Wednesday was not a good day to be an ex-Rays player…

• Scott Kazmir was released by the Angels even though they still owe him about $9.5 million ($7M this year and a $2.5M buyout of his 2012 contract).
• Jorge Cantu was released by the Padres.
• Rafael Soriano was moved to the 60-day DL which means he won’t be back in pinstripes anytime soon.

As for Kazmir. Don’t look for a the Rays Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Maddon announced the rotation for all 5 games of the ALDS…

1. David Price
2. James Shields
3. Matt Garza
4. Wade Davis
5. David Price

Shields for game 2?

The pros are his experience, his more than a run better home ERA, his 2.57 ERA in 2 starts versus the Rangers (which ignores the 4 unearned runs he allowed) and his 3.52 FIP at home.

The cons? EVERYTHING ELSE.

Still, no matter what you think of the decision, you shouldn’t be surprised. Maddon has always given his veterans the benefit of the doubt and Shields is one of his guys.

Let’s just hope the Rays aren’t down 1-0 heading into game 2.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Today is the last day to enter BJ Upton’s raffle to win his BRayser. [Upton Brothers [Upton Brothers]
• David Price is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated. This is the third cover for the Rays. [The Heater]
• Carl Crawford is already Read the rest of this entry »

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe. As usual, feel free to leave your GBTs in the comments…

click above image for boxscore

THE GOOD: Getaway Day. At one point last year on road getaway days (final game of a road series), the Rays were 5-17. Some wondered if the Rays were carousing a bit too much on the road and were having trouble getting up for the usually afternoon games (ok, mostly it was us that speculated). So what we loved about yesterday’s game were not just the 4 home runs and 9 runs scored, but that the Rays scored 8 runs and had 13 baserunners in the first 4 innings. We have a strong feeling that Joe Maddon had a little talking-to with the team about being ready to play on getaway day this year…3-Run Jacks. Home runs are fun. But 3-run jobs are special because it is not just the home run hitter. It shows the entire offense is contributing and getting on base. Yesterday it was Carlos Pena (who hit 3-run HRs on consecutive pitches Tue and Wed) and BJ Upton. Carl Crawford just missed his own 3-run home run when he got a little too much top spin on a ball that hit the fence…BJ Upton. Sure the 2 home runs were nice. But what we really loved was that the second home run was to the opposite field. Whenever somebody hits a home run in a game, it is not uncommon for that batter to get a little pull happy in subsequent at bats trying to hit another one. It’s natural. But BJ did a good job of staying determined to use the entire field, something that has been a point of emphasis with him this year.

THE BAD: Day Games. Don’t worry we got to watch the game. No, this is bad because it meant I had to watch “Glee” last night with Mrs. Professor. I don’t understand the appeal. Every time Sue and Will are in the same scene I want Sue to punch Will in the face so that he will cry. So, except for the punching part, it would be just like every other “Glee” scene that Will is in.

THE TELLING: Dioner Navarro and Pat Burrell each had a double. Surprisingly, that feat is not as rare as you might think. Last year, Fat and Bat had extra-base hits in the same game 5 times…The Rays only swept 2 road series last season (Yankees, Royals)…Jason Bartlett was given the day off…John Jaso is expected to start either Saturday or Monday.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 6-3, tied with the Blue Jays and a half-game ahead of the Yankees (5-3). The Red Sox are 1.5 back at 4-4. After 9 games in 2008 the Rays were 4-5.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Rays Rev has 10 things they would like to see in the Rays-Red Sox series. [RaysRev.com]
• Jorge Cantu broke a meaningless record. [SI.com]
• Martin Fennelly says the 6-3 start is good, but that the Rays are only 1-2 in “real games.” [Tampa Tribune]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
• DURHAM:  Heath Phillips allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and a walk in 7.2 innings. The one run was a solo home run in the 8th inning. He struck out 4…Bulls hitters struck out 15 times…Justin Ruggiano went 2-5 with the go-ahead 2-run double in the 10th…Fernando Perez was 1-3, but left the game in the 6th with an apparent injury…Hank Blalock still hasn’t played since opening day.
• MONTGOMERY: Alex Torres struck out 8 and only allowed 1 hit in 5 shutout innings. He walked 2…Jose Lobaton went 3-4 with a double and Matt Fields hit his 2nd home run.
• CHARLOTTE: Matt Moore struck out 7 and walked 3 in 5 innings. He gave up 3 hits and 2 runs…Matt Sweeney was 1-3 with a walk and Jake Jefferies was 2-4 as the DH.
• BOWLING GREEN: Kyle Spraker was 3-4, all singles.

