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: Carl Crawford. Yes Carl Crawford. Normally, we would have destroyed Crawford for tagging up and getting thrown out at third to end the game. But we had zero problem with CC trying to force a play with 2 outs in the 10th. With Mo Rivera on the mound, you have to try and do something. Anything. And while the standard rule is never make the last out at third base, we like the idea of CC forcing a throw which in theory could have been kicked away. To us, that seems more likely than getting a 2-out basehit…The Bullpen. After Matt Garza and Jake McGee put the Rays in a 6-0 hole, Chad Qualls, Joaquin Benoit and Rafael Soriano shut down the Yankees and allowed the Rays to erase the 5-run deficit and take a 7-6 lead…Postseason. If these teams do meet in October, we are in for an epic showdown. It will be Rocky vs Ivan Drago all over again.

THE BAD: Matt Garza. At what point do we start to get concerned about the “September Soreness”? And at what point does “September Soreness” turn into “October Costing-Rays-Postseason-Gamesiness”?…Joe Maddon. This is nitpicking a bit, because we understand why. But one thing we cringe at with Maddon is that he will give up on a game a little earlier than we would like. In this case, it was using Jake McGee in the 5th. And even worse was sticking with McGee in the 6th even though only 4 of his 13 pitches were strikes in the 5th. Certainly we would rather see JoeMa do his experimenting and confidence building in blowouts, but if the game was indeed a blowout, why not save McGee for the 8th or 9th inning when there is less of a chance of coming back.

THE TELLING: Durham lost game 1 of the Governor’s Cup Finals. Game 2 is tonight in Columbus…Carlos Pena was dropped to 7th in the lineup…Willy Aybar set a team record with his 15th pinch hit of the season, a home run.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 87-57, one-half game behind the Yankees (tied in the loss column) and 6.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 144 games in 2008, the Rays were, yep, 87-57.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Matt Garza talks about his latest poor outing (Video). [The Heater]
• Versus will broadcast the triple-A championship game on September 21 which will include the champion of the International League. The Bulls are currently down 1-0 in the Governor’s Cup Finals. [Durham Bulls]
• Matt Garza says he felt fine, saying he just tried too hard. [St. Pete Times]
• Jon Paul Morosi on the AL Cy Young Award:

  Read the rest of this entry »

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: Carlos Pena. Yes he has been in a funk (a realllly bad funk) but he has always been streaky and the defense will always be there. First there was the catch to end the 7th with the tying run on second. And there was the 8th inning double to end a 1-42 skid…BJ Upton. Bossman has got to be tired after flying back to Florida for the birth of his son and then returning to LA the next day. And yet he can still make a long run and sliding grab with 1 out in the 9th of a 1-run game look so easy (if not pretty).

THE BAD: Swingin’ And Missin’. 14 strikeouts by Rays hitters. 12 from the right arm of Jared Weaver in 7 innings.

