It is time to update our look at who is playing where and when during spring training. In short, we can gain some insight into what Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman have in mind for the regular season by looking at how they are using the players during the spring.
Apparently ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian is a popular baseball TV personality to impersonate. And the latest, from the Rays’ own Elliot Johnson might be the best one yet.
It is starting to look more and more like the Rays opening day lineup will consist of players currently on the roster. But that won’t stop the Rays from adding a player to bolster the bench.
The one thing all three of these guys have in common is they can play shortstop. Keppinger and Theriot can also play second base and the corner outfield spots, which would make them perfect for a bench spot on a Joe Maddon team.
Off-Season (click image for random Wikipedia page)
We are back from our little mini-vacation and find that John Sickels of Minor League Ball ranks the Rays farm system as just the seventh-best in baseball...
Impact depth behind Matt Moore has slipped but this is still a robust organization.
Although, we would point out that Moore is pretty damn good. And depending on who you talk to, is probably the best prospect in baseball.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
The Tigers are interested in Johnny Damon. [MLBTR]
But according to Joel Sherman, Johnny Damon “badly” wants to sign with the Yankees. Of course, Damon had zero interest in the Yankees two weeks ago when he thought he still had a shot with the Rays. [@Joelsherman1]
The A’s are “very interested” in signing Manny Ramirez. But it is unclear if that interest has changed with the A’s signing another former Rays player, Johnny Gomes. [MLBTR]
If the season started today, the 2012 payroll would be approximately $56.9 million, an increase of 38.4 percent over last season. This is based on raises already built into existing contracts, and projected salaries for arbitration-eligible players and players in their first three seasons.
Here is the breakdown of the projected payroll. Notes on the table, and additional thoughts can be found below…
Notes on the projected 40-man roster and payroll…
The Rays currently have 40 players on the 40-man roster. However, Justin Ruggiano is out of minor league options and we don’t see spots for him on the opening day roster unless somebody gets hurt.
The Rays announced their roster for the ALDS and there are some surprises. In the bullpen, Joe Maddon kept Wade Davis instead of Jeff Niemann. Not the biggest upset ever, but Niemann has proven that he can be dominant in short relief stints. It is possible that Niemann is not healthy.
Also, Maddon chose to go with three catchers, keeping Jose Lobaton. This leaves a big question mark in right field versus lefty starters, something the Rangers will use in three or four of the games in this series.
Without Brandon Guyer or Justin Ruggiano, it would seem that Ben Zobrist will be in right field versus lefties, even though he hasn’t started a game there in over a month. And if Zobrist is in right field, who is at second base? Sean Rodriguez is the obvious answer. But that means Elliot Johnson is the Rays starting shortstop. Yay?
Another possibility is that Zobrist stays at second base, and either Sam Fuld or Matt Joyce is in right field against the lefties. But that seems unlikely.
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: The Summer of Kotch Continues. His 3-run double in the 6th turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead the Rays would never relinquish…Justin Ruggiano. Keep riding that train. His 2-run home run was the icing on a very tasty cake…Johnny Damon. His second 4-hit game in two weeks.
THE BAD: Niemann’s Gas. We’ll never figure Jeff Niemann out, and now might be a good time to finally move him to the bullpen. First of all, Niemann pitched well last night. However, his fastball, which was 93-94 early in the game, was 89-90 by the 6th and 7th innings. A big strong guy like him should be able to maintain his velocity. So why not give him 2 inning stints late in the game where he can just let it go and not worry about getting tired? Yes, his value is higher to the team as a starter. But moving forward, this team might be better with Alex Cobb in the rotation and Niemann in the 7th and 8th.
THE TELLING: The Rays may have screwed up by leaving the cigar off the logo, but man, they got the hose right.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
The Rays acquired triple-A pitcher Matt Torra from the Diamondbacks for cash.
Even George Hendrick, inventor of the long pants in baseball, got caught up in the striped hosiery. [30fps]
It looked like Evan Longoria tried to smoke his Smokers uni. [Image]
Sometimes Merlot Joe’s mixing and matching works perfect. Sometimes it blows up in his face. Today was a little of both but more so the juggling of lineups like shuffling a deck of cards worked for the Rays skipper.
John Jaso sits for Kelly Shoppach. Boom! Two-run homer.
The immortal Elliot Johnson plays short for Briggy. Boom! Three-run homer.
The Legend of Sam Fuld pinch-hits for Justin Ruggiano and the Legend of Sam Fuld gets a hit and scores a run.
That was the good. Then there was the bad that almost looked like it might sink the Rays.
Fleet-footed Prince Fielder embarrassed the Rays and Merlot Joe after a Williams shift was staged with one out. Instead of pulling the ball, Fielder tapped it down the third base line for a single and the Brewers later loaded the bases on Goggles before scoring a run.
What’s the point of a shift with a four-run lead with only two outs to go to win the game? Even without the shift, Fielder is not much of a candidate to beat out an infield single. Strange call and it appeared was the opening to an awful comeback.
Overall, the mixing and matching worked. Today. This time.
This was a nice series win by the Rays. Beating a division-leading squad two out of three on the enemies’ home turf is a damn good thing.
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: Casey Kotchman. 4 more hits and he is now hitting .345. And he saved the biggest hits for the end. His 2-out single in the 9th tied the game. He then added an RBI-double in the 11th…Zorilla. Big night for Zobrist who had 4 hits, driving in 1…BJ Mays. If you haven’t seen the catch yet, you should click here. Upton, doing his best Willie Mays impersonation, saved David Price a run in the first inning…Justin Ruggiano. Not to be outdone, Ruggiano made his own run saving catch, robbing a home run over the left field wall. Of course, at Camden, that is like dunking on an 8-foot rim.
THE BAD: Joel Peralta. Another meltdown for Peralta who blew a 4-4 tie in the 8th when he gave up 2 singles and 2 walks, including one with the bases loaded. And it might have been much worse if Reid Brignac doesn’t make a nice stop on a hard hit groundball that might have taken a wicked hop…Evan Longoria. Hey, if you are going to be the leader of this team, and you come up with a runner on third and 1 out in the 9th inning needing 1 run to tie, you have got to do better than a popup to the pitcher’s mound.
We have long thought that Elliot Johnson looks a lot like Garth Algar (AKA Dana Carvey). Then we found this team photo in which EJ is not wearing a hat…