Happy 27th birthday to former Devil Ray Jorge Cantu, our favorite Jedi baseball player. His 69 extra-base hits in 2005 is the 44th most ever by a second baseman. Of course, calling Cantu a second baseman is an insult to most second basemen (-2.4 UZR* in ‘05 as a 2B). Still, it was nice to see a healthy (finally) Cantu hit 29 home runs in 2008 for the Marlins, with a 110 OPS+.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Scratch Carlos Pena from the list of Rays that will play in the World Baseball Classic. Pena had minor surgery on an abdominal muscle. He will be ready for Spring Training, but the surgery will keep him off the Domincan Republic’s WBC roster. Lancaster spoke with Pena who said the problem began in August saying he played through “extreme pain toward the end of the year last year.” [Rays Report]
• Evan Longoria still is not sure if he will be on the USA roster for the World Baseball Classic, but he is preparing under the assumption that he will be. [The Heater]
• Wow. First it was “Team X will be the new Rays.” Now we have somebody saying Matt Weiters is the “New Evan Longoria“…Why? Because Weiters is going to move to third base and help the Orioles to their first winning season since 1997, shocking the baseball world, winning the AL East and going to the World Series? Good luck with that. [Fanhouse]
• Eric Hinske has agreed to terms with the Pirates. [Raise the Jolly Roger]
• The Rays will start a new marketing campaign next week and unlike years past, this one will be geared more towards businesses…Gotta admit. One downside to writing about a good team is that prior to last year, there would have been an endless supply of jokes we could insert here. Now? Nuthin’. [Tampa Tribune]
• The Rays Party wants to know when the Rays are going to trade Reid Brignac…We doubt they will. At worst, Brignac is a cheap version of Jason Bartlett and under team control for the next six years. [The Rays Party]
• And we have yet another new entry into the Rays Blogosphere. This one comes via the MVN network. [Rays Review]
• Bill Chastain spoke with James Shields about preparing for the 2009 season. [MLB]

[Update 4:24 PM] Marc Lancaster is reporting that Calvin Medlock has been designated for assignment to clear room for Johnson on the 40-man roster. However, there is still no word on who is being dropped from the 25-man roster although Justin Ruggiano seems like the obvious choice. Lancaster also notes that Carlos Pena will not be going on the DL. Medlock came from the Reds in the Jorge Cantu trade.

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the Tampa Bay Rays have claimed Dan Johnson off of waivers from the Oakland A’s.

Johnson, a first baseman and DH, hit .236/.349/.418 with 18 home runs in 117 games last season.

With Carlos Pena nursing a sore hamstring, he could get the start at first base for the next few days and afterwards he will likely DH against right handed pitchers.

This is a very interesting move for the Rays and more evidence that the team has switched gears towards a win-now philosophy. With Eric Hinske, Cliff Floyd, Willy Aybar and Pena already providing left-handed bats for first base and DH, this signing appears to just be a short-term fix until Floyd and Aybar return from the DL. Afterwards it is hard to imagine that there will be room on the roster for Johnson.

No word yet on who will be removed from the 25-man roster to make room for Johnson.

Tampa Bay Claims Johnson [San Francisco Chronicle]
Dan Johnson claimed by the Rays [Rays Report]

We are going to keep doing this until we run out of ideas so bear with us. This week we are going old school…

Former Devil Ray Jorge Cantu and………………..Luke Skywalker

Tampa Bay Rays (23 days until pitchers and catchers report)
We have other things to write about later today, so we won’t waste an entire post on Marc Topkin’s latest piece. Rather we will just bitch about it here. In the piece,”Rays paying it forward“, Topkin suggests that the recent contracts signed by Carlos Pena and Scott Kazmir are an indication that the Rays front office is committed to spending money and retaining the team’s talent. The contracts therefore are indications of the team’s commitment to winning.

By giving more than $24-million over three years to Carlos Pena and going up to nearly $4-million for a one-year, arbitration-avoiding deal with Scott Kazmir, the Rays on Friday put two of their best players under contract for the upcoming season.

