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: Ummm. The Rays had an opportunity to cut the lead to half a game. And we are supposed to come up with something “Good”? You try it.
THE BAD: Carpe Diem Fail. The Red Sox are serving up the Wild Card on a silver platter. They are begging the Rays to take it. The Rays have now lost 5 of their last 8 and are 4-5 on this 11-game road trip. Does that sound like a team making a push for the playoffs?
THE TELLING: The Rays have now scored 2 runs or less in 51 of their 155 games (32.9%). That is 3rd in the AL…Kyle Farnsworthcould return Friday…For the second straight season, Rafael Soriano recorded the save to clinch the AL East.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
There will be some free parking for Friday’s game. [TampaBay.com]
The Tampa Chamber of Commerce is trying to figure out where money for a new stadium might come from. [TampaBay.com]
Marc Topkin explains how Ben Zobrist’s daughter got her name. [TampaBay.com]
Stadium Journey made a trip to the home ballpark of the Bowling Green Hot Rods. [Stadium Journey]
Fox Sports Florida captured this shot of bullpen coach Bobby Ramos in the bullpen last night…
Our first reaction was that Ramos had found himself a new b*tch. That is Adam Russell dishing out the massage. And if you remember, we saw a similar image last year.
Rafael Soriano was introduced to the New York media yesterday. And during the press conference, Brian Cashman admitted that he was not in favor of signing Soriano and that he had no hand in the negotiations.
Also, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News appeared on WFAN in New York City and added his own twist to the Soriano “hissy fit” saga with the Rays.
“I talked to some people in Tampa who said initially he was not a fan favorite in the clubhouse. But that people did like him eventually. That he sort of found his way.”
That take is much more believable than the version Bill Madden gave a few days ago and jives more with what we saw on the field. It was in the second half of the season that the other players began rallying around MFIKY with the shirt-untucked celebration after games.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the coaches and front office didn’t still have a problem with Soriano. But it definitely fits better with what we saw as fans.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
I have been working on a new feature over at Business Insider, the “Chart of the Day.” Check out this one on how long it took Floridians to learn how to spell Dwyane Wade’s name. I post a new chart everyday. [Business Insider]
Yesterday, we linked to a report from Bill Madden of the New York Daily News that said among other things, that many in the Rays organization had a problem with Rafael Soriano and referenced a “hissy fit” Soriano allegedly threw during game 5 of the ALDS.
Roger Mooney spoke with Joe Maddon who denies he ever had a problem with Soriano, and says he is unaware of Soriano getting upset during the ALDS.
Of course, we wouldn’t expect JoeMa to say any different, but we also have no reason to think he is lying. So we have a he-said, tabloid-said situation. Who you got?
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Jon Heyman says the Rays are still in on Johnny Damon. That may be, but we have to believe that he is at-best, their third choice behind Vladimir Guerrero and Manny Ramirez. We will have more on this later, but the Rays have a stronger need for a right-handed bat at this point. [Twitter]
Gabe Kapler is close to signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers. [Twitter]
We already heard that Rafael Soriano’s free agency was only about making the most money when Buster Olney reported that Soriano would sign to be a bullpen catcher if the team paid him enough. So he is a greedy bastard. Most people are.
But now we learn that Soriano was not well-liked among people in the Rays organization. In fact, according to Bill Madden, most hated Soriano…
But losing his No. 1 draft pick wasn’t the only thing that bothered Cashman about signing Soriano. The 31-year-old Dominican’s makeup is – and should be – of great concern. Despite his league-leading 45 saves and 1.73 ERA, Soriano was hated by almost everyone in Tampa Bay last year. His periodic hissy-fits over being brought into games in non-save situations, or being asked to pitch more than one inning wore thin on Rays manager Joe Maddon. The final straw was the last game of the season – Game 5 of the ALDS versus Texas – when Maddon asked Soriano to pitch the ninth inning with the Rays trailing, 3-1. After throwing a tantrum in the bullpen in front of all his fellow relievers, Soriano trudged into the game and promptly gave up a single to Nelson Cruz and a game-breaking homer to Ian Kinsler.
