Archive for the 'Delmon Young' Category

Dec 02

[HOT STOVE] Rays Talked To Twins About Bringing Back Delmon Young

Bill Smith, Delmon Young, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, Reid Brignac, Willy Aybar 12 Comments »

According to Danny Knobler of CBS Sportline, a baseball official says the Rays talked to the Twins about reacquiring Delmon Young.

…the Rays have also discussed trying to reacquire Delmon Young, the outfielder who they traded to the Twins last winter to get Bartlett and Matt Garza…It doesn’t appear that the Young talks got very far, and neither did Tampa Bay’s efforts to acquire Denard Span, another Twins outfielder.

It makes sense that the Rays would inquire about Young, as the Twins have an abundance of outfielders and have been rumored to be willing to move Young. However, a deal with the Rays seems unlikely as it would be an indictment of Twins’ general manager Bill Smith. Trading Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett for Young was Smith’s first major move as GM.

Knobler also notes that the Rays may be willing to include Bartlett in a deal this winter. This does not come as a surprise as Bartlett is arbitration-eligible for the first time and is in line for a large bump in salary. With Reid Brignac waiting in the wings, the Rays have a player who was voted the top defensive shortstop in the International League in 2008 and offers a higher upside than Bartlett with the bat at a much lower cost.

And if Brignac is not ready to handle an everyday job in the big leagues, the Rays could conceivably move rookie of the year Evan Longoria to shortstop and start Willy Aybar at third base. This last scenario offers the Rays a vast improvement offensively with only a slight downgrade defensively.

[CBS Sportsline]

Oct 06

[THE HANGOVER] Upton Rediscovered Stroke, Longoria May Have Lost His

BJ Upton, Delmon Young, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, Greg Maddux, JP Howell, Troy Percival No Comments »


Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule…

THE GOOD: Split against 2 tough lefties. It is no secret that the Rays do not handle lefties well. During the season, the Rays were only 25-24 against lefties. Prior to the series, if you were to tell us that the Rays would split games 2 and 3 against the lefties and be up 2 games to 1 we would have signed immediately and said let’s go to game 4…BJ Upton. After starting the series 0-8 and swinging scared for 3 months, Upton appears more confident and less tentative. His triple at the end of game 2 and the easy swing on his 2-run home run yesterday were classic Upton that we have not seen in a while.

THE BAD: Letting Ken Griffey Jr tag up in the 4th inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, a fly ball to BJ Upton in center scores a run and advanced the runner from second. Upton’s throw went to the cutoff off man allowing Griffey to tag up from first. Upton could have easily thrown through to 2nd. If he does, Griffey likely does not score on the double…Carlos Pena to end the game. With the 2 outs in the 9th, Pena was the tying run and Pena seemed to just miss 2 pitches right down the middle. It is not often that Pena is late on a fastball, but he seemed just a fraction late on each pitch…Evan Longoria is 1-7 since he was seen with the “0 for 4″ girl at the USF game…Momentum is only as good as tomorrow’s starting pitcher and the White Sox have now won 4 straight elimination games and have 17-game winner Gavin Floyd on the mound tonight. The good news is that outside of last Monday’s makeup game against the Tigers, Floyd has given up at least 4 runs in 4 of his last 5 starts.

THE TELLING: According to CoolStandings.com the Rays still have a 79.6% chance of winning the ALDS…If the Red Sox would have won last night and eliminated the Angels, tonight’s game time would have been moved to 8pm…Based on Back of the Napkin calculations, the Yankees have spent $1.38 billion (with a B) in player salaries since they last won a World Series. The Rays have spent a total of about $405 million trying to win their first.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • YES! They’re baaaccckkkkkk on the bandwagon. [Mets Rays Geek]
  • Dioner Navarro won’t admit that he is playing in a considerable amount of discomfort. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Troy Percival pitched an inning in an instructional league game on Saturday and “felt pretty good”. He will throw again today and still hopes to return in the ALCS. [St. Pete Times]
  • The Rays’ bullpen was thankful for the day off. [MLB]
  • Buster Olney compares JP Howell to a left-handed version of Greg Maddux, noting that very few left handers utilize a two-seam fastball the way Maddux does. [ESPN]

