Archive for the 'Jon Weber' Category

Mar 12

[HAPPY HOUR] Rocco Baldelli May Have Played His Last Game For The Rays

Andy Cannizaro, Ben Zobrist, Elliot Johnson, Eric Hinske, Joe Maddon, John Rodriguez, Jon Weber, Jonny Gomes, Justin Ruggiano, Kenny Lofton, Rocco Baldelli 10 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (19 days until Opening Day)

Not the best day in the world to be a Rays fan. We just reported about the cheapshots thrown by the Yankees in the today’s spring games (we apologize, for the excessive profanity). This came after this morning’s press conference to announce that Rocco Baldelli will start the season on the DL with a still unidentified muscle condition.

Baldelli said he had some type of “metabolic, and/or mitochondrial abnormalities, basically along the lines my body isn’t making or producing ATP the right way, and therefore not allowing my muscles to work as they should and recover like they’re supposed to on a day-to-day basis.”

Andrew Friedman noted that the Rays will continue to help Baldelli, but that at this point it is unlikely that the team would pick up his 2009 option ($6 million). Declining the option will cost the Rays a $4 million buyout.

At this point we need to seriously consider the possibility that Rocco has played his last game for the Rays and possibly his last game as a major league baseball player. If this is the case, it will be a sad end to a once promising career.

P.S. Shelley Duncan is still a little bitch.

Baldelli headed to the DL with fatigue [Tampa Bay Rays]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • As far as the Rays in-house options to replace Rocco Baldelli as the Rays’ fourth outfielder, Joe Maddon will have to decide between Jon Weber, whom Maddon says is the better defensive outfielder and John Rodriguez, whom Maddon says is the better offensive option. Both will get considerable playing time in the near future and the decision may be based on who can handle center field better. [The Heater]
  • Outs Per Swing does not like the idea of bringing Kenny Lofton on board, when the Rays have a suitable solution in-house with Justin Ruggiano…We tend to agree. We don’t see Lofton as a difference-maker this year and think Jonny Gomes can handle the everyday right field job with one of several candidates good enough to step-up and be the Rays fourth outfielder (Eric Hinske?). Of course one thing going for Jon Weber is that he has played on a championship team six of the last seven years and just missed his seventh straight last year with the Bulls. [Outs Per Swing]
  • To continue with the injury-news, Andy Cannizaro is being treated for a recurring back problem. With the regular backup shortstop, Ben Zobrist out 4 weeks already, it now appears as though Elliot Johnson’s hot spring has earned him a shot to be the backup shortstop. He will likely get some time at short this week. [Rays Report]
  • Elliot Johnson says he is a hard-nosed player and expressed no regrets for the collision at home plate this past weekend. The Rays hoped that Johnson would enter camp and cut down on trying to hit home runs and lower his strikeout totals. So far it is working and Joe Maddon has taken notice. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“He’s a very good athlete and I think there’s a lot of positions that he could play,” Maddon said. “I want him to become more involved defensively, because this guy is very gifted, you can see that…He’s handled himself extremely well, and I’ve told him so,” Maddon said. “He’s out here playing hardball every day and that’s what he’s all about.”

  • We mentioned previously that the PECOTA projection system predicted a 22-win increase for the Rays in 2008, and now SI.com’s Nate Silver looks at that number and the Rays roster and sees the 1994 Cleveland Indians. [SI.com]

Forget about the ’87 Indians; the relevant team to consider here is the ’94 Tribe, which reversed a string of seven consecutive losing seasons by going 66-47 in a strike-shortened season. Like those Indians, who went on to win five straight division titles behind such rising stars as Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome, the Rays have plenty of young mashers.

  • Somebody else suggested we use THIS JOKE on our site. We think it is a little rough considering we are talking about a guy who has what is apparently a genetic disorder and may never be able to play again. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]
  • CNBC is running a bracket-style tournament to find the best minor league baseball logo. The Montgomery Biscuits were up on DAY 1, while both the Columbus Catfish and the Durham Bulls are in the running on DAY 2. [CNBC]
Mar 12

