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[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Transition From Regular Season To Off-Season
BJ Upton, Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena October 5th. 2009, 6:59am
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
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Evan Longoria (BJ Upton on Friday and Jeff Niemann on Saturday)
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Alex Rodriguez’ 7 RBI in one inning yesterday set an AL Record. [The Heater]
- BJ Upton’s 5 hits on Friday tied the franchise record, and his 6 RBI were one short. [St. Pete Times]
- The Rays finished the season 84-78, 19 games back in the AL East in third place.
- Ben Zobrist was the runaway winner of the Rays team MVP as voted on by the local writers. [Rays Report]
- 5 players (not including Edwin Jackson) from the Rays 2008 AL East championship squad are back in the playoffs this season. [Tampa Tribune]
- The Rays will have the 16th pick of next year’s draft. That is a bit unlucky. Not that we expect the Rays to sign another big-name free agent, but should the Rays sign a Type A free agent, they would surrender their first round pick. Had they been just one slot higher (top 15), their first-round pick would have been protected.
- Marc Topkin reviews the 2009 season with “five critical moments.” [St. Pete Times]
- Marc Lancaster also reviews the 2009 season. [Tampa Tribune]
- Marc Topkin also looks at what it is going to take to get back to the playoffs next year. [St. Pete Times]
- The Rays Party reviews the first Mock Draft with the Rays taking, of course, a tools outfielder. [The Rays Party]
- Despite missing most of September, Carlos Pena finished the season tied as the top home run hitter (39) in the AL.
- Big League Stew memorializes the Rays season. [Big League Stew]
- Sid Hartman writes that the Matt Garza-Jason Bartlett-Delmon Young trade is no longer as one-sided as many have thought. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]
- The Rays starting pitchers threw a lot of pitches this season. [The Rays Party]
- Bob Nightengale says that other teams have been scouting BJ Upton and believe the Rays will trade him this winter. [MLB Trade Rumors]
- NY Baseball Digest wonders if the Mets have a shot at trading for BJ Upton. [NY Baseball Digest]
- Rays the Stakes wonders if Carl Crawford has played his last game for the Rays. [Rays the Stakes]
- Ken Rosenthal says Carl Crawford’s willingness to sign an extension is “well intentioned” but doubts the Rays will be able to match even a hometown discount. [MLB Trade Rumors]
- Gregg Zaun hopes to return to the Rays next season. [St. Pete Times]
- Matt Moore was named the third best prospect in the SAL, and Tim Beckham is fifth. [Baseball America]
- Watching Durham Bulls Baseball handed out the first “Moonlight Graham Awards.” [Watching Durham Bulls Baseball]
So, I think that means a tie in the SPOTG. Right?
I think so, I got Niemann’d on Friday
Yesterdays game will actually make the off season EASIER to take…WHY
Bad pitching: esp relief (cut Sonnanstine Please)
Bad hitting : only Longo & Zobrist can hit….(JB & CC out)
Bad fielding : note the 6th inning
Bad Mangmt: Maddon walking Tex with 2 outs…to pitch to Babe Ruth (Rodriquez) who already hit a home run that inning….What a master that Maddon is…..hopefully the Pena situation wasn’t his motive….and he put the game out of reach…like so many games this season!
For these reasons/reminders…the offseason will be a blessing!
I really hope we find a way to get rid of Burrell. I’m pretty sure the guys in the front office noticed the year Jonny Gomes had in Cincinnati and regret getting rid of him. And here we are with Burrell and Gross, boy we sure made the right call on that one…..
For all those who said you can’t compare Burrell to Gomes, well you’re right, Gomes proved this year he is the better player, and the numbers don’t lie. Also younger, actually plays defense, produces much more, and is well-liked by everyone. Oh and also $7.5 million a year cheaper. I’m sorry, but Pat Burrell is NOT the hitter he used to be. He brings nothing to this team.
And maybe we still have Kazmir?
But considering we have Burell now…I just wonder/hope thy if Burrell is still with the Rays next season, he will come back motivated and in better shape since it will be his walk year.
I hope that’s the case, but nothing I have seen from him leads me to believe he will bounce back. He had the whole year to turn it around and did nothing. Even when he slumped (which was pretty much the entire length of the season) Maddon stuck with him. I don’t see him ever having a good season again, although if he sticks around another year I really hope I’m wrong. I just have the feeling he’s not happy playing here. It certainly doesn’t seem like he’s too popular with his teammates either.
So can someone explain how Steve Henderson loses his job and Jim Hickey keeps his? If anything, you’d say the Rays overperformed on offense this year and underperformed off the mound.
Maybe they have somebody in mind (whose team is in the playoffs perhaps) for the batting coach poistion. Very disappointed that Hickey returns. Need somebody to get better performance out of the bully.
Congrats to Pena for taking the HR crown and congrats to the Rays starters pitching the Yankees inside all weekend (until the inevitable Sonny explosion). Never too late to do the right thing.
I really hope to never see Burrell play in a Rays uniform ever again. He was really an ugly player to watch on a daily basis. Not since Vinny Castilla have I seen a guy with more limited skills. He can’t run, throw, field, hit for contact or even hit for power very often. It is wasn’t for his contract, I doubt he’d be in the majors next year unless he goes and visits the infamous GNC in New jersey where JC Romero gets his magic beans.
The AL East is no place for aging NL sluggers to play out their golden years with fat contracts. We have Burrell, Greg Vaughn, Castilla among others to show for that. I hope management has learned its lesson.
So I guess we’d have to call Burrell a zero-tool player.
On one of these threads I had asked why the Rays didn’t pick up Abreu rather than Burrell last year, and the response was that the Rays were seeking a right handed batter to make them better against lefties.
Well, today’s St. Pete times showed Burrell’s great numbers against lefties: 0 homers and somewhere around the Mendoza line for average.
But moving forward, I doubt the Rays can unload Burrell. I just hope they have the courage to bench him if he doesn’t show up in March trim and hungry. And look at the bright side — it is highly unlikely he’ll do worse in 2010 than in 2009, so things can only get better, right?
The point with Burrell, Sonny, Springer, whoever. Keep them in the organization, but stop giving them opportunities at the risk of the team. I have no problem signing Burrell, but one’s contract cannot justify one’s playing time. That happened with him and the relievers. That frustrates me when we have such talent in Durham rotting away.
I’m in no way defending Hickey since a several pitchers underpreformed, but a lot of the pitching problems were due to poor management by Maddon. Every manager makes his share of mistakes, but Maddon repeated the same ones over and over. I also blame the front office somewhat for their obsession with over-the-hill relievers. Hopefully they have learned their lesson.