Tampa Bay Rays (18 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 7, Spankees 6. Andy Sonnanstine got his first start of the spring and looked sharp going 3 scoreless and giving up only 1 hit. He did not walk a batter. Troy Percival pitched another perfect inning in the 5th. Both veteran non-roster invitee catchers saw playing time with Mike DiFelice getting the start. He went 0-2 with a strike out, while Josh Paul had a single in two at bats. The Yankees were 4-4 in steals against Paul. Reid Brignac who now has an outside shot at being on the roster for the first week or two as the Rays backup shortstop played late and went 2-2 with a walk. John Rodriguez played right for a while and went 1-2 with a double and 2 RBI. Jon Weber the other leading candidate for the 4th outfielder spot saw time at all three outfield positions going 1-4 with an RBI. Joe Maddon’s decision is likely to be based on who can handle center better, which rules Eric Hinske out. Evan Longoria started at third and had a walk in 3 plate appearances. Hinske relieved Longoria while Willy Aybar received one plate appearance as a first baseman.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Oh It’s Those Girls recreated yesterday’s brouhaha with the aid of various toys and bobble heads. Excellent work, with our favorite detail being the use of AJ Pierzynski bobble-head to represent Shirley Duncan. [Oh, It's Those Girls]
• You remember Shirley Duncan, don’t you? He’s is the little bitch that thinks a second baseman keeps his glove near his groin. [The Heater]
• Jonny Gomes hopes everything is “under the rug” but doubts it. While Joe Maddon called the play “borderline criminal”. [New York Times]
• Marc Lancaster has several quotes from the Rays in regards to the Shirley Duncan slide. BJ Upton called it a “dirty play” and Troy Percival noted that this play was not typical of the way the Yankees play the game, which might be the biggest insult anybody can lob at Shirley. It is one thing to play for the Yankees. It is something else entirely to be a Yankee. [Rays Report]
• Big League Stew says yesterday is “The day the Rays finally became a real MLB franchise”. [Big League Stew]
• This past weekend we linked to this Yankees blog for their idiotic rant after the home plate collision. Now they are back at it. This time they make fun of Jonny Gomes for being so foolish for attacking somebody as big as Shirley Duncan…I can forgive Yankees fans for not knowing about baseball players that makes less than $12 million a year and isn’t a future hall-of-famer (re: future Yankee), but Gomes is not a small man and he did not grow up attending private schools the way Shirley did. We’ll take Gomes and we’ll take our chances. [Joblog Chamberlain]
• Another Yankees blog blames Yesterday’s fracas on Joe Maddon…and goes on a long-winded non-sensical ignorant rant against Maddon citing the incident last year when Joe Torre checked Akinori Iwamura’s bat as another example as to why Maddon is “a pompous, sarcastic wise ass” and he should “Lay off the beer for a little while, so you stop bursting blood vessels around your nose and so you can reduce the size of the unsightly gut”. [The Analytical Typical Yankees Fan]
• Brian Anderson had to be pulled after facing only three batters after feeling “something strange” in his left elbow. Anderson is attempting a come-back after two Tommy John surgeries. [Tampa Bay Rays]
• Chris Mason was reassigned to minor league camp. [Herald-Tribune]
• Would the Dodgers want Joel Guzman back? They are suddenly short on third baseman and if Guzman does not make the 25-man roster, he must be traded or released as he is out of options. [Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness]
• Baseball Happenings has a personal affinity for Rocco Baldelli and they will be rooting hard for him to get back on the baseball field…We will too…We will too. [Baseball Happenings]
• Members of the Columbus Catfish and the Montgomery Biscuits received their championship rings yesterday. [Montgomery Advertiser]
• The Montgomery Biscuits extended their Player Development Contract with the Rays for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. [Montgomery Advertiser]

