Archive for the 'Pedro Martinez' Category

Jun 20

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss New Shea, Zorilla And Sternberg Speaks

Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Pedro Martinez, Stuart Sternberg, Vince Naimoli Cork Gaines 4 Comments »

85134121JM032_TAMPA_BAY_RAY

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: The Bullpen. Thanks to Lance Cormier, Dan Wheeler and JP Howell, the bullpen gave up a run in the 8th to ensure that the Rays would not lose yet another 1-run game.

THE BAD: Lost Power. New Shea is where home runs go to die. Just ask Evan Longoria about his fly ball in the 1st inning. Or Dioner Navarro who hit a ball that would have gone to the warning track anywhere else, but came up 30 feet short (no Navi, that would not have been a home run)…Andy Sonnanstine. Nobody hits home runs in New Shea. But Sonny found a way to serve one up to a guy that had ZERO home runs entering the game. The only thing left to decide is whether The Duke goes to the bullpen or the minors when Scott Kazmir returns.

THE TELLING: If today’s game is rained out, there will likely be a double-header tomorrow. And this radar cap does not look promising…Today’s game is the National game on Fox. If you are in an area that does not have the game, be sure to check Fox Espanol as they often carry an alternate game.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: BJ Upton

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Ben Zobrist now has enough plate appearances to qualify as the AL leader in slugging and OPS. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Stuart Sternberg reiterated that the Rays will most likely not add payroll during the season, adding that he doesn’t see an area where the team can improve dramatically…Andrew Friedman addressed the Pedro Martinez situation, saying the team is just doing their “due diligence” by checking out Pedro but that the level of interest is not as great as it is being made out to be. [St. Pete Times]
  • We lost count on the number of teams that watched Pedro Martinez throw yesterday, but you can add the Brewers and Cardinals. The Yankees have already said “no thanks,” but the George A. King III report does say that other teams were impressed, but does not mention which teams. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  • Vince Naimoli versus Bernie Madoff. Yep. [Trop It Like It's Hot]
  • Minor League Ball takes a look back at Ben Zobrist, the propsect. [Minor League Ball]
Jun 19

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Huge OPS, Dirtbag’s Squints And Even More On Pedro

Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria, Pedro Martinez Cork Gaines 7 Comments »

Rays Rockies 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: Barty And Zorilla. Sounds like a wine cooler, but where would the Rays be without the surprise bats Jason Bartlett and Ben Zobrist? Both now sport an OPS north of 1.000 (1.080 and 1.017 respectively). Zorilla actually leads the AL in OPS…Speed Kills. All the talk of Carl Crawford being 37-40 on the basepaths, but few have noticed that BJ Upton is 25-30 and Jason Bartlett is 14-15. As a team they are 109-128 (85%). That’s pretty good.

THE BAD: The 4th Inning. Again a Rays pitcher was done in by one really bad inning in the light air of Coors Field. This time it was the 3rd inning and it is never a good sign when you give up a single to the pitcher with 1 out. That was followed by back-to-back home runs with 2 outs…The 9th Inning. The Rays had exactly what they wanted, 2 on with no outs and Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and Ben Zobrist due up. But Longo and Pena struck out, so Zorilla’s single came up 1-run short and Gabe Gross’ long drive came up a few feet foul…Evan Longoria’s Eyes. anybody else notice how much Dirtbag was squinting yesterday at the plate? Has he always done this in day games? It is hard to hit the ball with your eyes closed.

