Above image is of Stuart Sternberg arriving for the wedding of Florida Governor Charlie Crist (image from FragMob)

Lots o’ goodies today from Marc Topkin, so we are giving him his first-ever Topkintopia (the regular webtopia is below)…

• We reported last week that it appeared Gerry Hunsicker, “Teller” to Andrew Friedman’s “Penn” (or “Silent Bob” to Friedman’s “Jay” for the younger crowd), was staying with the Rays despite reports that other teams were interested in his services. Topkin is now confirming that Hunsicker has signed an extension to stay with the Rays saying “I’m happy here. I like what I’m doing.”
• Many think the Rays will slow-play the free agent market and take whatever is left over. Topkin warns that there is a risk as some teams could enter the market later if they lose out on their higher-priced targets.
• Topkin places odds on who will be the opening day DH for the Rays, declaring Jason Giambi the favorite at 3:1, with Milton Bradley right behind at 5:1. Willy Aybar is the highest ranked player currently in the organization at 10:1 (6th on list).
• Jonah Keri, author of “Baseball Between the Numbers”, has announced that he will write a book about the Rays and their Wall Street approach to baseball. Not surprisingly, Topkin says the Rays, who prefer to keep things close to the vest, are “neither cooperating with the project nor particularly enthused.”…Keri was interviewed recently about the book on Rays Digest.
• Matt Garza had minor foot surgery to correct an old break in his foot. The surgery makes Garza ineligible for the World Baseball Classic. There were some rumblings that Garza was being considered for the Mexican team.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Rays Prospects projects the starting rotation for the Rays and each of their minor league affiliates. [Rays Prospects]
• If you are going to write in to the local newspaper and bitch about errors seen in their coverage of the Rays and other sports (in this case the Charlotte Sun) please make sure you don’t have your own error in the very first sentence. [Charlotte Sun]
• Behold! “The Longorious”. [Waivers and Sharks]
• Sometimes, while constructing this list, certain headlines make us do a double-take. [Harnesslink]
• Former Rays pitcher Scott Dohmann, who made 12 appearances with the Rays and 33 appearances with the Durham Bulls in 2008, is expected to sign with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Central League in Japan. [Sponichi; Translated]
• Rays Digest takes a look back at the Rays busy week in Las Vegas. [Winter Meetings Rewind]
• Former Rays catcher Josh Paul will manage the Staten Island Yankees of the short-season New York-Penn League…We will always have a soft-spot for Paul because of his official team photo. Paul appeared in 93 games for the Rays in 2006 and 2007. [NY Baseball Digest]
• Despite the additions of CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, Richard Justice says the Yankees are still just the third best team in the AL East. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Drays Bay puts together a “Bullpen Matrix” for the Rays relievers…We assume Grant Balfour is Neo and Troy Percival is Morpheus, but who is Trinity? [Drays Bay]
• Mets Fever would like to see the Mets sign Jonny Gomes. [Mets Fever]
• Tyler Hissey spoke with Dayn Perry of FoxSports.com about the Rays. [Rays Digest]
• Nothing new here, but Ken Rosenthal says the Cubs and the Rays are the two teams pursuing Milton Bradley the hardest. Rosenthal says the Rays are a better fit (patient manager, ability to DH) but wonders if the Rays will meet Bradley’s asking price…The better question is: How far down from his asking price would Bradley be willing to go to sign with the Rays? [Fox Sports]
• Rays Prospects has the winter stats updated through Friday for players in the Rays organization. [Rays Prospects]
• Tampa Bay Sports Blog explains why recent moves show that the Rays are smarter than the Yankees. [Tampa Bay Sports Blog]
• David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks keeps chugging along with his Devil Rays Advent Calendar and the all-time greatest Devil Rays. [Bugs and Cranks]