And they may have put to rest questions about their commitment to assemble, and retain, a competitive team.

There is only one problem with this thinking. In the two contracts combined, the Tampa Bay Rays gained ONE extra season out of the two stars. The Rays have now “retained” the services of Pena and Kazmir for ONE additional season.

The Rays and Scott Kazmir agreed to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration. And where would Kazmir be playing in 2008 if he had not signed the contract? THE TAMPA BAY FRIGGIN’ RAYS. Kazmir is arbitration-eligible. NOT a free agent. Unless the Rays decide to trade Kazmir, he will be playing for the Rays for the next three years. He does not have a choice. And avoiding arbitration probably saved the Rays a little money. Topkin does not seem to comprehend this. The Rays avoided arbitration with Kazmir. They have done nothing yet to retain his services beyond what he is already committed.

In the case of Carlos Pena, the Rays reached an agreement on a three-year contract. That deal does keep Pena in a Rays uniform for the first of what would have been his free agency years. Not three free agency years. Not five. Not seven. Pena is now locked into playing for the Rays for one more season than he would have been otherwise.

This is not a knock on the Tampa Bay Rays. They have shown this off-season that they are willing to spend money and that they will retain their young talent, IF THEY CAN DO SO FOR LESS THAN MARKET-VALUE. That is a commitment to the bottom-line. Not to the talent. Not to the team and not to the fans.

If Topkin wants to make this point, he can tell us about the Pena deal. It is not a huge commitment as it is just for one additional year. However, it is something. Topkin can also tell us about the Troy Percival deal and the Cliff Floyd deal. But please…please…don’t use the Kazmir-deal as an example of the team’s commitment to retaining talent and their commitment to winning. The deal has ZERO bearing on the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, 2009 or 2010. It does however have a bearing on the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays in that as of now, the chances of Kazmir playing for the Rays beyond 2010 are now a little less.

Here is a suggestion. If and when the Rays reach an agreement with James Shields on a long-term contract, that goes into his free agency years…we want Marc Topkin to erase Kazmir’s name everywhere it appears in the article and replace it with the name “Shields”. Then he should resubmit the article to his editors, because only then will the article make any sense.

Rays paying it forward [St. Pete Times]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Gerry Hunsicker appeared on XM radio’s The Show. Among the topics covered were the recent signing of Carlos Pena to a three year contract and whether 2007 was a surprising performance. “I got to think in Carlos Pena’s case it wasn’t that he never showed the talent because that’s not true, we were the beneficiary’s of Carlos Pena coming to Tampa Bay where there is a little less pressure, the expectations for him might not have been as high and he felt very comfortable. He was given the opportunity to play through the ups and the downs and had a manager that had the confidence in him to put him in the lineup everyday“. Hmmm? A manager that had the confidence to put him in the lineup every day? Let’s see…He only made the roster out of Spring Training because Greg Norton was injured in the last week before the regular season. The Greg Norton. And Pena did not become the everyday first baseman until the second week of May because Joe Maddon was giving starts at first base to Ty Wigginton and Jorge Cantu. Yes folks. Papa Joe had so much confidence in Pena that he benched him in favor of Jorge freakin’ Cantu. [MLB on XM]
• Rays Anatomy offers two points-of-view on what to expect from Carlos Pena in 2008. [Rays Anatomy]

Tampa Bay Rays (23 days until pitchers and catchers report)
We have other things to write about later today, so we won’t waste an entire post on Marc Topkin’s latest piece. Rather we will just bitch about it here. In the piece,”Rays paying it forward“, Topkin suggests that the recent contracts signed by Carlos Pena and Scott Kazmir are an indication that the Rays front office is committed to spending money and retaining the team’s talent. The contracts therefore are indications of the team’s commitment to winning.

By giving more than $24-million over three years to Carlos Pena and going up to nearly $4-million for a one-year, arbitration-avoiding deal with Scott Kazmir, the Rays on Friday put two of their best players under contract for the upcoming season.

And they may have put to rest questions about their commitment to assemble, and retain, a competitive team.

There is only one problem with this thinking. In the two contracts combined, the Tampa Bay Rays gained ONE extra season out of the two stars. The Rays have now “retained” the services of Pena and Kazmir for ONE additional season.

