Archive for the 'Aki Iwamura' Category

Jun 24

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Stadium Situation That Is Going To Get Uglier Before It Gets Better

Aki Iwamura, Jeremy Hellickson, Leslie Anderson, New Stadium, Wade Davis Cork Gaines 16 Comments »

Much has been made of our “proposal” yesterday in which we suggested the only regional answer for a new Rays stadium would be for Tampa and St. Pete to literally share the Rays. We never said it was the best idea, or even a good idea. We simply believe it to be the only way in which the Rays get what they want (a stadium in Tampa) and St. Pete doesn’t get royally screwed. And for all the criticism, nobody has proposed a better solution, or any solution for that matter.

So if you think the idea is “silly” or “dumb,” fine. We don’t have a problem with that. But if there isn’t a better idea for regional cooperation, then either the Rays are going to move, Stuart Sternberg is going to sell or the the two sides are heading for a lengthy and ugly court battle that will probably end with the Rays moving or selling.

Why? Because there is absolutely no reason for St. Pete to let the Rays out of their contract. Let’s face it, even if the two cities are somehow able to overcome their boundaries as Sternberg suggests, once the Rays move to Tampa, the Rays will be Tampa’s team and St. Pete, their residents and their businesses will be left out in the rain.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • When asked after Tuesday’s game about the possibility of replacing Wade Davis with Jeremy Hellickson in the rotation, Joe Maddon said “That’s not been a discussion.” [Tampa Tribune]
  • Here is a goodd write-up on the Rays recent signee from Cuba, Leslie Anderson. [Mop-Up Duty]
  • Martin Fennelly says the Rays can’t afford to not make the moves necessary to get back to the playoffs this year. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Bill Conlin says baseball only belongs in Florida in March. [Philadelphia Daily News]
  • Aki Iwamura has accepted the demotion to triple-A and will not become a free agent…Also, did we know that Iwamura had a blog? It must be in Japanese. We feel like we let you guys down. [The Mainichi Daily News]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: Richard de los Santos gave up 3 runs, but lasted only 2.2 innings, having given up 5 hits, 3 walks and hitting a batter…Desmond Jennings was back in the leadoff spot, going 2-4 with a double and his 17th steal…Matt Joyce was 1-4 with a double…Dan Johnson hit his 17th home run and drove in 4.
  • MONTGOMERY: David Newmann gave up 5 runs on 6 walks and 7 hits in 4 innings…Nevin Ashley hit his 2nd home run and Matt Fields added his 9th.
  • CHARLOTTE: (no games scheduled)
  • BOWLING GREEN: (no games scheduled)
  • HUDSON VALLEY: Devin Fuller gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk. He struck out 2…Derek Dietrich was 1-4 with a double.
  • PRINCETON: Andrew Bellatti who was involved in an off-season car accident that killed another driver, made his first start of the season, going 5.1 innings, allowing 1 run on 1 hit and 2 walks. He struck out 5…Bryan Fogle went 2-3.
Jun 18

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss 21 Games Of Sucktitude

Aki Iwamura, Charlie Montoyo, Dioner Navarro Cork Gaines 14 Comments »

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 BAD: 9-12. When the Rays left Houston on May 23, they were 32-12. Since then the Rays are 9-12. Nine and $#@%ing twelve. That is 21 games of sucktitude. And 13 of those games were at home. 21 games is now beyond the normal ebbs and flows of a season…That’s all today. Feel free to leave your “Good” and “Bad” in the comments.

THE TELLING: Jason Bartlett was not in the starting lineup…Dioner Navarro now has a 3-game hitting streak. His longest such streak in 2009 was 4 games.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 41-25, tied for first in the AL East and 2 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 66 games in 2008, the Rays were 38-28.

