Archive for the 'Joe Dillon' Category

Nov 11

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Minor League Free Agents, Crawford’s LA Fantasy And Zim Chiming In

Brian Shouse, Carl Crawford, Carlos Hernandez, Carlos Pena, Dale Thayer, Joe Dillon, Winston Abreu Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

Baseball America has the complete list of Rays minor league free agents. The list includes Winston Abreu (right), Dale Thayer, Carlos Hernandez, Brian Shouse and Joe Dillon.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Buster Olney lists the Angels, Red Sox and Tigers as the three teams that need Carl Crawford the most. The Rays don’t even make the full list of 8 teams. [ESPN]
  • John Romano writes that it would make sense for the Rays to re-sign Carlos Pena…We’ve been saying this for a while, but we wonder if another team will be willing to give Pena more than one guaranteed year. [St. Pete Times]
  • Don Zimmer on possibility of Rays Read the rest of this entry »
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 Cork Gaines 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]
Mar 04

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Rodriguez’ Big Debut, Herrera’s Poor Debut And Things You Will Only See In March

Desmond Jennings, Dioner Navarro, Joe Dillon, Milton Bradley, Rich Herrera, Sean Rodriguez Cork Gaines 8 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: To Hell With Winter: Baseball is baaaacccckkkk!…Sean Rodriguez. In his first plate appearance with the Rays, Rodriguez hit a home run. Of course the wind was blowing out about 200mph, so lets temper the excitement a little.

THE BAD: Rich Herrera: Rich was a little rusty yesterday. On several occasions, Herrera was unable to identify Rays players that had entered the game as substitutes. In one incident, it was 5 batters into the inning and he referred to Elliot Johnson as a “Mr. Left Fielder” on a single. It’s not like Johnson is some free agent minor leaguer. Meanwhile, we can’t even see the game, but we are able to look at the MLB.com boxscore and see who is in the game. Later Rich needed an intern to identify Richard de los Santos who had entered as a relief pitcher…Acts of God: How bad was the wind yesterday? Former Rays prospect Rhyne Hughes, hit two home runs. Before 2009, dude never hit more than 12 home runs. Then again, last year he hit 25 combined with three different teams…The Bullpen. Usually the pitchers are ahead of the hitters this time of year, but apparently the Rays relievers didn’t get the memo. Dale Thayer, Heath Phillips, Jason Cromer and Richard de los Santos combined to give up 11 runs in 5 innings, including 5 home runs…Matt Joyce looks slow. Matt Joyce attempted to steal second base and was thrown out by about 6 feet…

THE TELLING: Dioner Navarro. You can already tell that Joe Maddon is going to get Navi as many ABs as possible this spring to try and get his bat going. Yesterday Navi batted second. File that under things you only see in March. Actually, Navi batted 2nd twice in 2008, but was never higher than 6th last season…Joe Dillon. The Dillionaire got his first action behind the plate yesterday, coming in to the game in the 8th inning.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Desmond Jennings was hit by a pitch and removed from the game. There was some swelling after the game, but he is expected to be OK. [St. Pete Times]
  • Gary Shelton wonders if the Rays have a dominant Ace and wonders if they even need one. [St. Pete Times]
  • From Keith Law: “Milton Bradley just loafed after a flyball and let it drop for a two-run “double”…The first day? Boy, we have no idea how much OPS would have made this worth it. [Twitter]
  • Tony Fabrizio has 5 questions for Ryan Shealy. [Tampa Tribune]
Mar 01

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Trading With The Enemy, The Battle At Second And The Dude Chillin’ In The Spring

Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, David Price, James Shields, Joe Dillon, JP Howell, Pat Burrell, Sean Rodriguez Cork Gaines 6 Comments »

Marc Topkin bring up an interesting question that on the surface would seem like a resounding “no.” Would the Rays trade Carl Crawford to the Red Sox or Yankees during the season?

Would they trade him to the rival Yankees or Red Sox? (The guess here is yes, if they had they best offer.)

The idea seems crazy. Like Tracy Morgan crazy. But he might be right.

The Rays never concern themselves with what other teams do. They are only ever concerned with how to make their own team better. And the Rays only make moves that maximize value. It is the same way they approach the draft: Take the best player available, regardless of what position he plays.

