Dec 16
Despite an earlier report that the Rays and Bobby Jenks were close to a deal last night, Ken Rosenthal reports that the Rays are just one team in on the closer. Rosenthal says there is “heavy action” on Jenks (which almost never a good sign for the Rays) and that the Yankees “and others” are also interested.
Despite a 4.44 ERA in 2010, Jenks was actually a very good closer. His 2.59 FIP suggests he was just the victim of some bad luck or some really bad defense.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Don Zimmer had a pacemaker installed. [The Heater]
- The Rays signed Jonah Bayliss to a minor league deal. Bayliss is a 30-year old right-handed reliever, who last saw action in the big leagues in 2007 with the Pirates.
- The Jason Bartlett trade is still “better than 50-50″ to get done according to Jon Heyman. Jed Hoyer, the Padres GM adds that the two sides are working on “several different issues.” [MLB Trade Rumors]
- The Marlins officially announced Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 13
On this date one year ago, the Blue Jays signed Jose Bautista to a one-year, $2.4 million contract. Not many people took notice until Bautista started hitting home runs at a Ruthian rate. He would finish the season with 54. You can be certain, that the Rays are hoping to find the next Bautista this year.
At the other end of the spectrum, today is also the three-year anniversary of Alex Rodriguez’ 10-year, $275 million contract he signed with the Yankees.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Marlins are “working to sign” Randy Choate. As a Type B free agent, the Rays would receive a pick between the first and second-rounds if Choate signs with another team. [MLB Trade Rumors]
- Ken Rosenthal wonders if Matt Garza is a better trade option for teams than Zack Greinke. [Fox Sports]
- Jason Bartlett was the second-worst player in the big leagues at turning the double-play. [ESPN]
- Rays Prospects offers their top 30 Rays prospects. [Rays Prospects]
Nov 24
The Rays offered arbitration to free agents Grant Balfour, Carl Crawford, Rafael Soriano, Randy Choate, Brad Hawpe, Joaquin Benoit and Chad Qualls. The Rays declined to offer arbitration to Dan Wheeler or Carlos Pena.
Offering a free agent arbitration is necessary if the Rays want to receive draft pick compensation if those free agents sign with another team. The risk is that the player could decide they will get more in arbitration than on the free agent market. If the player accepts the offer, the Rays could be stuck with a player they don’t want or at a price they don’t want to pay.
In the cases of Wheeler and Pena, both would have almost certainly accepted. The Rays may want both players back, but they don’t want to pay what either could have gotten in arbitration.
Balfour and Qualls could choose to accept arbitration and the Rays may be more than happy to have both back on one-year deals at a salary similar to what they made last year.
Crawford, Soriano and Choate will decline arbitration knowing they will get more money and years on the free agent market. And Benoit has already signed with the Tigers. Offering him arbitration is just a formality to make sure the Rays receive a compensation draft pick.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Nov 16
Marc Topkin reports that there is a high level of interest at the winter meetings for a couple of Rays relievers. It just might not be the relievers you would think…
Word at GM meetings in Orlando is that interest is strong in free-agent relievers Benoit + Choate
By now, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that there is a high-level of interest in Joaquin Benoit. He was one of the best relievers in the AL last year, and just because the Rays are anonymous to the media, doesn’t mean the players are anonymous to the other GMs.
On the other hand, interest in Randy Choate is a little surprising. While Choate had a good, if not spectacular season, lefty specialists are not that rare.
P.S. The picture at right is of Andrew Friedman at the GM meetings, with a certain local writer in the background gazing intently.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Oct 22
The Rays have eight potential free agents once the off-season begins. The Elias rankings will determine whether the Rays will receive any compensation should these players sign with another team (see below for a detailed explanation of free agency compensation).
MLB Trade Rumors has determined the formula used in the Elias rankings. Now that the season is over, let’s look at how each free agent will be classified…
The Rays have Read the rest of this entry »
Sep 01
Yesterday, we expressed our fear that Randy Choate might actually be able to give up a bases-empty grand slam in a 4-run game. Immediately, several commenters came to the defense of Choate, correctly citing his rough April (10.50 ERA) for his ugly 4.42 ERA. One commenter pointed to Choate’s 3.27 FIP as evidence that he has pitched much better than his ERA (click here for an explanation of FIP).