THE TELLING: The Rays are now 8-14 in 1-run games. Every other team in the division is at least .500 in those situations…The sting of losing 2 of 3 to a very good Colorado team (just check their run differential) is helped a bit by knowing that the Yankees lost 2 of 3 to the Nationals…The Rays will go from one of baseball’s homer-happy parks to one of the stingiest, New Shea Stadium (we are not calling it by the other name). There has been a lot of talk this season about the frustration of the Mets players who claim that many sure-thing home runs are dying in the outfield.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ben Zobrist. That 2-run basehit in the 9th was about the only exciting thing to happen to the Rays all day.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • A couple of our readers and regular commenters have branched off and started their own blog, Trop It Like It’s Hot, with bonus Jenn Sterger photo. [Trop It Like It's Hot]
  • The source of Ben Zobrist’s nickname is indeed “Gorilla”, sorta. Some of the other Rays had started calling him “Gorilla Zoe,” after the hip-hop artist. Joe Maddon then shortened it to Zorilla. [MLB]
  • And now we learn that the other Rays are jealous of Ben Zobrist’s nickname. And he is soooo innocent: “I don’t know what’s in the tabloids.” Ain’t it cute? Somebody needs to give him an update on John and Kate. (thanks Amanda) [SI.com]
  • Here is the latest on Pedro Martinez, as it looks like both the Rays and the Cubs are balking at his asking price. And the Rays are indeed interested in Pedro as a relief pitcher. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  • However, the Rays and Cubs will still watch Pedro Martinez pitch again today. And you can add the Yankees and Angels to the teams that will watch. [Fox Sports]
Jun 18

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss King David’s Newfound Efficiency, The Truffle Shuffle And More On Pedro And Kazmir

David Price, Evan Longoria, Joe Maddon, Pedro Martinez, Scott Kazmir Cork Gaines 8 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: David Price. The 3-run home run was not good. And he basically took a dump on the mound in the second inning, but we saw a lot of positive signs moving forward. Better pitch efficiency (he worked 7 innings), he threw strikes (71 of 99) and he wasn’t overthrowing his fastball. Most were 93-94 occasionally touching 95. Recently he has been 94-96 with the occasional 97 or 98…The Truffle Shuffle. We just love it anytime Pat Burrell does something that involves running “full speed.” As in, he had a straight steal of second base last night (above). It just looks so painful and somehow he stole the bag without hurting anybody, including himself…Back-to-Back and Belly-to-Belly. Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria went yard in consecutive at bats.

THE BAD: The Second Inning. It was bad. It was ugly. It should never happen. It did. Let’s move on…Looking For Glove In All The Wrong Places. Pat Burrell indeed started in right field. Ugh. Although Burrell may have had the quote of the month when he said prior to the game, “I’ve got the chalk, BJ has everything else.”

THE TELLING: With the Rays sweeping the worst team in baseball, it meant nothing unless the Nats could come through against the Yankees and they did, winning last night. That loss by the Yankees is as good as picking up a game in the standings…It has been pointed out to us that in the first game of this series Gabe Kapler and Gabe Gross combined for the first Gabecycle in MLB history. We hope you will forgive us for our oversight (thanks John).

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Evan Longoria

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • In case you missed it in the earlier segment, Scott Kazmir made his first rehab start last night and it was a good one, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings, striking out 5 and walking just 1. He allowed 3 hits. [MiLB]
  • Joe Smith reports that Scott Kazmir will next pitch for Durham on Monday. Smith also has quotes from Kaz on his night. [The Heater]
  • Pedro Martinez confirms that his agent has spoken with both the Cubs and the Rays and Pedro says there is a good chance he will sign soon. [AP]
  • Marc Topkin still calls a deal with Pedro Martinez “unlikely.” [The Heater]
  • Marc Lancaster also calls a Pedro Martinez signing “unlikely.” [Rays Report]
  • Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times says it is doubtful the Cubs have room in the payroll to add Pedro Martinez. [Chicago Sun-Times]
  • Rays the Stakes puts The Trop and Coors Field in a head-to-head battle to the death. Click through to see the winner. [Rays the Stakes]
  • Joe Maddon named his coaching staff for the all-star game and in a case of Joe being Joe, he went against the grain with his picks. [Tampa  Tribune]
  • A story on how one Rays fan became a sports marketing intern for the Rays. [University of Richmond]
Jun 14

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Izzy’s Elbow, Winston’s Weturn To The Bigs And Pedro’s Schedule

Ben Zobrist, Jason Isringhausen, Pedro Martinez Cork Gaines No Comments »

Nationals Rays 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

No GBT today. Enjoy Pop Goes the Weasel Day.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ben Zobrist