THE TELLING: In the 8th inning of a 1-run game with a runner in scoring position, Joe Maddon had Willy Aybar pinch hit for Pat Burrell against a right-handed batter. Ouch. One has to wonder why Burrell is even on the roster if he isn’t even trusted in that situation…The last time the Rays won a series in Anaheim, Wilson Alvarez was the starting pitcher and Jose Canseco and Dave Martinez hit home runs (May, 1999)…For all the heartaches of this road trip, the Rays still went 6-3. And their 1.5 game lead at the start of the trip, is still 1.5 games. Not bad for a west coast swing. Not bad at all.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 24-10, 1.5 games ahead of the Yankees and 5 games ahead of the Blue Jays and Tigers in the Wild Card. After 34 games in 2008, the Rays were 18-16.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• For those of you that submitted questions for The Sporting News interview with Matt Garza, we have been told that Rays Index readers “will be well represented.” You make us proud.
• We shouldn’t be surprised but it is still a bit of a letdown to hear Joe Maddon essentially say John Jaso will be sent packing when Kelly Shoppach returns. [St. Pete Times]
• John Romano calls for the Rays to finally rid themselves of Pat Burrell and replace him with Hank Blalock. [St. Pete Times]
• Tim Brown takes a closer look at the Rays rotation. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Nicole Johnson (Elliot’s wife): “Something you may not know about baseball families is that they *try* to get pregnant during spring training.” [The Life of the Baseball Wife]
• Shane Dyer and Henry Wrigley were named the Rays minor leaguers of the month. [Tampa Tribune]
• Andrew Friedman spoke with WRAL in Durham. Nothing earth-shattering here, but if you have 10 minutes to kill… (audio) [WRAL]
• Yesterday was apparently “Delmon Young Day.” Whatever that means. [Twins Target]
• DRays Bay looks at why we might not have to worry about Carlos Pena. [DRays Bay]
• John Jaso spoke to Roger Mooney about the first month and taking responsibility for Monday’s loss (video). [Tampa Tribune]
• Brian Shouse hasn’t retired, but he is now working as a coach for a high school in Illinois. [Peoria Journal-Star]
• You can count the nose hairs in this interview of Reid Brignac…Pan out, PAN OUT! (video) [Tampa Tribune]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
• DURHAM: Richard de los Santos made his 3rd start and worked into the 6th inning, allowing 2 runs. He struck out 5…Ryan Shealy and Angel Chavez homered for the Bulls…Desmond Jennings was 1-4 with 2 strikeouts and is hitting .270…Hank Blalock went 1-4.
• MONTGOMERY: Alex Cobb allowed 2 unearned runs in 4 innings. He struck out 4 and walked 1…Nevin Ashley was 3-4 to raise his average to .294…Greg Sexton hit his 1st home run and John Matulia added his 3rd.
• CHARLOTTE: Nick Barnese struck out 9 and walked just 1 in 5.2 innings, but dropped to 3-2 after giving up 3 runs on 7 hits…Leslie Anderson hit his first home run as a pro…Tim Beckham went 1-4 and Matt Sweeney was 0-4.
• BOWLING GREEN: Ryan Wiegand hit his first home run.

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: The Story. After Dallas Braden retired all 27 Rays that he faced, the story wasn’t about the Rays. The story was about how Braden had somehow been vindicated and made Alex Rodriguez look even more like an idiot. Nobody likes being no-hit. But everybody likes it when A-Rod looks like an idiot.

THE BAD: The Same Story. Seven of the nine batters in the Rays lineup yesterday have now been on the losing end of a perfect game twice. That is two more than 99.9%* of the players in the history of Major League Baseball.

THE TELLING: Thanks to the Red Sox win over the Yankees last night, the Rays are still THE BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL. And the Rays are still on pace to win 117 games. Of course, they are also on pace to be no-hit 6 times this year…Joe Maddon has now been on the losing end of 4 no-hitters, 3 of which were perfect games…JP Howell will throw batting practice for the first time on Friday.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 22-9, a half game ahead of the Yankees in the East and 4 games ahead of the Blue Jays in the Wild Card. After 31 games in 2008, the Rays were 16-15.

• Don’t forget, if you want to ask Matt Garza (or his chin super-pubes) a question, here is your chance. Questions need to be in by tonight. [Rays Index]
• If you missed it yesterday, here is a look at how hitters respond after being on the losing end of a perfect game. [Rays Index]
• Also, if you were off the grid this weekend, here is Evan Longoria’s craptastic hairdo. [Rays Index]
• Willy Aybar will now be the starting DH versus lefties and will share duties with Pat Burrell versus righties. We will have more on this later. [St. Pete Times]
• Cuban defector Leslie Anderson will join high-A Charlotte today and could be a September call-up for the Rays. [The Heater]
• Marc Topkin spoke with Scott Kazmir about facing the Rays for the first time on Tuesday. [St. Pete Times]
• We all know Rocco Baldelli occasionally takes batting practice with the Rays. But when the Rays are on the road, he is working with Rays minor leaguers. Last week he was in Bowling Green and the Bowling Green Daily News spoke with Rocco. [BG Daily News]
• Peter Gammons calls the Rays rotation “the best rotation in the game” and “one of the best stories of the first five weeks.” [MLB]
• Randy Choate has rebounded well from a rough start to the season. [DRays Bay]
• A very, very in-depth look at Jeremy Hellickson’s loss. [Triangle Offense]
• Where are they now? 2009 first-round pick LeVon Washington. [USA Today]
• Joe Maddon is not concerned about Carlos Pena’s batting average. [St. Pete Times]
• When the Pirates acquired Aki Iwamura, they weren’t worried about his surgically repaired knee. Maybe they should have been. [MLB]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
• DURHAM: Jeremy Hellickson picked up his first loss, getting touched for 5 runs in 5 innings on 8 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 3…Desmond Jennings made his first start in 2 weeks and went 1-5…Hank Blalock hit his 4th home run and added a double in 4 at bats…Fernando Perez tripled in 2 at bats.
• MONTGOMERY: (no game scheduled)
• CHARLOTTE: (no game scheduled)
• BOWLING GREEN: Kyle Lobstein dropped to 1-2 after giving up 5 runs in 5 innings on 9 hits and a walk. He struck out 5…Ty Morrison was 4-5 with a triple and 2 RBI…Tyler Bortnick was 3-5 with 2 doubles.