Tampa Bay Rays (24 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 6, Philies 4. Akinori Iwamura and Carlos Pena went deep. James Shields started, going three innings. He allowed 6 hits and 2 runs, both on a home run. Willy Aybar came on late and played first base making only one putout. Ben Zobrist played center field for the first time, but did not make a play. He is scheduled to start in center today. Evan Longoria started at third, going 0-2 and Shawn Riggans started behind the plate going 0-2.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Rays pitchers have missed out on 8 innings of work after yesterday’s second consecutive rain shortened game. As a result, the Rays and Phillies will play what amounts to an intersquad scrimmage for 3-4 innings after today’s regularly scheduled game. Some pitchers that were originally scheduled to pitch today and tomorrow may get bumped for those that missed their turns the past two days. This includes Wade Davis and Jake McGee as well as David Price and Brian Anderson who were scheduled to make their spring debuts tomorrow. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Scott Kazmir may be ready to go on opening day after all. After watching Kid K throw yesterday, Joe Maddon thinks Kaz can pitch in a spring game by the end of next week and that would have him back on schedule to be ready for opening day. If Kaz does make the opening day start we expect he will be limited to 80-90 pitches. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Joe Maddon is starting to see his lineup take shape as he longs for the day when he can use the same lineup every game. The top four spots in the lineup appear to be set, as are the last two. The 5-7 spots are still up in the air and will be filled by the right fielder, third base and DH. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  
• Troy Percival worked a perfect fourth inning yesterday in his first live spring action. He is only expected to make 7-8 more appearances. Percy explains why he does not need very much work in the spring. [Bradenton Herald]

“When I was younger, it was more mandated to me, and I wanted to throw more, but then I found, ‘You know what? I’m ready,’ ” he said. “It takes me usually three innings before my mechanics start coming around, and then I started giving a little more effort. Then it takes me two more innings before my mechanics get dialed in at 100 percent. Then I like one or two more innings, and I’m ready to go.”

• Brittany Ghiroli takes a closer look at Reid Brignac and John Jaso. Brignac modified his throwing mechanics prior to the 2007 season which led to only three errors in his final 43 games at AA Montgomery. Jaso feels his bat is progressing fine, he just feels he needs to improve and develop more as a catcher. [MLB]
• The relief pitchers will have a new spot to hang out in during games this year at the Trop. The Rays consulted several of their relief pitchers on the changes. [Tampa Bay Rays]
• The Bradenton Herald profiles Shawn Riggans. We love that Diesel was once fired for drag racing cars that he was valet parking. [Bradenton Herald]
• Chris Mason was excused from camp for a family emergency. He is expected back today. [Rays Report]
• Bleacher Report previews the AL East and predicts the Red Sox will run away with the division. Of course, that is like predicting the sun will come up tomorrow. [Bleacher Report]
• Joe Posnanski previews the AL East…in Haiku. [Joe Posnanski]
• Rays Anatomy follows suit with their own Haikus for each member of the Rays. [Rays Anatomy]
• Opponents of the Rays new stadium claim that to recent articles have tainted the bidding process for the redevelopment of Tropicana Field by suggesting that the Hines Group has already secured the bid…You mean journalists sometimes jump to conclusions that are not based on fact? We are shocked. [Tampa Tribune]

Tampa Bay Devil Dogs (43 days until opening day)
DRG here again to get you through the weekend…

Joe Maddon noted that he hopes that the Rays will become a better baserunning team in 2008 with the addition of Dave Martinez as bench coach. He also stated that the biggest factor in deciding the last two spots in the rotation will be the ability to throw strikes consistently.

Five pitchers are vying for the final two spots in the rotation. Four of those players pitched for the Rays in 2007. Let’s take a look at their ability to throw strikes.

Name	Pitches	Balls in Play	Strikes	Balls	Strike%
Andy Sonnanstine	2098	397	975	726	65.4%
Edwin Jackson	2967	460	1286	1221	58.8%
Jason Hammel	1588	230	703	655	58.8%
JP Howell	947	160	401	386	59.2%

Jeff Niemann did not appear in the majors last year and we do not have his minor league pitch stats handy. Still, if Maddon bases most of his evaluation on 2007 as he has repeatedly stated, we can assume that Sonnanstine’s job is safe as he is head and shoulders above the other (not surprising). And while we expected Howell to be better than Jackson and Hammel, we didn’t realize it would be as close. That suggests that he tries too hard to paint the corners. In the end the numbers don’t give us an indication that one player has an edge over the other two if the ability to throw strikes is the major criteria.

