Scottsdale 7, Peo Javelinas 6 (10 inn.).
Evan Longoria has completed his tour of duty in the Arizona Fall League as he will now join Team USA as they compete in the World Cup in Chinese Taipei. Reid Brignac was the only Devil Ray in action yesterday, going 0-5 with an RBI ground out. He is now 5-42 (.119). After posting what were certainly disappointing numbers for the young shortstop this past season (.260-17-81, .760 OPS), one has to wonder if the AFL is doing more harm than good. It may be time to shut Brignac down for the year and let him get away from the game a little while, clear his head and then start preparing for 2008. Of course, the flip-side of the argument is that a young player needs to learn how to fight his way out of slumps, and the Cajun God of Baseball must be feeling rather mortal these days.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Just to show exactly how vague the definition is of “Comeback Player of the Year”, one of the NL nominees for the players association version of the award is Josh Hamilton, who only had a handful of games above single-A prior to this season. [Cincinnati Enquirer]
• Oh, and this just in…Josh Hamilton was kept on the Reds roster for the entire season and is now a permanent member of the Cincinnati ballclub. Of course we knew that back in March when Hamilton hit a game-winning 500-foot home run in one of his first spring training games.
• Chris Richard of the Durham Bulls, has started a regular off-season diary for the Bulls website. His most recent piece is on the use of human growth hormone from a player’s perspective. One point we disagree about with Richard is the perception of some fans. While there is an element of the fanbase that doesn’t care (a group that we believe is growing because the story is tiresome), we doubt there are many fans that think the use of performance enhancers is good because it produces players that “hit a ball 500 ft. and throw 100 mph.” Hitting 100 on the gun and blasting a tape-measure shot are specials feats in baseball because they are rare. Otherwise, as fans we do understand the frustration that must come from doing it the right way and having to compete for jobs with players that are cheating. But…and this is a Rosie O’Donnell BUT…we do not understand why the players and the players association do not take a more active role and we do not understand why their “hands are tied in politics”. [Durham Bulls]
• DRays Bay is reporting that Jae Seo and Tim Corcoran have been granted free agency. No surprise as both players were removed from the 40-man roster this past season. [DRays Bay]

Red Sox 16, Devil Rays 10.
Thank you Red Sox.

Thank you for reminding us that the team we root for is still the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They aren’t the Twins, or the A’s or the Indians. They are indeed the Devil Rays. Thank you for erasing that warm and fuzzy feeling we have had for the last couple of weeks. It was starting to go to our heads. Thank you for scoring 16 runs and reminding us that our starting pitchers are not the mid 70s Orioles and that our bullpen is not the mid 90s Yankees. Thank you for reminding us that the Devil Rays do not go into a place like Fenway and sweep the best team in baseball (a thought that may or may not have crossed our minds when the score was 8-1). Thank you for reminding us that we root for a team that has now blown a lead of 5 or more runs 186* times this season. Thank you for reminding us that even if the Devil Rays can score 7 runs in 3 innings off of Tim Wakefield, the baseball gods (for some unknown reason) will not allow Wakefield to lose to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Thank you for reminding us why sometimes we read a story on the Rays and we think the team changed their name to the Lowly Devil Rays.

Thank you Red Sox. Thank you for pissing in our wheaties.

*we don’t have the stomach to look up the actual number

Switch-hitting is naturally a very difficult thing to do anytime, but it is especially difficult for a catcher. We have said it before, that catchers are notoriously slow developers with the bat. This is rarely unexpected. As catchers, they are asked to concentrate on the defensive aspects of their position much more in the early stages of their careers. While other fielders get to spend a large amount of time in the cage, catchers need to work on blocking pitches, footwork on throws to second, sitting in on pitchers meetings, catch pitchers during their bullpen sessions, have their heads rubbed for luck, etc.

So the amount of time spent on the offensive aspect of their game is already reduced. Now take that and cut it in half for a switch-hitter as they need to do everything twice, once from each side of the plate.

