Archive for the 'Hank Blalock' Category

May 10

Rays May Not Need To Trade For A Left-Handed Bat

Hank Blalock, Matt Joyce, Pat Burrell 13 Comments »

This weekend, Joe Maddon essentially benched Pat Burrell, saying Willy Aybar will be the DH versus lefties and against some righties. That leaves the Rays without a left-handed bat on the bench (the backup catcher is usually unavailable to pinch-hit in case the starter gets injured).

Buster Olney recognized this and believes the Rays will look to trade for a left-handed bat…

They could use a right-handed reliever and a left-handed DH-type. The left-handed hitter might well come from outside the organization, and undoubtedly, there will be an opportunity that will present itself during the year; as one GM mentioned Friday, Berkman would be an exceptional fit as a DH if the Astros ever decided to move him and the money could be worked out.

Certainly Berkman would be a welcome addition to the Rays lineup. But would the Rays be willing to pay the price? Even if the Astros picked up most of his remaining 2010 salary ($14.5 million), there is still the $2 million buyout on his 2011 option of $15 million. That might be more than the Rays want to pay for a player that would essentially be a part-time DH.

And will the Rays part with a prospect and add to the payroll when they have left-handed options in the minor leagues?

Hank Blalock seems like an ideal candidate. He has played third base and is hitting a solid .375/.440/.523 for Durham. In addition, there is the impending return of Matt Joyce who could be available as early as June. And there is Cuban defector Leslie Anderson, who will begin play with Charlotte today and could be available as a September call-up.

If the Rays call-up Blalock or Joyce, the Rays could finally cut Burrell loose. Or they could keep him and send Sean Rodriguez to the minors for regular playing time.

No matter which path the Rays choose, we do know that the Rays will have to make a move. Having a bench of nothing but right-handed bats, takes away one of the Rays better traits, flexibility.

Apr 28

Second Annual Tampa Bay Rays Trade Pool

Andy Sonnanstine, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dan Johnson, Dan Wheeler, Dioner Navarro, Fernando Perez, Hank Blalock, Jason Bartlett, Justin Ruggiano, Matt Sweeney, Pat Burrell, Rafael Soriano 30 Comments »

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Tampa Bay Rays Trade Pool where members of the Rays blogosphere determine who is the best at predicting which members of the Rays organization will be traded this season (this contest is based loosely on the “Dead Pool“).

The Rules:

  • Each blogger submitted a list of 5 players they believe have the greatest chance to be traded this season. All players in the organization are eligible.
  • The bloggers ranked those 5 players, giving the highest rank (#1) to the player they think is most likely to be traded.
  • If one of the players they chose is traded prior to the end of the season, that blogger will receive points based on where the blogger ranked the player. If Carl Crawford is traded and a blogger has CC ranked first, they will receive 5 points. If they have CC ranked second, they will receive 4 points and so on.
  • The blogger with the most points at the end of the season wins.
  • We also want YOUR lists in the comments. Let’s see if you guys can beat the experts. And by “experts” we of course mean a bunch of people with too much free time on their hands.

First let’s sum up all the results and see who the group as a whole thinks is most likely to be traded. We summed up the ballots with an MVP-style ranking. A player received 5 points for each 1st place vote, 4 points for each second place vote and so on…

Three of the 10 bloggers picked Hank Blalock as the most likely player to be traded, and three picked Andy Sonnanstine. Twenty-three different players showed up on at least one list.

Now let’s look at each blogger’s ballot…

Notes on the rankings

  • The difficulty in these rankings is predicting whether the Rays will be “buyers” or “sellers” this season. If they are in the playoff hunt, they are more likely to trade prospects. If they fall off the pace they are more likely to try and move expensive veterans.
  • Hank Blalock and Andy Sonnanstine each appeared on the most lists (6).
  • 10 different players appeared on more than one list.

Thanks to all who chose to participate including…

Also, you might be asking “What does the winner receive?” We have no idea. Any suggestions?

Apr 26

Hank Blalock Adjusts To Life In The Bus Leagues (Video)

Hank Blalock 3 Comments »

Apr 22

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Big Night’s For Big Dub And Rodzilla, Playoff Probabilities And Bowling Green’s Anemic Offense

BJ Upton, Hank Blalock, Joe Maddon, Jonah Keri, Sean Rodriguez, Willy Aybar 34 Comments »

