• The Good: The 2nd inning was Scott Kazmir’s coming out party. In the 1st inning, Kid K’d fastball was only 88-89, much like it was in his first start off the DL. However, in the 2nd inning, Kazmir struck out Juan Rivera to lead off the inning with only one fastball that broke 88. That seemed to be the at bat that gave him his confidence back, because in the next at bat, threw four fastballs that were clocked at 92. He walked that batter, but from that point forward, Kazmir was consistently 92-93 with his fastball including his 108th, and last, pitch in the 6th which was 93.
• The Bad: Mimosas, Coronas and whatever that blue crap was.
• The Telling: Stuart Sternberg predicted 50 home win in 2007. We laughed. They won 37. 2008 came and Sternberg predicted 50 home wins again. Again we laughed. The Rays have now won 8 straight at home (a record) and now sit at 12-7 at home this season. Brace yourselves. The Rays are on pace for 51 home wins in 2008. I can’t make it up…PS, the Rays are now in second place and 1 game back of wild card lead…PPS, take a look at those standings above and soak it in for a moment. The season is now 20% completed and the Rays are not only not in last place, but they are in 2nd place, ahead of the O’s. Ahead of the Jay. And ahead of the Yankees.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• ManRay is baaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkk. [Armchair GM]
  
• James Shields and Joe Maddon discuss the possibility of Shields throwing a no-hitter. [Tampa Tribune]
• Marc Topkin says that the Rays have narrowed their top choce down to 5 players…Prof loves the high school shortstop Tim Beckham. Personally, I am starting to lean towards one of the two catchers. I know the Rays do not draft for need, but with Dioner Navarro behind the plate and no obvious catching prospects in the system (John Jaso is not a catcher long-term), I love the idea of drafting a high school catcher. But hey, what do I know. [St. Pete Times]
• Beyond the Boxscore breaks down the two most likely candidates for the #1 pick. Tim Beckham and Florida State catcher Buster Posey. My Gator allegiances aside. Um. What? nevermind. Momentary lack of respect for my alma mata. Screw Posey. [Beyond the Boxscore]
• The New York Times takes a look at New York City native and potential #1 overall pick Pedro Alvarez. He says he would love to join David Price, his former Vandy teammate, in the Rays system…Sorry. As long as Scott Boras is his agent, he will not be drafted by the Rays. Even if the Rays thought they could afford his signing bonus demands, the bigger factor is that Boras almost always takes his clients to free agency and never signs away arbitration and free agency seasons. A key to the Rays franchise. [New York Times]
• Gary Glover and Al Reyes threw bullpen sessions yesterday. Sounds like Reyes is still a few days away, but Glover could be back today or tomorrow. [The Heater]
• Joe Maddon says that Akinori Iwamura is getting better at leading off and says that there are no plans to move him out of the spot. [Tampa Tribune]
• Her Rays thinks Akinori Iwamura’s luck is a’ changin with his new haircut. [Her Rays]
• Several Rays will use pink bats today for Mother’s Day in honor of breast cancer awareness. [St. Pete Times]

THE GOOD: The Red Sox lost…The Yankees lost…The Orioles lost…So the only team that the Rays lost ground to last yesterday was the Jays. Oh and the O’s are now in their rightful place, last place…

THE BAD: Shaun Marcum faced the minimum through the first 6.2 innings. The only hit prior to the 9th inning was a double single by Dioner Navarro in which he was promptly thrown out at second base because people that chubby should only sprint 90 feet at a time….For the second game this series, the Rays struck out at least 10 times, led by the Sombrero-loving Carlos Pena. Three nights ago it was a regular sombrero with 3 Ks in 4 at bats, Two nights ago it was the golden sombrero with 4 Ks in 4 at bats. And last night it was a regular sombrero again with 3 Ks in 4 at bats…We are still trying to figure out how Vernon Wells caught up to and actually caught Aki Iwamura’s long drive to center in the 7th…We know it was only 1 run in 6.2 innings, but we are not giving Matt Garza credit for a ‘good’. We can’t quite figure it out, but he either walks too many or strikes out too few. Maybe both?