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: Wade Davis. Big Dub’s control was better (55 strikes, 31 balls). And his curveball was great. If not for the weather and the 12-run lead, he could have easily worked deeper than 6 innings…Jason Bartlett. His second 3-hit game in the last 3 days raises his batting average 50 points. And his RBI single in the 3rd got the scoring started…BJ Upton. Two more hits, including a double, and both were to right field…Sean Rodriguez. Rodzilla started at second and picked up 3 hits including his first home run and 4 RBI.

THE BAD: First Inning. We had a heart attack in our butt when Mark Buehrle struck out the side in the first. But Upton’s double in the second ended an 0-52 stretch against White Sox pitchers by Rays not named Carl Crawford.

THE TELLING: Ben Zobrist, in a 3-28 slump, got the night off and Willy Aybar missed the first of two games to be with his expecting wife…John Jaso will start today against the right-hander and all of the sudden this series with the White Sox is exactly what some of has hoped for the catching position months ago…It is early, but PECOTA says the Rays now have a 79.8% shot at the playoffs…Tonight’s game will be found on 970 AM as 620 AM is bumping the Rays for the NFL Draft.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 11-4, one-half game behind the Yankees and 2.5 games ahead of the Blue Jays and Mariners in the Wild Card race. In 2008, the Rays were 6-9 after 15 games.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Joe Maddon was not happy with umpire Joe West who Maddon felt had rushed him during a pitching change on Tuesday. [The Heater]
• Jonah Keri once again joined Bill Simmons on his podcast to talk all things Rays and also to try and help Red Sox Nation back from the cliff. [JonahKeri.com]
• Jon Paul Morosi is pushing the panic button on the Red Sox early on…let’s keep in mind that the Red Sox had two stretches of 15 games in 2007 as bad as the current one and they still won the World Series. [Fox Sports]
• Maybe we missed something, but it seems as though John Kruk is advocating that the Rays not trade Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena and that they should make a push for the playoffs even if they are 15 games back at the trade deadline (thanks Thad). [ESPN]
• BJ Upton headlines Joe Lemire’s list of players that have something to prove this season, noting Upton’s offseason work and his early strong start (thanks Thad). [SI.com]
• The HART busline is looking into bus service to The Trop for Rays games, but it may not be legal. [Tampa Tribune]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
• DURHAM: Virgil Vasquez, the player acquired from the Pirates for cash before the season, allowed 5 runs in 4.2 innings…Joaquin Benoit retired all 4 batters he faced, striking out 2…Hank Blalock hit his first home run in the Rays organization…Dan Johnson hit his league-leading 7th home run…Desmond Jennings was 1-5 with a walk and 2 steals…Fernando Perez was 3-5 with a walk and his 8th stolen base.
• MONTGOMERY: Jake McGee allowed 1 run and struck out 3, but had to leave after 2.1 innings because of a leg injury…Nevin Ashley was 2-4.
• CHARLOTTE: Nick Barnese struck out 8 and walked just 1 in 5 innings, but did give up 10 hits and 4 runs…Tim Beckham went 2-4 with a double…Matt Sweeney was 0-2 with 2 walks…Henry Wrigley hit his 2nd home run.
• BOWLING GREEN: Wilking Rodriguez gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 6 innings with 2 strikeouts and 1 walk…Bowling Green managed only 3 hits. There are 60 single-A minor league teams. Only Kinston in Southern League (.568) has an OPS worse than Bowling Green (.577).

Last night it was announced that Hank Blalock agreed to a one-year deal with the Rays for $925K with up to $350K in bonuses based on plate appearances. There is an opt-out clause in the contract that would allow Blalock to become a free agent if he is not on the 25-man roster on April 1.

Earlier today, when asked why he signed with the Rays, Blalock had a not-too-endearing response…

“Well, I didn’t have any other choice. So that’s why I’m here.”

