Apr 03
On this date four years ago, a biology professor that was hiding from his students during office hours on opening day of the baseball season, started a blog. That Professor had little idea what he was doing as is clearly evident in his first-ever post, a post that included a Jonny Gomes home run.
But he started to find his stride later that day when he wrote about a journalist that predicted the Devil Rays to win the World Series…in 2006! That post got a lot of play on the interwebs, and there was no looking back from what was originally intended to be a practice run for a Bucs blog.
So, Happy Birthday to us!
Apr 03
Now that the opening day roster has been set, let’s take a look at the final 40-man roster and the opening day payroll…
A few notes on the 40-man roster…
- Once Elliot Johnson clears waivers the Rays will have 36 players on the 40-man roster. It is assumed that two of the empty spots will be taken by recent signees Leslie Anderson and Sergio Espinosa.
- The opening day payroll is $71.5 million, up from $63.3 million a year ago and double what the payroll was when Stuart Sternberg took over the Rays.
Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 03
We have been projecting for many months, and now we finally now the Rays opening day roster…
Apr 03
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: Matt Garza. Garza was impressive facing just 1 over the minimum in the first 4 innings and finished with 5 shutout innings, with 1 hit, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts…Randy Choate. Another scoreless inning for Choate. He has not allowed an earned run in his last 5 outings.
THE BAD: Waiting. The season opens tomorrow night, but we have to wait until Tuesday night for the Rays opener.
THE TELLING: If each starting pitcher is indeed going to be paired with one of the catchers on a regular basis is was surprising to see Dioner Navarro catching Matt Garza. Garza has had most of his dominant starts with other catchers, so we would have expected to see The Garza Complex with Kelly Shoppach…Matt Joyce will be eligible to come off the DL on April 10, the 5th game of the season.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Hank Blalock on going to Durham: “The reason I would go play in Durham if no other team wants to pick me up right now is because I love baseball” [Lakeland Ledger]
- Joaquin Benoit is yet to go back-to-back games so the final spot in the bullpen goes to Mike Ekstrom. Joe Maddon’s quotes indicate that it is just a matter of time for Benoit, who could be back with the Rays in a month or so. [The Heater]
- Tim Beckham is nursing a sore wrist but is expected to be ready for Charlotte’s opening day. [Montgomery Advertiser]
- Marc Topkin writes about how the final roster decisions were about helping the Rays win now. [St. Pete Times]
- Stacy Long spoke with Jeremy Hellickson about the upcoming season. [Montgomery Advertiser]
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times previews the Rays. [New York Times]
- There is a new member of the Rays blogosphere, Tampa Ball Talk. [Tampa Bay Talk]