THE TELLING: We like to call this a “tip your cap” game. When the baseball gods gathered yesterday morning and reviewed yesterday’s matchups they declared that the Jays would win. At that point there was just nothing that the Rays could do. It was predetermined. For you Maddon players out there, it is like when you are rolling through a season and your Bucs squad sits 10-0 and all of the sudden the computer opponent goes into “49ers Dynasty Mode” in which it can do nothing wrong and you can do nothing right. Your undefeated team is guaranteed to fumble at least two kickoff returns that will both be returned for touchdowns, and no matter how many of your “sure-thing” plays you run, nothing goes right. Sometimes, when the gods speak, it is not in your favor.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Our apologies for the lack of Live Blog-A-Baloos. They will return with full-force next week. Not sure what day yet. Any suggestions? And next week’s will be held here.
• Joe Maddon and Carlos Pena had a closed-door meeting that lasted for 20 minutes following last night’s game. During the meeting, which was heated at times, Maddon threatened to bench the slugger if he didn’t pull his head out of his ass…Oh, who are we kidding. This is Papa Joe we are talking about. They hugged it out and Papa Joe sang El Gato sweet nothings, and told him some tales of lollipops and daffodils. [Rays Report]
• More injury updates from Marc Lancaster: Ben Zobrist had his first rehab start for Vero Beach. He DH’d and went 1-3…Cliff Floyd played in another extended spring game as a DH and should rejoin the team within a week…Willy Aybar also played DH in the same game but is still a ways off. Which begs the question: Why is he playing in an extended spring game, if his hamstring is no where near ready to come back? Is there more to his injury?…Al Reyes and Gary Glover played catch (we assume Reyes played the role of ‘Dad’). Reyes has a bullpen session scheduled for today, while Glover will do the same on Saturday…Scott Kazmir had “spectacular” command in his bullpen session yesterday. [Rays Report]
• Bugs & Cranks wonders if Joe Maddon was trying to bait the Jays fans with his comments of their booing of Eric S#!tske. [Bugs & Cranks]
• And Drunk Jays Fans, proprietor of the aforementioned nickname, S#!tske, are a little perturbed that there is a chance that Eric Hinske does not know why he is being booed in Toronto…For the record, we understand. But we also love that the Toronto fans are fanning the fire that is Eric S#!tske, because right now? Hinske is The S#!tske. [Drunk Jays Fans]
• The Strike Zone sees Andy Sonnanstine as a strong candidate to win 20 games. [The Strike Zone]
• Jays fans didn’t take losing to Andy Sonnanstine too well. [primoz forever]
• One blog takes a shot at the upcoming auction at the Trop for “extraordinary baseball experiences”…We gotta admit, they are pretty ridiculous. Also, the name of the website It Is High, It Is Far, It Is…caught is pure awesome. For those not familiar, it is a reference to John Sterling, Yankees broadcaster/blowhard and his home run call, which he uses for anything approaching the outfield wall. And it doesn’t matter if the home run was actually a line drive that just cleared the fence. He will still use the same idiotic call…P.S. The slogan for the website is “The road to the New York Yankees’ 27th World Championship”. Might as well have made that the name of the site, because the “road” is going on 8 years and it does not look like the number is changing anytime soon. [It Is High, It Is Far, It is...caught]

THE GOOD: Good game for Akinori Iwamura offensively. In the 3rd, Aki had an RBI single, but more impotantly, with 2 outs, he advanced to second base on Carl Crawford’s sac fly. That allowed Aki to score on BJ Upton’s single…Jason Bartlett made two amazing plays in the field. The first came in the 5th when he charged and barehanded a slow grounder to get the runner. Later in the 8th in a 1-run game, he ranged deep into the hole to his right, stabbed a grounder, turned and made a strong one-hop throw to Carlos Pena. Make no mistake, that one-hop throw was as intentional play that shortstops often make on artificial turf, the same stuff Bartlett played on in Minnesota…Eric Hinske hit a lonnngggg home run. We pedicted two. One to go……Despite his struggles at the plate, Evan Longoria is still playing solid defense making a couple of good plays including the start of a very important double play. With 1 run in already and the Rays up by 1 in the 6th, the Jays had 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Dirtbag started a 5-4-3 to kill the rally.

THE BAD: We complained about the Toronto broadcast in the Orlando series and things were only worse this time. In the bottom of the third, the Jays scored on a close play at the plate. We are still yet to see a good replay or one that slowed the play down enough to get a good look. In the bottom of the 6th, Akinori Iwamura made a great play up the middle and made a good throw. Once again, we failed to get a good replay or one slow enough to see if the runner was indeed safe…The Rays struggled early on with 5 of the first 6 batters going down on strikes…In the 2nd inning, we saw our first incident in which Aki Iwamura looked lost at second base. With a runner on first, Aki fielded a ground ball only a few steps from the bag. He should have stepped on the bag himself, but instead tried to glove-flip the ball to Jason Bartlett. It worked, but it was awkward and eliminated a chance at turning two…Aki Iwamura also made a terrible baserunning play. On an RBI double in the 5th, he hesitated out of the box and then hesitated at second base and got thrown out at third for the first out, breaking a golden rule in baseball, never make the first out at third base…The Rays rarely sacrifice, but Joe Maddon tried in the 3rd with men on 1st and 2nd with no out. But Jason Bartlett failed to get the bunt down in fair territory…Evan Longoria is 2-19 and looks lost at times…Carlos Pena had the golden sombrero (4 Ks)…In the 9th inning, Carl Crawford swung at a pitch that almost hit his back leg. With 2 strikes that is almost acceptable. But not with 1 strike.