In the ’90s, Maddux popularized the use of two-seam fastballs against left-handed hitters, particularly as a pitch to finish off hitters with two strikes. He throws the ball at the hip of the batter, so far inside that the batter often gives up on it. But at the last second, the ball veers back over the inside corner, and such movement often freezes the hitter as the pitch becomes strike three…But rarely do you see a left-hander who employs a similar pitch against right-handed hitters…”

  • With the Rays still 1 game from the ALCS, John Romano does not want Rays fans panicking. [St. Pete Times]
  • Might the Twins be ready to trade Delmon Young already? [MLB Trade Rumors]
Sep 18

[THE HANGOVER] Joe Maddon Pushes All The Right Buttons As Rays Clinch Tie-Breaker

Cliff Floyd, Delmon Young, Joe Maddon, Justin Ruggiano, Troy Percival, Wade Boggs 1 Comment »



Click on above images to be taken to full standings, boxscores or schedule…

THE GOOD: The Rays have now won 4 of their last 5 versus the Red Sox…Joe Maddon. With the Rays up 8-3 in the 5th with 2 on and David Ortiz due up, Papa Joe treated the situation like it was the 8th inning, calling on Grant Balfour. Balfour got Big Papi to fly out to end the threat…Before the series we predicted that Papa Joe would find a start for Willy Aybar in this series and that it would likely be in the final game. We also figured Aybar would bat right handed as many switch-hitters prefer against a knuckle-baller. Sure enough Aybar started and homered in the bottom of the first to give the Rays lead. Fernando Perez also batted right handed and homered. Speaking of which. Perez needs to slow down his home run trot. When the camera came back to Perez after watching the ball land in the stands, Perez was already rounding third…Joe Magrane. Magrane predicted a “big night” for Gross against Tim Wakefield only moments before Gross homered…Two wins in this series against the Twins and the Rays will clinch a playoff spot.

THE BAD: David Ortiz. First home run. Fine. Second home run? We have never seen a ball hit farther at the Trop. Hit Tracker Online is a website that uses mathematical models to project how far a ball would have travelled had the path not been impeded by things like Catwalks and human bodies. They project that Ortiz’ second ball would have only travelled 428 feet. No way. That ball was 475 at least. They claim it wouldn’t have travelled as far as the Gabe Gross shot back on August 6 that did hit the back wall and was measured at 463 feet…Grant Balfour worked in parts of 3 innings, and likely will not be available for the first two games of the Twins series…Wade Boggs threw out the first pitch. Tell us again why his number is retired?