Marc Topkin clarifies that Blalock is “excited for the opportunity.” Still it sounds like he and Pat Burrell will get along splendidly.

So does Blalock have a shot at making the roster? The bench would seem set with Dioner Navarro, Gabe Kapler, Willy Aybar and either Sean Rodriguez or Reid Brignac.

But something strange happened today.

Topkin reportsthat the Rays gave Blalock his customary #9, which was being worn by Elliot Johnson this spring (Johnson will switch to #37). This may mean nothing, or it may mean everything.

It is unusual for a non-roster invitee to be given their usual number if it is already being worn by another player. Typically a switch is only made if the player makes the opening day roster. This move might suggest that the Rays believe Blalock has a good shot at making the team.

If Blalock does make the team, who is out of a job (assuming no injuries)? The obvious answer is Aybar, who has yet to play this spring with a nagging wrist injury.

When spring training began, Aybar’s job seemed as safe as anybody’s. But with Blalock on board, the next three weeks may be a battle between Aybar and Blalock for a spot on the Rays bench. And Blalock may already have a slight edge.

Then again, Blalock smells more like Morgan Ensberg than Carlos Pena.

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 is showing the one thing Dioner Navarro can’t do even in a good year, hit home runs. Shoppach went deep for the second straight game…Jake McGee. McGee retired 4 of the 5 batters he faced, striking out 2…Justin Ruggiano. Ruggy’s nailed a runner at the plate to end the 8th and keep the score tied…Reid Brignac got two more hits and is now 6-10 this spring.

THE BAD: Pat Burrell. In the third inning with the bases loaded, one out and a rookie on the mound, The Bat grounded into a double-play to end the inning…Heath Phillips. Phillips blew a 2-run lead in the 8th and has now allowed 6 runs in 3.2 innings…Gabe Kapler. He got off to a slow start in 2009 and 2010 is not much different. He led off yesterday going 0-4 and is now 0-8 this spring.

THE TELLING: Desmond Jennings returned to action and went 2-2 with a a single and a double. He is expected to get his first start today…Sean Rodriguez got his first start at second base and his third start at three different positions…RJ Swindle is not expected back for a while…

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• The Hardball Times has introduced their “THT Forecasts” for the 2010 season. We did the write-ups for the Rays players. [The Hardball Times]
• Marc Topkin writes that the Rays are very close to a deal with Hank Blalock. [The Heater]
• Marc Topkin says Willy Aybar will be taking batting practice soon and that Matt Joyce is being hampered by a sore leg. [St. Pete Times]
• In the same piece, Joe Maddon still hasn’t decided whether Evan Longoria will bat 3rd or 5th, with Ben Zobrist taking the other slot. [St. Pete Times]
• The Rays are working with Randy Choate to be tougher on righties so that he can be called on to work through those tough lefty-righty-lefty situations. [MLB]

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: Sean Rodriguez. 3 games, 3 home runs. And for the third straight day, his HR might not have happened without the wind, just clearing the center field fence with the wind blowing out. Still, there is a lot to like about his compact and simple swing that does generate a lot of bat speed and power. He also added a triple and double and has a leg up on the battle for playing time at second base…Jeremy Hellickson. In his first appearance in a Rays uniform, Hellboy did not disappoint. In 1.1 innings he allowed only one baserunner. He threw a few more balls than you would like (9 balls, 14 strikes), but he did have 5 swing-and-misses and struck out both Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira. The Teixeira K was especially impressive, battling back from a 3-0 count. But our favorite moment was the Curtis Granderson at bat. With a runner on third and 1 out, Granderson hit a slow roller back to the mound. A young pitcher making his debut might get happy feet in that situation. Hellboy was cool, calm and collected. Gave the runner a glance and then threw easily to first base for the out. It would have been easy to rush that play, but Hellickson slowed it down and that showed us a lot.