The Rays and Scott Kazmir agreed to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration. And where would Kazmir be playing in 2008 if he had not signed the contract? THE TAMPA BAY FRIGGIN’ RAYS. Kazmir is arbitration-eligible. NOT a free agent. Unless the Rays decide to trade Kazmir, he will be playing for the Rays for the next three years. He does not have a choice. And avoiding arbitration probably saved the Rays a little money. Topkin does not seem to comprehend this. The Rays avoided arbitration with Kazmir. They have done nothing yet to retain his services beyond what he is already committed.

In the case of Carlos Pena, the Rays reached an agreement on a three-year contract. That deal does keep Pena in a Rays uniform for the first of what would have been his free agency years. Not three free agency years. Not five. Not seven. Pena is now locked into playing for the Rays for one more season than he would have been otherwise.

This is not a knock on the Tampa Bay Rays. They have shown this off-season that they are willing to spend money and that they will retain their young talent, IF THEY CAN DO SO FOR LESS THAN MARKET-VALUE. That is a commitment to the bottom-line. Not to the talent. Not to the team and not to the fans.

If Topkin wants to make this point, he can tell us about the Pena deal. It is not a huge commitment as it is just for one additional year. However, it is something. Topkin can also tell us about the Troy Percival deal and the Cliff Floyd deal. But please…please…don’t use the Kazmir-deal as an example of the team’s commitment to retaining talent and their commitment to winning. The deal has ZERO bearing on the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, 2009 or 2010. It does however have a bearing on the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays in that as of now, the chances of Kazmir playing for the Rays beyond 2010 are now a little less.

Here is a suggestion. If and when the Rays reach an agreement with James Shields on a long-term contract, that goes into his free agency years…we want Marc Topkin to erase Kazmir’s name everywhere it appears in the article and replace it with the name “Shields”. Then he should resubmit the article to his editors, because only then will the article make any sense.

Rays paying it forward [St. Pete Times]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Gerry Hunsicker appeared on XM radio’s The Show. Among the topics covered were the recent signing of Carlos Pena to a three year contract and whether 2007 was a surprising performance. “I got to think in Carlos Pena’s case it wasn’t that he never showed the talent because that’s not true, we were the beneficiary’s of Carlos Pena coming to Tampa Bay where there is a little less pressure, the expectations for him might not have been as high and he felt very comfortable. He was given the opportunity to play through the ups and the downs and had a manager that had the confidence in him to put him in the lineup everyday“. Hmmm? A manager that had the confidence to put him in the lineup every day? Let’s see…He only made the roster out of Spring Training because Greg Norton was injured in the last week before the regular season. The Greg Norton. And Pena did not become the everyday first baseman until the second week of May because Joe Maddon was giving starts at first base to Ty Wigginton and Jorge Cantu. Yes folks. Papa Joe had so much confidence in Pena that he benched him in favor of Jorge freakin’ Cantu. [MLB on XM]
• Rays Anatomy offers two points-of-view on what to expect from Carlos Pena in 2008. [Rays Anatomy]

Tampa Bay Rays (66-96)

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Here is an interesting mathematical projection of the Rays 2008 season. Just based on the upgrade in the rotation with the addition of Matt Garza and the upgrade in defense with the addition of Jason Bartlett, the Rays will give up 121 fewer runs in 2008. That translates to 12 more wins (78-84). [Yahoo! Sports]
• Today is the Rule 5 draft, and it looks like the Rays will sell their #1 pick to the Padres. [Baseball America]
• It comes as no surprise…Scott Boras does not see Carlos Pena signing a long-term deal this off-season. Most likely the two sides will submit arbitration numbers, and settle on a 1-year deal somewhere in between. In our 40-man roster and payroll projections, we predict that number to be close to $5 million. [TBO]
• The New York Daily News is reporting that the Rays are looking at Cliff Floyd to be the part-time right fielder and left handed bat that they are seeking. [New York Daily News]
• The Rays were named “Topps Organization of the Year”. The award is based on a point system in which the organization earns points anytime a minor leaguer or rookie receives an a Topps Award during the season (ie. Named to the Topps Rookie team, Player of the Month, etc.) [The Biz of Baseball]

