Feb 06
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Nationals have “cooled on BJ Upton,” noting that they have other options.
There has been speculation in the past that the Nationals will just wait until the off-season when Upton is a free agent.
At this point, Upton could still be dealt at the trade deadline, but that will only happen if he is having a big season with the bat and a contender feels he can be a difference-maker down the stretch. That might be asking a lot.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Jose Lobaton’s shoulder is progressing nicely and is expected to be 100 percent by spring training. [@TBTimes_Rays]
- Josh Hamilton confirmed that he did indeed have a relapse from his recovery for alcohol addiction. [ESPN]
- A few weeks ago it looked like the Rays and Indians were competing for Carlos Pena and Casey Kotchman, with Kotch as the consolation prize. After Pena signed with the Rays, the Indians did indeed sign Kotchman to a 1-year, $3 million deal. [ESPN]
- Carl Crawford is accused of swindling a lot of money from Read the rest of this entry »
Jan 26
The Rays have extended Spring Training invitations (has a player ever declined a spring training “invitation”?) to shortstops Tim Beckham and Hak-Ju Lee, catchers Nevin Ashley and Craig Albernaz, and pitchers Ricky Orta, Ryan Reid, Bryan Augenstein and Marquis Fleming.
We’re glad the Rays are more patient than we are. Because if it were up to us, Beckham would be the opening day shortstop for the Rays. He can’t be worse offensively than what the Rays had in 2011. Just give him a shot to sink or swim.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Prince Fielder has been worth about as much as Carl Crawford, and both have aging concerns. And yet Fielder is the one with the $214 million contract. [BI Sports]
- Some in Pinellas County are pushing for a light rail system as a way to boost attendance at Rays games. [TBO.com]
- The Rays may be forced to return $33 million to the state because they haven’t been housing the homeless at Tropicana Field on nights in which the stadium is not being used. This is just a guess, but it sounds like backlash against the dubious means used by the Marlins to get the city and county to finance their new playground. Also, it is not clear that the Rays would actually owe anything as the Trop is operated by the city and county. Wouldn’t it be their responsibility? [The Miami Herald]
- And all of a sudden, the Bucs are the only team with a head coaching vacancy. [Joe Bucs Fan]
Jan 19
- Off-Season (click image for random Wikipedia page)
Apparently Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports have new studios.
And one person close to the situation, who asked not to be mentioned by name, says this could mean pre-game shows for all 150 Rays games on those networks this season. Previously, only the home games would have a pre-game show.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- As expected, Nevin Ashley cleared waivers and has been outrighted to triple-A Durham. [@TBTimes_Rays]
- BRaysBall Talk is ready for the 2012 season. [BRaysBall Talk]
- Carl Crawford would seem like a natural choice to have a solid rebound season. But hold on. Crawford had surgery on his wrist and may not be ready for the start of the regular season. [USA Today]
- Joe Bucs Fan spoke with Gerald McCoy. [JoeBucsFan]
- Some in Sarasota feel the county was duped by Cal Ripken Jr when they invested $31.2 million in upgrades for the Orioles spring training facility. [Shadow of the Stadium]
Dec 26
If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and try to project what they will do based on what we have learned. Think of RI as “Tampa Bay Rays 101.”
However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans. Looking back at last year’s 12 Days of Raysmas, we see that many of our wishes came true. Many did not. If we can get a couple of more this year, the Rays might just win it all.
Without further ado…
On the second day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, TWO PLAYERS WITH 40 STOLEN BASES…
The Rays did a lot of things right in 2011. But make no mistake, the inability of the Red Sox to even be mediocre in September covered up a lot of problems, especially on the offensive side of the ball. And one of those problems was speed.
After losing Carl Crawford to free agency, the Rays speed numbers took a significant dip in 2011…
If we look at the Rays stolen bases and their Speed Total (doubles + triples*2 + steals – double plays), the Rays had their lowest totals since 2008, when Crawford was limited by an injury.
BJ Upton led the 2011 Rays with just Read the rest of this entry »
Oct 03
- Off-Day (click on image for random Wikipedia page)
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: Home sweet Dome. The Rays did what they had to do, they split in Texas. And looking forward, you have to feel good about the game 3 and 4 pitching matchups.
THE BAD: Kyle Farnsworth. Farnsville had what the Rays are calling a “a little bit of a setback” with his elbow. Joe Maddon does think Farnsworth is available for tonight’s game, but you have to imagine that if the game is on the line in the 9th inning, Maddon may look elsewhere.
THE TELLING: Tonight is the 12th consecutive playoff sellout for the Rays. Lee Roy Selmon’s children will throw out the first pitch…David Price will start tonight and Jeremy Hellickson will go tomorrow in game 4…John Jaso will start tonight…Matt Moore could be used in relief tomorrow if needed…Game 4 will be at 2:07 and game 5 would be at 5:07 but could be moved to 8:07 if there is no Yankees game…Joe Maddon’s hair is not quite long enough for a ponytail. Yet. He did admit to the TV crew prior to Saturday’s game that he did cut about a half-inch off at one point this season…According to CoolStandings.com, the Rays have a 100 percent chance of making the playoffs…
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Sep 27
Carl Crawford has had a rough season with the Boston Red Sox. And since the calendar turned to September it has gotten even worse.
Crawford is hitting .265 with a .299 OBP and just one stolen base, in a month in which the Red Sox have gone 6-19 and blown a 9-game lead. And to add fuel to the growing fire, Crawford apologized to Red Sox fans for his performance and vowed to get better next season even though the Red Sox are still competing this year.
