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]
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.
Off-Season (click image for random Wikipedia page)
Curious as to what the city of Miami is getting for their $2 billion? The Marlins new stadium is nearly done, and you can get a close-up look over at BI Sports. [BI Sports]
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Jose Lobaton has been sidelined from his winter league team due to weakness in his shoulder. The Rays don’t sound worried. But when do they ever? [TampaBay.com]
It looks like the next big Japanese import is heading to the AL East, but not to the Yankees or Red Sox. [BI Sports]
Troy Renck of the Denver Post says the Marlins are interested in Wade Davis. [@TroyRenck]
At the opening of the 2011 Winter Meetings, Joe Maddon met with the media and answered a number of questions. You can read the full transcript HERE. But if you want the Cliffs Notes version, you will find it below…
On who will play shortstop…
It’s an open competition is what it is [between Sean Rodriguez and Reid Brignac]. I thought Sean did really well at the end of last year. Sean probably exceeded our expectations what he’s going to be able to do defensively. Even as offense I think there’s a lot of room for improvement there, too. But Sean is a wonderful baseball player and that’s why we love to have him on the field. Reid one of the better young defenders, I think, at shortstop in the game. Obviously did not have the offensive year that we were looking for, so he needs to really pick up there. Again, talking to both of them, they’re both aware that they’ll be battling it out for that job in Spring Training.
On the bullpen…
You’ve got Kyle [Farnsworth] and Joel [Peralta] and then [Jake McGee and Brandon Gomes], I don’t know exactly where J.P. Read the rest of this entry »
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: Big Dub. Wade Davis joins the complete game club with his first of the season. It was the Rays 15th, and now David Price is the only pitcher in the rotation without one. Davis tied his season-high of 8 strikeouts and did not walk a batter…JJ Dyn-O-Mite! Joe Maddon didn’t rest any of his regulars last night and some of surprise names provided most of the offense. The big blow was a 3-run home run by John Jaso that gave the Rays an early 3-0 lead.
THE BAD: Up Top. Joe Maddon went with a new top of the order twosome of Desmond Jennings followed by BJ Upton. That’s a lot of speed. But as they say, you can’t steal first base. And last night those two combined to go 1-10 with 6 strikeouts.
THE TELLING: The Rays are now trail the Red Sox by 5.5 games (5 in the loss column)…With the Durham Bulls eliminated from the playoffs, Joe Maddon said 1-2 players will be promoted immediately (Dan Johnson, Matt Bush?) and some more may come later…Rays are now 7-5 against the Red Sox this season.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Jose Lobaton was held out one extra day, but is hopeful to return tonight. [TampaBay.com]
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: Cleaning Up. He is still not getting a lot of hits, but it seems that every time he does, he is driving in a run or two. Last night his double in the first gave the Rays an early 2-0 lead, that would hold until the 7th inning.
THE BAD: Coming Undone. David Price cruised through the first 6 innings, retiring 18 of the first 21 he faced with 10 strikeouts. In one stretch, he retired 15 of 16 with half of those batters going down on strikes. But then everything unraveled in the 7th. with 1 out and a runner on first and a 1-2 count to Mark Reynolds, Price then threw 7 of the next 8 pitches out of the strikezone, walking back-to-back batters and loading the bases. A sac fly and 2 singles later, the Rays 2-0 lead is now a 3-2 deficit…Coming Undone part 2. After scoring 2 in the first and getting a leadoff double from Jose Lobaton in the second, only 3 of the next 22 batters would reach base, and two of those were retired on double-plays. As fans, we can watch Price and think he isn’t giving up any runs. As a hitter, you can’t do that.
THE TELLING: Ben Zobrist had to leave the game early with stiffness in his neck…The Durham Bulls clinched their 5th straight division title…The Rays chances of making the playoffs have now fallen below 1 percent.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Jose Lobaton is going to get a nice long look in September. [TampaBay.com]
Joe Maddon is still dreaming of a playoff spot. But if that can’t happen, his next goal is the third best record in the AL. [Rays Report]
Bucs great Lee Roy Selmon suffered a stroke yesterday. Afterwards, there was an unfortunate situation caused by Selmon’s own PR staff in which it was reported that Selmon had died. [Business Insider]
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: Hellboy. Let’s just pretend that Josh Hamilton home run never happened. And yes, we hate it when managers defend an outing by saying “he made one bad pitch.” In this case, that one bad pitch didn’t make a difference. The Rays weren’t scoring last night if the game went 18 innings. And any pitcher will take 6 innings and 2 runs against the Rangers offense. If there was a black mark it was the walks. Once again Hellickson struggled with his control walking 4 (1 intentionally). When Hellboy is great, he is a control and command wizard. But this season his strikeout-to-walk ratio is only about 2-to-1. He needs to be at least 3-to-1 and maybe more like 3.5-to-1.
THE BAD: Sunk by the Sinker. Prior to the 9th inning, the Rays hit a grand total of 3 balls out of the infield. And one of those was a groundball single…Not My Longo. It is not often you see Evan Longoria get cheated on swing. But with 2 outs in the 9th, two runners on base, and 2 strikes, Dirtbag got a cutter down-and-away and while just protecting the plate, hit a weak groundball to second base for a game-ending double-play.
3B Russ Canzler was named International League MVP. Prior to last night, Canzler was 4th in the IL with a .312 avg, and leads with a .932 OPS. Canzler joins Dan Johnson, Kevin Witt, Toby Hall, and Steve Cox as Rays prospects to win the IL MVP award. [@SteveCarney]
Dirk Hayhurst writes about his release by the Rays. [DirkHayhurst.com]
John Romano jumps on the Desmond Jennings-for-Rookie of the Year bandwagon. [TampaBay.com]
[Ed. note: This was put together before news broke that Lobaton was going on the DL. However, we still think the comments are relevent. The difference now is that the Rays may want Lobaton to get his timing back in the minors before bringing him back.]
Joe Maddon spoke about Jose Lobaton prior to the catcher’s first start last night. And while Maddon is never short of praise for his players, he sure sounds like Lobaton is ready to be big league catcher and is not just an injury fill-in. And if that’s the case, as long as he doesn’t look overmatched at the plate, Lobaton could be here to stay (via TampaBay.com).
We would have never guessed in a million years that we would be sad that Robinson Chirinos has been called up. But as much as we love Jose Lobaton, this one hurts.
Marc Topkin reported late last night that Lobaton sprained his knee in last night’s game and has been placed on the DL. Chirinos has been called up to take his spot on the roster.
Chirinos, who came over in the Matt Garza trade, was hitting .265 with 5 home runs and a .342 OBP at triple-A. Those numbers don’t look so hot, but considering he hit .176 in April, Chirino has been better lately. In 11 games in July, Chirinos was 12-37 (.324) with 3 of his 5 home runs coming this month.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Nationals have “cooled on BJ Upton,” noting that they have other options.