The Rays’ individual winners were: John Jaso (August Player of the Month / Class AA All-Star – Southern Lg.); Desmond Jennings (June POM – South Atlantic Lg.); Evan Longoria (May POM / Class AA All-Star – Southern Lg.); Maiko Loyola (Class A Rookie All Star – NY/Penn Lg.); Chris Mason (Class AA All Star – Southern Lg.); Mike McCormick (Class A Rookie All-Star – NY/Penn Lg.); Fernando Perez (Class AA All-Star – Southern Lg.); Jason Ragan (Class A Rookie All-Star – NY/Penn Lg.); Justin Ruggiano (August POM / Class AAA All-Star – International Lg.); Emeel Salem (Class A Rookie All-Star – NY/Penn Lg.); Jae Seo (July POM – International Lg.); Dale Thayer (Class AA All-Star – Southern Lg.) and Delmon Young (Rookie All-Star – MLB).

• Jorge Cantu has been released by the Cincinnati Reds. [Hot Foot]
• Scott Kazmir and Rocco Baldelli traded to the Mets? Fear not, this website is a fake. [FAKE MLB]
• The Tampa Bay Rays and Montgomery Biscuits will begin discussions to extend their relationship past the 2008 season. [Talk Alabama]

Devil Rays @ Detroit Tigers
A 3-game set…Tampa Bay is 42-68, 25.5 games back in the AL East…Detroit is 61-49, a half game back in the AL Central…The Rays are 16-35 on the road…Justin Verlander pitches for Detroit tonight. He is 11-4 with a 3.49 ERA…Edwin Jackson takes the mound for the Rays. He is 2-11 with a 6.56 ERA.

(a conversation between Joe Maddon and Jim Leyland in Leyland’s office before tonight’s game)
Papa Joe: What are the chances that my team can beat you guys tonight Jim?
Papa Jim: (taking a long slow drag on a cigarette) Well, that’s pretty difficult to say.
Papa Joe: (sporting a giddy school girl smile) Hit me with it! I’ve come a long way to see you, Jim. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
Papa Jim: (lighting another cigarette) Not good.
Papa Joe: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
Papa Jim: (lighting up his third cigarette since the conversation started) I’d say more like one out of a million.
Papa Joe: (looking confused, and then breaking out in a big smile) So you’re telling me there’s a chance.
(Joe Maddon turns and skips his way out of Leyland’s office)
Papa Jim: (blowing smoke rings) There is no way this ends well.
(Jim Leyland shakes head and pulls out another cigarette)

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• After Joe Maddon’s latest comments on BJ Upton we have to wonder if Rocco Baldelli has a future with the Devil Rays. Maddon expressed that Upton is clearly a better hitter and a more confident player while playing the outfield. [Devil Rays]

Because Upton looks so athletic in center field, Maddon was asked if Upton is wasted when he plays second base…”Not so much wasted, he’s looking very natural out there,” Maddon said. “I think from what I’m seeing, he will always hit better because that’s a mentally easier position for him to play.”

• We applaud Carl Crawford’s latest comments in which he expressed his frustration with this season. While some take the comments to mean that CC wants out, we see a young player that is growing into a team leader and letting it be known that the status quo is unacceptable. [tampabay.com]

“This year hasn’t went as planned, so I don’t know anymore,” Crawford said. “I’m just trying to wait and see what happens toward the end. Every year is a new year now…This year has been a setback, and I’m not used to setbacks. I’m frustrated with this season. It ain’t been a good year.”

• Jason Hammel threw a bullpen session on Saturday and he believes he will be able to make his next scheduled start on Tuesday. Joe Maddon is waiting to see how the shoulder feels today and tomorrow before making a decision. [Herald-Tribune]
• We may have been a little quick on the trigger earlier this season when we anointed James Shields as the Rays’ ace. [The Ledger]
• Jonny Gomes has done what Jorge Cantu could not. When benched, he kept his mouth shut and performed when given the opportunity and worked his way back into the everyday lineup with strong numbers. [tampabay.com]
• Don’t look for Akinori Iwamura to make any appearances at second base this season. Joe Maddon believes that is a move better suited for Spring Training. [TBO]
• BJ Upton’s younger brother Justin, made his major league debut for the D-Backs, 4 days younger than BJ made his debut. [TBO]
• The Devil Rays are expected to announce their new name and colors on Nov. 11. [tampabay.com]
• Former Devil Ray Jason Tyner finally hit his first major league home run after 1,220 at bats. [SFGate]