Rays Camp: Day 2 [Herald-Tribune]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Outs Per Swing is back with more pictures from Rays camp. [Outs Per Swing]
  
• Akinori Iwamura is not worried about his transition to second base. “Wiggy can do it, so I can do it.” The kid’s got a point. [Rays Report]
  
• Joe Maddon says that the only thing that will change about his managing style in 2008 is that players will be held more accountable and he will not be as patient when players fail to perform. [St. Pete Times]

“We’re at the point now where we think we’ve moved this along a bit, so you’re not going to give somebody as much rope. You still want to develop, and you still want to see people. But they may not get the same opportunities to fail as much as we’ve given people to fail in the past.”

Mental mistakes might not be tolerated as much either, which will be a good thing.

• According to Andrew Friedman, the main reason the team may be skeptical to start Evan Longoria at the big league level in April is that he has been too good. The idea is that the team is not sure what his faults are yet and they don’t know how Dirtbag will react to adversity. [Herald-Tribune]

“It’s kind of a Catch-22,” Rays vice-president Andrew Friedman said. “You don’t want him to fail. But at the same time, if he had failed some, you would have the complete picture.”

If a player fails for a period of time, management can see what adjustments need to be made.

“Most guys we have we’ve got a good sense,” Friedman said. “When you watch guys experience some highs and lows, you have a better idea about the player. With Evan, he hasn’t failed yet.”

Longoria hasn’t had a slump.

“That’s a big part of fully understanding the player,” Friedman said.

• Chris Mason, last year’s AA pitcher of the year, is a non-roster invitee to Spring Training this year but he has shown up without having his hair colored. This could be a sign of trouble for the right-hander that went 15-4 with a 2.57 ERA last year under several different incarnations of hair color. On a side note, the Biscuits last year were 10-1 in games in which Mason had a no-decision. That makes for an impressive 25-5 in games he started. [Tampa Tribune]

“I thought, ‘Man, I’m coming into my first big-league spring training, I’m not going to come in looking like a clown,’” Mason said. “I’ll give it a couple weeks. I can’t just come in here as a rookie with blue hair – that’s just a big target for the guys to get on me…In the winter I kept it shaved down,” he said. “I have a girlfriend I met in Montgomery, and I’m trying to keep it in shape for her.”

• Joe Maddon spoke highly of Mike DiFelice after Saturday’s workout, but the comments sounded more like a player that is not going to make the roster, as the compliments were more of his personality and less of his play on the field. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“DiFelice does a nice job,” said the Rays manager. “He’s well spoken, well thought-out, and he has a professional sternness about him.”

• The Sporting News predicts the Rays will finish in third place in the AL East. Although for some reason they don’t expect Carl Crawford to be able to repeat his 2007 numbers. That is curious considering CC has shown steady improvement in almost every offensive statistic each of the past 5 years. [The Sporting News]
• Not every business owner is against the new Rays stadium. A group of residents and business owners have created a Political Action Group to support the proposal. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Jason Hammel, Al Reyes and Troy Percival met with Bradenton little leaguers yesterday. [Bradenton Herald]

Tampa Bay Rays (9 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Today is Hank Aaron’s birthday. Major League Baseball tried to honor Aaron by naming an award after him, when in fact the award does nothing to honor his legacy. We have made our feelings known about the Hank Aaron Award in the past, but in short it is a glorified advertising opportunity for MLB to make money off of Hank Aaron’s name, and the award needs to be overhauled or it will never have any legitimacy.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• If you have not had a chance to vote in our “Tampa Bay Rays Confidence” polls, please do so. This will become a weekly feature and the resulting graph will makes it debut tomorrow. [Rays Index]
• Willy Aybar has been jailed in the Dominican Republic on charges of domestic violence. He has been held without bail since last week. We will have more on this topic later on this morning. [ESPN]
• Rays of Light reports that Rocco Baldelli stated in a radio interview that he has been working out at first base in the off-season. Do the Rays think this will actually help? We are talking about a guy who once needed Tommy John surgery after injuring his knee. Rocco could pull a hamstring just thinking about running. [Rays of Light]
• Tom Singer believes the Rays are one team that could surprise in 2008, comparing them to the 1969 Mets. [MLB]

The rest of the AL East is concerned. In fact, Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi has frankly branded the Rays a team “no one will want to face.”…But why stop at .500 — the Rays haven’t been closer than 11 games to that — as a major surprise? We keep looking at Tampa Bay’s new uniforms and seeing “Mets” scrawled across the chest…The Amazin’s averaged 56 wins in their first seven seasons, then broke loose for a World Series title in the eighth. And they did so without any major roster additions; a young team simply grew into it.