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

click above image for boxscore

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

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

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

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

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

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

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: Virgil Vasquez, the player acquired from the Pirates for cash before the season, allowed 5 runs in 4.2 innings…Joaquin Benoit retired all 4 batters he faced, striking out 2…Hank Blalock hit his first home run in the Rays organization…Dan Johnson hit his league-leading 7th home run…Desmond Jennings was 1-5 with a walk and 2 steals…Fernando Perez was 3-5 with a walk and his 8th stolen base.
  • MONTGOMERY: Jake McGee allowed 1 run and struck out 3, but had to leave after 2.1 innings because of a leg injury…Nevin Ashley was 2-4.
  • CHARLOTTE: Nick Barnese struck out 8 and walked just 1 in 5 innings, but did give up 10 hits and 4 runs…Tim Beckham went 2-4 with a double…Matt Sweeney was 0-2 with 2 walks…Henry Wrigley hit his 2nd home run.
  • BOWLING GREEN: Wilking Rodriguez gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 6 innings with 2 strikeouts and 1 walk…Bowling Green managed only 3 hits. There are 60 single-A minor league teams. Only Kinston in Southern League (.568) has an OPS worse than Bowling Green (.577).
Apr 13

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Garza’s Dominance, CC’s Contractual Motivation And Benoit’s Big Step

Carl Crawford, Hank Blalock, Joaquin Benoit, Matt Garza, Randy Choate 20 Comments »

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

click above image for boxscore

THE GOOD: Matt Garza. It is just two starts against the Orioles, but Gonzo is starting to look like he could be off to a magical season. The first batter of the game ruined any chance for a no-hitter or a shutout, but after that he did not allow a run, striking out 5 and walking 3…Carl Crawford. Best thing about losing CC after the season? He seems motivated like never before, and the Rays are reaping the benefits. Last night it was a 4-4 performance with a home run, 2 runs scored and a diving catch in left-center. That catch came in a 2-run game with a runner on third. If he doesn’t make the catch, it is 3-2 with a runner in scoring position and only 1 out…Rafael Soriano. He looked a little better this time, striking out 2 in a scoreless 9th…Reid Brignac. Briggy hit his 2nd big league home run. He later added an infield single driving in the 5th run. Might he have earned himself a little more playing time with Sean Rodriguez struggling a bit?

THE BAD: Dioner Navarro. We are beginning to wonder if his head is in the game anymore. In the 7th inning with 2 outs and nobody on base, Navi tried to bunt his way on. We’re speechless.

THE TELLING: This was just the second time in 7 games that the Rays have scored more than 4 runs…The crowd for the Orioles was 9,129. That is the smallest crowd to ever see a game at Camden Yards. [begin sarcasm] Clearly Baltimore is a terrible baseball town and the O’s need a new stadium [end sarcasm]…On queue, Joaquin Benoit worked last night, marking the first time he has worked back-to-back days since the Rays signed him. We would be shocked if he is not with the Rays by the time this road trip is over…Ratings for the first five home games (not including Saturday’s national broadcast) are up 141% over last year.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • PSA: You can now reach the Raysheads Forum through the link in header above or at Raysheads.com.
  • Hank Blalock hasn’t played since opening day, missing 4 straight games due to “soreness” in his upper leg. However, it is not serious and he has been dressed and available to play.
  • Joe Maddon says he will continue to use Randy Choate against right-handed batters. [St. Pete Times]
  • The Yankees had some not-too-kind words for the Rays. Apparently they had never heard of the Trop’s catwalks prior to this past weekend’s games. [NY Daily News]
  • We are not sure how somebody could confuse Carl Crawford for Reid Brignac, but Briggy did not hit 2 home runs last night. [All Headline News]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: Carlos Hernandez only allowed 2 runs in 5 innings despite giving up 4 hits and walking 4 batters. Only 46 of his 85 pitches went for strikes…Joe Dillon continues his hot start, going 2-5 with a double and a pair of RBI…Matt Joyce returned to the lineup for the first time since being hit by a pitch and went 1-4 with a double…Joaquin Benoit allowed 2 hits in 1 scoreless inning.
  • MONTGOMERY: Jeremy Hall pitched 7 shutout innings, striking out 5 and walking 1…Emeel Salem and Matt Fields were each 2-4.
  • CHARLOTTE: Kyle Lobstein pitched 5 shutout innings, striking out 3 and allowing 2 hits and a walk…Tyler Bortnick went 3-5 and Mark Thomas was 1-2 with a pair of walks.
  • BOWLING GREEN: No game scheduled.
Apr 12

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Bullpen Options, JoeMa’s Overthinking And Another Blalock DNP

Hank Blalock, Jeff Niemann, Joaquin Benoit, Joe Maddon, Matt Joyce 24 Comments »

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

click above image for boxscore

THE GOOD: Pat Burrell. Yep, 2 hits, including a cue-shot off of Mo Rivera in the 9th…Joaquin Benoit. After another strong outing (see below) Benoit has now struck out 9 of the 12 batters he has faced. He still hasn’t shown that he can work back-to-back games. But at this point, isn’t Benoit every other day, still a better option for the Rays than some of the everyday options Joe Maddon has now?