The general rallying cry right now in the Pink Hat Nation is that the Red Sox have been down before. 3-0 to the Yankees, 3-1 to the Indians last year. In other words, instead of discussing what is wrong with the Sox or *gasp* that the Rays might actually be a better team, the fans still just assume that this team will win with the status quo. Somebody remind us when the World Series became a Boston birthright.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Should the Rays host a game 6 and/or game 7 in the ALCS (Rays could still clinch in Boston, how sweet would that be?) the tarps will be removed from the upper deck adding 5,762 seats to the capacity. Originally this was only to happen in any potential World Series games. [MLB]
• How delusional are Red Sox fans? At least one thinks the Red Sox are Rocky in this series. [SawxBlog]
• The first sign that a population has exceeded carrying capacity? Turning on your own. In this case the population is The Red Sox Nation Bandwagon. And they are turning on their own…This will get worse before it gets better, and by worse we of course mean “better for us”. [Barstool Sports]
• There were a lot of empty seats in at the end of game 3 in Fenway…Hmm? We thought the Rays fans were on the bandwagon and “fickle”. [Boston Dirt Dogs]
• We have argued this before…How is Cliff Lee a better comeback story than Rocco Baldelli. That voting was the equivelant of Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reaves co-starring in Speed 3 and giving the Academy Award for Best Actor to Reaves. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Tim Keown of ESPN.com is praying for the Rays and Phillies to win their LCS, knowing full well that the media coverage for a Dodgers-Red Sox series is something none of us will be able to stomach. [ESPN]
• Here is the problem when your home town announcers are homers. When you watch an unbiased national broadcast you think everybody is against you. Case in point: “All series (and the last one), [TBS has been doing] the same thing: Here’s what the Rays have to do to succeed, here’s what the Red Sox can do to fail. Surely people are noticing this.“…Don’t get us wrong. We love Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo. Even though they are always rah-rah for the Red Sox, we never seem to mind as they still tend to be fair in their analysis, unlike many others *cough* Hawk Harrelson *cough*. But Remy and Orsillo are biased and by comparison everybody else will seem anti-Red Sox. [Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory]
• Scott Dohmann, who appeared in 12 games for the Rays this season, has been granted free agency. Dohmann was designated for assignment by the Rays in May, accepting an assignment to triple-A. Dohmann recorded 20 saves in 33 appearances for Durham. [Baseball America]

Sorry guys…just the links today…Pulling double-duty over at MLB Trade Rumors.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Don’t forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven’t voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• In case you missed it, the Rays have signed Scott Kazmir 3-year contract with $28.5 million, with a 4th year team option for $11 million. This deal buys out the remaining two arbitration seasons and the first two free agency years. [St. Pete Times]
• Al Reyes was activated from the DL and appeared in last night’s game. To make room on the roster, Scott Dohmann was DFA’d. We assume that Dohamnn will clear waivers, but with Grant Balfour pitching well in Durham, he may decline the assignment to Durham and choose to become a free agent. [Rays Report]
• Marc Lancaster is reporting that the Rays and Pirates reached an agreement on a deal so that the Pirates can keep Evan Meek in their system. Meek was a Rule 5 selection by the Pirates, but was recently dropped from their 25-man roster. Without the deal, the Pirates would have had to return Meek to the Rays. No word yet on the particulars of the deal. [Rays Report]
• Big League Stew takes a look at the early season success of the Marlins and Rays and puts together a fairly solid all-star team from just those two rosters. [Big League Stew]
• Edwin Jackson is not worried about losing 2 W’s to Troy Percival blown saves…We always think people make too big a deal about this paticular scenario. For every 8 shutout innings that are not a Win, there are 2 or 3 starts in which the team rallies and saves the pitcher a loss or gives the pitcher a Win with tons of run support despite a poor outing. [Bradenton Herald]
• Jordi from The Serious Tip made a guest appearance at Bus Leagues Baseball and wrote about his recent experiences at a Rays game and a subsequent trip to Brevard Co. Manatees game. [Bus Leagues Baseball]
• A Mets blog laments the fact that the Mets won’t be able to play the Rays this year. Not because they are easy wins, but because they are fun to watch. [Mets Walkoffs]
• A Cubs fan jumps on the Rays bandwagon and we welcome them with open arms and a beer. [Cobra Brigade]