FIP can indeed be a better indicator of a pitcher’s performance. And a 3.27 FIP is generally considered good.
But is a 3.27 FIP good for Choate? More specifically, is it good for a lefty-specialist that will normally only face batters in which he has a very strong advantage during the matchup?
Let’s take a look at how lefty-specialists* in the American League have fared this season (ranked by FIP versus left-handed batters)…
As we can see, Choate is far from
Read the rest of this entry »
Aug 11
The Rays have nine potential free agents at the end of the year. The Elias rankings will determine whether the Rays will receive any compensation should these players sign with another team (see below for a detailed explanation of free agency compensation).
MLB Trade Rumors has determined the formula used in the Elias rankings. Let’s take a look at where the Rays free agents-to-be would fall if the season ended today…
The Rays have three potential Type A free agents. They also have four potential Type B free agents with Joaquin Benoit jumping up into Type B status. With only 49 games to go, this classifications are not likely to change much unless Grant Balfour comes back strong in September.
If the season ended today Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 19
Chris from Watching Durham Bulls Baseball brought to our attention a glaring weakness in the Rays organizational depth. Not only is there only one active lefty in the Rays bullpen. There are very few lefty options in the minor leagues right now…
RAYS – Randy Choate, (JP Howell on DL)
AAA – (RJ Swindle on DL)
AA – Darin Downs
And that’s it. Two healthy lefty relievers in the majors or upper-level minor leagues.
At some point, the Rays may have to turn to one of their lefty starting pitchers such as Heath Phillips or Carlos Hernandez. Phillips career minor league splits don’t suggest that he is any tougher on lefties while Hernandez does have favorable splits against lefties. Also, both Jake McGee and Alex Torres in AA could be lefty options in the future. But neither figures to be available to the Rays anytime soon.
You can be certain that when Andrew Friedman talks to other GMs, he is asking about lefty relievers. But finding one of those this time of the year will not be easy.
Then again, there is always Brian Shouse.
Apr 14
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: Better Late Than Never. The Rays had only scored more than 4 runs twice this season, but scored 5 in the 8th and 8 runs in the final 3 innings. In one 8 batter span in the 8th, the Rays had 6 singles and a double. The big blow was Evan Longoria’s 2-run single to tie the game…Carlos Pena. El Gato’s 3-run shot in the 10th proved to be the game-winner. Earlier in the game, Pena flashed his gold glove when he left his feet and made a catch 3-rows deep down the right field line.
THE BAD: Randy Choate. After blowing the lead by giving up a 2-run HR (this time to a lefty) we half-expected Andrew Friedman to visit the mound to not only remove him from the game, but also from the roster…Over-Protection. One day after going 4-4, Carl Crawford did not start. Yes it was a lefty, but Crawford is an everyday player and it is only week 2. At this rate, Crawford will miss 20 games this year just due to managerial decisions…Rafael Soriano. It was a meaningless solo home run with a 3-run lead, but we are still waiting for Soriano’s first 1-2-3 outing. We are not worried. We are just waiting for him to hit his stride.
THE TELLING: Last night’s game featured two starting pitchers that were both drafted #4 in their respective drafts. We have to imagine that it is rare for top-5 picks to face each other…Brilliant move on the part of the Orioles to have a t-shirt giveaway the second week of April. Game time temp was 43°. Not to mention, the t-shirts were to be given to the first 10,000 fans, 15-and-over. 13,731 was the paid attendance, but there is no way 10,000 people were there last night.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Kelly Shoppach was placed on the DL with a sprained knee suffered during Saturday’s game. John Jaso has been recalled from Durham.
- Leslie Anderson, the Cuban defector (not the pitcher, the other one) signed by the Rays last month must have finally gotten his Visa issues resolved. The Rays made his signing official yesterday and announced Anderson will report to extended spring training. Anderson can play first base and all three outfield positions.