THE TELLING: What we love the most about the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays are wins like last night. The game was close, but there was little or no drama after the 6th inning. That has never happened before. If this game was in 2007, the Rays might have won, but not until after they blew the lead, and fought back, or at the very least, loaded the bases in the 8th and 9th innings…Joe Maddon went with Dan Wheeler for 2 innings again. We have to assume that he will not be available tonight…Troy Percival now has 7 saves, and 4 have come against the Jays…The Rays are now 7-8 on the road and 10-7 at the Trop…

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Injury updates from Marc Lancaster: Cliff Floyd and Ben Zobrist played in extended spring training games yesterday. Zobrist may join Vero Beach as early as tomorrow and play there the rest of the week. He will have the pins removed from his thumb next Monday and he could join the Rays on Tuesday. Floyd could also return about that time. Al Reyes could also return as early as next week and Gary Glover could be back as early as this weekend. [Rays Report]
• Interesting read from ESPN.com as they take a look at exactly how each member of the Rays’ 25-man roster was acquired and who was responsible for the acquisition. The point being that despite all Chuck LaMar’s failures, he deserves credit for a number of the players that have helped the Rays turn the corner…He may deserve credit, but he is not getting any from us out of pure stubborness. [ESPN]
• Scott Kazmir will work on ironing out his mechanics in his bullpen session today. [Tampa Tribune]
• Eric Hinske was booed continually last night and Joe Maddon can’t figure out why. [MLB]

“What’s going on with the booing,” said Maddon, with a huge smile. “One of the nicest guys in the history of the United States and he gets booed in Canada. What’s going on?…Don’t boo Eric Hinske,” he said. “He’s a great guy. I thought, what did he do? Maybe skip town with a couple parking tickets? I don’t know. And he gets booed. He’s a wonderful young man. One of the finest.”

• Carlos Pena is the inaugural member of the “LBS Golden Sombrero Club”. That’s not a good thing. [Larry Brown Sports]
• Evan Longoria is third after 5 weeks in the Baseball Happenings AL Rookie of the Year poll. [Baseball Happenings]
• We are a little lost on this one, as we have no idea who Paul DiMeo is, but we do see the similarity. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]
• Marc Topkin tosses a few names around if Andrew Friedman decides to keep playing musical chairs in the outfield…Jacque Jones does nothing for us, but then again, we still aren’t sure why Nathan Haynes is a Ray. [The Heater]
• Andrew Friedman says that the Rays have narrowed their choice for the top pick in the draft to five players and signability may be a factor as Friedman says that they may try to sign a player prior to the draft. [MLB]

THE GOOD: Evan Longoria’s walk in the 2nd. Dirtbag is struggling and Joe Maddon always said he wanted to see how he would handle a slump. Even if the hits aren’t coming right now, you want to see that he still has a mastery of the strike zone and is not getting himself out. If the that continues, the hits are likely to return sooner rather than later…Edwin Jackson. Yes Nuke. Why? Because if the Rays were going to lose one game in the series, it was this one. Now he is out of the way and we can move on to James Shields and Scott Kazmir.

THE BAD: Akinori Iwamura is bailing out on everything. I have no idea why a pitcher would throw him anything but a fastball on the outside part of the plate right now. When he swings, his front foot lands in the first base dugout…The 3rd inning. After getting the first two batters on, the next three struck out…Carl Crawford’s arm. We have seen some bad throws from CC in our day, but that was one of the worst, and while the wet field may have been a problem, it did not seem to bother the Sox when they were throwing out two different runners at home…Did we mention that the Rays had 2 runners thrown out at home. It is starting to seem as if the Rays get out more on the basepaths than they do at the plate. You know what they say about errors in the field and not “giving the other team extra outs”. Works the same on the base paths. You can’t give the other team free outs.

THE TELLING: Were we the only ones praying for a rainout? Just knew this would not end well with Jackson. He is capable of great starts. But not in Boston on a rainy night after the Rays had swept the Sox just a week prior….Jonny Gomes batted 3rd versus a right-handed pitcher. Huh-wha? He couldn’t even get a start against a righty two weeks ago and now he is batting third?