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Jason Isringhausen reinjured his surgically repaired elbow and was placed on the DL. The Rays promoted Winston Abreu from triple-A to take Izzy’s place. Abreu was dominating the IL with 49 strikeouts in 32 innings with only 14 hits and 10 walks. He has a 1.41 ERA and 10 saves. Abreu has appeared in 33 big league games with the O’s and Nationals. [The Heater]
  • Joe Maddon made it clear that the Rays have no interest in using David Price as a closer. [St. Pete Times]
  • Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says Pedro Martinez has been working out 5 days a week and hopes to sign with a contender by the end of the month. His goal is to start in the minors and be ready for the big leagues after the all-star break. [Boston Herald]
  • Marc Topkin confirms the Rays will wear throwback uniforms on July 11. [St. Pete Times]
  • Marc Lancaster takes a look at the Rays defensive drop-off in 2009. [Tampa Tribune]
  • The Rays Party notices some similarities between BJ Upton and one of the Rays draft picks. [The Rays Party]
Jun 13

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Kapler’s Power Surge, A Rough Night In The East And More On Pedro

Gabe Kapler, Jeremy Hellickson, Pedro Martinez, Scott Kazmir Cork Gaines 9 Comments »

Nationals Rays 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: Gabe o’ the Day. No home runs in the first 2 months but Gabe Kapler homered for the second straight game. This one proved to be the game-winner 1 pitch after the normally sure-handed Nick Johnson dropped a foul pop-up…Pat is Back. Nice to see Pat Burrell back in the lineup after missing 29 games.

THE BAD: Matt Garza. Garza struggled with his control, walking 4 in 5.2 innings…Tough Luck In AL East. In the span of 30 minutes both the Red Sox and Yankees went from what looked to be sure losses to victories. The umpires appeared to miss a game-winning home run for the Phillies and then refused to review the call and the Mets dropped a game-ending pop-up that allowed 2 runs to score for the Yankees win.

THE TELLING: Pat Burrell was back in the lineup but he was not in his customary 5-hole. Ben Zobrist batted 5th with The Bat hitting 6th.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Gabe Kapler

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • We have a report from the game that David Price was sporting a jersey last night that read “ME TOO” on the back. Anybody have any idea why? (thanks Clayton)
  • Jon Heyman adds to the Pedro Martinez speculation writing that he spoke with a Rays official who says there is a “slight” chance the Rays will sign the future Hall-of-Famer…Just more evidence that this was more than just somebody watching a friend throw and further suggesting that the local media was a little too quick to dismiss the reports. [SI.com]
  • Scott Kazmir threw 45 pitches in a simulated game and will next throw 60-70 pitches for Charlotte next week. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Jeremy Hellickson threw 2 innings in an extended spring game. According to Stacy Long, the Rays want Hellboy up to 4 innings before they will activate him. [Biscuit Crumbs]
  • Rays Prospects has a valuable resource up. They will be tracking the signings of this year’s draft picks. [Rays Prospects]
Jun 12

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Unanswered Questions About Pedro, Joyce’s Demotion And Upton’s Sucktitude

BJ Upton, Gabe Gross, Jason Bartlett, Matt Joyce, Pat Burrell, Pedro Martinez Cork Gaines 20 Comments »

Angels Rays 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: The Offense. Scoring runs is not a problem for this team, and it won’t be. 11 more runs, 4 more home runs. How many times this season have you been watching the game and you look up and you are surprised to see that the Rays have 7 or 8 on the board already?…Carlos Pena. El Gato is heating up and it is only going to get better with Pat Burrell due back tonight…Speaking of Which. Have you seen Pat Burrell’s new goatee? It is trashtastic, but maybe that is the cure to get him out of his season-long funk.

THE BAD: David Price. 6 strikeouts is nice, but 6 walks in 4.1 innings is horrible. As are the 105 pitches…BJ Upton. 0-5 with 3 Ks, and 2 for his last 20 with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk. That’s not good…Matt Joyce. In his first 2 games after being recalled, Joyce was 5-7 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI. Since then he was 0-15. Hence the demotion…Interleague play. We are generally fans of interleague play, but for every chance you get to see the Rays play in Coors Field, we are going to have to deal with the Nats at home.

