Just a quick reminder as we enter the 2009 season, that Rays Index can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
We have a few new plans for each group, and we will be unveiling those in the coming weeks. So if you haven’t joined up yet, now is the time to do it. The link to the Facebook group is above and Twitter can be found in the sidebar.
Is it us or does Tim Beckham look like he has bulked up a little bit? Here is a pic from last year.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
“I’ll tell you one thing — the kid wants to work,” infield coach Tom Foley said. “He’s a great kid. He wants to work. He’s never going to shy away from it. And that’s going to make him better. He’ll be good because of his work ethic.”
But [the Rays] are really impressed with the progress he has made, improving his defense and refining his hitting approach to use the full field and maximize his power, and the potential he has shown. Realistically, he’s at least a few years away, likely headed to low Class A Bowling Green for his first full-season experience, but the Rays plan to take a look at him in some early exhibitions.
“[He] looked pretty good,” Maddon said. “I thought he was pretty firm today. I thought he threw the ball well and he felt pretty good about himself. It was kind of nice to watch.”
One year ago on Rays Index we discovered that Andy Sonnanstine has mad Ping-Pong skillz.
Andy Sonnanstine Is Proud Of His Ping-Pong Ball Mad Skillz [Rays Index]
Of all the contracts given out by the Rays this off-season, the one that surprised us the most is the deal not given to Joe Maddon. On the heals of an AL Manager of the Year award, Maddon enters 2009 in the last year of his current contract. Few teams like to play a season with a manager that only has one year remaining on a deal. How often do you hear the phrase “free agent manager”?
John Romano tackles this very subject in his latest column…
He has no contract beyond this October. No promises, no guarantees, no commitments. And, at the moment, Joe Maddon also has no worries. He always has been a low-maintenance sort of guy and, contract extension or not, has no reason to worry about his future. Entering the fourth, and final, season of his original contract, Maddon says he could not be happier with Rays management.
Even if there is a lot of “trust flowing back and forth” as Maddon stated and even if there is a “great working relationship” as put forth by Andrew Freidman, the lack of a contract extension is a bit strange.
But it does look odd when you consider how willing the Rays have been to secure key assets with long-term deals. They love the cost certainty, and the idea of taking free agency out of the picture. So they have tied up the third baseman. The leftfielder. Two of the starting pitchers. Even a utility infielder…As for the manager, I would say he is pretty high up the list of potential free agents. His time for a long-term deal has not yet come, but I would hope it will soon.
We are not worried yet, but if the calendar pages start turning to the dog days of August and September and the Rays still haven’t extended Maddon’s contract, our liver will take the brunt of the punishment.
We don’t care how good the relationship is. What happens if the Yankees miss the playoffs again and Maddon is sitting out there as a free agent manager? We don’t doubt that Maddon would prefer to manage the Rays if all things are equal. But all things won’t be equal. Will Maddon be able to turn down the $5-7 million per season the Steinbrenners will almost certainly throw in his direction?
Manager Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays seem unconcerned about lack of a long-term deal [St. Pete Times]
One person associated with the Rays that doesn’t receive as much attention as he probably deserves is Henry Oliu, the Rays Spanish radio broadcaster. Oliu is able to call the Rays play-by-play despite being blind since birth.
Few people that follow the Rays are aware of the story of Henry O, and even fewer people know the story outside of the bay area. Ziad Hamzeh is trying to change that.
Henry O!, a feature-length documentary directed by Ziad Hamzeh, has been selected as an official entry in The 2009 DC Independent Film Festival, 2009 Beloit Film Festival, 2009 Lindsey UNA Film Festival, 2009 Gasparilla Film Festival, and the 2009 Macon Film and Video Film Festival…HENRY O! tells the remarkable and inspiring story of Henry Oliu, a man blind since birth, who has overcome all the odds and made his major league baseball dream come true. Calling upon his love for sports and an encyclopedic memory for facts and figures, Henry hears the crack of the bat and knows if it’s a single, double, or homerun; he listens for the ball singing into the catcher’s mitt and knows if it’s a curveball, fastball, or change-up.
This film will be featured at the Gasparilla Film Festival. If anybody gets a chance to see this film, we would love to hear a review.
Robert Szasz, better known at The Trop as “The Heckler”, has gotten himself into some hot water.
Szasz, 42, is a developer. Since January, banks have filed five lawsuits saying he has stopped paying on more than $9 million in loans that he personally signed for. Wachovia Bank has served notice that it intends to foreclose on his 7,000-square-foot waterfront home on Snell Isle, which carries a $3.1 million mortgage.
We have no idea what is going to come of this mess, but we suggest that Szasz not call Derek Jeter for a loan.
Bank gives Tampa Bay Rays’ high-profile heckler a Bronx cheer [St. Pete Times]
Several veteran free agents have signed with the Rays this off-season and the common thread among several of them was that they were drawn to the Rays in part by Joe Maddon.
[Adam Kennedy] could have gone with a team that had some uncertainty at second base, or one that trained close to his California home. But it was the Rays who were at the top of his list, even though they meet neither of those criteria…The reason? Joe Maddon…”One hundred percent,” Kennedy said. “It was pretty much all of it. Knowing how he goes about it and the relationship we’ve had, hopefully he was up for it, and they were.”
Marc Lancaster’s piece goes on to mention that Pat Burrell was also drawn to the Rays by Maddon.
Pat Burrell, a career National Leaguer, had no firsthand knowledge of Maddon when he began exploring potential landing spots as a free agent this winter. But the more he asked around, the more he found everyone – “Everyone,” Burrell emphasized – who had dealt with Maddon recommending him.
It was not that long ago that the Rays would have needed to outbid other teams for free agents, which just assured that they would not sign any free agents of importance. Even Bob Dylan couldn’t have seen times a-changin’ this much.
There are those that will contend that a baseball manager is the least important leadership position in sports, arguing that a team’ manager has little affect on the outcome of a game. For those people, we counter with exhibit A: Joe Maddon.
Kennedy Made Positive Move [Tampa Tribune]
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Rays Alternative Road UniformNo, that is not an official rendering of the Rays road uniforms. For the second straight year, the Rays will not feature “Tampa Bay” on their home, road or alternative uniforms. With the Orioles featuring new road uniforms this season that will include “Baltimore” on the front of the jersey, one reader at UniWatch, wondered what a Rays uniform might look like if they were to do the same. The above image was the result. We likey.
One year ago on Rays Index we saw that Carl Crawford had finally had enough of Delmon Young, reminding the youngster that he is still a little fish in the big pond.
Carl Crawford Just Went ‘Boom, Bitch!’ [Rays Index]
Jason Isringhausen wants Brian Shouse’s #44? Fine. The Shousenator has only been here a week. We hope Izzy at least gave Shouse a case of beer, or maybe some Depends.
But we draw the line at taking James Shields’ locker.
Jason Isringhausen’s arrival required some shuffling. He took No. 44, and LHP Brian Shouse switched to No. 52. Also, RHP James Shields gave up his corner suite locker and moved across the room between Scott KazmirAndy Sonnanstine.
We tried to generate a list of relief pitchers that Shields should be willing to give up his locker for. The list started and ended with Mo Rivera. We don’t care if Isringhausen does have 293 career saves, he is in camp on a minor league deal.
After Isringhausen signed with the Rays, we were flooded with comments about what a nutcase Izzy was and how the Rays better hope he never sees the light of day. We chalked it up to a few scorned fans. Now we wonder if there is some merit to their madness.
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it will still be the great Mets prospect that never lived up to the hype and couldn’t carry James Shields’ jockstrap.
Tampa Bay Rays news and notes [St. Pete Times]