COMMENT O’ THE DAY: (Charles) Montgomery’s top 4 starters (Jeremy Hall, Alex Torres, David Newmann, Jake McGee) have only given up 8 home runs in 48 starts covering 253 innings. That’s mighty impressive

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Marc Topkin has a list of more draft pick signings. [St. Pete Times]
  • Ryan Shealy who began the season with the Durham Bulls, exercised an opt-out clause in his contract and became a free agent. He then signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox. [Twitter]
  • The Pirates admit that they did not request a physical for Aki Iwamura before trading for the former Rays second baseman. [AP]
  • Rays Prospects has the Hudson Valley roster. It includes 9 of this year’s draft picks. [Rays Prospects]
  • Ben Zobrist played host before a recent game to an 11-year old that endured the recent floods in Nashville (video). [The Heater]
  • Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo will manage the IL All-Stars for the triple-A all-star game. [Biscuit Crumbs]
  • Here is a piece on Pepsi’s new ad campaign which includes Evan Longoria, among others. [NY Sports Journalism]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: Heath Phillips picked up the loss despite giving up just 1 run on 4 hits and no walks in 7 innings. He struck out 5…Desmond Jennings and Matt Joyce were a combined 0-7 with a walk (Joyce).
  • MONTGOMERY: David Newmann failed to get out of the 4th inning, giving up 7 runs (4 earned) in just 3.2 innings. He allowed 8 hits…Hitters 1-8 in the Montgomery lineup went a combined 1-27.
  • CHARLOTTE: Frank de los Santos threw 7.1 shutout innings with 8 Ks and 2 walks…Tim Beckham was 1-4.
  • BOWLING GREEN: Jason McEachern struck out 7, but allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings…Chris Murrill was 3-5 to raise his average to .319 and stole his 27th base.
May 04

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Jonah Keri’s Upcoming Book, Aki’s Rough Start And Why The Rays Will Never Move To Connecticut

Aki Iwamura, Chris Richard, Jonah Keri Cork Gaines 16 Comments »

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

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Jonah Keri’s upcoming book on the Rays will tentatively be called “The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Thinking Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First” and will be co-marketed as a business book. [Twitter]
  • Bob Nightengale of USA Today describes the Rays rotation as the best in baseball. [USA Today]
  • Joel Sherman is the latest to suggest the Rays should move to Connecticut. While Sherman acknowledges territorial issues, he apparently doesn’t realize that this would NEVER happen. Greenwich, Connecticut is 25 miles from Yankee Stadium and many of the Yankees wealthiest fans live in Connecticut. The Yankees would allow a team to move to Brooklyn before they let a team take Connecticut. [NY Post]
  • Marc Topkin writes about what Sunday’s game did for Sean Rodriguez’ confidence…Also, the Rays will likely face 6 lefties during this 9-game road trip. [St. Pete Times]
  • Joe Smith writes about Reid Brignac’s transition to most-days big league second baseman. [St. Pete Times]
  • Tony Fabrizio writes about Ben Zobrist’s surprising lack of power. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Aki Iwamura is off to a rough start in Pittsburgh. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
  • The Rays sit atop What If Sports power rankings which uses a simulation engine to play out the remainder of the season. [What If Sports]
  • The Rays are also on top of Phil Rogers’ latest power ranking. [Chicago Tribune]
  • Chris Richard set up his own fan page on Facebook. [Facebook]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: Jeremy Hellickson improved to 5-0 with 2 runs allowed in 7 innings. he allowed 4 hits and no walks while striking out 8. After giving up a lead-off home run, he retired 19 of the next 20 batters he faced…Joe Dillong hit his 3rd home run and Fernando Perez hit his first, a 3-run shot…Hank Blalock was 2-5 and is hitting .347 early on.
  • MONTGOMERY: In the second game of a double-header, Darin Downs allowed just 1 hit, 2 walks and a hit batter in 6 shutout innings. He struck out 5. It was just his second start, but he now has 23 strikeouts and just 5 walks in 23.0 innings this season…Cody Cipriano hit his first home run of the season in game 1.
  • CHARLOTTE: Frank De Los Santos gave up 2 runs in 7 innings, striking out 9 and walking 2…Jake Jefferies had a triple and 2 RBI.
  • BOWLING GREEN: Wilking Rodriguez gave up 3 runs in 5 innings on 8 hits and a walk. He struck out 2…Brett Nommensen hit a 3-run home run, his first of the season.
Feb 28

Why People Shouldn’t Write About Things They Know Nothing About

Aki Iwamura, Kelly Shoppach, Rafael Soriano Cork Gaines 10 Comments »

The Sports Banter attempted to rank the off-season improvements of every MLB team. Despite the Rays filling their one hole (closer) with a proven commodity (Rafael Soriano) and only having to pay for the player with a four-A pitcher, the Rays are near the bottom of the rankings…

(25) Rays: I was critical of Tampa Bay last offseason and have no reason to ease off the gas here (insert lame Toyota joke here). The Rays – essentially – traded Akinori Iwamura for Rafael Soriano and his $7.25m salary. They also acquired C Kelly Shoppach from the Indians for a PTBNL… and that’s about it.