THE TELLING: The Rays have now won the season series and will have the tie-breaker should the two teams tie for the division lead at the end of the season. Last night’s win essentially knocked 3 off of the magic number to win the division which is now 9…The Rays are only 1 game behind the Angels in the loss column for the best record in the AL and home field advantage throughout the playoffs…According to Baseball Prospectus the odds of making the playoffs is now 99.99% percent, and 80.2% to win the AL East…Last night’s game was the Rays’ 6th sellout of the season…Tonight marks the return of Delmon Young to the Trop.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • BREAKING NEWS! The Cowbell Kid called a local radio station to announce his retirement…Wow. In the middle of a pennant race? Just before the playoffs? Do you know the kind of air time that guy would have gotten on Fox during the playoffs? Color us shocked. Of course we never sat behind the Cowbell Kid during a game. If that had happened maybe our feelings would be different. [97xonline]
  • Troy Percival was unavailable last night after receiving a shot for his back. Percival will require off-season back surgery, but will be available Thursday for the opening game of the Twins series. [MLB]
  • Justin Ruggiano got the start last night and Brittany Ghiroli reports that Joe Maddon was rewarding the rookie for his improved approach recently. [MLB]
  • Cliff Floyd says he still hasn’t decided whether or not to retire after the season, noting that at the beginning of the season he was sure 2008 would be his last season. He credits this roster with making baseball fun again and feels he does have “something left in the tank.” [Tampa Tribune]
  • Wait. What is going to fly? [Tampa Tribune]
  • A fan got arrested last night trying to jump over the Rays dugout and possibly onto the field (he never made it to the field). We have mixed reports as to whether or not the fan was tasered. The police say no. And surprise, surprise, it was a Red Sox fan. [The Heater]
  • Gary Shelton says that Joe Maddon is “either smarter than most, luckier than most or a guy who is having the combination platter.” [St. Pete Times]
  • It happens a lot. Somebody in the national media refers to the “Tampa Rays” or when referencing a home game or the Trop, they mistakenly say one or both are “in Tampa”. But the crossword puzzle editor for the St. Pete Times, an official sponsor of the Rays? Yikes. [St. Pete Times]
  • Jayson Stark notes that dramatic wins are becoming the norm for the Rays. [ESPN]
  • The Rays released their ’09 schedule. The season begins on April 6 in Boston and the home opener is April 13 against the Yankees…How sweet would it be to hand out World Series rings to all the players in front of the Yankees and their local bandwagon fans. [MLB]
  • Even if the Rays want to play a series in Orlando in ’09 (and there is little indication that they do) they may not be able to unless changes are made to the schedule. [Orlando Sentinel]
  • Everybody thinks they have a sense of humor…Even Red Sox fans. [Boston Score]
  • There is something amusing about the idea that Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe feels he needs 400 words to explain how tie-breakers work to Red Sox fans. [Boston Globe]
Jul 10

[THE HANGOVER] Dirtbag Picks Up AL Rookie Award

Delmon Young, Evan Longoria, Jason Hammel 3 Comments »



THE GOOD: Edwin Jackson after the first inning. He seemed to gain a few inches on his fastball and settled down to hold the Yankees scoreless for the next 5+ innings after allowing 1 run in the first…JP Howell was once again his masterful self pitching 2 scoreless innings of relief, striking out 3…

THE BAD: The Offense. 1 run, 9 hits in 2 games. 3 walks, 17 strikeouts, in 2 games…We love that every announcer says that Carl Crawford is a “tough guy to double up” and yet CC has 7 GIDPs this season…Edwin Jackson struggled in the first inning, in which his fastball was in the 90-92 range. It was as if he needed about 15 more pitches in the bullpen before the game…How many running, leaping catches did the Yankees outfielders have to make in this series? First it was Melky Cabrera on Tuesday and then it was Melky (again) and Bobby Abreu yesterday, and all came in crucial situations.

THE TELLING: The Rays have now lost 3 in a row. It is the first time they have lost more than 1 consecutive game since June 10-11.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • With voting ending today, Evan Longoria still enjoys a slight lead for the final spot on the AL All-Star squad. If you haven’t voted yet, or want to vote again, get your arse over there. [MLB]
  • Evan Longoriawas named AL Rookie of the Month for June. [Yahoo! Sports]
  • Fangraphs has been running a regular series looking at the most valuable players in baseball. Topping the list is the Rays’ own Evan Longoria, based in large part on his team-friendly contract extension signed earlier this season. (Thanks Shawn) [Fangraphs]
  • Are the Rays the new Atlanta Braves?…It is certainly a fair comparison and we would definitely take 14 straight division titles. [The Blue Workhorse]
  • It is a good thing that Jason Hammel has not been in many games recently as he would most likely only be called upon when a starter exits a game early. And while it must certainly be a tough situation to be in, he is saying all the right things. [MLB]
  • How much have some Minnesotans soured on Delmon Young? One writer for a local paper wants the Twins to trade Young and another player for…wait for it…wait for it…An 8th inning set-up man. Seriously. And this guy has more legitimacy than us just because he writes for a mainstream media source? [Rochester Post-Bulletin]
  • The Rays once again sit atop Bugs and Cranks power rankings. [Bugs and Cranks]
Jun 28