THE BAD: David Price. It wasn’t necessarily a bad outing, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings. But it took King David 42 pitches to record 5 outs…Mike Ekstrom. Ekstrom is a longshot for the bullpen, and yesterday didn’t help. He faced 6 batters, and 5 of them scored…Another Injury. This time it was RJ Swindle who somehow managed to hurt himself while throwing a 55mph pitch…

THE TELLING: Sean Rodriguez started in left field. While his bat has been impressive, his ability to play the outfield is what gives Rodriguez a strong edge over Reid Brignac for a roster spot. Joe Maddon loved what Ben Zobrist brought to the team last year and Rodriguez can potentially be the same type of player, playing anywhere in the field and wherever JoeMa needs him…Andy Sonnanstine will make the start today versus the Red Sox and he will be followed by Wade Davis.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Marc Topkin writes about Jeremy Hellickson’s strong debut. [St. Pete Times]
• Tony Fabrizio speculates that we won’t see JP Howell until “around March 15.” [Rays Report]
• Tony Fabrizio reports that Willy Aybar played catch and took light swings yesterday with “no issues.” [Tampa Tribune]
• Peter Gammons suggests that competitive balance could be enhanced if the Red Sox and Yankees are moved to different divisions. [MLB]
• Marc Topkin reports that Yogi Berra asked Evan Longoria for his autograph prior to the game…We are guessing that the ball is for Yogi’s museum. [The Heater]
• The Sarasota Herald-Tribune interviewed Tim Beckham. [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
• Roger Mooney has 5 questions for Jeff Niemann. [Tampa Tribune]
• Big League Stew has Aki Iwamura’s new “Topps” card in which his Rays uniform has been photoshopped into a Pirates uni. You can see that the photo was obviously taken at The Trop. [Big League Stew]
• A video report from Andy Freed on the first week of games. [FS Florida]
• Bill Chastain writes about Reid Brignac and his fight for a big league job. [MLB]

The Rays open the spring season today with a game against the Orioles…

The Professor: Baby Prof? I need to see you right away. It’s important.
Baby Prof: [Crawling over to the couch] Wass goin on?
The Professor: [sighs] We got 35 big weeks ahead of us. It’s baseball season, kid!
Baby Prof: You sanbaggin’ son of a poop diaper!
The Professor: I’ve got us down for 18 of them already.
Baby Prof: More on TV?
The Professor: Great question. I like where your head’s at and almost all of them actually are, but I got us covered: The extra innings package, MLB.tv and MLB At Bat on the iPhone.
Baby Prof: Hehe! *burps*
The Professor: We are gonna have tons and tons of opportunities to watch amazing baseball players that might actually figure out how to move a runner over in the late innings this year.
Baby Prof: Derwick Shetton iz teach them?
The Professor: Grab that bat and watch that beautiful game, pal! What do you like better, Winnie the Pooh or Baseball Season?
[Baby Prof raises both hands and a leg]
The Professor: Miss Prof?
Baby Prof: Bassbawl! *poops her diaper*

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Jake McGee is slated to throw one inning today and Jeremy Hellickson will throw tomorrow.
• Justin Upton signed a 6-year, $51million contract that will delay his free agency by two seasons…This leaves us wondering if this deal might push BJ Upton to sign a long-term deal. We have to believe that BJ always believed he would cash in first. [USA Today]
• Dan Johnson is working out at third base for the Rays…This is important if Willy Aybar’s wrist continues to be a problem. Johnson could potentially take Aybar’s spot on the bench to start the season. The alternative would be to keep both Reid Brignac and Sean Rodriguez who are currently battling for the backup middle infielder role. [St. Pete Times]
• Marc Topkin has a list of 10 things to watch for this spring. [St. Pete Times]
• Tony Fabrizio says there are few questions to answer in the spring. [Tampa Tribune]
• It is behind the Insider wall, but a new blog at ESPN.com has a story on Matt Garza as “One2Watch4 in 2010,” noting his odd splits in which he dominated lefties but struggled against righties. [ESPN]
• Tony Fabrizio has 5 questions for Jeremy Hellickson. [Tampa Tribune]
• In their march through the top pitching prospects, Rays Prospects profiles #2, Jeremy Hellickson. [Rays Prospects]
• It is from a fantasy perspective, but he is another Rays preview. (thanks Thad) [Fanhouse]

Michael Sasso has more details on the proposed development of the Fairgrounds…

The developer proposing a massive entertainment complex at the Florida State Fairgrounds envisions a project worth up to $1 billion, with professional baseball and soccer stadiums and up to 2,600 hotel rooms, state and Florida State Fair Authority documents show.