So while the Rays wouldn’t want to help the Yankees and Red Sox, if they presented an offer that gives the Rays the best hope for success down the road, they might just say yes. The bigger question might be: Would the Yankees or Red Sox want to add to the Rays already impressive farm system and young talent?  That might be the factor that keeps the Red Sox or Yankees from making a substantial offer.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Tampa Bay Rays Fan has the new MLB2K10 commercial featuring Evan Longoria…Notice that Longo is batting in a game with 1 out away from a perfect game. That of course would be the 9-spot in the lineup. So can we assume that Dirtbag is pinch-hitting? [Tampa Bay Rays Fan]
  • More evidence that the Rays are leaning towards Ben Zobrist as the most-days second baseman: To start, Zobrist will play second when Jason Bartlett is at shortstop, while Reid Brignac and Sean Rodriguez will be on the field together and alternate between second base and shortstop. [St. Pete Times]
  • Marc Topkin has more on the battle at second base and right field. [St. Pete Times]
  • While throwing BP, James Shields traded in his signature Abe Lincoln scruff for something different. [The Heater]
  • In hopes of getting the team off to a better start in April, Joe Maddon will give his regulars more ABs in the spring. [Rays Report]
  • JP Howell will see a reduced workload this spring in an effort to get 80 appearances during the regular season. [Rays Report]
  • Fred Goodall writes about Pat Burrell’s crusade to prove 2009 was a fluke. [USA Today]
  • Steve Henson writes about David Price’s crusade to prove he is a top-of-the rotation starter. [Yahoo! Sports]
  • Bill Chastain writes about Sean Rodriguez’ crusade to make the team. [MLB]
  • James Shields unorthodox delivery with runners on base is his way of keeping runners close to the bag. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Roger Mooney writes about Joe Dillon’s move behind the plate in an effort to make himself more valuable. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Roger Mooney has 5 questions for Sean Rodriguez. [Tampa Tribune]
Feb 15

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Dollar Value Of The AL East, Spring Story Lines And Dillon’s Tools Of Ignorance

Joe Dillon, Matt Silverman, Wade Davis Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

In an interview last week Matt Silverman said the following…

“If you took us out of the American League East, I think we’d be the favorite in any other division.”

He might be right, but what is interesting about this quote, is that on several occasions in the past the Rays have been adamant about how they prefer competing against the best in the AL East.

So why would the Rays prefer the AL East where they are almost guaranteed to win less often over playing in the NL East or a mythical NL Southeast (Braves, Marlins, Astros, Rangers)?

Two reasons.

The first is reduced expectations. What if the Rays won 84 games last year in another division? There would have been a  lot more talk from the national media about how poorly the Rays played and what a disappointing season 2009 was. Instead, the Rays get a pass in the AL East because nobody expects them to win every year or even very often.

The second, and most important reason is simply money. The Rays are a cash-strapped team. And in the AL East, the Rays get 18 or 19 games every year at home against the two biggest road draws in baseball. There is no chance that Stuart Sternberg would trade in 18 near-sellouts against the Yankees and Red Sox for 18 games against the Braves and Marlins.

Also consider the exposure the Rays get in the New York television market. The Rays are on TV approximately 60 hours a year in New York City. And the Rays receive even more exposure during discussions as one of the Yankees rivals. For a team trying to build a brand, that is exposure they cannot put a dollar value on.

Actually, knowing Sternberg, he probably has put a dollar value on it, and it is certainly a large one.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Roger Mooney looks at three of the Rays top prospects and when they might make an impact for the Rays. Mooney also has a money-quote from Matt Silverman on this year’s payroll: “We extended last year, we’re over-extended heading into this year…We’ll see the effect of this in the future. But for now we’re focused on what Rafael can add to us in 2010.” [Tampa Tribune]
  • Marc Topkin has all the spring training details including the five biggest story lines to pay watch for. [St. Pete Times]
  • Roger Mooney says the Rays have some questions this spring, but the Rays already have the answers. It is just a matter of deciding which answers they prefer. [Tampa Tribune]
  • 5 Rays to watch this spring. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Joe Dillon will get some reps this spring behind the plate. [St. Pete Times]
  • Wade Davis and his new bride “The Marlboro Girl” (which apparently has nothing to do with cigarettes) spent some time with some school kids from his hometown. [The Lake Wales News]
Dec 21

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Dillionaire, Bradley And Sheff

Carl Crawford, Gary Sheffield, Joe Dillon, Johnny Damon, Milton Bradley Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