For the second straight night, Dioner Navarro was forced to bat right-handed against a right-handed pitcher because of a sore wrist. How did he do? He collected a career-high 4 hits. Now granted, two of those hits came off of Tim Wakefield and one of the other two was an infield single, but at some point it would not surprise us if the coaching staff looks to make Navi a full-time right-handed batter. While his average is similar from both sides of the plate (.220 vs. .221), his OPS is considerably higher from the right side (.703 vs. .599) hitting a home run once every 17.2 at bats as a right hander and once ever 83.3 at bats as a lefty. This is even more pronounced when one considers that most switch-hitters are better left-handed hitters because that is what they do more often.

A switch-hitter can get away with having a “weaker” side if he is still producing overall. While we still believe that Navi is going to be a very good major league hitter he may be hindering himself, and the team, by continuing to bat from both sides of the plate.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The timing of this headline was unfortunate. [Devil Rays]
• The Tampa Tribune is a little late with a story about how the Rays are going to limit their starting pitchers down the stretch, considering the topic was covered everywhere else about 3 weeks ago. And the timing is especially puzzling considering they decided to run the story the day after Scott Kazmir threw a season-high 118 pitches. [TBO]
• Did you know Delmon Young was ejected Monday night? Neither did we. Apparently Young tossed his helmet back on the field from the dugout after being doubled off of first base in the 9th inning. We understand that sometimes an umpire makes a bad call and emotions get the best of you. But if you are going to act like a child at least do it when the umpire actually makes a bad call. Replays showed that Delmon was out. [tampabay.com]
• There has been a lot of chatter about Bill Madden’s comments, comparing Carlos Pena’s breakout season to that of Brady Anderson of the Oriole’s and his suspected ties to steroids. To this point we have left it untouched and for a good reason. IT IS THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. It is a friggin’ tabloid. The only reason it has a circulation is because a) it costs 50 cents while the New York Times is a dollar, b) They write sensational shit like this to try and get us riled up, c) it has lots of pictures, d) lots of New Yorkas like to read garbage. [Rays Talk]
• We felt there were a lot of different directions we could have gone with yesterdays “Hangover” title, but Sports of Boston trumped us. [Sports of Boston]
• John McDonald of the Blue Jays, a free agent-to be, signed an extension with the Blue Jays. So for those of you who desired a shortstop for 2008 with a good glove and the 32nd worst OPS (.604) among major league short stops (minimum 200 plate appearances) will have to look elsewhere. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• For the second time this week, the Rays called up a player from the Durham Bulls who just began the IL Championship series. This time it was Raul Casanova. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Rays DFA’d Tim Corcoran. Corcoran, who was in the middle of the championship series with Montgomery, said that he will re-sign with the Rays to finish the series if he clears waivers. [TBO]
• There are some new Boyz in the Rayz Blogosphere. The ninja mask is a nice touch, but we hate websites with auto-loading music (so if you click on the link, you’ve been warned). We also wonder about their choice for a blog name, DRayzBoyz. Next season the Devil Rays will drop the “devil”. Will they need to change the title of their site in 2008? Will DRaysBay? [DRayzBoyz]

Durham 4, Columbus 3. Jason Pridie drove in 3 of the Bulls’ 4 runs, with a 2-run first inning home run and a solo home run in the 5th. He also added a double and now has 5 home runs and is hitting .315 (.907 OPS) in 38 games since being promoted from AA. Justin Ruggiano was 2-4 and Evan Longoria was 1-3 with a double and a RBI. Mitch Talbot struck out 6 in 6 innings to pick up his 10th win. Shawn Camp struck out 4 in 1.2 innings for his 2nd save.

Chattanooga 9, Montgomery 8. In their first game without closer Dale Thayer, the Biscuits blew a 7th inning 8-5 lead, with the final two runs being scored on a home run in the 9th inning with 2 outs and 2 strikes, off of Nick DeBarr. Wade Davis allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in only 2.1 innings. 5 of the 7 outs recorded by Davis came via the strikeout.

Clearwater 12, Vero Beach 5. Jay Witasick pitched one inning in his first rehab appearance, allowing 1 hit. Jackson Brennan was 4-5 with his 18th double and 2 runs scored. Garret Groce was 2-5 and drove in 2.