[THEO EPSTEIN] Theo Epstein Knows Little About Why Rays Are Winning

Daisuke Matsuzaka, David Price, Delmon Young, Jason Bartlett, Josh Hamilton, Matt Garza, Theo Epstein, Tim Beckham 5 Comments »

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein appeared on Cal Ripken’s XM Radio show, Ripken Baseball. Epstein was asked about the sudden surge of the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Obviously they’ve been picking at the top part of the draft for the better part of a decade now and they haven’t missed with those picks. When you draft number one overall, you have to get a franchise-type player and they have. They’ve got plenty of them and they’ve done a great job drafting lower down as well and developing their players…”

There is only one small problem with that assessment:

Number of “number one overall” players on the Rays’ roster: 0

Prior to David Price, last season and Tim Beckham this season, the Rays have only drafted #1 two times, one of which was Josh Hamilton in 1999, whom the Rays lost in the Rule 5 draft.

Certainly one can say that the other top pick (Delmon Young in 2003) helped shape this roster as Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett were acquired in an off-season trade for Young. But that is still only one “number one overall” player that has led to the Rays success this season and Andrew Friedman and Co. deserve a little more credit for that trade than just “they have sucked for 10 years.”

Also, the Rays are far from the only team that has consistently drafted near the top of the draft for the last 10 years (Pirates, Royals, etc.) and yet the Rays are the only team that consistently drafts and develops top-rate players.

And while the Red Sox may not draft near the top, they have become experts in the art form of hording compensation picks for lost free agents. In the last four drafts alone, the Red Sox have selected 13 players before the second round.

Let’s reword Epstein’s statement to reflect why the Red Sox have been so successful…

“Obviously they’ve been picking tons of players in the first round of the draft for the better part of a decade now and they haven’t missed with those picks. When you draft 13 first round players in four years, a team is bound to hit the bullseye a couple of times even if their eyes are shut. They’ve got plenty of them and they’ve done a great job hording compensation picks as well as copying the organizational philosophy of the Evil Empire by throwing $100 million at a pitcher that might win 16 games…”

Theo Epstein on the Rays [MLB ON XM]

Jun 28

[DOWN ON THE FARM] Hellboy’s Double-A Debut Was A Forgettable One

Delmon Young, Fernando Perez 1 Comment »

Durham 7, Norfolk 3 (gm 1). Jeff Niemann picked up his 5th win in 7 decisions. He allowed 3 runs in 6 innings on only 1 hit, but he did walk 5 and struck out 4…Fernando Perez was 3-4 and scored 2 runs…Justin Ruggiano finished 2-4 with 2 RBI…Reid Brignac and Joel Guzman each went 0-4.

Norfolk 3, Durham 2 (gm2). Mike Prochaska worked 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 9 hits…Joel Guzman and Reid Brignac were each 0-3 and in the double-header went a combined 0-14…Fernando Perez had a hit in 4 at bats.

Mobile 12, Montgomery 8. To say that Jeremy Hellickson did not have a good double-A debut would be kind. In 4.2 innings, he gave up 8 hits. 5 of those were home runs as he allowed 8 runs in all. He did not walk a batter, but only struck out 1…Rhyne Hughes had 2 doubles in 5 at bats…Chris Nowak and Erold Andrus were each 2-4. Nowak drove in 2…Gaby Martinez was 2-5 with 2 RBI.

Vero Beach 3, Sarasota 1 (13). Ryan Morse held Sarasota to 1 run in 6.2 innings on 7 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 2…Matt Fields’ 13th home run, a solo shot in the 7th tied the game…Desmond Jennings scored on a wild pick-off attempt for the go-ahead run in the 13th…Ryan Royster would later add an RBI single…Rocco Baldelli DH’d and batted second going hitless in 6 at bats. He earned the golden sombrero with 4 strike outs.

