‘Tis the season for prospect lists. Before pitchers and catchers report in a little over a month, we will see thousands of prospect lists consisting of hundreds of players that the writers couldn’t pick out of a lineup. And after watching the two videos below you will have seen Desmond [...]
Earlier this week, the Rays failed to reach a contract agreement with BJ Upton and will head to arbitration to settle a $300K difference-of-opinion (Upton wants $3.3m, the Rays are offering $3.0m). An anonymous writer at ESPN.com (scroll down to 2:49pm) hears hoof beats and thinks zebras. And after reading [...]
MLB.com won’t let us embed their videos, so here are the two links. The first is a sit down interview with BJ Upton (neé Melvin) and Justin Upton (neé Poopykins) razzing on each other about which brother is better at certain baseball skills… Upton brothers visit Hot Stove (part 1) [...]
Fernando Perez was recently on “MLB Home Plate” on Sirius/XM radio in which he discussed “Jersey Shore,” proper baseball pluralization and his childhood nickname. DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA… Jonny Gomes wants to reunite with Lou Piniella and hopes it will feel sooo good. [Sports Untapped] Safe to say that Bert Blyleven’s [...]
John Romano looks at the recent attendance struggles for the three local professional sports franchises and wonders if Tampa and St. Pete are capable of supporting pro sports. At various points every calendar year, I am reminded of Tampa Bay’s struggles as a sports market. It could be when the [...]
![[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Union Complaints, Upton’s Gap And Pena’s Weight](http://www.raysindex.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/hangover15-150x150.jpg)
Yesterday, the Rays avoided arbitration with three of their final four arbitration-eligible players. While most teams will continue to negotiate with players up until the hearings in February, the Rays have a team policy of cutting off negotiations once salary proposals have been submitted by both sides. Guess who is [...]
The Rays now have one arbitration case remaining (Upton). The other eight arbitration-eligible players will make $17.45 million in 2010. Looking back at our first off-season payroll projection, we had those players projected to make a total of $17.6 million*. [3:28pm] Via a press release from the Rays we learn [...]
![[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Powder Blue, Arbitration Deadlines And Pena’s Digits](http://www.raysindex.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/hangover13-150x150.jpg)
Here is the Rays new road Spring Training/Batting Practice cap. You can see the new home ST/BP cap here. We’re not allowed to talk about it yet, but let’s just say, we hope you like the color. DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA… The deadline for the Rays to avoid arbitration is noon [...]
Which of these doesn’t belong? Evan Longoria: Gentlemen, we do not stop till my next ring is a World Series ring. Andrew Friedman: [Speaking without moving his lips] What about breakfast? Evan Longoria: You’ve already had it. Matt Silverman: We’ve had one, yes. What about second breakfast? [Longoria turns and [...]
Scott Merkin reports that the Rays are among the teams that have contacted Jim Thome… Present job opportunities for Thome clearly will be limited to the American League. A handful of teams have contacted Thome’s representative, Pat Rooney from SFX Baseball, and while Thome would not list any of those [...]