Solidifying the back end of the bullpen will help (albeit at a hefty cost), but for a team on the cusp of competing, more could have and should have been done. Now, the Rays need to depend on their farm system to produce, and to produce quickly, if they have any hopes of playing deep into October.

Rule #1 for any writer: Research is your friend! Try it some time.

First of all, Aki Iwamura was traded because Ben Zobrist can do the second base job much better (8.6 WAR vs 1.3 WAR) at a fraction of the cost ($450K vs $4.25M). Considering the alternative was declining Aki’s option, getting anything for him was a “win.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Feb 27

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Florida State Fairgrounds, Aybar’s Wrist And A Cuban Pitcher

Aki Iwamura, BJ Upton, Juan Yasser Serrano, New Stadium, Pat Burrell, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

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]
Dec 14

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Aki’s Class, Montoyo’s Hardware And The Fail Of Closer Committees

Aki Iwamura, Charlie Montoyo, Grant Balfour, Joe Maddon, Matt Capps, Rafael Soriano Cork Gaines 6 Comments »

Akinori Iwamura took out a full-page ad in the Sunday St. Pete Times (click on image to see a larger versions), thanking the Tampa Bay Rays and their fans. Classy move by a classy guy.

In related news, the guy that sold the full-page ad was taken to the hospital after six straight hours of doing the Ed Lover Dance*.

*he may have only been doing the Ed Lover Dance in his head

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • The Rays avoided arbitration with yet another player, this time agreeing to a one-year deal with Grant Balfour for $2.05 million. We had The Mad Australian projected at $2.1 million. [The Heater]
  • Durham manager Charlie Montoyo was named the Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America. [MiLB]
  • Joe Maddon spoke with the Boston Herald about the downfall of using a closer-by-committee. This is the biggest reason most people (including us) feel closers-by-committee can’t work: Pitchers can be warn out from too much warming up during a game. This happens because the manager doesn’t always know how a situation will play out 2-3 batters down the line. [Boston Herald]
  • Closer Matt Capps was non-tendered by the Pirates. There has been some rumbling that the Rays would be a good fit. One writer even said the Rays are “very interested.” However, it was unclear if that was insider info or speculation. While the Rays may be interested now that he is a free agent, John Perrotto said they had no interest in Capps during trade talks, saying they were “leery” of his 2009 performance (it sucked). [Inside Pittsburgh Sports]
  • Roger Mooney writes that the ability to acquire Rafael Soriano only happened after the market changed by Soriano accepting arbitration from the Braves. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Keith Law breaks down the trade for Rafael Soriano (insider subscription needed). [ESPN]
Nov 20

[VIDEO] Several Rays Get Their Mohawks On Prior To Game 5 Of World Series

Aki Iwamura, Carl Crawford, Grant Balfour is the Mad Australian, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

The Rays, not surprisingly, are off to a slow start in the Hot Stove. What do we do when things are slow? We of course turn to YouTube. As a wise man once said, if you can’t find anything interesting on YouTube, you just aren’t trying.

Here is a somewhat mesmerizing video of several Rays getting mohawks prior to game 5 of the World Series. The players include Carl Crawford, Aki Iwamura, Willy Aybar and Grant Balfour. The barber in question is apparently a “barber for the baseball stars”. He even has his own website!

A couple of notes…

  • Japanese for Mohawk is apparently “Mo-hee-can”, which we guess makes sense.
  • Aki’s English has gotten much better than we realized.
  • Balfour will never win an Academy Award.
  • If Balfour ever tries to high-five Tiger Woods, the universe might implode.

Jul 28

[THE HANGOVER] Rays Can Only Manage Split In KC

Aki Iwamura, Al Reyes, Gary Glover, Jason Hammel, Joe Maddon, Troy Percival Cork Gaines 3 Comments »



THE GOOD: Got nothin’

THE BAD: Using the batting practice jerseys during a game. We have made our feelings known about this in the past. And we are not the only ones that hate the idea…Yet another GIDP for Carl Crawford…Anytime Jason Hammel is in a game. Not just because it is Hammel, but because he is like the Grim Reaper of the Rays. He only comes into games when death is imminent.