Columbus 12, Charleston 3. Jason Ragan gave up 3 runs (2 earned) in 5 innings…Stephen Vogt was 3-4 and drove in 3…Quinn Stewart had 3 hits in 5 at bats.

Staten Island 4, Hudson Valley 3. Tyree Hayes allowed 3 runs in 6 innings on 9 hits and no walks. He struck out 3…This year’s 3rd round pick, Jacob Jefferies, a catcher, was 4-4 with a double and an RBI. He is hitting .345 in his first 2 weeks as a pro.

Princeton 5, Burlington 3. In one of the stranger stat lines you will ever see, Matt Moore the Rays 8th round pick last season gave up 3 runs without allowing a hit in 5 innings. He struck out the side in the first and retired the first 8 batters he faced. However in the 4th inning, 2 errors, a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch led to 3 unearned runs.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Bus League Baseball runs down the recent debuts of top picks in the amateur draft including a home run by Delmon Young…what a tease. [Bus Leagues Baseball]
  • This profile of Fernando Perez originally included the word “smartly” in the title. We have written before on how much it annoys us that every piece on Perez has to revolve around the fact he went to Columbia University, almost as if Perez is somehow overcame a handicap. [MiLB]
Jun 01

[THE SUNDAY MORNING REVOLUTION] Kazmir Picks Up 5th Win In May

David Price, Delmon Young, Jason Bartlett, Joba Chamberlain, Matt Garza, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Kazmir, Troy Percival 3 Comments »




DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Marc Topkin is up to his over-dramatic ways. According to Topkin the Rays success is mostly due to having Eric Hinske, Al Reyes and Dan Wheeler. Don’t get me wrong. Those players have been great and the Rays do have nice depth for the first time. But everybody else with half a brain knows that the starting pitching and defense and the bullpen as a whole are the reasons the Rays are winning. [St. Pete Times]
  • Rocco Baldelli played in his second extended spring game and went 0-5. Rocco will continue to play extended spring games for the next 10 days. After that he could join a minor league affiliate (most likely Vero Beach) for a rehab assignment. [USA Today]
  • Troy Percival has a lower than expected BABIP for his career. This author says this statline is a “little myterious”. I don’t think there is any mystery at all. This just says that when batters are making contact, they often don’t make contact well. In other words, Percival’s pitches have enough movement to miss the sweetspot of the opposition’s bats. [Statistically Speaking]
  • The Boston Globe says that the Rays are the team that other General Managers will be jealous of for the next 10 years. [Boston Globe]
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post says that the Rays are contenders, and gives 5 reasons why the Rays are here to stay. The wild-card reason is that he thinks David Price can have a similar impact as Joba Chamberlain did last year. He also polled 5 AL exaecutives and asked them to pick any 15 players from the Rays and the Yankees rosters with the intent of winning this year. The consensus seemed to be that they would select just as many Rays as Yankees, suggesting salaries aside, the talent levels of the two franchises are almost equal. [Fox Sports]
  • For all the good things the Rays are doing this year, the Rays have struggled with Runners in Scoring Position. [MLB]
  • Tampa Bay Sports Blog thinks that Scott Kazmir should be the favorite for the Cy Young award. [Tampa Bay Sports Blog]
  • The success of Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and the Rays may be adding pressure to Delmon Young. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]
May 29

[DELMON YOUNG] Dude, The Twins Did Not Get A Delmon

Delmon Young, Gettin' A Delmon 3 Comments »

On Sept. 23, 2007, Delmon Young hit a 2-run home run against the Red Sox in the 2nd inning. After being traded to the Minnesota Twins for Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett this past off-season, little did anybody know that 8 months later, Young would yet to have hit another. The Twins and their fans were certainly hoping for a little more production from the young “slugger”.