Twins Rays Baseball59 days until pitchers and catchers report.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Joe Dillionaire is back! The Rays have re-signed Joe Dillon to a minor league deal. They have also added Ryan Shealy, a first baseman. Shealy has played 164 games with the Rockies and Royals in parts of 4 seasons. His last appearance was in 2008 with the Royals when he hit .301/.354/.603 in 20 games with 7 home runs.
  • We can finally stop with the “They will!” and “The won’t!” posts concerning the Rays and Milton Bradley. The Cubs have traded Bradley to the Mariners. [The Heater]
  • Marc Topkin says the “Player to be Named Later” in the Kelly Shoppach trade will be named today. Topkin says evidence indicates it could be Mitch Talbot, who is out of minor league options. [The Heater]
  • Marc Topkin looks at how some recent moves by other teams will affect the Rays…In the same piece, we learn that Gary Sheffield wants to play 2 more years and (of course) finish his career with the Rays… We could see the Rays making a run at Sheffield if they can find a taker for Burrell. Or they could wait until next year. The problem is, the Rays like players at below market value, but Sheffield is a player a team doesn’t want to underpay. There is always the fear that Sheff will play to his level of pay. That is, if he feels he is underpaid, he will underperform. [St. Pete Times]
  • Carl Crawford (91) is the only member of the Rays to make Rob Neyer’s list of the top 100 players of the past 10 years. [ESPN]
  • Ken Davidoff thinks the Rays and Johnny Damon would be a “marriage” with “real potential,” if the Rays can unload Pat Burrell. [Newsday]
Oct 13

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Tinkering JoeMa, And A Few Rays Hit Free Agent Market

Grant Balfour, Joe Dillon, Joe Nelson, JP Howell, Michel Hernandez, Scott Cursi Cork Gaines 8 Comments »
  1. BJ Upton
  2. Carl Crawford
  3. Evan Longoria
  4. Carlos Pena
  5. Ben Zobrist
  6. Pat Burrell
  7. Jason Bartlett
  8. Gabe Kapler
  9. Dioner Navarro

Above is a pretty standard batting order used by the Rays this past season versus left-handed pitchers early in the season. In fact, no other batting order was used more often this season. How often? Six (6!) times. Joe Maddon employed 125 different batting orders this season. He used 115 in 2008. By comparison, The Yankees used 107 and the Red Sox used 114.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Joe Nelson, Michel Hernandez and Joe Dillon were granted free agency as minor leaguers. We would not be surprised to see Hernandez and Dillon back with Durham next season. [Baseball America]
  • Rays Renegade spoke with members of the bullpen about their off-season plans. JP Howell, Grant Balfour and Scott Cursi will all be getting married (not to each other). [Rays Renegade]
  • Strange story: Former Devil Rays pitcher Geremi Gonzalez will have his body exhumed in Venezuela to determine if he died of a lightning strike (as original believed) or foul play. We are not really sure how those two could get confused…Gonzalez made 33 starts for the Devil Rays from 2003-2004, going 6-16. [St. Pete Times]
Aug 14

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss

Joe Dillon, Jonny Gomes, JP Howell Cork Gaines 15 Comments »

Nationals Reds Baseball

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

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Not for nothin’, but Jonny Gomes hit 3 home runs last night. Of course, this wasn’t the first time he has accomplished that feat. We’re not sayin’, but we’re just sayin’.
  • Joe Dillon cleared waivers and accepted his assignment to triple-A. [The Heater]
  • The Rays are close to signing their 3rd, 4th and 5th round picks. [St. Pete Times]
  • The Rays Party breaks down JP Howell’s pitches with some pretty pictures for those of you that are more visually oriented…A couple of things we love: 1) All 3 of Howell’s pitches cross the plate in a different vertical plane. Important because hitters can’t sit on a particular zone; 2) both his Curve and Fastball absolutely paint the black on average (inside to a right-hander), while his nasty change is much more tempting out over the middle; 3) and look at how much vertical break he gets on the curve. You don’t see that much anymore as more pitchers throw a slider or something more akin to a slurve. [The Rays Party]
  • According to Buster Olney, “some rival talent evaluators” believe the Rays are going to shop BJ Upton this off-season (link hidden behind ESPN’s “Insider” wall). [ESPN]
  • Andy MacPhail says the O’s expect to complete their deal with the Rays for Gregg Zaun on Monday, but that the player coming back could be “pretty much anything.” [MASN]
  • Rays the Stakes juxtaposes the seasons of Jason Bartlett and BJ Upton. [Rays the Stakes]
  • JoeMaddonSucks.com noticed that the MSM is no longer kissing Joe Maddon’s behind. [Joe Maddon Sucks]
  • The New York Daily News has the Rays falling all the way to #14 in their latest power ranking. [New York Daily News]
  • The Top 177 Devil Rays ever is back for their latest installment. They are now into the top 50. [Bugs and Cranks]
Aug 09

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Another Game Closer To The Red Sox

Jason Bartlett, Joe Dillon, Russ Springer Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

Rays Mariners Baseball

Time to bring back 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: Big Bats. The Rays blew yet another lead to the Mariners, but it was Evan Longoria’s home run in the 5th that gave the Rays the lead for good and Carlos Pena’s home run 2 batters later that sealed the deal…Gregg Zaun. First was the high-pants look, something we missed since Akli Iwamura has been on the DL. Then it was the taped interview of Zaun shown during the game in which he explained why he still works so hard at blocking pitches in the dirt. To paraphrase, he wants to give the pitchers confidence to keep their breaking pitches down. If a catcher is bad at blocking pitches, they are more likely to hang a slider or curve.