[THE HANGOVER] Elliot Johnson Is Reestablishing Himself As A Top Prospect

Andrew Friedman, David Price, Don Zimmer, Elliot Johnson, Eric Hinske, JK Ryu, Joe Girardi, John Rodriguez, Jon Weber, Justin Ruggiano, New Stadium, Rocco Baldelli No Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (19 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 7, Twins 1. Joe Maddon and Jim Hickey is starting to let their starters stretch it out early this year. James Shields worked 5 scoreless innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 walk. His last inning was his strongest with his only 1-2-3 frame. Elliot Johnson has not let all the media hoopla get to me or his poor 2007 campaign. Johnson led off going 3-5 with his first home run and his 3rd stolen base. He is now 9-18 in the spring with 3 walks. And people thought we were crazy to keep his name so high on our list of prospects…Willy Aybar started at third and went 2-2 with a double. Some kid named Evan Longoria hit his first spring home run. Eric Hinske saw time at first in his effort to show Joe Maddon he can be a utility player. Joel Guzman started in left field but later moved to third base. Dioner Navarro hit his first spring home run.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • After pitching a perfect ninth inning, David Price was sent to the minors along with Jae Kuk Ryu and Justin Ruggiano. Ruggiano’s demotion is a bit surprising considering the unknown status of Rocco Baldelli. The move leaves non-roster invitees Jon Weber, Eric Hinske and John Rodriguez as the only in-house options to be the Rays’ fourth outfielder. The Trib also quotes Ben Zobrist as saying he will be ready for opening day and that he will be 100%. [Tampa Tribune]
  • David Price says there is no doubt in his mind that he is ready. He also feels that the clubhouse knows he is ready also but acknowledges that the team has a plan for him and a process that needs to be followed. Don Zimmer noted that Price’s first appearance was as impressive as it gets. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“To me, where are you going to see anything better the whole spring than that one inning?” Zimmer said. “I don’t care if you’re 17 years old or if you’re 77 years old — that was thrilling. Strike, strike, strike, strike, and low, and breaking balls. It’s easy to say they didn’t have their regular lineup in there. That, to me, has got nothing to do with it. It’s where he was throwing it.”

  • Andrew Friedman spoke at length yesterday about Rocco Baldelli noting that he does not have a good feel of the situation and will not be proactive in looking for a replacement until they know for certain that Rocco cannot play. [Herald-Tribune]
  • Joe Girardi says there will be no bad blood when the Rays play the Yankees after last weekend’s home plate collision. Girardi seems to have changed his tune a bit after hearing so many big names side with the Rays (incl. Lou Piniella and Mike Scioscia). Girardi now says that he thinks there was enough plate left exposed for Elliot Johnson to slide into home around the catcher. [Newsday]

Girardi said he had not told his catchers to leave some extra plate open in case of any Rays sliding into home… “I thought there was plate open the other day, and it still happened,” Girardi said.

  • Anaheim Angels All the Way, who previously used their CHONE projections to predict that the Rays will win 89 games this year, now looks at those results a little closer. The biggest difference will be from the pitching staff and the defense as the Rays are projected to allow 200 fewer runs in 2008. Of course, the Rays could throw out 9 guys off the street and allow about 50 fewer than the 2007 Rays. [Anaheim Angels all the Way]
  • SI.com profiles the Rays proposed stadium. One question that recently pooped into our heads about the new stadium…When the “roof” is closed, it seems that the tunnel effect could produce very strong wind currents inside the stadium. This could lead to some very low-scoring games as we would think most of the wind would come from the bay. [SI.com]
Nov 28

[THE HANGOVER] Rays Pitchers Are Allergic To Strikes

Akinori Iwamura, Andrew Friedman, Carlos Pena, Chris Richard, Hector Gimenez, Jon Weber, Payroll, Reid Brignac, Scott Kazmir No Comments »

Devil Rays (66-96)
Recondite Baseball recently did a little research on a simple pitching statistic and unwittingly may have stumbled upon one of the main reasons that the Rays pitching has been so awful and in turn, why the Devil Rays have been so bad.

Since the year 2000 (encompassing all but two of the seasons in which the Devil Rays have been in existence), there have been 347 pitchers that are still active and have thrown 200+ innings. Of these pitchers, 39 have thrown less than 60.0% strikes for their career.

The amazing part? Six (6!) of these pitchers (15.4%) currently pitch, or have pitched*, for the Devil Rays.

2. Victor Zambrano – 57.4%
7. Seth McClung – 58.6%
26. Jesus Colome – 59.6%
27. Dewon Brazelton – 59.6%
36. Jay Witasick – 59.8%
37. Edwin Jackson – 59.9%

If Penn State is “Linebacker U.”, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are “Pitchers that can’t throw strikes U.” Just remember…It is not the home run that kills the ball club. It is the walk given up to the batter before the home run. Or in the case of most of these pitchers, the walksss.

Seeing these numbers, it is easy to understand why so many Rays fans have taken to Andy Sonnanstine so strongly. The Duke is not going to blow any batters away, but at least he is going to make the hitter beat him. At the other end of the spectrum for the Rays is Edwin Jackson. Nobody denies that Nuke has a major league fastball, but questions still remain if he can develop a second (and third) pitch and if he will ever be able to consistently pound the strike zone. When a pitcher throws 97-98, he does not need to have the ball on the black with every pitch, but he does need to be close. If not, enough batters will wait him out and take the walk, and more often than not, when Jackson does throw a strike, it will be of the 400-foot variety.

Pitchers and quarterbacks have many things in common, but the most important thing is that the most difficult thing to teach them is accuracy. It is easier to tweak a pitchers mechanics and add a few inches to their fastball than it is to help them find the strike zone. This is why it was so perplexing when the Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson said he could fix Victor Zambrano in “10 minutes”.

