Archive for the 'Jayson Werth' Category

Jul 29

Rumors Du Jour: Dunn, Werth (UPDATE)

Adam Dunn, Jayson Werth, Trade Rumors Cork Gaines 6 Comments »

[Update] Here is a quote (via Tommy Rancel) from Dunn about DHing…

I don’t want to DH. I don’t want to DH. If I have to DH, I’ll probably go home.

[10:17am] The non-waiver trade deadline is Saturday, so let’s get caught up on what the Ray may or may not do…

  • Earlier we heard that the Rays are still a possibility for Adam Dunn. However, Ken Rosenthal reports (scroll to 12:55am) that Dunn is “adamant about his reluctance to become a designated hitter.” You have to wonder about a player that is not willing to DH for two months in exchange for a shot at going to the World Series. Dunn will be a free agent at the end of the season.
  • Rosenthal also adds that Jayson Werth is no longer available after Shane Victorino was injured and placed on the DL.
Jul 23

More Rumors Du Jour: Werth, DeJesus And Greinke…Yes, Greinke

David DeJesus, Jayson Werth, Trade Rumors, Zack Greinke Cork Gaines 29 Comments »

First from Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter) we learn from the Rays that they don’t think they will acquire Jayson Werth and that they might have been close to trading for David DeJesus at one point…

Rays source: Seriously doubt we get Werth. DeJesus was the better bet until he ran into the wall.

DeJesus just went on the 15-day DL with a sprained thumb.

The trade info is interesting, but what is particularly interesting to us is that Brown got this straight from somebody inside the Rays front office. The Rays have a very small and a very quiet circle in the front office. Almost all trade rumors involvoing the Rays come from source on or near other teams.

But the rumor that caught our attention Read the rest of this entry »

Jul 23

Rumors Du Jour: Upton, McDonald And Werth

BJ Upton, Desmond Jennings, James McDonald, Jayson Werth, Trade Rumors Cork Gaines 11 Comments »

We continue to get conflicting stories on BJ Upton. Ed Price reports this morning that the Rays are shopping Upton “hard.” This is not the first time we have heard Bossman’s name linked with a trade rumor. But it is the first time we have heard that the Rays are actively trying to trade him.

This is telling for a couple of reasons. First, it means that the Rays believe they have a better shot at the playoffs without Upton. It also means that the Rays believe Desmond Jennings is ready to step in and play center field right now. The other possibility is that the Rays believe they will acquire Jayson Werth and that he would play the outfield. However, there is a problem with that scenario. While Ben Zobrist or Sean Rodriguez can play center, it is not an ideal everyday situation.

Price adds that the Rays are still trying to trade for Read the rest of this entry »

Jul 22

Rumor Du Jour: Still Jayson Werth

BJ Upton, Jayson Werth, Wade Davis Cork Gaines 24 Comments »
The Rays have been linked to several names as we near the July 31 free agency deadline. But the one name that lingers is Jayson Werth.
We learned earlier this week that the Phillies are pushing hard for Roy Oswalt, but that they would need to move Werth in order to make the move. Several people have said the Rays are the leading candidate to acquire Werth. But until now, we could only guess what the Phillies and Astros would want included in the three-team swap.
Now Jayson Stark reports that the Phillies asked the Rays for either BJ Upton or Wade Davis in exchange for Werth. We are guessing they got a quick “no.”
And Jon Heyman later added what we assumed yesterday Read the rest of this entry »
Jul 21

Buster Olney: Rays Leading Candidate To Land Jayson Werth

Jayson Werth Cork Gaines 13 Comments »

Last night on “Baseball Tonight,” Buster Olney reported that the Phillies are working very hard to acquire a starting pitcher. Specifically, Olney says Roy Oswalt fits the bill perfectly for the Phils. So what does this have to do with the Rays? Olney says it will take a third team to get the deal done…

“To make this work financially, [the Phillies] probably would have to include Jayson Werth in some type of three-team deal.”

The Phillies want to move Werth and the remainder of the $7 million he is owed this season (he is a free agent after the season). But the Astros would prefer prospects.

Enter the Rays. Olney adds:

“If Werth was to go anywhere right now, it appears that the leading team to get him would be the Tampa Bay Rays.”

So the Rays would send
Read the rest of this entry »

Jul 12

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Superman’s Big Game, Future Stars And Maddon’s Curious Move

Carl Crawford, Dan Wheeler, Desmond Jennings, Dewon Brazelton, Jayson Werth, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, Joe Maddon Cork Gaines 17 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: Carl Crawford. With one out in the 1st and the Rays trailing 3-0, CC got himself in a rundown between 3rd and home. Only 2 throws later, Crawford was scooting past the catcher after he dropped the ball, scoring the Rays first run. Later, he would hit his 11th home run, giving the Rays the lead. Don’t look now, but guess who is leading the Rays in slugging (.521) and OPS (.901)? Yep. Superman…Jason Bartlett. He hasn’t delivered too many big hits this season, but he came through in the 10th inning with a walk-off base hit to score Carl Crawford…Future Stars. In yesterday’s MLB Futures Game, Desmond Jennings went 0-3 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. He stole a base and scored 3 times. Jeremy Hellickson started for the US, picking up the win after giving up 1 run in 2 innings. He struck out 1. Alex Torres pitched 1 scoreless inning for the World squad.