Oh yeah. They’re going to love him in New York. Unless you regularly pee your pants, you probably shouldn’t be throwing hissy fits.
Are you sitting down? You will want to sit down for this. Rafael Soriano has agreed to a contract with the *gulp* Yankees. For a lot of money: Three years, $35 million. And with that, Soriano’s new nickname will be MFIKTRTFEM (Mother F***** I’ll Kill The Rays Too For Enough Money, it is pronounced “Carl Crawford”).
So after saying he wouldn’t give up his first-round pick for Soriano, Brian Cashman just gave the Rays his first-round pick. And with that, the Rays now have three first-round picks and six “sandwich” picks between the first and second rounds, which will certainly please the crowd that likes potential over the product at the big league level.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Jon Heyman says the Rays are one of several teams showing interest in Jon Rauch. The reliever saved 21 games for the Twins last year, with a 3.12 ERA and 2.94 FIP. [Twitter]
Scott Boras pumps up a few of his clients, all three of whom (Johnny Damon, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez) have been on the Rays radar. [MLB Trade Rumors]
Marc Topkin writes about the struggles of Tim Beckham, who is quickly becoming an after-thought in the Rays organization. [TampaBay.com]
It is no secret that Rafael Soriano was an important factor in the Rays run to their second division title in three years, converting 40 of his 43 save opportunities. That translated to a league-leading CLOSER+ of 107.
CLOSER+ compares a pitcher’s save total to that of an average closer, by classifying saves into three categories: Easy, Regular and Tough*. 100 is average and a number greater than 100 means the pitcher did better than an average closer.
We can then compare how Soriano performed in each of the three categories compared to the average AL closer…
Soriano’s conversion rate for easy and tough saves was about the same as closers in general meaning he converted the expected number of easy and tough saves. Where he excelled in 2010 was converting 19 of 20 regular saves (95.0%). AL closers converted only 82.8% of regular saves. An average AL closer would have only converted 16.6 of 20 regular saves.
Brian Cashman appeared to make it clear that the Yankees would not sign Rafael Soriano when he said the Yankees “will not lose [their] No. 1 draft pick.” He went on to say that he would have given up the team’s top pick for Cliff Lee, but not for anybody else.
But then Jon Heyman had this to say via Twitter: “Yankees still in on Soriano.” Heyman also adds that the White Sox don’t appear to have a need for Soriano, and that the Angels could go after him, but that they need hitting more.
Does this mean the Rays could be a dark horse?
Don’t count on it. In addition to wanting a several-year deal and many more millions than the Rays are willing to spend on a reliever, there is also the indirect cost of two draft picks. While the Rays wouldn’t have to surrender any picks to sign Soriano, they would lose the two picks they would receive if Soriano signs with another team.
The idea of bringing MFIKY back is a nice one. It is also not a realistic one. Then again, it wasn’t very realistic a year ago either.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Chris Archer may have been the best prospect in the Cubs’ system, but Top Prospect Alert says he is only the 6th best in the Rays system (see right column). [Top Prospect Alert]
The Yankees talked to the Rays about Matt Garza but were left with the impression that it would cost the Yankees more because they play in the same division as the Rays. [NY Daily News]
Here is a good write-up on the five players acquired by the Rays in the Matt Garza trade. [Baseball America]
Peter Abraham shows that the Red Sox are one team that is not sorry to see Matt Garza leave the AL East. [Boston.com]
Kent Sterling offers 5 reasons Cubs fans should hate the Matt Garza trade. [Kent Sterling]
Rafael Soriano was introduced to the New York media yesterday. And during the press conference, 
Yesterday, we linked to a report from Bill Madden of the New York Daily News that said among other things, that many in the Rays organization had a problem with Rafael Soriano and referenced a “hissy fit” Soriano allegedly threw during game 5 of the ALDS.
We already heard that Rafael Soriano’s free agency was 
Are you sitting down? You will want to sit down for this. 
Brian Cashman appeared to make it clear that the Yankees would not sign Rafael Soriano when he said the Yankees “
