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: Kelly Shoppach. Shoppach hit a grand slam off of Jeremy Hellickson.

THE BAD: Future Stars. We like the idea of the Rays playing exhibition games at the parks of their minor league affiliates. It’s great for the local fans. But instead of playing the Mets at The Trop on Friday, why not do what the Yankees did yesterday? The Yankees played an exhibition game against a team composed of their top prospects. For a franchise like the Rays that is so dependent on their farm system, wouldn’t this be a big draw for fans at The Trop the weekend before the regular season starts?

THE TELLING: Kelly Shoppach caught Jeff Niemann…Sean Rodriguez started in right field and batted 9th.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Several tidbits from Marc Topkin: Elliot Johnson cleared waivers and will go to triple-A…Joaquin Benoit doesn’t sound pleased with his demotion saying “Am I supposed to prove I can pitch in the minors? We’ll see what happens in three-four weeks”…Sean Rodriguez may start at second base on Tuesday…Like Desmond Jennings, Tim Beckham will miss the start of the regular season. [St. Pete Times]
  • Scott Kazmir will start the season on the DL. [ESPN]
  • Marc Topkin writes about some of the key decisions that were made during the spring and why they were made. [St. Pete Times]
  • Art Levy spoke with Don Zimmer about his 62 years in baseball. Great read. [St. Pete Times]
  • Roger Mooney lists the players Raysheads should watch closely in 2010. [Tampa Tribune]