Greensboro 12, Columbus 6. Wade Townsend continues his up-and-down season. After a strong effort his last time out, Townsend was touched for 7 runs (6 earned ) in 3.1 innings. He walked 5 and gave up 4 hits. He fell to 6-10 with a 5.08 ERA. The Catfish hit 4 home runs, including two by John Matulia, who doubled his season total. Cesar Suarez hit his 10th and now has 73 RBI, good for 8th in the SAL. Ryan Royster hit his 20th home run which is tied for 3rd and he has 75 RBI, tied for 5th in the league.

Hudson Valley 8, Batavia 4. Maiko Loyola was 2-5 and stole his 18th and 19th bases for the Renegades.

Burlington 3, Princeton 2 (12 innings).

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Four members of the Hudson Valley Renegades were named to the New York-Penn League All-Star team. The players are Emeel Salem, a 6th round pick this season, Maiko Loyola, Mike McCormick, a 5th round pick in 2005 and Jason Ragan. The game will be hosted by the Renegades next week. [Hudson Valley Renegades]
  
• Jay Witasick made a rehab appearance last night for Vero Beach and will likely make another on Saturday. [TCPalm]
• Tim Corcoran has been optioned to AA Montgomery and Dale Thayer has been promoted to AAA Durham. Thayer, who set the Southern League record for saves in 2006, leads the SL this season with 21. Corcoran is likely to be designated for assignment when/if the Rays sign David Price before the August 15 deadline. [OurSports Central]
• Tim Corcoran will have to shave his beard, as Devil Rays minor leaguers are not allowed to wear facial hair. [Stacy Long's Riverwalk Talk]

Tiggers 9, Devil Rays 6.
Just the links for now. We will be back in a little while.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• BJ Upton has taken to centerfield very well but he is still learning how to play the position. In the meantime he will struggle with mental errors such as the one that allowed a routine fly ball to drop between he and Carl Crawford on Monday night. [MLB]
• Casey Fossum has been outrighted to AAA Durham and Jon Switzer has been recalled to replace him. The move is likely to mark the end of Fossum’s tenure with the Devil Rays. Fossum has 3 days to accept the demotion or become a free agent. Even if Fossum does accept the move, the team is not likely to pick up his option for 2008. Fossum posted a 7.89 ERA in 10 starts and a 7.30 ERA in 30 relief appearances to go along with a VORP of -20.9 which was the second worst in baseball for all pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched (Mike Maroth must be having a very shitty season). [tampabay.com]
• Tim Corcoran ended his rehab assignment with Montgomery after 7 appearances. Corcoran is currently on the 60-day DL, and does not count towards the 40-man roster. To be activated the Rays will need to add him to the 40-man roster, which they could do after the demotion of Casey Fossum. They may also try to designate him for assignment and outright Corcoran to Durham. [TBO]

Durham 13, Indianapolis 1. Jae Seo struck out 7 and walked none in 8 shutout innings. Newly acquired Jon Weber hit his first home run with the Bulls and drove in 5.

Vero Beach 3, St. Lucie 2 (gm 1). Rhyne Hughes was 2-3 with 2 doubles, including a 2-run double in the first inning.

Vero Beach 5, St. Lucie 0 (gm 2). Rhyne Hugheswas 3-4 and added 2 more doubles and another RBI in the nightcap. He is now hitting .338 with 23 doubles and 55 RBI.

Kannanpolis 7, Columbus 1. Wade Townsend allowed 7 runs (6 earned) in 5 innings. He struck out 3 and walked 3.

Auburn 2, Hudson Valley 1.