• The Rays have planned a series of appearances in neighboring counties with players and staff, in their effort to expand the team’s fan base. [TampaBay.com]
  
• Edwin Jackson is one of several major leaguers working to bring baseball back to young African-Americans. We wish we had not read that. Last thing in the world we need is a soft-spot for Nuke. [MLB]

“In the black schools, football and basketball are getting more attention than baseball,” Jackson said. “We need to expose it within the community, talk about it more. It starts in the household, where most parents are talking about basketball and football to their young black children.”

• One website names the best and worst moves of the off-season for each team. Signing Troy Percival to a two-year contract is rated as the Rays worst move. [SWB Yankees Blog]
• One fantasy baseball site compares BJ Upton to Alex Rios. [The Fantasy Man]
• The Rays will be offering free skin cancer screenings throughout March at various spring training facilities. We will avoid the obvious joke of a team that plays in a dome offering skin cancer screening. [DevilRays.com]
• The Gaston Gazette profiles Chris Mason. [Gaston Gazette]
• One protester is creating a Manatee named “Pete” made of duct tape to help bring awareness to the plight of the Manatees and to dredge up support for the opposition of the Rays new stadium…seriously [Tampa Bays 10]

Tampa Bay Rays (34 days until pitchers and catchers report)

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• With three spots in the rotation spoken for (Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza), Joe Maddon stated that five pitchers will compete for the final two spots including Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine, Jeff Niemann, Jason Hammel and JP Howell. Obviously Jackson, Sonnanstine and Hammel have the edge as the imcumbants and Howell has experience, but don’t rule out Jeff Niemann. He will be 25 and he has 239 innings under his belt as a minor leaguer. He and Jackson have the biggest upside and Jackson so far has been crap-tastic. If he was 22 the team may worry about feeding him to the lions. And he is far enough removed from his shoulder problems that arm strength should no longer be a factor. Now it is just a matter of whether or not the team thinks he can get the job done. If not, it won’t be long before we see him in the bullpen. [TampaBay.com]
• The Tampa Bay Rays have until January 18 to work out contracts with Scott Kazmir, Carlos Pena, Jonny Gomes and Dan Wheeler. All four players are arbitration eligible and next Friday is the deadline for both sides to submit offers for the arbitration hearing. As an organization, the Rays have a policy of “File-and-go”, meaning they will negotiate with a player once the figures have been submitted to the arbitrator. That policy seems sound when dealing with a player like Josh Paul last season or Dan Wheeler this season, but it is a big gamble when dealing with young super-duper-stars like Kazmir and Pena. The Rays risk alienating their young stars as teams are forced to present an argument to the arbitrator based on all the reasons why that player is not worth the money he is asking for. That being said, Andrew Friedman stated on Thusday that he would be surprised if the team did not reach deals with all four players. [The Ledger]

“We would prefer to avoid a hearing,” Friedman said. “It’s in place to resolve differences, and it’s there in the event we can’t. But we hope to be able to avoid it and reach a resolution. If we get to Friday and file numbers, we’re going to a hearing. It’s our policy.”

• The Rays are expected to make a decision on whether or not Evan Longoria will be the opening day starter prior to Spring Training, which gives the team about one month to come to a conclusion. Interestingly, Joe Maddon who has repeatedly stated in the past that he makes few roster decisions based on Spring Training performance and that he prefers to judge a player based on what he did the previous season, does not approve of the team’s choice to make a decision prior to Spring Training. [TBO]

“I’m into seeing it play out,” Maddon said. “I’ve often said it and I’ll say it again: I’m really not a big proponent of evaluating players during spring training, but when you have so many close calls, sometimes you have to rely upon that.”

