Archive for the 'Jay Bruce' Category

Mar 21

[THE HANGOVER] Several Roster Decisions Still Pending

Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Dan Wheeler, Dirtbag-O-Meter, Evan Longoria, Gary Glover, Jason Hammel, Jay Bruce, Trever Miller, Wade Townsend Cork Gaines No Comments »

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]
Jan 29

[THE HANGOVER] Trying To Find A Common Ground In Hall Of Fame Debates

Bob Rittner, Carl Crawford, Derek Jeter, Evan Longoria, Jay Bruce, Matt Silverman, Mike Wlodarczyk, Vince Naimoli Cork Gaines 6 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (16 days until pitchers and catchers report)
One our regular commenters, is starting to expand his horizons with a contributing piece at The Baseball Analysts. We were tempted to dedicate an entire post entitled “Why The Devil Rays Commenters Suck: Bob Rittner”, but were afraid nobody would get the joke.

The piece at The Baseball Analysts is an excellent read on a point we have been screaming about for a long time, in regards to Hall of Fame voting. That is, why is there such a deep divide between the statisticians and the traditionalists? For example, why can’t we consider both a players OPS+ and the perception that he was a feared hitter? Certainly people will weigh the measures differently, but why should either side ignore the other?

When an issue like the Hall of Fame elections arises, the problem is magnified because for statistically minded analysts there are objective criteria from which to begin the discussion. But to many traditionalists, the key word in the discussion is “Fame” as in who do people know, who had an impact on the story.

Jack Morris exemplified qualities that suggest he is a Hall of Fame character; Bert Blyleven did not. Jim Rice dominated because that is the story line, and for anyone who lived in his era, it makes perfect sense. It does not matter to those who are now voting if the statistics belie the claim.* When I watched a Yankee game and Rice came to the plate, I was scared. I was not as worried when Dwight Evans was at bat. I may have been wrong, but Rice felt like a star and Evans a supporting player. To say the journalists are wrong does nothing to advance the discussion because these players are first and foremost literary figures to them. You and I may know that Watson and Crick were far greater men than Alexander the Great and Napoleon, but in the pantheon of human heroes, you can bet Alexander will get in first, and nobody is going to identify Crick as Crick the Great.

The example we like to bring up is Derek Jeter. We wonder what the argument would be for Jeter if he suffered a career-ending injury before the start of the 2008 season. He has a solid if not spectacular career OPS+ of 122 (33rd among active players, min. 1000 at bats), but to look at traditional stats, he does not even have 2,500 hits, or 200 home runs or 1,000 RBI. His .317 batting average is strong, but most now look at Jeter as a defensive liability at the most important defensive position, despite three gold gloves.

Is Derek Jeter a Hall of Famer? Few people would argue that he is not. But what if Jeter had played his entire career in Kansas City on a last place team? Most importantly, what if Jeter was not as handsome and played his entire career away from the lights of Broadway and did not win four world series in five years? Would he still be a Hall of Famer?

My point is not to say that we should be debating the merits of Derek Jeter as a hall of famer. My point is that we cannot ignore the half of the package. Derek Jeter is a hall of famer. He might have been anyway, but he is a lock because he performed on the biggest stage. So in part, Derek Jeter is a hall of famer because he was lucky. Lucky to be drafted by the New York Yankees. Lucky that the Yankees needed a shortstop when he was ready. Lucky he never suffered a career-ending injury. Lucky the Yankees spent so much on payroll. He was lucky the Yankees had Joe Torre and lucky they had all the great starting pitching. And he was especially lucky that the Yankees had Mariano Rivera.

Should we hold that against Jeter? No. Just like we can’t go back and look at Tony Conigliaro’s career and say he should be in the Hall of Fame because he was unlucky. Some players are good. Some are great. But just as importantly, some players are lucky and some are unlucky.

Sometimes…to get into the Hall of Fame, a player can compensate their lack of greatness with some luck. I’m OK with that. Are you?

I’m OK, You’re OK [The Baseball Analysts]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Baseball Musings takes a look at the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays offense. Using a statistical tool straight out of a nuclear physicists handbook, the Rays project to score between 5.21 and 5.54 runs per game in 2008. That would be a considerable jump from their 2007 rate of 4.83 runs per game. A rate of 5.21 rpg would give the Rays 844 runs in 2008, which would have been good enough for 4th in the AL in 2007. [Baseball Musings]
  • Yet another blogger believes that baseball can never succeed in the bay area. This time Sports Business News latches on to Matt Silverman’s recent comments that the Rays lost money last year. While we question the validity of the statement and wonder out loud why it was said (excuse to trade big salaries, leverage for new stadium, etc.) this has absolutely zero bearing on whether or not a team can survive and turn a profit in the Tampa Bay area. While the author acknowledges Vince Naimoli’s “Reign of Terror”, he does little to separate that ownership group with the current. Nobody expected miracles from the new front office immediately. They have a plan and so far it appears to be working. When the team begins to win more games, then and only then will we see if a team can survive in the area. Of course the author’s lack of knowledge on the subject is clear when he states, “Namoli (sic) has been, and continues to be, the face of the franchise, which may not be a good thing”. Once we read that we couldn’t stomach it to read any further. So if anybody does read the entire piece and finds any thing close to a cogent argument, please let us know in the comments. [Sports Business News]
  • In The Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2008, one of the four analysts list Evan Longoria as the top hitting prospect, while the other three have him listed behind Jay Bruce. [Fake Teams]
  • in their latest installment of a “A Tale of Two Erics”, Rays Anatomy picks apart Carl Crawford. [Rays Anatomy]
  • Rays of Light takes a look at the Rays projected opening day lineup and compares that to the opening day lineup for the Devil Rays in each of the last five seasons. [Rays of Light]
  • Rays of Light also takes a look at the projected rotation and compares that to the rotation’s throughout the history of the franchise. [Rays of Light]
  • DRays Bay interviews Rays’ pitching prospect Mike Wlodarczyk. Wlodarczyk has spent the last three seasons in the shadow of teammates Jake McGee and Wade Davis, but has posted an impressive resume for himself. [DRays Bay]