THE GOOD: We know the numbers and we know there are other players that need playing time, but we hope that it kills Papa Joe Maddon to keep Jonny Gomes on the bench when he does. The first run of the game was all-Gomes. Started with a single, after which he stole second off of a lefty and then scored on a 2-out single by Dioner Navarro. He would later steal third base just before scoring on Jason Bartlett’s triple and moved to third in the 7th inning on a pitch in the dirt that barely got away from the catcher. He would score during that at bat on a ground out…Speaking of Jason Bartlett’s triple, how often are you happy when a player can’t get a bunt down? Bartlett appeared to be attempting a safety-squeeze in the 4th, fouling off one attempt and pulling back on the second pitch. He would then hit a triple to left-center that would score 2….A solid game from Evan Longoria. The opposite field double off the top of the wall in the 4th was a good sign as it was only his 3rd hit this season off a lefty. He also started a huge double play in the top of the 6th to quell a Yankees rally that had 2 runners on with only 1 out. Dirtbag gets rid of the ball faster than any third baseman we ever remember and his throws to second base are pinpoint.

THE BAD: Knowing that Jonny Gomes has to sit against righties. We understand. But we don’t like it.

THE TELLING: Cliff Floyd sat against the lefty while Jonny Gomes got the start at DH and Eric Hinske got the start in right…The Rays will have to earn tonight’s victory. Edwin Jackson takes the mound for the Rays while the Yankees will counter with their Ace, Chien-Ming Wang…The Rays remain 1 game up in the loss column over the Angels in the Wild Card standings. The Rays are 3 games up on the next teams, Baltimore and Cleveland.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Don’t forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven’t voted yet today, go NOW! For those that haven’t done it yet, once you have voted for the first time, it takes a matter of seconds to vote a second time. The ballot stores all your info. So you have ZERO excuses. C’mon, let’s make sure C.C. is in NYC in ’08. VOTE OR DIE! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• We will have the Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo on Wednesday night for game 3 of the Yankees series, with James Shields going against Mike Mussina. The Live Blog-A-Baloo will be held right here.
• Anybody want to take bets on what substances Her Rays was under the influence of when writing their post-game recap? Not that there is anything wrong with that. Much of the best writing in history was done “under the influence”. Just ask fans of the Beatles or Hunter Thompson. [Her Rays]
• Jonny Damon said that the scoreboard gun that had Matt Garza at 92-93 last night, must have been low. [New York Times]

Before we knew it, he was jamming us and making us pop out. That’s what happens when you’re late on the fastball, and it seemed like we were late all day. It just seemed like we couldn’t catch up to it.

• Ben Zobrist has been activated from the DL with Andy Cannizaro being DFA’d…Ahh Andy Whatever-your-name-is. We hardly knew ya. [Rays Report]
• Alex Rodriguez will not play in this series…Also, Marc Topkin says that Al Reyes could be activated as soon as today, although there is no clear indication who will be let go. Scott Dohmann and Gary Glover seem like the only options to be removed from the roster. Both are out of options, meaning they would have to be DFA’d. Of course, we could see another “Willy Aybar” injury by tomorrow afternoon. That is Dohmann or Glover could come down with a mystery ailment that would normally keep a player out for a week or so, but still need to go on the DL, just in time for a needed roster move and 2 months later, they are still MIA…Just sayin’. [The Heater]
• Gary Shelton says the Rays are not “fluky” and are here to stay. [St. Pete Times]
• Yet another positive piece on the Rays in the New York Times…That is 2 this season and 2 more than the Yankees have had. [New York Times]
• Here is a neat graph that compares payrolls to performance. [Benfry.com]
• Always in love with the underdog, Joe Maddon said that if he were to name MVPs for the first month and a half, it would be JP Howell and Jason Bartlett. [MLB]
• An early proposal for a ballpark in St. Pete circa 1983, looks an awful lot like the new proposed waterfront stadium. [Ballpark Frankness]
• Seriously, this is getting a bit ridiculous. Yahoo! Sports has the Rays ranked 5th in their power rankings. [Yahoo! Sports]

Supposed to be that the Rays would do well generally, but struggle against the AL East powers. They’re now 15-11 against their own division.