• In addition to Evan Longoria, other players not on the 40-man roster that will be invited to Spring Training include Reid Brignac, Wade Davis, Jake McGee and Chris Mason. I predict blue hair for Mason. [TBO]
• On Wednesday night, over 300 people gathered at Tropicana Field to hold a public discussion about the Tampa Bay Rays proposal to build a new stadium along the St. Pete waterfront and redevelop the land that is currently home to the Trop. Two people protested outside the stadium. [TampaBay.com]
• The Rays announced a number of changes to their coaching, training and scouting staffs. [DevilRays.com]
• 365 Days of Dough, Rays, and Me breaks down one set of statistical projections for the Rays. [365 Days of Dough, Rays and Me]
• Spring Training tickets went on sale this morning. [Tampa Bay 10]

Team USA 10, Chinese Taipei 7.
Justin Ruggiano and Evan Longoria helped Team USA clinch the top seed in the quarterfinals by leading the team to a win over Taipei in the final game of group play. Ruggiano went 3-5, hitting 2 home runs and driving in 5. He had an RBI single in the 4th that gave Team USA a 3-1 lead. In the 7th, Ruggiano broke a 6-6 tie with an opposite-field 3-run home run and added one more with a solo shot in the 9th inning. Longoria finished 3-5, with a double an RBI and 2 runs scored. Team USA will face Korea on Friday in the quarterfinals.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Florida Governor Charlie Crist is supporting the Rays plans to build a new ballpark on the current site of Al Lang Field on the St. Pete waterfront. While he supports the idea, he has yet to back the idea of a tax break on the construction of the new stadium, which may be key to getting the deal done. [tampabay.com]

“I think the opportunity to create an ambiance right on the waterfront in St. Petersburg is brilliant, I really do,” Crist told reporters in the state Capitol…”It provides jobs, jobs, jobs for a lot of people,” said Crist, whose rental condo in downtown St. Petersburg would be blocks from the new park.

• In a move that surprised nobody, the Rays picked up the $2.3 million option on Al Reyes and declined the $1 million option on Greg Norton. Reyes’ option was originally for $1 million but was upped once he hit certain incentive marks in 2007. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Sports Grumblings has analyzed the Rays farm system and has listed the top 10 prospects. Not much to argue with as the top tier of talent in the system seems pretty clear cut. We would probably still place Mitch Talbot in the top 10 despite a disappointing 2007 and we are not as sold on Jeremy Hellickson and Chris Mason as much as others are. Hellickson is a small right hander and those rarely succeed in the majors. Mason wins but he is a big right hander that does not throw hard, so there are still questions as to whether or not that will translate to the same level of success above AA. [Sports Grumblings]

Team USA 4, South Africa 2.
Evan Longoria went 1-4 with a triple and Justin Ruggiano went 0-4 as Team USA moved to 5-1 and clinched a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. They have one final game in the preliminary round versus Taipei with the quarterfinals set to played on Friday with the opponent yet to be determined. Longoria was the team’s DH while Andy LaRoche played third base.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Baseball Musings took a look at the “Probabilistic Model of Range” for centerfielders in 2007 and the Devil Rays centerfielders finished next to last, ahead of only the Brewers. The number must be taken with a grain of salt. When we look at Range Factor, BJ Upton was above the league average of 2.71 with a 2.91. On the other hand, Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young, who had the next two most innings played in center field were both well below the league average with a 2.30, which likely brought the Rays overall Range value down. Rocco Baldelli only played 20 games in center, but came in with a 3.61 range factor. [Baseball Musings]
• Four of the 12 players named to the Topps Double-A All-Star team are Devil Rays farmhands. The list includes Evan Longoria, John Jaso, Chris Mason and Dale Thayer. [The Raw Feed]
• More hardware for Carlos Pena. This time it is the fictional 2007 Andre Dawson Award, presented to the best player on a last place team. No word on what exactly the trophy looks like, but we are guessing it is a hawk with bad knees. Pena is the second Devil Ray to win the award. Fred McGriff won the award in 1999. [Home Run Derby]
• The Cubs are trying to put together a package to land Carl Crawford. No word on whether or not discussions have already occurred. [Herald-News]
• According to team officials, there are no deals being worked on that involve Carl Crawford. The denial is interesting and possibly unnecessary as we haven’t actually heard any rumors involving CC. All we have seen and read is that other teams are targeting CC. But who wouldn’t want CC on their team? [Bradenton Herald]
• Al Reyes and Greg Norton both filed for free agency. The Rays still have until tomorrow to pick up options on both players. Reyes’ option will be picked up. Norton is likely to be granted free agency. [TBO]
• The Rays are one of 10 teams interested in signing Troy Percival. While Marc Lancaster sites Percival’s close relationship with Joe Maddon as a reason the Rays may have an edge, it didn’t seem to help last year when he ultimately signed with the Cardinals, so we are not sure why it would help this time around, except to add another team to the bidding process and ultimately raise the price. [TBO]
• In the end, we were a little high with the target dollar amount, but as we predicted, the Yankees went to four years on their contract offer to Jorge Posada and the catcher decided to not even test the free agent waters. The Yankees re-signed Posada for 4 years and $52.4 million. The Yankees will have to pay the devil on the back end of the deal, but that is the advantage they have. They will be able to swallow that cost when Posada is a 40-year old part-time DH. The Rays are in no financial position to assume such a cost. [TBO]
• Redeveloping Tropicana Field and the land on which it rests is key to the Rays moving to the St. Pete Waterfront in 2012. According to Aaron Sharockman this will not be a problem as land developers are already drooling over the prospect of building a residential and office space development on the 70 acre lot that is close to the interstate. [St. Pete Times]