- Marc Topkin says Leslie Anderson will eventually be assigned to Charlotte or Montgomery and could be a September call-up. [St. Pete Times]
- Here is some video of James Shields playing golf. The clip is a preview for “Inside the Rays” which will air this Sunday on Sun Sports at 4:30. [Fox Sports Florida]
- Surprised we haven’t heard more about the possibility of Carl Crawford ending up in Houston next season. [Crawfish Boxes]
- How about some “Longoriaisms.” [Sports Casualties]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
- Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
- DURHAM: Jeremy Hellickson allowed just 1 run in 6.1 innings, striking out 7 and walking 1. He allowed 4 hits, but only 1 in the first 6 innings. At one point he retired 14 straight…Dale Thayer picked up his 3rd save despite 2 hits and a walk in 1.1 innings…Fernando Perez was 1-4 with a double and an RBI…Matt Joyce went 0-4 with a strikeout…Dan Johnson was 2-4 with a home run…Hank Blalock did not play again.
- MONTGOMERY: No game scheduled
- CHARLOTTE: Chris Andujar allowed 2 runs in 4 innings. He walked 3 and did not strike out a batter…Matt Sweeney was 1-4 with a double.
- BOWLING GREEN: Alex Colome allowed only 1 baserunner in 6 innings, a 2-out double in the 4th. He struck out 6…Tyler Bortnick had his second straight 3-hit game, going 3-4.
Apr 13
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: Matt Garza. It is just two starts against the Orioles, but Gonzo is starting to look like he could be off to a magical season. The first batter of the game ruined any chance for a no-hitter or a shutout, but after that he did not allow a run, striking out 5 and walking 3…Carl Crawford. Best thing about losing CC after the season? He seems motivated like never before, and the Rays are reaping the benefits. Last night it was a 4-4 performance with a home run, 2 runs scored and a diving catch in left-center. That catch came in a 2-run game with a runner on third. If he doesn’t make the catch, it is 3-2 with a runner in scoring position and only 1 out…Rafael Soriano. He looked a little better this time, striking out 2 in a scoreless 9th…Reid Brignac. Briggy hit his 2nd big league home run. He later added an infield single driving in the 5th run. Might he have earned himself a little more playing time with Sean Rodriguez struggling a bit?
THE BAD: Dioner Navarro. We are beginning to wonder if his head is in the game anymore. In the 7th inning with 2 outs and nobody on base, Navi tried to bunt his way on. We’re speechless.
THE TELLING: This was just the second time in 7 games that the Rays have scored more than 4 runs…The crowd for the Orioles was 9,129. That is the smallest crowd to ever see a game at Camden Yards. [begin sarcasm] Clearly Baltimore is a terrible baseball town and the O’s need a new stadium [end sarcasm]…On queue, Joaquin Benoit worked last night, marking the first time he has worked back-to-back days since the Rays signed him. We would be shocked if he is not with the Rays by the time this road trip is over…Ratings for the first five home games (not including Saturday’s national broadcast) are up 141% over last year.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- PSA: You can now reach the Raysheads Forum through the link in header above or at Raysheads.com.
- Hank Blalock hasn’t played since opening day, missing 4 straight games due to “soreness” in his upper leg. However, it is not serious and he has been dressed and available to play.
- Joe Maddon says he will continue to use Randy Choate against right-handed batters. [St. Pete Times]
- The Yankees had some not-too-kind words for the Rays. Apparently they had never heard of the Trop’s catwalks prior to this past weekend’s games. [NY Daily News]
- We are not sure how somebody could confuse Carl Crawford for Reid Brignac, but Briggy did not hit 2 home runs last night. [All Headline News]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
- Check out “The Rundown” from Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
- DURHAM: Carlos Hernandez only allowed 2 runs in 5 innings despite giving up 4 hits and walking 4 batters. Only 46 of his 85 pitches went for strikes…Joe Dillon continues his hot start, going 2-5 with a double and a pair of RBI…Matt Joyce returned to the lineup for the first time since being hit by a pitch and went 1-4 with a double…Joaquin Benoit allowed 2 hits in 1 scoreless inning.
- MONTGOMERY: Jeremy Hall pitched 7 shutout innings, striking out 5 and walking 1…Emeel Salem and Matt Fields were each 2-4.
- CHARLOTTE: Kyle Lobstein pitched 5 shutout innings, striking out 3 and allowing 2 hits and a walk…Tyler Bortnick went 3-5 and Mark Thomas was 1-2 with a pair of walks.
- BOWLING GREEN: No game scheduled.