THE BAD: Jeff Niemann. He had a rough first inning that put the Rays in an early 3-0 hole. But after a 1-out visit from pitching coach Jim Hickey, Niemann settled down and retired 14 of the next 17 batters. But then he apparently tweaked his back and had to be pulled after throwing only 70 pitches…Joe Maddon? Jeff Niemann was replaced by Dan Wheeler who promptly allowed the first 4 batters he faced to reach base and blowing the 2-run lead. We have to wonder if Wheeler had enough time to warm up. If Niemann was indeed hurt, Wheeler should be allotted as many warm-up pitches as needed to start the 6th. It was difficult to tell on TV, but it did not appear that Wheeler took extra warm-up pitchers. So why didn’t Maddon make it clear to the umpire that this was an injury substitution? And why didn’t Wheeler insist on taking extra warm-up pitches?

THE TELLING: Carl Crawford DH’d on Sunday admitting his shoulder is still sore…Joe Maddon will start the second half with James Shields, Jeff Niemann and David Price getting the 3 games against the Yankees coming out of the break…The Rays will give $5,000 to A Boys and Girls Club in Clearwater that had several items stolen over the 4th of July weekend…If David Price starts the All-Star game, he would be the youngest starter since 1988 (Dwight Gooden).

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 54-34, 2 games behind the Yankees and 3 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 88 games in 2008, the Rays were 55-33.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Several people sent this to us over the weekend…The Rays have expressed interest in Jayson Werth of the Phillies. [NY Post]
  • Marc Topkin writes about Evan Longoria’s road the big leagues and now back home in California as an all-star starter. [St. Pete Times]
  • Jerry Crasnick writes about Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 12

[THE HANGOVER] 2009 Might Be Much Less Jonny-Terrific

Carl Crawford, Edwin Jackson, Gabe Gross, Jason Giambi, Jayson Werth, Jonny Gomes, Jonny Gomes is a Crazy Bitch, Matt Joyce, Raul Ibanez Cork Gaines 13 Comments »

Tonight is the non-tender deadline for the Rays and their six arbitration-eligible players. So it might be a good time to say your good-byes to Jonny Gomes, as 2009 has a very good chance of being less Jonny-terrific.

Willy Aybar, Dioner Navarro, Jason Bartlett and Grant Balfour will certainly be offered arbitration. Gomes is a good candidate to be non-tendered and Gabe Gross is on the cusp.

If the Rays offer Gross arbitration it might be an indication that they want to have the option of sending Matt Joyce to the minors to open the season. If Gross is not offered arbitration, Joyce will almost certainly be on the opening day roster.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Good news for the Rays. The first corner outfielder/DH signed. Raul Ibanez signed with the Phillies for three years/$30 million. With the deal also costing the Phillies a first round draft pick (Type A free agent) we can expect most of the remaining corner outfielder/DHs to come in under that mark. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  • Matt Joyce, who is currently playing in Mexico and is from the Tampa area, called the trade to the Rays “a dream come true.” [St. Pete Times]
  • Joe Maddon spoke highly of Matt Joyce the person and the ball player. [Tampa Tribune]

“I like the thunder in his bat, I like the effort with which he played,” said Manager Joe Maddon. “He’s a very good outfielder, he throws well and he’s young. He’s the kind of guy I think, as he learns more about himself at the plate, is going to be a very productive offensive player, too.”…Maddon added that several baseball people had approached him since the trade was made to tell him how much they thought of Joyce as a person, and Friedman heard the same thing.