Transforming the Tropicana site is “the kind of thing you dream about,” said Craig Sher, the chief executive of the Sembler Co., which developed BayWalk in St. Petersburg and Centro Ybor in Tampa.

“There’s a real potential to build a really neat mixed-use project, residential and office,” Sher said. “There’s just not a lot of land left in St. Pete. Any time you get a critical mass of land, you can get something spectacular. Hopefully, we’d be on somebody’s list of people to call.”

• Now that the Devil Rays have changed their name to “Rays”, has the team automatically eliminated itself as a potential destination for a small segment of players? Would Ray Durham have ever signed with the Tampa Bay Rays? Not likely. [Home Run Derby]

Peo Sequaros 5, Scottsdale Scorpions 4.
The Arizona Fall League is under way and several prospects from the Devil Rays organization are on the Scottsdale Scorpions roster, including Evan Longoria and Reid Brignac. Also joining The Dirtbag and the Cajun God of Baseball are pitchers Nick DeBarr, Calvin Medlock, Evan Meek and Mike Prochaska as well as John Jaso and Chris Nowak. On opening day, Longoria and Brignac combined to go 0-7 while Calvin Medlock gave up the tying run despite striking out 3 in 2 innings. Longoria picked up the pace on day 2, with a 2-run home run in the first inning. He finished 1-4. Nick DeBarr pitched a perfect 8th inning.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Yankees have spent over $1.1 billion on player salaries since their last world series championship. To date, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have spent slightly more than $350 million in quest of their first. At this rate, the Rays have another 20 years before they reach futility level of the hapless Yankees…right? [Empyreal Environs]
• ArmchairGM reports “sources” that say the Devil Rays have “serious interest in (Jorge) Posada. This is not going to happen. The Tigers just picked up Pudge Rodriguez’ option at $13 million. Pudge and Posada are both 36. Pudge had an OPS of .714 this season while Posada’s OPS was .969. Pudge played in 129 games compared to 144 for Posada. Posada is going to be seeking $15 million per year for the next 4 years. The Rays may have “serious interest” but they are not paying a 36 year old catcher $60 million. He might be worth it in 2008. But both Pudge and Posada have already pushed the shelf-life of a catcher and are likely to not have much left in the tank. [ArmchairGM]
• Chris Mason was named the AA starting pitcher of the year, Minor League Baseball’s equivalent of the Cy Young award. It is too bad they couldn’t name the award after a former minor league pitcher that had an incredible minor league career. [MiLB]
• If the Rays fail to reach .500 in 2008, Joe Maddon will likely not be brought back for the final year of his contract. If Joe Torre is fired by the Yankees and does not land a job for 2008, the Rays could have considerable interest in signing the manager. The problem is Torre will be 69 in 2009. It is difficult to determine if Torre would be willing to work with a roster that is filled with talented, but very young players. Torre has only ever succeeded with veteran-ladened rosters. It is not out of the realm of possibility, but it is a longshot at best. [One More Dying Quail]
• The Rays released their 2008 schedule and everybody is awfully excited about the return of Lou Piniella. For the third consecutive season, the Ray will open the season on the road and for the second time in three years, the Rays will open the season in Baltimore, risking a cold, bad weather opener. [tampabay.com]
• Rays Digest hands out their team awards. Our favorite is Al Reyes taking home the award for “Best Relief Pitcher”. They could have also named the award, “Only Relief Pitcher” or “Least Suckiest Guy Wearing A Devil Rays Uniform Pretending To Be A Major League Pitcher”. Of course, they somehow came up with four (!) pitchers that were honorable mentions. [Rays Digest]