The developer did add that the idea of including a baseball stadium is “not motivating any of this,” suggesting that the development could easily proceed without the stadium.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Willy Aybar says his wrist is feeling better. Of course, supposedly it was feeling fine before Wednesday’s workout and then he took batting practice. [Rays Plays]
• Cuban pitcher Juan Yasser Serrano held a private workout for the Rays last week. Serrano, 22, has a fastball in the low-90s, but has been unspectacular while pitching in the Cuban league. In 2008 he was 2-7 with a 6.46 ERA. Serrano has worked out with at least 10 clubs. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• If there is one player in baseball that deserves a celebrity roast it is Manny Ramirez. If there are two players it would be Manny and Pat Burrell. The Fightins took care of the latter. [The Fightins]
• RotoTimes examines the red flags surrounding BJ Upton. [RotoTimes]
• Four spring games will be broadcast on the MLB Network. [Rays Prospects]
• A fun, if unrealistic question: Would you trade Desmond Jennings and Reid Brignac for Zack Greinke? [Royals Review]
• Bradenton Herald writes about Aki Iwamura’s first spring with the Rays. [Bradenton Herald]
• Lance Cormier talks about ‘Bama football, Rafael Soriano and his personal goals for 2010. [Tampa Tribune]

Joe Maddon spoke about what he expects from BJ Upton…

When you’re coming in injured or off of surgery, you have all those questions in the back of your mind. You have to break all those mental adhesions to get yourself going again. It was a tough year for him last year—he didn’t really have a spring training and really had to get himself in shape during the major league campaign. So now he’s coming off a full offseason with good health, and he’s had a chance to work with Shelty [hitting coach Derek Shelton] for a couple months now. I know he’s coming in here with a different feeling and attitude. I think he looks really good—he looks a little bit stronger, bigger. And I know he’s going to really get it going. The meeting we had was very informative and good.

We know it is unusual for JoeMa to sing one of his players praises. Wait. Reverse that. Still…oh mama.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• The Rays released part of their Summer Concert Series which is a who’s who of AARP acts. [St. Pete Times]
• Willy Aybar came to camp and reported that the wrist injury he suffered during winter ball was completely healed. Well, he didn’t even last one workout as he has been shelved for a week after he felt pain when hitting. [The Heater]
• Joe Maddon on Rafael Soriano: “Just think of him as Troy Percival…He resembles Percy in his game planning and how he wants to get ready for the season”…Oh, great. [Tampa Tribune]
• David Brown writes about what Matt Joyce did this off-season to make the team. [Big League Stew]
• The Good: Carlos Pena calls Tampa Bay “the best place on Earth to play baseball.” The Bad: Pena says he knows it won’t last forever. [Tampa Tribune]
• Gerry Hunsicker says it would take “extraordinary measures” for Desmond Jennings to make the jump to the big leagues this season. He also stated that it would be difficult for the Rays to keep Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena. While it is a bit surprising that Jennings has little shot at a promotion, even in September, the second part is akin to saying women are attracted to Evan Longoria. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• Big League Stew previews the Rays. [Big League Stew]
• What is more strange about this story? Evan Longoria eating by himself at a bar, or Joe Maddon happening to walk into the same restaurant by himself and deciding to join Dirtbag for dinner? [St. Pete Times]
• Rise of the Rays makes a case for trading Carl Crawford before the season starts. [Rise of the Rays]
• Matt Silverman spoke on several topics including the recent developments in the search for a new Rays stadium. Silverman says he is “encouraged that the regional dialogue is taking place.” He must have missed the part where St. Pete threatened to sue anybody that even thinks about building a new stadium in Tampa. [The Heater]
• Meanwhile, if Tampa wants to keep hosting Super Bowls, the city will need a new football stadium in the near-future. [Joe Bucs Fan]
• The developer that wants to put a new Rays stadium in the Channelside area of Tampa originally wanted to put the new stadium in the Tampa Heights area. [Tampa Tribune]
• Ben Zobrist’s position this season will be decided during spring training and will likely depend on what other players do. But if you are keeping score at home, Zorilla worked out with the infielders on the first day. [Rays Plays]
• Does Ben Zobrist have the best nickname in baseball? One writer thinks so. [Tauntr]
• Not sure why, but there is something creepy about this post and what may or may not be a young fan’s crush on Evan Longoria. [Big League Stew]
• Bill Chastain writes about what may be Elliot Johnson’s last shot to make the Rays roster. [MLB]
• Roger Mooney has 5 questions for Dan Wheeler. [Rays Report]
• Derek Jeter calls Tampa “home.” [Tampa Tribune]