• The Rays will make public their financing plan for the proposed waterfront stadium on Thursday. [Ballpark Frankness]

DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

• The Good: To quote a commenter from last night: Akinori Iwamura… you beautiful, beautiful small little Japanese man. Although I might worry a little for Aki’s safety today. He did a nice little bat flip and walked the first few steps down the line to admire the blast. Don’t get me wrong. I loved it. And in reality the Sawx are the last team in the world that could ever complain about something like that as long as Manny Ramirez wears the Scarlett Hose. But still. Aki might get a little buzz this afternoon if a pitcher gets an opportunity…Oh yeah and the bullpen, Again. 2 runs in the last 30 innings pitched from the bullpen. That’s right. 2 runs in the last 30 innings pitched from the Tampa Bay Rays relief corps.
• The Bad: Jello Shots. Seriously? Who the hell thought Jello Shots was a good idea?
• The Telling: This worked yesterday, so I will try going to the well one more time. The last time the Rays won 6 in a row was August 3, 2005. The winning pitchers during that streak were Scott Kazmir, Casey Fossum, Doug Waechter, Mark Hendrickson, Seth McClung and Travis Harper. No shit…Also if the Rays win today they will be 3 games over .500 after 25 games. It looks like that would be the latest in a season that the Rays have ever been 3 games over .500. In 2004 they were 40-38 but never got to 3-over. The latest they have ever been 3-over was way back in 1999 when the Rays were 11-8 after 19 games.
• Today: Huge matchup of Aces as the Rays go for the sweep. It is Josh Beckett versus James Shields.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Only surprise here is that Andrew Friedman didn’t make this move sooner. Elliot Johnson has been sent to Durham and Andy Cannizaro has been called up to take his place. With Jason Bartlett’s shoulder problems, Joe Maddon undoubtedly would prefer to have a natural shortstop on the bench to back him up. [Rays Report]
• There is speculation around the Rangers that new team President Nolan Ryan may ask Gerry Hunsicker to come on board as the new GM. [ESPN via Lone Star Ball]
• Marc Topkin takes a look at the Rays surplus of starting pitching and comes to the same conclusion that many including The Professor have been saying for a while, Andy Sonnanstine is likely the odd-man out and could be headed to the bullpen with Scott Dohmann being DFA’d. Even with the 3-hit shutout, Duke is just the better option in the bullpen. [St. Pete Times]
• Red Sox skipper Terry Francona is impressed with what he sees in the Rays. [MLB]
• What a difference a year makes for the Rays bullpen, where Gary Glover is the only reliever that was with the Rays at this time last year. [Tampa Tribune]
• The Rays rank first in affordability in the major leagues. [MLB]
• I am amazed at how many stories have been written that say giving Evan Longoria a long term deal so early is very risky. All these stories make the same argument: Prospects flame out all the time. They will then go on to list all the top prospects that never panned out. Only they only list pitchers. The only top hitting prospect that anybody ever mentions is Rocco Baldelli and he has what appears to be a rare genetic disorder. His had nothing to do with miscalculated scouting. Top hitting prospects *never* fail. They may not turn out to be all-stars, but they never fail. There is basically ZERO risk in the Longoria deal. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

The Rays made a couple of moves today, one surprise, one not so much, in an effort to finalize their 25-man roster for opening day on Monday in Baltimore.

The not surprising move was Grant Balfour will be Designated For Assignment, giving the last bullpen spot to Scott Dohmann.

The surprising move is that the Rays have acquired Nathan Haynes off of waivers from the Los Angeles Angels. The move was announced during today’s televised broadcast of the Rays’ matchup with the Reds. Haynes figures to be the Rays 4th outfielder come opening day suggesting that Eric Hinske will not be on the opening day roster.

Haynes, 28, was originally a first round selection of the A’s in 1997. After 10 years in the minors, he made his major league debut last year for the Angels, appearing in 40 games, hitting .267/.313/.311 in only 45 at bats. In his 11 pro seasons, Haynes has only appeared in 100 games three times. He does appear to have some speed with 254 career steals in the minors.

Balfour cut; Dohmann takes last bullpen spot [Rays Report]

Tampa Bay Rays (28 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 9, Indians 7.