Montgomery 6, Mississippi 5 (11 innings; Montgomery leads series 2-1). The Biscuits trailed 5-2 early in the game but rallied to tie it in the 7th and Josh Arhart came through with a pinch-single for the walk-off victory in the 11th. Brooks Badeaux led off the inning with a walk and Reid Brignac followed with a bloop single that fell in left field. The Braves changed pitchers and John Jaso lined out to the first baseman. Arhart then lined a single to right field with Badeaux scoring from second. Chris Mason struggled from the mound. He was touched for all 5 runs in 4 innings off of 7 hits, including an uncharacteristic 3 home runs. During the regular season, Mason only allowed 7 home runs in 161.1 innings (1 every 23 inn.). The bullpen picked up the slack allowing only 1 hit in 7 innings. Things did get dicey in the top of the 11th when Jeremy Flanagan walked 2 and intentionally walked a third to load the bases. He was able to retire the side when he got the final out on a fly ball to center. Gaby Martinez was 3-4 with a 2-run home run. Brignac was 1-5 with a walk and his second error of the series.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• The Richmond Braves won their divisional series and will now face the Durham Bulls for the Governor’s Cup in the International League Finals. [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

Durham 2, Charlotte 1. Mitch Talbot finished the regular season by picking up his 13th win. He went 6.2 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 walk and 1 run. Chad Orvella picked up his 20th save. Evan Longoria was 0-3 with a walk and 3 strikeouts. He finished the regular season hitting .269-5-19 in 31 AAA games. JP Howell led the IL with 145 strikeouts, while Mitch Talbot and Jeff Niemann were tied for the second most wins (12).

Montgomery 7, Jacksonville 3 (13 innings). The Biscuits head into the playoffs having won 15 of their final 16 regular season games to finish with the top mark in the SL at 81-59. Fernando Perez went 3-7 in the finale to finish the season with a .309 batting average, a .423 OBP and .908 OPS. John Jaso was second in the SL with a .316 average. Reid Brignac finished 2nd with 81 RBI. The Biscuits had three of the top four OPS marks with Evan Longoria leading the league at .930. Chris Mason led the league with 15 wins and was 4th with 136 strikeouts.

Vero Beach concluded their regular season on Sunday. After finishing 3rd in the division for the first half, the Rays fell to last place with a 25-44 second half record. Rhyne Hughes led the FSL with a .329 average. Sergio Pedroza was 2nd in the FSL with 22 home runs and both players were tied with the second best OPS (.907).

Columbus had their final seven games rained out. They will begin their best-of-3 first round playoff series on Wednesday against Augusta. Ryan Royster finished the regular season hitting .329-30-98 and has firmly established himself as one of the top hitting prospects in the Rays system. He was 4th in the SAL in hitting, tops in home runs, 2nd in RBI and lead the league with a .982 OPS. Desmond Jennings hit .315 with 45 steals in only 99 games, good for 4th in the SAL. Heath Rollinsled the league with 17 wins and was 2nd with 149 strikeouts.

Hudson Valley 10, Aberdeen 3.

Princeton concluded their regular season at 33-35, third in the AL East division. Michael Ross led the league with 36 stolen bases.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Chris Mason was named the top pitcher in the Southern League while Evan Longoria took home the honor as the league’s MVP. [Montgomery Advertiser]
• Winning championships at the minor league level does not mean much when the parent club loses 90+ games every season, but the winning attitude must start some place and with the Montgomery Biscuits winning the Southern League championship in 2006, they are joined by Durham and Columbus in the playoffs this season. [TBO]
• The first round of the International League playoffs will begin on Wednesday with the Bulls facing Toledo. These two teams have won the last four IL titles. JP Howell will pitch the opening game, and will be followed by Jeff Niemann and Jae Seo. [Durham Bulls]
• The Devil Rays have announced their fall instructional league roster and it is a who’s who of the system’s top prospects, including David Price, Jake McGee and Ryan Royster. [Rays Digest]
• In their final regular season game, the Durham Bulls set a single-game attendance record (11,071) and broke the team’s single-season attendance mark (520,952). [OurSportsCentral]