  • FanGraphs breaks down the Edwin Jackson/Matt Joyce trade noting that Joyce is the better player right now and will likely get better. They compare Joyce to Jayson Werth and note that Joyce teamed with Carl Crawford and BJ Upton is easily the best defensive outfield in baseball. [Fangraphs]
  • Keith Law’s take is not quite as uplifting, saying Matt Joyce is best suited to be part of a right field platoon. [ESPN]
  • Drays Bay shows that Matt Joyce compares favorably to Carl Crawford both defensively and against lefties and wonders why anybody would want to platoon Joyce…First off, they might be right and we are not sure Joyce isn’t an everyday player (we hope he is). While they have to use Joyce’s minor league splits, it is just silly to think that those numbers will translate perfectly to the major leagues. If Joyce is already near the bottom of the list in OPS against lefties with just his minor league numbers, is it too much of a stretch to worry that it might actually regress a little (or a lot) in the majors? And while Joyce’s minor league OPS versus lefties (.721) is greater than Carl Crawford’s major league OPS versus lefties (.695), three of the four seasons were actually worse. In fact, in 2008 at triple-A, Joyce posted an OPS of .656 versus lefties. It was only 46 at bats, but it was a crappy 46 at bats (1 HR, .308 OBP, 18.2% fly balls). And let’s say Joyce does maintain his OPS versus lefties. A starting outfield with Joyce and Crawford both playing positions that we should expect offensive production from, would be atrocious against left-handers. [Drays Bay]
  • John Romano says the Matt Joyce at worst, is a younger, cheaper Gabe Gross. [St. Pete Times]
  • Originally Matt Joyce was to be dealt to Seattle for JJ Putz. With Putz now a Met, that leaves the Tigers without a closer. Might Joyce have been traded for a closer after all? Might Edwin Jackson close for the Tiggers? [The Flint Journal]
  • The “Rays Digest Podcast” will be back today with another installment as Tyler Hissey recaps the Winter Meetings. [Rays Digest]
  • Pearls of Wisdom has gone to all stops to make sure Jonny Gomes is not tendered a contract tonight. [Pearls of Wisdom]
  • Peter Abraham is reporting that Jason Giambi is open to returning to the Yankees for less years and less dollars. This is contrary to previous reports that said Giambi preferred to play on the west coast. [The LoHud Yankees Blog]
  • David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks welcomes Matt Joyce to Devil Ray Town and hopes this means Jason Giambi is not to be a Ray. [Bugs and Cranks]
Oct 23

[HAPPY HOUR] Rocco Baldelli Will Start Game 2 In Right Field

Cliff Floyd, Cole Hamels, Davey Lopes, Derryl Cousins, Evan Longoria, Jayson Werth, Joe Maddon, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Kazmir, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

Because the best cure for a bad “Hangover” is a good “Happy Hour”.

That cute little Rayhawked, bespectacled fella is part of the new logo over “The Heater“, Marc Topkin’s blog at the St. Pete Times.

He sure is cute. But he looks a little familiar. Hmmm? Where have we seen him before? What could it be? Is it that he has a more famous cousin?

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Rocco Baldelli will start in right field tonight, while Cliff Floyd will be back at his customary DH slot. [Rays Report]
  • Badsnap wonders if Derryl Cousins would be working the World Series if Boston had won the ALCS, noting that Cousins collarbone is only bruised and not broken. [Badsnap]
  • Joe Maddon was named the Manager of the Year by the Sporting News. [The Heater]
  • Some quotes from the Phillies suggest that Scott Kazmir was tipping his pickoff move. [Yahoo! Sports] [via Fanhouse]

“We saw some things…We can put some pressure on teams if they give us something to key off of.” Davey Lopes

“I don’t want to say too much because we have games left…I will say with Davey, we’re an aggressive baserunning team.” Jayson Werth

  • On a side note: For the younger crowd that are not familiar with Davey Lopes, just look at his career numbers to get a clear indication as to how differently the game is played these days on the basepaths. The dude once stole 77 bases and was 47 of 51 at the age of 40! Amazing. And having watched Lopes (at least towards the end of his career) he was not that fast. [Baseball-Reference]
  • Jon Heyman: “But for one night, in the biggest game of their lives, the 97-win Rays reverted to their previously sour history in their 3-2 Game 1 defeat to the Phillies.” Huh-wha?!? Jon does know this is baseball right? Sometimes, even good teams lose a game. Or is this going to be the Heyman’s mantra for the rest of time. Anytime the Rays lose a game, they will have “reverted to their previously sour history”. Jesus Jon! They lost by 1 run to a one of the best lefties in baseball. The old Devil Rays would have lost that game 10-1. (thanks Charles) [SI.com]
  • It seems a bit strange to use alcohol as the vehicle to celebrate the success of any athlete, but it is even more strange when the New York Times uses champagne and beer as a vehicle in a story about Willy Aybar, who once spent three months in alcohol rehabilitation. [New York Times]

Four drained bottles of booze in the locker of a recovering alcoholic would be cause for concern in most workplaces. In the Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse, the empty Champagne and wine containers in Willy Aybar’s cubicle are considered 100 percent proof of a rebirth, not a relapse.

  • Ratings from game 1 were down 14% from last year but are comparable to the 2005 World Series between the White Sox and Astros. [Bloomberg]
  • Hidden behind the “Insider” curtain, Buster Olney looks closer at Evan Longoria’s at bats last night to see how Cole Hamels was able to dominate the Rays. [ESPN]

The first pitch that Evan Longoria saw from Cole Hamels, in Longoria’s first at-bat of the World Series, was a changeup. And with a 1-1 count, Longoria saw another changeup, and then another, and he struck out swinging. Three changeups among the first four pitches, but what Longoria could not have known, as he walked back to the dugout, was that he would not see a changeup thrown by Hamels in his next at-bat at all.