The Good: Scott Dohmann retired all 4 batters he faced, including the final out of the 6th inning with the bases loaded…Another errorless game for the Rays who have 21 in the spring. Only 6 teams have committed fewer…

The Bad: Rays pitchers had their streak of 21 innings without a walk end in the 3rd and then proceeded to walk 7 on the day including one with the bases loaded by Grant Balfour and hit a batter by Andy Sonnanstine….

The Telling: Elliot Johnson got the start at third base over Joel Guzman as Willy Aybar continues to nurse a sore hamstring. Either Johnson or Guzman will get the opening day assignment if Aybar is not ready to go.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Obligatory Public Service Announcement: We will be hosting the 2nd Annual Opening Day Tampa Bay Rays Live Blog here at RI. So feel free to stop by and join in on the shenanigans as participation is certainly welcome.
• Want a good indication that Scott Dohmann will be named to the roster over Grant Balfour? Try this quote from Balfour: “It’s tough to go out there and pitch every time knowing that you’re either on the team or off the team…It’s tough, having that pressure on you, I must admit.” Excuse me? You know what else is pressure? Coming in to the game with a 1-run lead and runners on 2nd and 3rd. Funny…We thought pressure was something a relief pitcher needs to be able to handle. The whole point of this battle for the final spot in the bullpen is to send you guys out there every time knowing a job is on the line and seeing how you handle it. [St. Pete Times]
• The Rays are tied with the Cubs and White Sox for most hit batters in spring training with 17. James Shields has 4 all by himself, which is the second most in the spring. As per a discussion in the comments section a few days ago, on the surface it appears like Joe Maddon and Jim Hickey are emphasizing the importance of pitching inside with the benefit outweighing the occasional hit batter. Now we see that this is also being implemented at the minor league level as Durham pitching coach Xavier Hernandez is preaching the same method to the minor leaguers, in particular Chris Mason who was the AA pitcher of the year last year. Mason has hit 5 batters in camp this spring. [Montgomery Advertiser]

“I’ve always emphasized it,” Hernandez said. “Being at the Triple-A level and going to the major leagues at the end of last year, I realized that it’s not only important, it’s imperative.”

• Acording to Outs Per Swing Evan Longoria already has more AAA experience than all of the following third basemen combined: Albert Pujols, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Miguel Cabrera and Kevin Kouzmanoff. He also has the same experience as David Wright and is only 3 games short of Ryan Braun. [Outs Per Swing]
• Rays of Light picked up a nice not-very-surprising tidbit about Elijah Dukes. Apparently he went MIA from the Nats for “non-baseball matters”…We’ve said it before, we will say it again. We don’t care if Glenn Gibson never throws another pitch, the Rays made a great trade to get rid of that ticking time bomb. [Rays of Light]
• The Sports Illustrated Baseball Preview issue is out and here is a link to the Rays preview. [ESPN]
• David Pinto goes to PECOTA to show that the Rays have the best rotation in the AL East, and that takes into consideration that starting pitchers will miss time and uses Jason Hammel in place of Edwin Jackson. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Here is another projection for the Rays pitching staff. [Baseball Musings]
• RJ Anderson answers 5 questions about the Tampa Bay Rays at The Hardball Times. [The Hardball Times]

Tampa Bay Rays (7 days until Opening Day)

We have a busy, busy day planned here at RI, so be sure to check back early and often…

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 10, Reds 9.

The Good: The two players that the Rays will rely on to be power sources in 2008, Jonny Gomes and Carlos Pena, each hit their third home run of the spring…Elliot Johnson continues to secure his spot as the opening day utility player, assuming Ben Zobrist is on the DL, with 2 more hits while playing center. He is now 19-41 (.463) on the spring with a 1.145 OPS…Aki Iwamura started 2 double plays with his new partner-in-crime, Jason Bartlett…Al Reyes struck out all three batters he faced.

The Bad: Matt Garza needed over 90 pitches to get through 5.1 innings walking 2 and hitting 2 more batters…Troy Percival gave up 7 runs in 1 inning of work on 6 hits and a walk.