And now that the Rays and Red Sox are tied for the Wild Card lead, Crawford was asked about his former teammates and what they may be going through…
“They’re just real relaxed,” Crawford said. “They’re confident.”
Crawford would know. And it also sounds like he is implying that the Red Sox are not. And that’s why, even though the two teams are tied, it sure feels like the Rays have the advantage.
Sep 20
- Off-Day (click image for random Wikipedia page)
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: Closer. The Red Sox and Orioles split their double-header yesterday, so the standings still say that the Rays are trailing by 2 games in the Wild Card race. But more importantly, the Rays now only trail by 1 game in the all-important loss column. Remember, a team can make up wins. They cannot make up losses.
THE BAD: The Oops Factor. What if the Rays come up a game or two short? Will we applaud their ability to just be competitive enough to make the Red Sox sweat? Or will we remember that Andy Sonnanstine made four starts for the Rays this season and the Rays were 0-4 in those starts? Or will we remember that big league-ready Desmond Jennings languished in the minor leagues for 1,000 at bats while the Rays continued to start Sam Fuld, even though there was nothing in Fuld’s past that suggested he could keep up his early pace for an entire season?
THE TELLING: The Rays are 20-11 in games started by James Shields this season…The Rays have yet to decide on a starting pitcher for Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Another one of Fenway’s quirks may have cost them the first game of yesterday’s double-header. Where is the outrage? [Big League Stew]
- Wade Davis is excited to make today’s start in Replica Yankee Stadium. [TampaBay.com]
- John Romano explores how the Rays have been able to close the gap on the Red Sox. [TampaBay.com]
- Marc Topkin takes a look at how the Rays have approached this pennant race with a “light-hearted approach.” [TampaBay.com]
- Carl Crawford is worried about the “haters” at the Trop? What about the Red Sox fans that already want him traded? (thanks Rg) [Boston.com]
- Back in the preseason, one Boston newspaper declared this Red Sox team the “best team ever!” [@hawthe]
- Mark Simon breaks down James Shields’ season. [ESPN]
Sep 19
It was the most important game of the year for the Red Sox. But Carl Crawford found himself out of the lineup, replaced by Conor Jackson, a guy that has been with the Red Sox for less than three weeks.
This came after Crawford apologized to Red Sox fans for his crappy season in his latest “diary” entry for ESPN.com.
Crawford also says he will use the booing by Rays fans as motivation to get better…
Now that I am in a Red Sox uniform, I definitely hear the boos when I go back to Tampa, like our recent trip we made there. When I was in left field, I definitely heard heckling there. It was a bunch of haters in left field pretty much. Hey, it’s cool. I understand. The thing is, they’ve got to realize they’ve got to deal with me for another six years. I struggled this year and I’ll give them this year. But I am definitely, definitely going to remember all that has happened when I’m trying to work out and get better in the offseason, those haters will be on my mind — just know they have another six years to deal with me.
The “haters” in the left field stands at The Trop will be Crawford’s motivation to get better? That’s strange. You would think it would be his desire to, you know, help his team win, and to start living up to that $142 million contract. You would also think he would be motivated to get better this season, considering the Red Sox have yet to clinch anything, in part because of Crawford’s poor play.
But hey, if he needs a handful of haters at the Trop to suck less (starting next year), then good for him.
Aug 18
It has now been a month since the Rays (finally) promoted Desmond Jennings to the big leagues for good. And what we have seen so far has been more than we could have hope for.
In 23 games, Jennings has shown a great bat (.337 AVG), a penchant for getting on base (.416 OBP), speed (9 steals), power (5 HR and 14 xbh), and a gold glove-caliber glove.
If you project those numbers over 162 games, Jennings would hit .337 with 35 home runs and 63 stolen bases. Of course, he wouldn’t do that over a full season, but that does give you a sense of how good he has been in his first month.
Meanwhile, the other guy manning left field the last two days in Fenway Park, Carl Crawford, will make more money this week (~$560 thousand) than Jennings would have made this year even if he spent the entire season with the Rays (~$414 thousand).
And if we compare the numbers of the two outfielders, we see just how good Flash has been for the Rays and just how bad Crawford has been for the Red Sox…
Through Tuesday’s games
Crawford is eventually going to turn it around. And Jennings will come back to Earth a bit. But so far, we see why it was such an easy decision to let Crawford walk.
Aug 06
- Rays 8, A’s 4 (click image for boxscore)
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: Reaching New Heights. What in the world has gotten into Jeff Niemann? The Giraffe worked into the 9th inning for the first time in over a year going 8.2 innings. And his efficiency was amazing. And outside of the 9th inning, he appeared to get stronger as the game went deeper, needing just 17 pitches combined to get through the 7th and 8th innings. And now, in his last 6 starts he has a 1.69 ERA with 42 strikeouts and 10 walks (42.2ip)…Bossman. BJ Upton had just his third 3-hit game of the year, and was on base 5 times.
THE BAD: Sean Rodriguez. Since hitting his home run last weekend, Rodriguez is 0-11 with 4 strikeouts and no walks.
THE TELLING: The Yankees are now a game up on the Red Sox and the Rays are 9 behind the Sox…Jeremy Hellickson’s next start will be Monday…Look for Robinson Chirinos to steal some starts versus lefties from Kelly Shoppach in the near future.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- “…with more than 50 games to go, the Rays…are already eliminated from the playoffs…This would be the equivalent of the New York Jets being eliminated from the playoff race at 6-5.” [Business Insider]
- Evan Longoria got a new puppy, Jango (on the right). David Price’s dog is on the left (thanks Caity). [Image]
- Joe Maddon says the 6-man rotation will Read the rest of this entry »
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Nationals have “cooled on BJ Upton,” noting that they have other options.