THE TELLING: The Rays continue to lead all of MLB in scoring (5.6 r/g). They are also second in OPS (.810), behind only the Yankees (.832). However, the Rays 42 errors are the 3rd most in the AL and they are on pace for 110. Last year the Rays committed only 90.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Gabe Gross. Navarro left 6 men on base. Pena’s home run came when the game was over. Gross was on base 4 times and drove in 2.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Marc Lancaster on Pedro Martinez: “Probably not”. Marc Topkin on Pedro: “Unlikely”. And yet, nobody has explained why the Rays have scheduled a second workout. So far, everything else in the original report was true, so there is no reason to believe there isn’t a second workout scheduled. And if you missed our post last night, Nick Cafardo is reporting that the Rays and Pedro have already been discussing dollar amounts. The Rays may not sign Pedro, but there is more to this than just somebody watching a friend workout.
  • To add a strange twist to the Pedro Martinez story. Keep in mind that Don Zimmer is a senior adviser for the Rays. Michael Weber of Rays Revolutionary spoke with Zim’s grandson who says the two have patched up their differences and now consider each other friends.
  • Pat Burrell has been activated and we suspect he will be in the lineup tonight. To make room, Matt Joyce was demoted back to Durham. [The Heater]
  • Jason Bartlett will begin a rehab assignment tonight as the DH for Charlotte. He will play shortstop on Saturday and Sunday and should be back with the Rays on Monday.
  • Joey Johnston has some quotes from Matt Joyce on his demotion. [Tampa Tribune]
  • MLB Notebook says Pedro Martinez makes sense for the Rays. [MLB Notebook]
  • Joe Smith writes about the Rays 4th round pick, a catcher who may have been a first-round pick before he had Tommy John surgery. [St. Pete Times]
  • Everybody’s favorite interviewer of the Rays, David Brown, is back with a Q&A of Edwin Jackson. Ok, so it is a former Ray, but great read still. [Big League Stew]
  • The Rays Party breaks down Jeff Niemann’s last start. [The Rays Party]
  • Rays Prospects has the complete list of the Rays top 30 picks from the draft. [Rays Prospects]
  • Trop Talk misses the old Dioner Navarro. [Trop Talk]
Jun 11

Rays, Pedro Discuss Deal?

Pedro Martinez Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

The updates on the original post were getting out of hand, so let’s start a new post…

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is reporting (via MLB Trade Rumors) that Pedro Martinez has worked out for both the Rays and the Cubs and that both teams are interested enough to see how much Pedro will cost.

A source close to Pedro Martinez indicated tonight that both the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays have watched Martinez throw in the Dominican and both teams have begun to at least explore how much money it would take to lure Martinez back to the mound.

Cafardo adds that Pedro is reaching 94 mph with his fastball. Last year his fastball averaged 89.4 mph.

Keep in mind that this report is coming from Pedro’s people which would jive with the notion that they are just using the Rays to drum up interest in the veteran.

But again we ask: If there is nothing to this story, then why have the Rays scheduled a second workout?

Cubs, Rays eye Pedro [Boston Globe]

Jun 11

Rays Interested In Pedro Martinez?

Pedro Martinez Cork Gaines 18 Comments »

phpKG1Fzi[Update 6:40pm] Marc Lancaster spoke with the Rays and they are downplaying the situation saying it was a “Rays’ officials in the Dominican who has known Pedro for a while” and that he “just watched [Pedro] work out.” Lancaster adds that it sounds like the team doesn’t expect anything to come of it.

That may be true, but then why schedule a second workout? Nothing may come of this, but it sure seems like the Rays are at least exploring the possibility.

[Update 5:40pm] Michael Weber of 10 Connects (WTSP/CBS) in St. Petersburg and Rays Revolutionary reports that they spoke with the Rays and at first the Rays denied the report, but later called back to confirm that a scout did watch Pedro throw.

The #Rays called us back. They say they had one of their Dominican guys watch Pedro.

Strange that they would change their story. The Rays are a very secretive organization, but they are not prone to lying. Either way, it looks like the Rays are at least kicking the tires on Pedro. They will only bite if the price is right, and if the price is right, you can never have too much pitching.