We have already made our feelings known about Young’s performance in Minnesota (it’s not good). However, in light of Garza’s 4th win of the season (5th since Sept. 23, 2007) we feel like we should start tracking how long Young can go before Dishin’ Out A Delmon to an opposing team. For his sake and their fans, let’s hope this will jinx an opposing pitcher sooner, rather than later.

May 24

[THE SATURDAY MORNING REVOLUTION] Garza Is Latest Pitcher To Shutdown Opposition

Aubrey Huff is an idiot, Delmon Young, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza 1 Comment »




DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

The Good: Matt Garza is still walking too many (4 last night) but he was better about getting ahead of batters. You can always tell when Garza is going to have a good night by his ability to get strike-one. Last night, he was strike-one to 18 of 30 batters (60%). Not great, but definitely improved. In his last start, when he allowed 7 runs in 4.1 innings, he was only strike-one to 10 of 25 batters (40%) …Aubrey Friggin Huff finally got what was comin’ to him. After torturing the Rays for the last year-plus, and after hitting a triple earlier in the game, Huff appeared to hit a run-scoring, game-tying double in the 8th inning with 1 out, but the drive was called foul. Huff would then ground into an inning ending double play.

The Bad: Flavored Tequila

The Telling: All five of the Rays starters now have at least one start in which they did not allow a run…The Rays have a 2.5 game lead in the Wild Card standings over Oakland and 3.5 games over Baltimore.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • YouTube video of the day: Weezer’s new video featuring many of your viral video faves. [You Tube]
  • John Heyman reviews last winter’s “biggest trades” and doesn’t even mention the Matt Garza/Jason Bartlett/Delmon Young deal? I call “do over”. [SI.com]
May 17

[DELMON YOUNG] Delmon Young One Of Worst Hitters In AL

Delmon Young No Comments »

Jim Souhan has a very telling headline in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “Muscular singles hitter is not what we had in mind”. Of course, I don’t need to tell you that Souhan is referring to former Devil Dog Delmon Young.

Touted as a power hitter, Delmon Young is gettting outslugged by almost all of his new Twins teammates.

Actually, Young is getting out-slugged by most of the American League. In the first 41 games of the season, Young has 6 extra-base hits. Not one of those extra-base hits are home runs. And 2 of the 5 doubles came last night. Including those 2 doubles, Young has an OBP of .319 and a SLG of .321. That’s right. We are 1/4 the way into the season and Delmon Young has an OPS of .640. The .321 SLG and Young’s .640 OPS rank as the 5th worst in the American League. Both of those numbers are the worst among all AL outfielders.

This is a strange phenomenon — a big, strong player with impressive bat speed whose career will be judged on his power and run production, swinging like a tennis player attempting a drop shot…

Not sure what the scouts saw. Maybe they should have talked to a few Rays’ fans.

This is beyond alarming. This is approaching pathetic.

Ouch

Playing in the Metrodome, with its large left field, could explain the power decline, but Young’s problem has not been warning-track outs — it has been getting the ball out of the infield. He rarely pulls the ball, and when he does, he does not do so with authority…He has taken the concept of the “inside-out” swing — à la Mauer — to a ridiculous degree, dragging the bathead through the hitting zone so belatedly that his hits can only be ground balls up the middle and bloops to right field.

Mr. Souhan: Young’s swing is not a new “concept”. That is exactly what Young’s swing looked like last season. In other words, it sounds like Young hasn’t taken to the “Twins Way” yet. Color me shocked. Delmon Young? Not coachable? Couldn’t be.

Young has played in 205 consecutive games. Might he require, or deserve, a day on the bench? “He likes to play,” Gardenhire said. “He’s here to play, and we’ll see how long we can ride with it.”…Or Gardenhire could play Craig Monroe in left for a few days, and see if the rest enlivens Young’s powerless bat.

We are only at the quarter-mark of Young’s first season in Minneapolis and already the writers are calling for Young to be benched for a spell.

To all Twins fans: He’s your problem now. We tried to warn you to not get too excited about the “Hall of Fame Potential”.

Muscular singles hitter is not what we had in mind [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

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