Johnson City 5, Princeton 2.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Josh Paul and Tim Corcoran will join the Montgomery Biscuits for rehab assignments. [Montgomery Advertiser]
• Shawn Riggans will continue his rehb assignment with the Durham Bulls after playing 4 games with Vero Beach. [The Raw Feed]
• On Friday night,Jason Pridie was a single shy of hitting for the cycle. [MiLB]
• On Saturday night, Ben Zobrist hit a solo home run in the top of the 10th inning to give the Bulls a 2-1 win. [MiLB]
• On Friday night Evan Longoria hit his 19th home run. [MiLB]
• On Saturday, second round pick Will Kline pitched two innings for Columbus, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. [MiLB]

Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 5.
10 straight losses as we near the All-Star break. At one point this season the Devil Rays had three of the ten worst starting pitchers in baseball in their rotation and yet they were only 4 games below The Charlie Hough Line (.500). Since, then two of the three members of The Axis of Evil (Jae Seo and Casey Fossum) have been banished and the third (Edwin Jackson) has pitched better (although he continues to pitch just well enough to lose). The result? The 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays now sit 17 games below .500 with the worst record in the AL and the schedule doesn’t get any easier. In the second half the Rays play 50 of 75 games against teams with winning records or teams named the New York Yankees.

So what happened? Injuries happened (BJ Upton, Rocco Baldelli, Akinori Iwamura). Idiocy happened (Elijah Dukes). And the rest of the lineup appeared to forget how to score runs. The Rays are 10-21 since the beginning of June. But while the pitching has seemed to be better outside of the usual bullpen implosions, the Rays offensive numbers have actually improved since the beginning of June.

In April (5.04) and May (4.27) the Rays scored 4.65 runs per game. Since the beginning of June that number is 4.69. The team batting average has only fallen from .260 in April/May to .259 in June/July. The power numbers are off from 1.18 HR/game in April/May to 0.88 per game in June/July. However, the teams OBP is up slightly with averages of .324 in April, .332 in May, and .333 in June.

If it is not the offense, than it must be the pitching that has gotten worse…right? Well outside of the three occasions in June in which the bullpen blew a 5+ run lead, the pitching has indeed been better. In April (6.78) and May (5.73) the Rays allowed 6.10 runs per game. Since the beginning of June, the number is down to 5.81. Not good, but definitely better.

So why are the Rays suddenly back to being the laughing stock of baseball? We don’t have an answer. Maybe it is a string of bad luck and are better than they have played the past 6 weeks. Maybe the team was playing above themselves for the first two months of the season and are not a team that should have been playing near-.500 ball. This team will play better, but don’t look for the Rays to sniff .500 again in 2007.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• In an effort to break Carl Crawford out of a slump that saw his average fall to .281, Joe Maddon moved C. C. up a spot to #2 in the lineup. An 0-4 outing on Tuesday was followed by a 3-5 performance on Wedensday.
• We didn’t think we would have to experience a bullpen without Al Reyes until at least August when Reyes could be traded. But we are going to get a sneak preview for at least the next two weeks as Reyes was placed on the 15-day DL with a mild rotator cuff strain. Lefty Jon Switzer was recalled from Durham to fill the roster spot. Yes, the Rays now have two lefties in the bullpen after starting the season without any.
• Since BJ Upton, began his rehab assignment, he has been doing his best Rocco Baldelli impersonation. In the span of less than a week, he has been fatigued, experienced tightness in his injured quad and ran a fever. As a result he has only played in 2.5 out of 6 games and is now not expected back with the Rays until after the All-Star break.
• Tim Corcoran was transferred to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster for Juan Salas who was reinstated following his 50-game suspension. Salas was optioned to Durham.
• Martin Fennelly may have summed up the first half in one sentence although the numbers above indicate otherwise.

This team has shown an uncanny and unfortunate knack of not doing two things well at the same time. When they hit, they don’t pitch. When they pitch, they don’t hit

Devil Rays 9, Marlins 4. It is all about winning series. Find a way to win 2 of 3 every time out. The win yesterday gave the Rays their second straight series win and both were highly improbable. After losing the opening game of each series with bullpen melt-downs of historic proportions, the Rays bounced back to win the final two games of both match-ups (Did you realize that the Rays are two nuclear melt-downs away from an 8-game winning streak?).