[Update 4:10pm] Here is a second report (in English) that reports that they confirmed the workout with a Rays official.

[1:39pm] We are not familiar with the source, but one news outlet in the Dominican Republic (translated version) is reporting that the Rays have met with Pedro Martinez and even attended a recent bullpen session.

via Google Translate: Even the pitcher held a meeting yesterday [pitching] in the Quisqueya stadium. in the bleachers and was department staff the Rays of Tampa, said the source. In all, Pedro did a bullpen session of 20 pitches, all straight and as the newspaper heard from listeners Rays were satisfied with what they witnessed the veteran pitcher.

From what we can gather from the translation, the Rays will observe another bullpen session in the coming days in which Pedro will mix in his breaking pitches.

Martinez made 20 starts for the Mets last season, going 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA. His last good season was 2005 when he was 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA and 208 strikeouts in 31 starts. He did make two appearances for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. He pitched 6 scoreless innings, striking out 6 and allowing 2 base runners, 1 hit and 1 hit batter.

Prior to the season, it was reported that Pedro was seeking a $5 million, one-year deal. With the season one-third over, we have to assume that the asking price would be in the $2.5-3.5 million range.

It is no secret the Rays have struggled with their starting pitching. The starters have a 4.71 ERA, 9th in the American League. Andy Sonnanstine is the 4th worst starting pitcher in baseball based on VORP (-8.7) and there is no timetable for Scott Kazmir’s return from the DL and whether he will be able to overcome his mechanical issues.

The rotation has been bad. Is Pedro the answer? We have no idea. But if the Rays hope to get back to the playoffs, they need better and more consistent performances from the rotation. And right now, the only way that may be possible is to make a change.

Tampa con interés en Pedro [listindiario.com]

May 28

[DOWN ON THE FARM] David Price To Face-Off Against Pedro Martinez In Second Pro Start; Guzman Homers Again

Brian Matusz, David Price, Joel Guzman, Pedro Martinez Cork Gaines No Comments »

Norfolk 5, Durham 4. Joel Guzman hit his 12th home run and finished 3-4. In his last 8 games, Guzman is now 13-32 with 6 home runs and 10 RBI…Mitch Talbot allowed 4 runs in 6.1 innings. Juan Salas pitched the final 2.1 innings but picked up the loss after allowing a 2-strike, 2-out solo home run in the 9th inning…Reid Brignac was 1-3, while Elliot Johnson and Mike DiFelice added 2 hits and an RBI apiece.

Montgomery 3, Chattanooga 1. Wade Davis picked up his 5th win with 5 strike outs and only 1 walk and 2 hits in 7 innings. He gave up 1 run. He retired 15 of the last 17 batters he faced…Rashad Eldridge and Gabby Martinez were 2-4 each. Eldrige added his 10th stolen base and Martinez drove in his 31st RBI.

Vero Beach 3, St. Lucie 2. Ryan Morse struck out 5 and gave up 2 runs in 6 innings…Ryan Reid picked up his 8th save with 2 strikeouts in 1.1 innings. He now has 44 strike outs to only 3 walks….Vero Beach managed only 3 hits, but managed 3 runs for the win.

Asheville 2, Columbus 1. Alex Cobb gave up only 1 hit and 1 walk in 7 shutout innings, but was saddled with a no-decision as the bullpen could not hold the 1-0 lead. Cobb did not allow a baserunner until one out in the 5th when he hit a batter. The no-hitter was broken up with 2 outs in the 6th with an infield single.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • David Price will make his second professional start tonight for Vero Beach. He will be opposed by Pedro Martinez of the Mets, who is on a rehab assignment. [Biscuits Batter]
  • Baseball-Intellect has started a video breakdown of the top prospects in the upcoming Rule 4 draft. Up first is lefty Brian Matusz. Not very likely to go to the Rays, as most mock drafts have him falling to the Orioles at #5. Our concern, and this report seems to confirm this, is whether Matusz would even be a first-rounder if he weren’t a left-hander. Probably not. [Baseball-Intellect]