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Kurt Birkins gets to stay with the Rays a little longer. Gary Glover is now on the DL and Al Reyes is still not ready to come off. [Ray Report]
• Jason Hammel is not officially in the bullpen with Scott Kazmir coming back on tomorrow. [MLB]
• A couple of days ago, we linked to a story on The Sporting News about the Rays improved defense. Yesterday Rob Neyer at ESPN discussed that story, and now he is starting to believe in the Rays. [ESPN]

I was skeptical about [88-89 win projections for the Rays], for the simple reason that the Rays finished last season with a 5.53 ERA, worst in the league. How do you get from there (I wondered) to 87 wins simply by adding Matt Garza? You don’t. But when you add Garza, and get Brendan Harris and B.J. Upton out of the infield, and Dukes and Young out of the outfield, maybe that does get you partway there. Maybe all the way. The Rays are in first place, with the best run differential in their division, having gotten one win from Garza and none from Kazmir. I’m still skeptical. I still think the Rays are more likely to win 82 games than 88. But if they do win 88 games and we’re shocked, it’s because we weren’t paying attention.

• Yesterday it was stories in the New York Times and The Boston Globe that were actually flattering. Today it is the Chicago Tribune. Tomorrow? The LA Times? We only hope that the Devil has a jacket. [Chicago Tribune]
• The Boston Herald calls Evan Longoria a “Sure Thing”. [Boston Herald]

“For me, sometimes when you hear a guy is touted like this, sometimes they don’t live up to expectations or they’re just not as good, in my opinion, and when I saw him, he lived up to all of it and more,” said Longoria’s teammate and former Red Sox Eric Hinske. “He’s better than I thought he would be, for sure. He does everything right, he’s fundamentally sound, on defense as well – he’s got good footwork, a good arm.”

• No Scott Kazmir is not the only surprise about the Rays early season success. DRays Bay points out that the top 2 hitters in the Rays lineup are not getting on base. [DRays Bay]

• The Good: To quote a commenter from last night: Akinori Iwamura… you beautiful, beautiful small little Japanese man. Although I might worry a little for Aki’s safety today. He did a nice little bat flip and walked the first few steps down the line to admire the blast. Don’t get me wrong. I loved it. And in reality the Sawx are the last team in the world that could ever complain about something like that as long as Manny Ramirez wears the Scarlett Hose. But still. Aki might get a little buzz this afternoon if a pitcher gets an opportunity…Oh yeah and the bullpen, Again. 2 runs in the last 30 innings pitched from the bullpen. That’s right. 2 runs in the last 30 innings pitched from the Tampa Bay Rays relief corps.
• The Bad: Jello Shots. Seriously? Who the hell thought Jello Shots was a good idea?
• The Telling: This worked yesterday, so I will try going to the well one more time. The last time the Rays won 6 in a row was August 3, 2005. The winning pitchers during that streak were Scott Kazmir, Casey Fossum, Doug Waechter, Mark Hendrickson, Seth McClung and Travis Harper. No shit…Also if the Rays win today they will be 3 games over .500 after 25 games. It looks like that would be the latest in a season that the Rays have ever been 3 games over .500. In 2004 they were 40-38 but never got to 3-over. The latest they have ever been 3-over was way back in 1999 when the Rays were 11-8 after 19 games.
• Today: Huge matchup of Aces as the Rays go for the sweep. It is Josh Beckett versus James Shields.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Only surprise here is that Andrew Friedman didn’t make this move sooner. Elliot Johnson has been sent to Durham and Andy Cannizaro has been called up to take his place. With Jason Bartlett’s shoulder problems, Joe Maddon undoubtedly would prefer to have a natural shortstop on the bench to back him up. [Rays Report]
• There is speculation around the Rangers that new team President Nolan Ryan may ask Gerry Hunsicker to come on board as the new GM. [ESPN via Lone Star Ball]
• Marc Topkin takes a look at the Rays surplus of starting pitching and comes to the same conclusion that many including The Professor have been saying for a while, Andy Sonnanstine is likely the odd-man out and could be headed to the bullpen with Scott Dohmann being DFA’d. Even with the 3-hit shutout, Duke is just the better option in the bullpen. [St. Pete Times]
• Red Sox skipper Terry Francona is impressed with what he sees in the Rays. [MLB]
• What a difference a year makes for the Rays bullpen, where Gary Glover is the only reliever that was with the Rays at this time last year. [Tampa Tribune]
• The Rays rank first in affordability in the major leagues. [MLB]
• I am amazed at how many stories have been written that say giving Evan Longoria a long term deal so early is very risky. All these stories make the same argument: Prospects flame out all the time. They will then go on to list all the top prospects that never panned out. Only they only list pitchers. The only top hitting prospect that anybody ever mentions is Rocco Baldelli and he has what appears to be a rare genetic disorder. His had nothing to do with miscalculated scouting. Top hitting prospects *never* fail. They may not turn out to be all-stars, but they never fail. There is basically ZERO risk in the Longoria deal. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

Tampa Bay Rays (10 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 4, Indians 4.

