Jul 26
Archive for July 26th, 2009
Jul 26
Seattle Writers On Strange Rumor; Gammons On Rays Moves
Cliff Lee, Reid Brignac, Scott Kazmir 8 Comments »There is a very strange rumor that has been making the rounds involving the Rays in a three-team deal. We have seen it various forms, but the deal would look something like this…
- Rays receive: Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez
- Seattle receives: Reid Brignac and Scott Kazmir
- Cleveland receives: Brandon Morrow and Jeff Clement
Brignac and Kazmir for Lee and Martinez?!?! Who wouldn’t do that? The Indians wouldn’t do that. Not even close (Ed. note: there is another version out there that has Wade Davis also going to Cleveland, which makes the deal a little more palatable). The deal is so lopsided that it is laughable.
So why are we commenting on it here? Because for some strange reason, the Seattle press keeps writing about it. And yet, best we can tell, this rumored three-way deal was just made up on some message board or comments section of a blog.
Well, Brignac’s strange Saturday didn’t help.
To recap: Brignac was pulled from the first game of a double-header in the third inning. There was no apparent injury. This led to mini firestorm of rumors that Brignac was being included in the rumored three-way deal.
We later heard that Brignac was pulled for not hustling on a first inning pop-up, which is strange because he played the second inning in the field. We later heard that Brignac was pulled with a sore leg, which is strange because he played in the second game of the double-header.
No matter what the real reason, it was apparent that Brignac was not pulled because of a pending trade. Apparent to everybody except Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times.
Here’s something to think about, completely my speculation right now, but showing you how this stuff works. Let’s say there really was a three-way deal in the works between Tampa Bay, Cleveland…Maybe the M’s were all set to pull the trigger and that’s why Brignac was pulled…But maybe, as well, before finalizing a deal, Zduriencik wanted to see what Erik Bedard and company could do today. And then, after Bedard pulled a three-and-flee and the team fell behind 10-0, the M’s got on the phone and screamed “Hold everything!” and that’s why Brignac is back in there right now.
Basically Baker is suggesting that the deal was agreed to by all parties, but because the M’s fell behind in their Saturday game, the M’s called off the trade. Umm, ok. Wow.
Meanwhile, on the more sensible front, Peter Gammons writes about what the Rays may do between now and next season.
If you are the Rays, because you have a terrible stadium that’s hard for the fans to reach, you have hugely disappointing attendance and cannot trade Wade Davis and two other prospects for Victor Martinez and his $7 million salary next season. Not when your $63 million payroll will already jump for 2010, as Jason Bartlett is a four-year arbitration case and as B.J. Upton and Matt Garza will be super twos. “If we didn’t talk on everyone and explore every possibility, we’d be fools,” says Andrew Friedman, the Rays’ executive VP of baseball operations. So they’d deal Scott Kazmir, who to most clubs looks like a shadow of what he was two years ago, and at the end of the season they will likely see what they can get for Carl Crawford. And they’ll hold on to the prospects they consider keepers.
We know it is not as glamorous as adding Lee and/or Martinez, but you have to admit, it makes MUCH more sense. This team needs to cut payroll. They cannot maintain and they definitely cannot add.
Jul 26
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
click above image for boxscore
THE GOOD: We’re Calling It A Comeback. After setting a franchise record with the largest comeback ever, the Rays are now 6-3 on their roadtrip and have trailed in the 7th inning in 8 of those 9 games. The only game they did not trail in the 7th inning was Friday’s win against Roy Halladay in which the Rays were tied in the 7th inning.
THE BAD: Better Stop Calling It A Comeback. Winning is about 3 things. Pitching, Pitching and Pitching. And the fact that the Rays have trailed in the 7th inning of 8 of their last 9 games suggests that the starting pitchers just aren’t getting the job done. Their 4.06 ERA since the All-Star break is 9th in the AL. Eventually the goodiness of the late-inning comebacks will come to an end.
THE TELLING: We’re Back, kinda. After the perfect game on Thursday, if you would have asked us what it would take to make us feel a little better, we absolutely would have said, 1) beat Roy Halladay, 2) stage a miraculous victory, 3) sweep the Jays. Two down, one to go. But their are still problems with this team. Too much inconsistency from the offense and too little domination from the starting pitchers.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Joe Maddon talks about his use of Twitter. [The Tony Ambrogio Experience]
- Joe Maddon had to use all 7 relievers yesterday which means the Rays really need a big start today and they have the right guy on the mound in Jeff Niemann. Maddon also noted that if the Rays had not won the game in the 12th, James Shields would have been his next pitcher.
Jul 26
Durham 5, Norfolk 3 (gm 1). Carlos Hernandez picked up his 6th win holding Norfolk to 1 run on 6 hits and no walks in 5 innings…Reid Brignac was pulled in the 3rd inning for either not hustling or with a sore leg depending on who you talk to. The latter does not seem to jive with fact he played in the second game…Matt Joyce went 0-2 with a walk and an RBI.
Norfolk 8, Durham 4 (gm 2). James Houser got torched for 7 runs in just 3.1 innings…Matt Joyce went 2-3 with a pair of doubles a walk and an RBI. He is hitting .267…Reid Brignac went 1-5 with a double.
Birmingham 4, Montgomery 1. Brandon Mann gave up 3 runs on 10 hits and a walk in just 5 innings…Desmond Jennings did not play.
Charlotte 2, Clearwater 1. Darin Downs pitched 7 shutout innings, giving up just 3 hits and walking 1. He struck out 4 and lowered his FSL leading ERA to 2.07. This may have been Downs last start for Charlotte as Montgomery may need a starting pitcher on Thursday…Shawn Riggans went 2-3 and played the entire game behind the plate.
Hagerstown 6, Bowling Green 2. Matt Moore allowed 2 runs in 4 innings on 4 hits, 4 walks and a wild pitch. He struck out 3 and drops to 6-4…Tim Beckham went 0-4 with a strikeout.
Aberdeen 2, Hudson Valley 1 (gm 1).
Hudson Valley 1, Aberdeen 0 (gm 2).
Johnson City @ Princeton. (susp. rain)
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- Stacy Long speculates on Darin Downs possibly moving to double-A. [Biscuit Crumbs]