THE TELLING: Got Nothin’

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Gary Glover is ready to come off the DL, but did not go with the team to Toronto, even though he was in Kansas City. Marc Lancaster feels that this is a sign that Glover will be Designated for Assignment in the next day or two. That means the Rays will have 10 days to trade him. If they don’t, the Rays will release him or try to send him to Durham. He can then opt to become a free agent. [Rays Report]
  • Following Saturday’s game in which Aki Iwamura failed to score from first on a 2-out bloop double, Joe Maddon ripped into the team, with one player describing him as “borderline irate”. [St. Pete Times]
  • Joe Maddon made it clear that Troy Percival is the Rays’ closer…The quote below is exactly why we believe that Percival should give up the 9th inning, if just for a week or two. If his mechanics are not 100%, we do not understand why Percival is closing games. [MLB]

“His arm feels good, but I still think he’s working his way through the body mechanics of coming off a leg injury,” Maddon said. “As he becomes more comfortable with that, I think you’ll see more strikes on a more consistent basis.”

  • Troy Percival is not the only reliever struggling recently. Add Al Reyes to that list. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Well, the Rays are still in first place, but (no surprise here) they are not getting any respect. The New York Post says that the weekend series between the Yankees and the Red Sox apparently proves that the Rays will be the team without a chair when the music stops at the end of September. [New York Post]
  • As the Rays head to Toronto, Joe Maddon says their last game above the border was the day the Rays proved they were a playoff contender. [Bradenton Herald]

“That night meant a lot to me because we could easily have caved in,” Maddon said. “We could have caved in the ninth, and we did not. We came back. And when you’re on the road playing so many extra innings you have so many ways in which you can lose that game, and we did not. We had the mental resolve to battle through that.”

  • The Ledger takes a look at the unorthodox style of Joe Maddon. [Lakeland Ledger]
Jun 28

[THE HANGOVER] Rays Are Riding Red Hot Bats Of Longoria And Crawford

Aki Iwamura, Carl Crawford, Coco Crisp, Evan Longoria Cork Gaines 7 Comments »



THE GOOD: Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford are red hot. Last night they combined for 7-10 with a double, 2 home runs and 4 RBI. For CC, it was his 6th multi-hit game in his last 8 and 3rd home run in the last 3 games. For Dirtbag, he is 10 for his last 16 with 4 doubles and 3 home runs in his last 3 games. He has raised his average 24 points in 3 days to .272…The Pirates TV play-by-play guy on Eric Hinske’s 3-run home run in the 3rd. It was hit so hard, that the announcer called “second 3-run homer hit by a tampa player today” right off the bat and long before the ball landed.

THE BAD: Scott Kazmir lasted only 5 innings, needing 103 pitches. His fastball had no consistency. He was everywhere from 87-93 on the gun…Carl Crawford really is a horrible left-fielder. On Freddy Sanchez’ home run in the 4th, CC zig-zagged all over the place, looked at the wall a half-dozen times and still was afraid to reach for the ball that bounced off the top of the wall. Keep in mind that the wall is only about 7 feet tall. It could have easily been caught. And when he did jump (too late), the pocket of his glove was facing the fans in the stands. the ball would have hit the back of his glove. Good Times…Not to be outdone, BJ Upton misplayed a line drive right at him with 2 outs in the 6th. Instead of getting JP Howell out of the inning, Upton broke in on a ball hit over his head turning an out into an RBI double and getting the Pirates back within 3….PNC Park is apparently now playing the Saturday Night Live Cowbell Skit every night…

THE TELLING: Carlos Pena was back in the lineup for the first time, batting 6th. He was 0-3 with a walk and a sac fly…With Aki Iwamura set to start his suspension, Willy Aybar will get his first start at second base since 2006…The Rays maintain their 4 game lead over the A’s in the wild card race.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Don’t forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven’t voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
  • Akinori Iwamura’s suspension was not reduced and Coco Crisp’s suspension was reduced from 7 games to 5…Huh wha?!? Crisp was the one that bowled over Aki. Crisp was the one that charged the mound. And he had his suspension reduced? By two games? Unfortunately Crisp will miss the upcoming Rays-Red Sox series at the Trop. We would love to see that idiot get another ball in the backside. [The Heater]
  • Rays the Stakes has a very unique perspective on the Pirates series. [Rays the Stakes]
  • Apparently one of the Bugs and Cranks writers hates the Rays Blogosphere. We are confused by the reasoning. [Bugs and Cranks]
Jun 25