The Good: Dioner Navarro continues his hot spring, going 2-2 with a double, home run and a walk. He is now 11-28 (.393) on the spring with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and a OPS. Elliot Johnson and Reid Brignac Durham’s likely double-play tandem successfully turned a pair of twin-killings.

The Bad: Jason Hammel wasn’t terrible, but he really needed a strong showing to get his name back in consideration for the rotation. In 4.1 innings, he gave up 3 runs on 4 hits, 2 walks and a hit batter…Same can be said for Jeff Niemann. He was a little better, but his 4 innings of 1-run ball came against the B-teamers and he did walk 2 and give up 5 hits while striking out only 1.

The Telling: Jonny Gomes played 5 innings in center field as Joe Maddon continues to look fir a suitable backup…Joel Guzman got the start at third base. With Willy Aybar nursing a sore hamstring, Guzman stands to be the backup third baseman if Evan Longoria is demoted. A start at third suggests that Maddon wants to get Guzman some work at the hot corner in preparation for the regular season. It was not a case of giving Longoria a day off as he came in and played the second half of the game.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Yesterday, the brilliant, highly esteemed, good-lookin’, greatest writer in the universe, Rob Neyer of ESPN.com wrote a piece focusing on our “Dirtbag-O-Meter”. Neyer argues that the Rays should use the money they could potentially save by having Evan Longoria begin the season in the minors and buy some goodwill with the fans by keeping The Dirtbag in the majors. [ESPN]

Two opinions: 1. Management wants Longoria to open the season in the minors, if only because it might save the franchise a few million bucks down the line. and 2. Management really, really wishes Longoria wasn’t doing quite so well this month.

• Both BJ Upton and Akinori Iwamura had to be removed from yesterday’s game due to injury. Neither injury appears serious. [Tampa Tribune]
• Rays of Light thinks the Rays have no choice now but to keep Evan Longoria on the roster for opening day. Considering the recent comments by Carl Crawford they correct conclude that it is a tricky situation the team has created telling the players they want to win, but then send the team’s best spring performer down to the minors. [Rays of Light]
• If Evan Longoria is reassigned to minor league camp, he won’t be the only top prospect in baseball that will have to wait a little longer. The Reds’ outfielder Jay Bruce, Baseball America’s top-rated prospect (Longoria was #2) will start the season at AAA. [Baseball America]
• The Ledger says “Jason Hammel appears likely to start the season in the Rays’ pitching rotation unless the decision is his to make.” We are going to have to agree with Hammel on this one when he says ” “Honestly, there’s other guys who have thrown better than me.” We know Hammel is out of options, but Niemann deserves the shot before Hammel. At least in the case of Jackson, he has shown that he can be dominant. Hammel has never shown that. [The Ledger]
  
• David Chalk argues that the Yankees level of failure in the 21st Century exceeds that of every other team, including the Devil Rays. He actually makes a pretty convincing argument. In essence Tampa Bay has met expectations. The same cannot be said of the Evil Empire. [Bugs & Cranks]
• Not only has Wade Townsend healthy for the first time in years, but he enters 2008 with more velocity than ever on his fastball. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“My velocity and the curveball are the best they have been,” he said. “It’s just a matter of going out there and transforming that into performances this year, and hopefully I’ll start as high as I can go.”

• Baseball Crank published their 2008 AL East projection and have the Rays finishing 4th with only 71 wins. While the 88 wins projected by PECOTA seems a little high, this number seems a little low. We are also skeptical of a projection that gives the Yankees 101 wins and the Red Sox only 88. [Baseball Crank]
• Brittany Ghiroli points out that Gary Glover, Dan Wheeler and Trever Miller have all been able to work on consecutive days recently in an effort to get them ready for the regular season. Joe Maddon also notes that he is trying to get Miller more work against lefties in the spring, a scenario that is difficult with so many pitchers needing work. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“We want to get those guys some innings. Plus, when you are able to stretch these guys out over here [at Al Lang Field], that’s less time on this side of things,” Maddon said. “Sending guys over there just to get some work and match them up is ideal for us…You just don’t want the first time they’re going back-to-back to be at the beginning of the regular season,” Hickey said.