The Rays and their fans already have too much experience with pitchers that cannot throw strikes. If Edwin Jackson can’t be “fixed” his career as a major league starting pitcher may be short-lived.

*In several of these cases we use the term “pitched” very loosely…cough, cough, Dewon, cough, Brazelbum, cough, cough

Strike Percentage, Active Players with 200+ Innings Pitched [Recondite Baseball]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Andrew Friedman emphasized that the Rays do have some flexibility when it comes to the 2008 payroll. In our 2008 40-man roster projection, we see the opening day payroll at approximately $36 million, which would be about a 25% increase over 2007. It is difficult to tell exactly how much “flexibility” is dependent on the 2008 salaries of Scott Kazmir and Carlos Pena, both of whom are arbitration eligible. [TBO]

“If the right player comes along, whether it be in a trade or as a free agent, that puts us over by a million dollars or two million dollars what our upper limit is, we’ll view that kind of independent of anything else,” said Friedman. “But you also have to factor in that as you do that, you’re just depleting what you can do the next year and the next year. All this money is fungible and it all will go into keeping our own players. It just gets to roster flexibility and how important it is for a lower-revenue team.”

  • MILB is counting down the top 50 prospects. Reid Brignac is the first Rays’ farmhand on the list at #32. [MILB]

He spent all of 2007 in the Southern League and while the overall numbers weren’t as good as in the previous year, there’s still a lot to like about the young shortstop. Though his batting average suffered — largely because of a two-month slump — he still had 52 extra-base hits and stole 15 bases. Perhaps more impressively, his defense improved greatly, and questions about his ability to remain a shortstop have subsided. Winning two titles in as many years with Montgomery certainly doesn’t hurt, either.

  • The Rays will officially unveil their plans for a new stadium today at Al Lang Field. Governor Charlie Crist will be on hand for the ceremony. [Bradenton Herald]
  • The Rays re-signed outfielders Chris Richard and Jon Weber to minor league contracts. Both players were with Durham in 2007. The Rays also confirmed the signing of catcher Hector Gimenez, also to a minor league deal. [tampabay.com]
  • Beyond the Boxscore compares Akinori Iwamura’s first season with the Devil Rays with his career averages from Japan. Surprisingly, the numbers are very consistent, except of course for the home run totals. [Beyond the Boxscore]
Jul 24

Down On The Farm: Jorge Cantu Reports To Durham

Jae Seo, Joel Guzman, Jon Weber, Jorge Cantu No Comments »

Indianapolis 7, Durham 4. Mitch Talbot took the loss allowing 4 runs in 4 innings to drop to 7-8. Jeremy Owens was 3-4 with 3 doubles. Elliot Johnson and Ben Zobrist each hit solo home runs for the Bulls. Jorge Cantu did report to Durham and made his first start at first base going 0-4.

Mobile 7, Montgomery 3. Wade Davis struck out 7 in 6 innings and left with a 2-1 lead, but the bullpen allowed 6 runs in the 7th and 8th innings. Davis had allowed only 1 hit in the first 5 innings before being touched for his only run in the sixth. Tim Corcoran allowed 3 runs in the 7th inning in his first rehab appearance. Evan Longoria was 2-3 with a pair of RBI and Reid Brignac was 1-4 with an RBI.

Jupitor 4, Vero Beach 3. Doug Waechter dropped to 0-3 in three single-A rehab starts. On Monday he allowed 4 runs in 5 innings. He stuck out 1 and walked none. Sergio Pedroza had 2 of the Rays 5 hits including a solo home run in the 5th inning.

Kannapolis 10, Columbus 9. Woods Fines allowed 6 runs (5 earned) in 5 innings. He struck out 4 and walked 2. Desmond Jennings was 4-5 with 2 doubles to raise his average to .327. Matt Fields was 2-4 with 4 RBI including his 20th double and his 14th home run.

Burlington 6, Princeton 3.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Uh Oh. Jae Seo was named IL pitcher of the week for the second time in three weeks. He has allowed a total of 2 runs in his last 5 starts. [Durham Bulls]
  • Joel Guzman keeps tantalizing people with his potential but has yet to show any consistency. He started the season very slow but did hit .327 for the month of June. However, since the all-star break he is only 5-35 and is at .249 on the season. [The News & Observer]

“He’s still a kid (22 years old),” said Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo. “He’s one of those guys that gets to Triple-A real quick. That’s what you have to remember when you see a kid like that struggle. Just be patient and he’s going to do it.

  • Yesterday we mentioned that Jon Weber was a recent acquisition by the Rays and playing for the Durham Bulls. We failed to mention how and when he was acquired. Weber is a 29-year old journeyman minor league outfielder that was most recently in the Rangers system after beginning the season in the D-backs system. We originally thought Weber was signed as a free agent, but rather it appears as though his contract was purchased from the Rangers. [In Forum Sports]
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