THE BAD:  Jame Shields. The Rays finally scored some runs for Shields, but he immediately gave it all back with 3 runs in the 2nd inning.

THE TELLING:  After the Rays took a 6-3 lead in the top of the 5th, Joe Maddon made an unusual move, making some lineup changes and went with a better defensive unit, something you would usually not see until the 8th or 9th inning…Gregg Zaun was in the lineup for the first time…With the recent roster changes, the Rays will go with an extra bullpen arm and only 3 bodies on the bench, at least through this road trip…The Rays are now 1.5 games behind the Red Sox and one-half game behind the Rangers in the Wild Card race.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Evan Longoria

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • The Rays once again took advantage of their stronger waiver position and claimed 40-year old relief pitcher Russ Springer from the A’s. To make room the Rays DFA’d Joe Dillon. They also cut ties to RJ Swindle who was claimed earlier in the week. [St. Pete Times]
  • Marc Topkin writes about Gregg Zaun’s adjustment to working with the pitching staff. [St. Pete Times]
  • Small sample size, Jason Bartlett is taking to his new role quite nicely. [The Rays Party]
  • The Rays attendance is even worse on the road. [Rays All Day]
  • The Rays have the 9th oldest double-A roster and the 6th oldest triple-A roster. The Montgomery roster is a bit surprising, but not necessarily the Durham roster. The Rays like to collect minor leaguers with lots of professional experience and keep them on the Durham roster. This helps with the maturation of the younger players but also gives the Rays some insurance should a big leaguer go down with an injury. [Hardball Times]
Jun 22

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Aybar’s Love For BJ, Niemann’s Lack Of Control And Injury Updates

BJ Upton, Chad Bradford, Jeff Niemann, Joe Dillon, Scott Kazmir, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 11 Comments »

Time to bring back 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: Joe Maddon. Coach has a tendency to overthink games in NL parks, but with an off-day Monday, Maddon pinch-hit for Jeff Niemann in the 5th even though he had only allowed 2 runs up to that point. Niemann was not sharp, but with 2 on and nobody out, Maddon chose to pinch-hit with Willy Aybar as opposed to bunt with Niemann. Aybar came through with a single to load the bases. The Rays would eventually score 4 in the inning…Top O’ The Order To Ya. BJ Upton, Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria combined to go 11-16 with 7 RBI and 6 runs scored. …Willy Aybar. Think Willy Aybar knows how valuable BJ Upton is? After Upton crossed the plate in the 5th and Gary Sheffield’s throw sailed to the backstop, Upton was potentially in line of the throw to second base to get Carl Crawford. Upton ducked and Aybar immediately covered Upton’s backside (above). That’s love.

THE BAD: Jeff Niemann. When he doesn’t have control, there seems to be no hope of finding it that day. No strikeouts, 4 walks and 2 pitches to the backstop…Carl Crawford. With nobody out and the pitcher on the ropes after giving up 5 straight hits, CC was caught trying to steal 3rd in the 5th. CC can’t go there with Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and Ben Zobrist due up…Carlos Pena. Yes, ‘Los likes to bunt against the shift from time-to-time, but with nobody on and 2 outs, Pena can’t bunt there. There is little advantage to the Rays to having a runner on first in that situation and Pena is no threat to steal second…Joe Dillionaire. Joe Dillon has not played since the opening game of the Rockies series and Joe Maddon even used Andy Sonnanstine as a pinch-hitter in the 9th with Dillon still on the bench (see comments for explanation).

THE TELLING: Yesterday’s game included two delays. The first for an umpire injury and then a 34-minute rain delay in the 7th…Sure, 4-2 would have been nice, but 3-3 on the road against 2 NL playoff contenders is not bad…The Rays now lead the AL with a .355 OBP…The Bullpen, despite early struggles, now has the third best ERA (3.56) in the AL…The Rays are 6 back in the AL East, but only trail the Yankees by 2 in the Wild Card. Toronto and LA are 1 back in the Wild Card.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: BJ Upton

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Scott Kazmir will be limited to about 85 pitches tonight in his latest rehab start, this one for Durham. Also, Chad Bradford will pitch back-to-back games tomorrow and Wednesday and then again on Saturday. He is expected to be activated next week. [Tampa  Tribune]
  • Yes, there is a creature called Zorilla and it has nothing to do with a Gorilla or Ben Zobrist. [St. Pete Times]
  • There does not appear to be much excitement for the upcoming World Series rematch and Marc Topkin reports that The Trop may only be half-filled tomorrow night. [St. Pete Times]
  • A father’s day card for Elijah Dukes. [Trop It Like It's Hot]
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