• So far Joe Maddon likes what he has seen from Akinori Iwamura at second base and notes that there is already a strong chemistry between he and Jason Bartlett. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“Any time you go from this side to that side, the runner is coming in at your back,” Maddon said. “[But] I see him staying in there really well on the double play. I see him throwing really hard and accurately to first.”…Maddon added that Iwamura has been equally as sharp on the mental side of playing second, noting he has been in the right place every time on bunts, cutoffs and relays. Maddon also likes the chemistry that has developed between Iwamura and shortstop Jason Bartlett….”[Bartlett] has really helped the transition for Aki by just the way he is, his personality and his character. He’s embraced having Aki there. You see it all the time. They’re together constantly, and I watch the conversation. They’re really cut from the same cloth emotionally. They are both confident young men — and because of that, they have both hit it off.”

• Outs Per Swing takes a look at some of the players that may end up on waivers for the Rays to pick up as a fourth outfielder. [Outs Per Swing]
• Beyond the Boxscore takes a look at how much of Carl Crawford’s game is owed to his speed and tries to predict what type of player Crawford would be if he had average speed. [Beyond the Boxscore]
• Bleacher Report names the best players to play each position for the Rays in their first ten seasons. [Bleacher Report]
• Stacy Long projects where some of the Rays top prospects will begin the season. [Riverwalk Talk]
  

Tampa Bay Rays (1 day until pitchers and catchers report)

It is what he wanted.

It is what we wanted.

It is not necessarily what the front office wanted.

But now it looks like Evan Longoria will get the opportunity to prove in Spring Training that he belongs in the majors.

And a chance is all the Dirtbag needs. It won’t take much to convince Joe Maddon. And we have a feeling that if Papa Joe can be convinced, it won’t take much to convince Andrew Friedman.

Longoria will not have to hit .400 in Spring Training and he will not have to hit 10 home runs. In fact, we have a feeling that as long as he does not fall flat on his face, he will be named the Rays opening day starter at third base. As much as Papa Joe likes to crunch numbers on his computer, he still loves himself a good ole fashioned baseball player. Evan Longoria is a baseball player. And Maddon will envision that rubbing off on the other players

Maddon is destined to fall in love with the 22 year old. He will see enough in his swing and his glove to know that he is not going to be over-matched at the major league level.

Longoria may struggle at first. But he is too good a hitter to fail. And Papa Joe will see that.

Longoria will get chance to earn spot [Rays Report]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• ESPN.com takes a closer look at the “revitalized” Carl Crawford. C.C. speaks about having more energy after learning that he was allergic to dairy and wheat products and the subsequent change in his diet. He has also upped his workout regimen and has dropped his body fat from 12% to 8% since December. He also doesn’t hold back in his portrayal of just how miserable 2007 was for the Rays. [ESPN]

“It’s just going to be about playing baseball again, that’s what I’m really excited about this season,” Crawford said at his offseason home. “With all the B.S. that was going on last year, I think we lost focus on the task at hand.” Crawford refers to the ongoing soap opera that featured Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young. Both of the enormously talented players couldn’t stay out of trouble; Dukes with his off-field issues, and Young with his me-first attitude that resulted in him at first walking out on manager Joe Maddon on the second-to-last day of the 2007 regular season. Crawford calls last season a year “he never wants to remember,” and the distractions, at times, were almost unbearable…”That move, for Garza, spoke volumes,” Crawford said. “For the first time I felt like this organization was serious about winning. That’s the reason why I think everybody is excited because everybody sees that.”

• Joe Maddon confirmed something that we had expected, that is five of the seven bullpen spots are already spoken for, all but guaranteeing that Gary Glover will be on the opening day roster. That leaves one spot that will go to a “loser” in the battle for the starting rotation and the final spot will be between Juan Salas, Scott Dohmann and Grant Balfour. [The Heater]
• Shawn Riggans enters Spring Training healthy and understands this may be his last shot at winning a job with the Rays now that John Jaso has been added to the 40-man roster. Marc Topkin refers to Riggans as the “apparent leading candidate for the backup catcher’s job.” This might be a stretch after the recent additions of one veteran catcher in Mike DiFelice and the return of Josh Paul who is familiar with the Rays pitching staff. It is our feeling that if the season started today Paul’s experience and familiarity with the pitching staff will be a better partner to the young Dioner Navarro. [St. Pete Times]
• Marc Topkin reviews all the changes the Rays have made this off-season. [St. Pete Times]
• The Columbus Catfish have been sold and plan to relocate to Bolling Green, Kentucky for the 2009 season. [Ledger-Enquirer]
• Baseball Analysts continues their breakdown of the best baseball players by age. In the age 23 group, BJ Upton comes in at #6, while both Evan Longoria and David Price come in at #5 and #12 respectively. [Baseball Analysts]
• The Ledger ranks the DHs. The Rays’ three-headed monster of Rocco Baldelli, Cliff Floyd and Jonny Gomes is ranked 7th. [The Ledger]
• My Baseball Bias previews the Rays’ Spring Training. [My Baseball Bias]
• Devil Rays Locker gives the Rays front office a B+ for this off-season’s moves. [Devil Rays Locker]