THE BAD: Joe Maddon. Despite throwing 24 pitches the day before, and despite Jorge Posada being a better hitter from the right side with more power versus versus lefties, JoeMa brought Randy Choate in with a 2-1 lead to try and induce a groundball double-play. Instead, Hip-Hip Jorge hit a 2-run home run to give the Yankees a lead they would never relinquish…James Shields. With this bullpen, Shields has to give Joe Maddon more than 5.1 innings (103 pitches)…Hot Springs. Sean Rodriguez may have used up all his hits in the spring. After an 0-3, he is now 2-13 (both singles) to start the year…Baserunning. We’re not going to mention that BJ Upton was picked off first base. Nope, not going to mention it…Navi’s D. Does anybody else remember when Dioner Navarro was actually a decent defensive catcher? Yesterday the Yankees scored their 4th run on a wild pitch by Lance Cormier. The pitch was in the dirt, but the pitch was blockable and Navi made only a half-assed attempt at blocking the pitch.

THE TELLING: Andy Sonnanstine worked the final 2 innings which means Jeff Niemann will make his scheduled start on Tuesday…The Rays debuted their new powder blue jerseys. We were a little disappointed at the beginning of the game, but they were starting to grow on us by the end…Matt Joyce is day-to-day on his rehab assignment after being hit in the forearm with a pitch.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Marc Topkin talks to some of the Rays about getting ready for their 11-day roadtrip. [The Heater]
  • Joe Maddon talks about the need for the Rays to play better on the road this season. [St. Pete Times]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: Hank Blalock sat for the third straight game even though Matt Joyce was unavailable to DH. The opposing starting pitcher was a lefty. Still, he didn’t come in after Joyce left Saturday’s game and he did not pinch-hit yesterday…Virgil Vasquez made his first start since being acquired from the Pirates, allowing just 1 run (a home run) in 5.2 innings with 2 strikeouts and 1 walk…Joaquin Benoit, struck out 3 of the 4 batters he has faced and 9 of the 12 he has faced on the season…Joe Dillon went 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI.
  • MONTGOMERY: David Newmann pitched an impressive 7 shutout innings, allowing just 5 hits and no walks with 4 Ks. He needed only 65 pitches (45 strikes)…Shawn O’Malley was 3-4 with a walk, an RBI and 2 stolen bases…Cody Cipriano went 3-4 with a double and a stolen base.
  • CHARLOTTE: Game suspended in the 2nd inning.
  • BOWLING GREEN: Wilking Rodriguez, whom some think is the Rays next great pitcher, got pounded early giving up 6 runs (4 earned) in the first 2 innings. But he did settle down to work 5 innings with 6 strikeouts and no walks…Mark Thomas went 2-4 with his second home run.
Apr 06

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Longoria’s Thievery, The Opening Day Lineup And Blalock’s Opt-Out Updated

Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, Hank Blalock, Reid Brignac, Sean Rodriguez 3 Comments »

One fun story to watch this summer will be Evan Longoria’s stolen bases. Yes, we said stolen bases. Dirtbag is not known for his speed, but in his first two seasons, Longoria has stolen 16 bases without being caught. That is 11 shy of Tim Raines’ major league record of 27 consecutive steals without being caught to start a career.

Of course Longoria’s career high is only 9, so even if he goes all season without being caught, he still might not break the record until 2011.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • If you missed it last night, we opened The Raysheads Forum, a discussion forum for Rays fans. [Rays Index]
  • Reid Brignac was named Rays top rookie of the spring, winning the Al Lopez Award…Evan Longoria will be presented with his Gold Glove award prior to Saturday’s game…The Rays have MLB’s 6th youngest team and 2nd youngest rotation (behind Detroit).
  • Marc Topkin has the opening day lineups for the Rays and O’s. Sean Rodriguez gets the start at second base and will bat 8th with Dioner Navarro behind the plate and batting 9th. [The Heater]
  • The Rays announced that the opener is now sold out. To clarify, we never were worried that it wouldn’t sell out. Our worry was only that there did not appear to be great demand for opening day tickets.
  • Hank Blalock still has an opt-out clause and can give the Rays 48-hours notice to either add him to the big league roster or release him…David Price and Wade Davis pitched simulated games yesterday…Jeremy Beckham, Tim’s brother, was released. [St. Pete Times]
  • Evan Longoria appeared on the Dan Patrick Show. He doesn’t think he is the favorite to win the AL MVP, said the Rays needed 3 or 4 days to recover after facing Roy Halladay, never buys new pants and would rather somebody hit on his girlfriend than touch his glove. [SI.com]
  • Rays Prospects takes a closer look at the Bowling Green roster. [Rays Prospects]
  • Rays Prospects previews the Charlotte Stone Crabs. [Rays Prospects]
  • Noah Pransky has a good summary of recent discussions on the Rays quest for a new stadium. [Shadow of the Stadium]
  • Rays Rev has pictures of some of the Rays upcoming promotional giveaways. [Rays Rev]
  • Dave Scheiber writes about Rocco Baldelli’s return to the Rays. [Fox Sports Florida]
Apr 02

Brignac In, Blalock Out

Hank Blalock, Reid Brignac, Sean Rodriguez 12 Comments »

[Update] Roger Mooney reports that Blalock is now willing to accept a demotion to Durham if he is unable to find another big league job. Also, Joe Maddon says Reid Brignac will indeed start at 2B versus right-handed pitchers on most days.