[THE HANGOVER] Marlins Giftwrap The Rays 45th Win

Aki Iwamura, Brian Fuentes, Jason Bartlett, Joe Maddon, Troy Percival Cork Gaines 6 Comments »



THE GOOD: Aki Iwamura’s 2-run home run in the 3rd. How did that get out of the park? That looked like a lazy flyball off the bat. In fact, it was Aki’s 200th career home run…The Top of the 8th could very easily fall in the bad category if not for a little help from the Marlins. Down 1 with top of order up. Aki Iwamura did what he had to do. He got on base with a ground ball single through the right side. Willy Aybar then laid down a perfect drag bunt down the third base line that never went foul. Carl Crawford then tried to sacrifice the runners over or tried to drag bunt. Either way, it was a rare site to see CC try to bunt and it went foul. After fighting off several pitches, CC eventually hit a chopper in between first and second that was fielded by the first baseman. Crawford beat the pitcher to the bag to load the bases with no outs with BJ Upton and Evan Longoria due up. This should be 2 runs easy. Two batters later it is still bases loaded, 2 men are out and the Rays failed to score. Good times. But Dioner Navarro saved the day. While Upton swung and grounded into a force out on a questionable 3-1 pitch, Navi held up on a 3-2 pitch that was called ball-4 and the Rays tied the game. And then Eric Hinske followed with another bases loaded walk to take the lead. And that folks is why the Marlins are not long for the penant chase…The defense in the bottom of the 9th. With a 3 run lead and the bases loaded with only 1 out in the 9th, Evan Longoria dove to his left and barely snagged a ball and forced a runner at second. A run scored. But it would have been two with only 1 out and a man on third if Dirtbag doesn’t make that play. Then with the tying run on second and 2 outs, a ground ball between first and second is snagged by Aki Iwamura in shallow right field. He threw to first to end the game.

THE BAD: Andy Sonnanstine needed 102 pitches to get through 5 innings and was pulled early, again. This is the 6th straight start in which Sonnanstine could not finish at least 6 innings…Evan Longoria losing a pop up in the 4th inning and Jason Bartlett not getting there in time to make the play and letting a run score to tie the game at 2. That really should have been Bartlett’s ball all the way…Jorge Cantu hit what should have been a single on a ground ball into left center with a man on first. Only the ball went to the left of Carl Crawford’s glove and then bobbled by BJ Upton. The runner would score the go-ahead run all the way from first base…The Rays won another game in which Troy Percival sucked. This time he actually closed the door despite walking 4 batters in the 9th. Eventually the Rays are going to lose one of these games.

THE TELLING: Andy Sonnanstine sacrificed in the 5th. It is strange to see the Rays attempt a sac bunt. They are currently last in the majors in sac bunts, with 10…Troy Percival has the hardest 89 mph fatball we have ever seen. Is it a slow gun? An optical illusion? We have no idea. But it sure looks to be cooking a lot faster. And the batters seem to agree when he is in the strikezone…The Rays are only scoring 4.53 runs per game. Last year the Rays scored 4.83 runs per game.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Don’t forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven’t voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
  • Joe Maddon was none-to-pleased after the game, which is a sign that we are seeing a new Papa Joe. Last year he would have been dishing out sweet-nothings left and right after a game like this. [Rays Report]
  • Despite 4 walks, Troy Percival moved into sole possession of 9th place on the all-time saves list. To celebrate Bugs and Cranks gave Percy a new mustache. [Bugs and Cranks]
  • The Rays are expected to announce a 2-year delay in their push for a referrendum for a new stadium…The biggest hurdle appears to be the desire by the City Council to explore other locations for a new stadium. [Ballpark Frankness]
  • Jason Bartlett will miss the next two games to be with his wife who is expecting. Aki Iwamura is expected to begin serving his suspension on Friday when Bartlett returns…Also, Troy Percival says his hamstring is still bothering him and is the reason he is struggling with his control. [St. Pete Times]
  • Ken Rosenthal says that the Rays are one of several teams that are interested in Rockies closer Brian Fuentes, who is a free agent at the end of the year. [Fox Sports]
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