Tampa Bay Rays (18 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Just the links today as we mourn the 15th anniversary of the passing of one of our childhood faves, Andre the Giant, and wish a happy birthday to another one of our childhood faves, Keith Olbermann. What better way to celebrate then to bake a chocolate cake on National Chocolate Cake Day!

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• In Marc Topkin’s latest piece, he speculates on what James Shields’ deal means for Scott Kazmir. Kazmir says that the deal has little bearing on his contract status as they are in difference situations (Kazmir is in his arbitration years). Later on in the piece Topkin raises a good point we had not considered before in regards to the recent deals for Shields and Carlos Pena. He states that even though the deals only take away a minimal number of free agent years, the contracts will also keep the Rays from being forced to trade one or the other at any time during their arbitration years. So while the players were locked up for X number of years prior to the deals (five years in Shields case) the deals do make it easier for the team to keep the players during those locked-up years. [St. Pete Times]

Shields’ deal technically would only keep him around for two extra free-agent seasons, but another benefit of these type of deals is cost certainly during arbitration years, which could prevent the Rays from having to trade him, as the Marlins did when arbitration-eligible Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis became too expensive.

• The Bradenton Herald says that the moves made this off-season are not a ploy by the team to earn support for a new stadium, and the timing is just a coincidence. [Bradenton Herald]
• Jim Hickey expects the bullpen to be much better in 2008 (Couldn’t be any worse). But what is interesting in the piece, when Hickey speaks of Troy Percival, Al Reyes, Dan Wheeler and Gary Glover. “When I end up talking about bullpen guys, you always talk about if you’re comfortable sending a guy out there, and right there are four guys I’m comfortable sending out there in pretty much any situation at all.” It is pretty clear from that quote, that Glover will be on the opening day roster. In our most recent 25-man roster projection (in the sidebar), we did not have Glover’s position listed as “secure”. We will have to change that in our next evaluation. That leaves three spots in the ‘pen. Long Reliever is likely to be one of the starting pitchers that does not win a spot in the rotation. Lefty-Specialist is a player-to-be-signed later. The final spot is up for grabs with Juan Salas and Scott Dohmann being the leading candidates (Salas has a minor league option remaining). [TBO]
• DRays Bay takes a look at every player invited to Spring Training and what each player’s chances are of making the team. [DRays Bay]
• Fox Sports lists Andy Sonnanstine as one of ten players that could break out in 2008. [Fox Sports]

With guys like Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza in the Tampa Bay rotation, it’s easy to forget about Sonnanstine. However, he’s impressive in his own right. Sonnanstine boasts a low arm angle, an array of pitches, and an ability to change speeds. None of his offerings wow scouts, but in four minor-league seasons he logged a 2.56 ERA and a stellar strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.2 to 1. Last season in Tampa, Sonnanstine struggled in terms of keeping runs off the board, but he did strike out more than three times as many batters as he walked. Given his command skills, Sonnanstine is one to watch in 2008.

• Evan Longoria will wear #3 in Spring Training. He wears #6 in the minors.
• The Rays have signed relief pitcher Scott Munter to a minor league contract. Munter was a 47th round selection of the Giants in 2000 and somehow has managed to earn three different stints with the Giants despite a career minor league record that includes almost as many walks (134) as strikeouts (175 in 334.1 innings). [Baseball America]
• RotoAuthority has their projection for James Shields numbers in 2008. Interestingly, the projection calls for a year not quite as a good as last year, with 13 wins and a 4.06 ERA. [RotoAuthority]

Tampa Bay Rays (62 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Has any prospect in the Rays system fallen farther, faster than Elliot Johnson? Many had Johnson pegged to be the Rays opening day second baseman in 2008 after a strong 2006 campaign in AA Montgomery. While his numbers were not earth-shattering, he did hit .272 with 41 extra-base hits and a .764 OPS. They don’t scream future all-star, but they were more than respectable for a second baseman in a franchise with no obvious second baseman at the major league level and no other second base prospects in the minors.