[Update] Blalock has until Sunday morning to decide if he will opt-out of his contract or accept an assignment to triple-A.

[1:51pm] As we speculated yesterday, Reid Brignac has won the battle for the final roster spot according to Marc Topkin. That leaves Hank Blalock off the 25-man roster. He will have to decide whether to accept a minor league assignment or exercise his opt-out clause and become a free agent.

Now the question becomes: will Brignac platoon with Zobrist at second base or will Sean Rodriguez receive the other starts? Our money is on Brignac.

Apr 01

Are Rays Negotiating With Blalock To Accept Minor League Assignment?

Hank Blalock, Reid Brignac 11 Comments »

Joe Maddon stated today that Hank Blalock will be in the lineup today and tomorrow. It sounds like the team will not make an announcement regarding Blalock’s future until tomorrow. However, quotes from Maddon suggest a decision has already been made…

We pretty much know what we’ve got going on on the field right now. There’s still some conversations that need to be had. I promise as soon as I can I’ll give it to you, but we have a pretty good idea what we want to do.

So have the Rays decided on Reid Brignac for the final spot over Blalock? Here is another quote from JoeMa…

“With Hank, I don’t know him a long time, but like I said before, he likes straightforwardness, bluntness, transparency, whatever you want to call it. So he and I had a really open conversation and it was very good, very informative. I like him.”

Maddon also added that the team “will continue to work on that,” when asked about Blalock’s status.

This suggests that the Rays have decided on Brignac for the final spot and that they are currently negotiating with Blalock to accept a minor league assignment. Blalock stated yesterday that he would not accept a minor league assignment and would instead opt-out of his contract to become a free agent.

Our guess would be that the Rays are asking for Blalock to extend his deadline by a few weeks or a month. This would give the Rays the best of both worlds. They can keep Brignac on the big league roster as a better defensive option for the second base platoon and keep Blalock in reserve should the need for a left-handed bat arise.

Apr 01

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Balfour’s Strong Outing, The Duke’s Shaky Outing And Blalock’s Ultimatum

Alvin Colina, Dioner Navarro, Hank Blalock, Joe Dillon 7 Comments »

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

click above image for boxscore

THE GOOD: Wade Davis. Big Dub struggled with his control, walking 4, but otherwise looked good allowing 2 runs in 6 innings with 5 strikeouts…Grant Balfour. The Mad Australian had his best outing of the spring working 2 scoreless innings, allowing just 1 hit and walking none…Sean Rodriguez. Rodzilla continued his hot spring with a double and a pair of singles…Ben Zobrist. Zobrist had 2 doubles, a single and drove in 4.

THE BAD: Andy Sonnanstine. The Duke, working his first back-to-back outings in relief, walked 2 and gave up a home run (to a guy wearing #93) in 1 inning of work.

THE TELLING: Rafael Soriano pitched in a minor league game. It was the first time he pitched on back-to-back days…Joe Dillon and Alvin Colina were reassigned to minor league camp…James Shields will pitch in a minor league game today to avoid facing the Orioles who he will face on Tuesday. Dioner Navarro will be his catcher suggesting Navi will be in the lineup on opening day…The Rays set a franchise record for wins in spring training with their 19th…Today is the final official spring training game. The Rays will play a pair of exhibitions starting tomorrow at The Trop against the Mets and this weekend against the Bulls in Durham.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Hank Blalock says he will not go to Durham if asked by the Rays. Instead, he will choose free agency if he is not on the Rays opening day roster.
  • The Rays have a new official Twitter feed called @RaysRepublic which just screams “hey, we are copying the Red Sox and Yankees…poorly.” [Twitter]
  • Jon Weber had a good run, but he did not make Yankees opening day roster. But based on Joe Girardi’s previous comments, we wouldn’t be surprised if he makes his big league debut sometime this summer. [New York Times]
  • Marc Topkin shows that the team with the best record in the spring has gone on to the playoffs 8 of the past 13 years. [St. Pete Times]
  • If the Rays win today, they will tie for the 5th best spring training record since 1966. [Tampa Tribune]
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