The Telling: Andy Cannizaro who figures to be the only person that could beat out Elliot Johnson for utility player, saw time at both second and third.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• It is never a good day when we read the sentence “David Price left a Minor League start Thursday after feeling some discomfort in his left elbow.” Andrew Friedman says that it is not serious. We hope World B. Friedman will forgive us if we hold our breath until Price makes another appearance on a mound. [Tampa Bay Rays]
• Tom Singer names the Rays as one of two team in the AL that are “worth watching for early signs of a miracle”. [MLB]

In already setting a club record for Grapefruit League wins, Tampa Bay also has lost only twice in 13 games against other AL clubs, is 6-1-1 vs. the AL East and is 5-1 against Detroit and Philadelphia…Yet it’s almost as if the Rays are being humored. That could be a mistake, even if the weight of the AL East does have to curb their optimism.

• Bill Chastain notes that several roster decisions are still up in the air and the team met again last night to discuss some of those decisions. According to Chastain Ben Zobrist is likely to start the season on the DL, but will be available as early as April 5…Our best guess is that Elliot Johnson will now join Eric Hinske, Joel Guzman and Shawn Riggans on the bench. Not bad for a guy that had the 5th worst OPS in AAA last year. We are rooting hard for Johnson. [Tampa Bay Rays]
• Joe Smith also looks at the remaining roster questions…On a side note, does anybody else remember a couple of weeks ago when Joe Maddon was talking about how nice it was that most of the roster was already in place. [St. Pete Times]
• Joe Maddon all but confirms that JP Howell will be on the Rays opening day roster as a long reliever by saying that the last bullpen spot will go to either Scott Dohmann, who was better last year and Grant Balfour, who has had the better spring. Both players are out of options. One will make the team. The other must be traded or will need to clear waivers in order to be optioned to the minors. [Tampa Tribune]

“That is a tough one,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Both have really good arms, both are very competitive. They’re making it tough. This is going to be quite a discussion in regard to that spot, because I have a lot of respect for both of these young men – they’re both great workers, they’re great teammates. It’s tough.”

• It sucks to be a hitter during an intrasquad game when the opposing pitcher is working on pitching inside. Yesterday, Chris Mason hit two batters in one game at minor league camp…Chuck Tiffany who missed all of 2007 also participated. [Riverwalk Talk]
• Delmon Young has a new commercial promoting the 2008 Twins in which he seeks the advice of Twinkies legends. They tell him to “See the ball, hit the ball”. Might just be us, but isn’t Young’s problem that he swings at too many pitches? [Chinese Evil Dead]
• New and Old Rays gear is being spotted with alarming regularity as far north as Tallahassee. [FSView]

Tampa Bay Devil Dogs (8 days until opening day)

DRG here again to get you through the weekend…

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays. Rained out.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Jeremy Guthrie will be the Orioles opening day starter against the Rays on March 31. The O’s are yet to reveal the remaining rotation. [Baltimore Sun]
• Jeff Niemann was not happy about his demotion. Joe Maddon sounds as if a major league debut in the near future is no guarantee for Niemann. [Tampa Tribune]

If he can get a little consistent roll in Triple-A and there’s a need, he could be very interesting.”

• Rays of Light laments the decision to include Jason Hammel in the rotation, and wonders if the decision was based in part of the fear of seeing Hammel become a better pitcher somewhere else. [Rays of Light]
  
• Joe Maddon hinted that Grant Balfour might have overtaken Scott Dohmann for the final bullpen slot, although he won’t make a decision until the end of the week. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“The location of the pitches have been much better,” Maddon said. “[Balfour's] throwing a strike when he needs to, and he’s been down [in the strike zone], and it’s really nice to see.”

• DRays Bay interviews Keith Law. [DRays Bay]
  
• Joe Maddon does not see any correlation between success in the spring and the regular season, although Carl Crawford says building a winning atmosphere has to start someplace. [Tampa Tribune]

“I’m just so cognizant of the regular season, how different it is from spring training,” he said. “And then you also have to guard against this sense of ‘We’re so much better because we’ve had a good spring training.’

“It depends on who you ask,” left fielder Carl Crawford said. “If you ask a team on the other side, they might say, ‘It’s just spring training, it don’t mean nothing.’ But a team like us, where we’re trying to build some momentum going into the season, it’s a good thing.