In 2007, Johnson was promoted to Durham and already on the 40-man roster, he seemed destined for a September call-up, or at least an invitation to the 2008 Spring Training with a shot at being the opening day second baseman. But rather than taking a step forward, he took a large step backwards, to the tune of the fifth worst OPS (.627) in all of AAA baseball. His batting average fell to .207 and he collected only 34 extra-base hits, despite playing in 21 more games than 2006.

Now many have written Johnson off and no longer consider him Johnson a part of the Rays future. In one season he went from cant-miss 2008 starter to candidate to be Designated for Assignment and removed from the 40-man roster. Most likely, both assertions are wrong, and Johnson falls somewhere in between. The best solution for Johnson, the Rays and Rays fans, is to chalk 2007 up to one bad season-long slump and enter 2008 as if it never happened. It is not too late for Johnson to reclaim his semi-elite status, but if his numbers don’t rebound to his 2006 totals, he is destined to be a journeyman minor leaguer.

Worst Minor League OPS’s in 2007 [Recondite Baseball]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Marc Lancaster is reporting that the deal with Cliff Floyd is not finalized, as had been reported yesterday on ESPN.com. The ESPN.com report stated that Floyd and the Rays had agreed to a 1-year, $3 million deal with up to $2 million in incentives. The Rays may be waiting for Floyd to pass a physical. [TBO]
• The Rays avoided arbitration with Grant Balfour and Gary Glover, by signing both to 1-year contracts yesterday. Glover will make $1.075 million in base salary, that jumps to $1.1 million with 65 appearances (He made 67 appearances in 2007). Balfour will make $500,000 if he is on the 25-man roster, $150,000 if he is in the minors. We originally thought that Balfour was out of options and could refuse an assignment to the minors. However, if he was not on the Reds 40-man roster in 2006 (spent entirely in the minors), he may have an option left. [Yahoo! Sports]
• The 40-man roster and payroll projections have been updated in the side-panel to reflect the new contracts.

Tampa Bay Rays (66-96)
What is the best cure for The Hangover? Happy Hour!

There was just too much going on in the Raysiverse that we couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning when nobody turns on their computers. Without further ado…

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Nationals traded Ryan Church to the Mets for Lastings Milledge. This move does not necessarily mean that the Nationals are no longer interested in Elijah Dukes. The Nationals would want Dukes to play center field. Church logged considerable time in center last season and Milledge is primarily a left fielder although he can play center. Washington may still be in the market for a center fielder. [Newsday]
• Marc Lancaster also thinks the the Nationals may still try to acquire Elijah Dukes because Washington’s GM Jim Bowden is quite fond of “toolsy outfielders”. [TBO]
• The Troy Percival deal has now been officially announced. The only difference from previous reports is that incentives could reach $4 million over the two years based on games played and games finished. [tampabay.com]
• Larry Brown Sports is surprised that a player would turn down more money from the Yankees to sign with the Rays. If everything else was equal, we would be surprised also, but the Rays undoubtedly promised Troy Percival that he would be the closer, as opposed to a set-up man in New York. [Larry Brown Sports]
• This morning we wondered aloud whether Evan Longoria would be MiLB’s top prospect. He is not. He comes in at #2. [MiLB]

With fewer than 200 professional games under his belt, Longoria appears ready for the big leagues. He made it to Triple-A in his first full season and has shown the ability to hit for average and power in his brief pro career. Defensively, he’s got good hands and a strong arm at third base.

Players who come out of Long Beach State seem to have pretty good heads on their shoulders and know how to play the game the right way (see Tulowitzki, Troy). Longoria definitely fits that mold and his makeup and work ethic are off the charts. That should enable him to get to the big leagues, and stay there, in short order. It’s not guaranteed, but it’s hard to imagine he won’t make the 2008 big-league roster as the Opening Day third baseman, pushing Akinori Iwamura to second base.

• Saturday is the deadline for teams to offer arbitration to eligible players. While Scott Kazmir, Carlos Pena, Jonny Gomes and Dan Wheeler are no-brainers…Gary Glover and Grant Balfour are not, especially with the signing of Troy Percival and the acquisition of Matt Garza which presumably bumps Jason Hammel to the bullpen. [Devil Rays]
• WOOHOO! The acquisition of Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett leaves at least one blogger believing that the Rays are now better than the Royals. [Royals Review]
• Based on “Mariginal Revenue Products” estimates, whatever those are…Carlos Pena was the 5th most valuable American Leaguer. [Sabernomics]