say the same about Percy. [St. Pete Times]
- Wade Davis spoke about his spring outing and what he needs to do in 2009. [MLB]
- Carl Crawford says he was hurting “from the first day of spring training” last year, but that this year he feels “like an athlete again.” [Tampa Tribune]
- Tony Fabrizio of the Tampa Tribune spoke to Gabe Kapler about his decision to manage in the minor leagues in 2007 and his decision to return to the field last year. [Tampa Tribune]
- Ken Rosenthal says the Rays are the team to beat in the AL East…Ahhh, the kiss of death. [Fox Sports]
- Dalia Colon takes a look at some of the other attractions in Port Charlotte…The “Fish Cove Adventure Mini Golf” sounds like a party in a box. [St. Pete Times]
Feb 26
Two years ago on Rays Index we were first troubled by the unethical relationship between the Rays and the St. Pete Times.
The St. Pete Times And The Tampa Tribune Would Like Rays Fans To Drink Their Kool-Aid [Rays Index]
Feb 26
- The Professor
We just received this image from a reader…Yes, that is me in the Rays dugout prior to game 2 of the ALCS. And yes, I do owe the Rays a bag of seeds…Hard to believe that guy is a molder of young minds.
The other funny thing about this image is that we were hanging out with one of the guys from Drays Bay at the time. He is just out of frame to the right.
Feb 26
[UPDATE: We made a couple of minor coloring changes per a discussion in the comments]
25-Man Roster Projection and Lineup (notes and explanations on the projection can be found following the roster)…
Notes on the 25-man roster projection…(…)
Feb 26
Reds 7, Rays 0.
Time to bring back the GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: Carlos Hernandez. Hernandez looked strong facing big league hitters for the first time in 3 years, not allowing a hit or walk in 2 innings…While Gabe Gross was dropping line drives, Fernando Perez and Justin Ruggiano, two guys competing to be the first outfielder available from Durham, each threw out a baserunner.
THE BAD: 4, 2, 14. As in the Rays managed only 4 hits, committed 2 errors and gave 14 hits. To say the Rays came out a bit rusty would be like saying Rosanne Barr is mildly annoying…Randy Choate, a lefty with big league experience in 8 different seasons, did not help his case for a bullpen spot by giving up 5 hits, including the big blow, a grand slam, in 1 inning of work.
THE TELLING: While we shouldn’t make too much of it, it was interesting that Joe Maddon gave the opening start to Carlos Hernandez with both Jason Hammel and Mitch Talbot working out of the bullpen. Hammel and Talbot are both competing for the 5th spot in the rotation and we would think Maddon would want to get them as many starts as possible in the spring. Maddon missed an opportunity yesterday…Also, Jason Hammel was used for 2 innings early in the game against the Reds starters, while Mitch Talbot pitched the 9th inning against the scrubs, giving up 2 runs. Clearly Talbot is the odd-man looking in for the final spot of the rotation, and right now it doesn’t even look like he is getting much of a look.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Carlos Hernandez said he felt good and is looking forward to more work as he tries to get back to the big leagues…We have a feeling that if his shoulder holds up, we will see Hernandez at the Trop at some point this season. [St. Pete Times]
- Stuart Sternberg attended the first game at the Rays new spring training ballpark and while he was there he offered a none-to-subtle quote to Aaron Sharockman: “We know how to build baseball stadiums. We know what fans want.” [Ballpark Frankness]
- The Rays automatically renewed the contracts of all players with less than three years major league experience. Exact figures have not been released but we can expect them all to be close to the major league minimum of about $400K. [The Heater]
- The one glitch in the spring opener appeared to be traffic issues getting to the park. [Tampa Tribune]
- At least Dioner Navarro didn’t weigh 772 pounds. A fisherman caught a 772-pound stingray in Thailand recently (thanks Joe). [AOL News]
- Evan Longoria is the latest Ray to reflect on his time in Durham for WRAL. Interestingly, Longoria did not play a game in Durham in 2008. All of his games prior to being promoted were on the road. [WRAL]
- Rays of Light plays around with the Rays regular season schedule. [Rays of Light]
- And finally we would be remiss if we didn’t mention…The first game of spring training is always one of the best days of the year and it would take a lot to ruin it for us. This did. [Joe Bucs Fan]
Feb 25
Two years ago on Rays Index we discovered Ben Zobrist’s wife. Who knew Christian Rock could be so attractive. We also discovered that Ben’s friends have a very endearing nickname for him.
Benny Boo Zobrist’s Wife Would Like To Sing You Some Christian Rock [Rays Index]
Feb 25
This is going to be brief this morning. Last night was Mardi Gras…Sue us.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Today is the first exhibition game for the Rays but one Ray, Aki Iwamura has already played a game. [Rays Report]
- Pat Burrell will face his ex-teammates on Saturday. [The 700 Level]
- Willy Aybar was a surprise addition to the World Baseball Classic roster for the Domincan Republic. That makes 3 Rays that will participate including JP Howell and Aki Iwamura. [Tampa Tribune]
- Saturday’s game will air on the MLB Network. [Rays Report]
- Marc Lancaster has a Q&A with Stuart Sternberg. [Rays Report]
- Stuart Sternberg emphasized that the Rays probably will not be able to add any payroll in-season. [The Heater]
- Like most of the top prospect lists, David Price comes in at #2 on Baseball America’s top 100. Tim Beckham (28), Wade Davis (32), Reid Brignac (78) and Desmond Jennings (80) also make the list. Anybody else surprised by the lack of mention for Jeremy Hellickson on many of these lists? [Baseball America]
- Baseball America has a Q&A with David Price. [Baseball America]
- Josh Kalk takes a closer look at Jeff Niemann and Jason Hammel. Kalk gives Niemann some very strong comparables (ie. Tim Lincecum) and says he could still be a front of the rotation starter but is more likely going to be a 3/4. Kalk speaks highly of Hammel suggesting that he could be a solid starter if he was given a full season in the rotation. [The Hardball Times]
- David Chalk has started up his annual “Your Team Ain’t S#!t” series, with the Padres to start us off. [Bugs and Cranks]
- Governor Charlie Crist hosted the Governor’s Baseball Dinner and remarked on the economic impact of spring training. Bud Selig was in attendance and praised the Rays for being what’s right in baseball. [Tampa Tribune]
- Who would win in a fight to the death…Evan Longoria or Ryan Braun? [Swing Smarter Baseball]
- Is the Cowbell Kid in negotiations to join the Afro Squad? (thanks Jordi) [AfroSquad]
- Carl Crawford on playing baseball in Durham: “I would love to come back there and play.” Huh? [WRAL]