• When the Rays drafted Fernando Perez, they converted him to a switch-hitter. The team wanted him to bunt a lot from the left side to utilize his speed. Perez had other ideas. He refuse to bunt a lot preferring to become a good hitter from both sides of the plate. [Herald-Tribune]
• While the Rays have made significant efforts to reach out to fans in other markets, especially Orlando, little effort has been made in the Gainesville area. The Rays say they are waiting to see if their is demand for the Rays in the area before making an effort, which seems the opposite of other areas. [Gainesville Sun]

Tampa Bay Rays (12 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Phillies 4, Tampa Bay Rays 2.

The Good: Matt Garza in the 2nd, 3rd and 6th innings. After a shaky first, he retired 9 of 10 and then the last 4 he faced. Evan Longoria hit his 3rd home run of the spring but more eye-opening was his 9th walk of the spring. Only 5 players in the majors have more and only one of those players (Willie Harris) has fewer than Longoria’s 5 strikeouts.

The Bad: Matt Garza in the first inning: 1 throwing error, 1 wild pitch, 1 walk, 1 run. Reid Brignac committed his 3rd error of the spring. He only had 3 errors in the final 43 games last season. As a team the Rays only managed 3 hits, without a baserunner until 2 outs in the 5th, and committed 2 errors.

The Telling: JP Howell once again came on in a relief role and pitched a perfect 9th with 2 strikeouts. Howell is going to make the roster…as a relief pitcher.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• USA Today takes a look at the importance, or lack thereof, of spring win-loss records. Andrew Friedman may have summed it best…“Generally, I think there’s very little correlation,” Friedman said, “but for us, and the collective mind-set of our organization, it sure can’t hurt.” [USA Today]
• Bad news for Elliot Johnson fans. Ben Zobrist had his cast removed a week earlier which gives the Rays newest utility guy a much better shot at being ready for opening day…Scott Kazmir is playing catch, and may be able to throw a bullpen session on Wednesday. [Rays Report]
• Joe Maddon is less optimistic about the chances of Ben Zobrist making the trip to Baltimore for opening day. If Zobrist is not on the field by the end of next week, we suspect Zobrist will start season on the DL with a stay in extended spring training. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“You have to take at-bats, all the other little things you have to do to get ready for the season,” Maddon said. “I’m not sure about that yet, we’ll see. He’s been playing catch. I know his arm is still in shape. He’s been doing anything he can possibly do to stay under the circumstances to stay ready, and that’s typical Zobrist right there. Again, he just has not been able to hit, which would be a big factor.”

• Scott Kazmir revealed that his recent switch to a cautionary tone with regards to his arm may have been fueled by the career-ending injury suffered by Brian Anderson. [Tampa Bay Rays]

“It kind of freaked me out a little bit, to be honest with you,” Kazmir said. “You see him come in and the next thing you know he’s talking about, ‘Oh, I ripped my whatever’ and what not. Then I’m like, maybe I should take a little more time…I see that going on. I’m thinking, ‘Oh, man, I don’t want to be in that boat.’ And, plus, I’ve got the time no just to make sure that everything is strong and I’m ready to go.”

• Yesterday Rays of Light rallied for the Rays to sign Todd Linden to be the 4th outfielder. Today DRays Bay tells us why he is not all his numbers are cracked up to be. [DRays Bay]
• Dayn Perry say the Rays are “capable of contending very soon”. Of course this is the same guy that said the Rays were one of “ten teams that could surprise” in 2007 and a week later wrote a column in which he said the 2007 Rays were one of the teams “with no hope for success”. [Fox Sports]
• USA Today interviews Joe Maddon. There is nothing here that we haven’t been hearing in the local media all spring. [USA Today]
• Yahoo! Sports projects the Rays lineup. They have Scott Dohmann and JP Howell in the bullpen, which is how DRays Bay projects it and the way we figure it will shake down. Of course there is a good chance they just read one or both sites. [Yahoo! Sports]
• The Tampa Tribune has details on the three proposals submitted for the redevelopment of Tropicana Field. Officials will recommend one of the proposals to the City Council by May 1st. [Tampa Tribune]