Yesterday it was Andy Sonnanstine to the rescue with his first major league win. Sonny will never be an ace and some nights he will get knocked around pretty good, but he is very capable of performances like Sunday. We just need to wait and see how often we see a performance like Sunday’s. If that turns out to be the rule more than the exception, Sonny will be a legitimate #3 or #4 starter in the Rays rotation for years to come. Still, at this point, just the fact that he is capable of a start like this is an indication that he is a far better option than Jae Seo or Casey Fossum ever were.

Before Sonnanstine was promoted, we heard that it was difficult to compare Sonnanstine to any major leaguers because of the accuracy and the movement of the pitches and the different arm angles. The most common name we head was a poor-man’s Greg Maddux. After his first start, we thought Paul Byrd was a more accurate representation. That is to say that he is a crafty right hander. Rare indeed. But Sonny throws much harder than Byrd, who rarely breaks 85 nowadays. So is there another player we can come up with? Well, we were watching the Marlins broadcast of yesterday’s game and the announcers tossed out a third name which we had not thought of before. Orlando Hernandez…We like it. El Duque is the only other pitcher that we have ever seen that uses as many different arm angles. Also, it seems as if El Duque has never thrown a straight pitch in his life. So, if Hernandez is 58 years old as rumored, is Andy Sonnanstine the second coming? Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez…Andy “The Duke” Sonnastine? Only time will tell, but we must admit The Duke is fun to watch pitch.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Andy Sonnanstine set a Devil Rays team record with 7 straight strike outs on Sunday.
• The Devil Rays had no choice but to shake up the bullpen, if for anything just to send a message to the rest of the team. On Sunday Chad Orvella and Tim Corcoran were optioned back to Durham.
• Buster Olney gives us a Q&A with James Shields. The interview is hidden behind the walls of ESPN’s “Insider”.
• Rocco Baldelli participated in an extended spring training game on Saturday. He is likely to play in four more before the team decides whether to activate Baldelli or send him on a rehab assignment.
• OK, maybe not the best reliever, but is Josh Wilson the second best?
• Maybe not, but we do like THIS SUGGESTION of making the rest of the staff watch the video of Josh Wilson’s performance. Maybe Joe Maddon could lock them in a room with the one inning on loop.
• Al Reyes and James Shields have much better chances to make the All-Star roster as pitchers than BJ Upton or Carl Crawford do as position players.
• Josh Vitters is NOT as good as Alex Rodriguez was in high school. So to compare the choice of David Price over Vitters as the same decision the Mariners made when they picked A-Rod over Darren Dreifort is ridiculous.
• According to Scott Kendrick the Devil Rays made a mistake by drafting the college pitcher over the high school hitter. He notes that the best #1 overall picks have been high school position players, pointing out the lack of a success among pitchers selected at the top of the draft. So, according to Kendrick, college pitchers should NEVER be drafted or David Price had a better chance of a solid major league career if he was drafted #2 or even in the 36th round. Neither makes sense. Mr. Kendrick…what we have here is what smart people call a “very small sample size”. Some pitchers succeed. A lot don’t. Whether or not a pitcher is going to be great has nothing to do with where he is drafted. It depends on the player and the team that drafts him. Maybe the position player is “safer” but hitters don’t win championships. Pitchers do.
• Based on the Rays drafting history only 2 or 3 of the 50 players selected will ever appear in a major league game.
  
• The Washington Nationals are reportedly pursuing Elijah Dukes.
• MLB Trade Rumors indicates that the Twins may be interested in acquiring Ty Wigginton. With the emergence of both BJ Upton, and Carlos Pena, this move makes sense.
• Off day today with an intriguing match-up tomorrow as the Padres come to town and will send out Greg Maddux against Scott Kazmir.

Although no official announcement has been made by the Rays, Tim Corcoran and Chad Orvella were unavailable for last night’s game for the Durham Bulls as they have been promoted to the Rays to replace the demoted Ruddy Lugo and the suspended Juan Salas, as reported by the Durham Herald-Sun. The move is not a surprise as both pitchers have experience at the Major League level. Orvella had a 2.76 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. After a slow start, he had been much stronger and nearly unhittable recently as he has only allowed 1 run and 3 hits in his last 14.1 innings. Corcoran had a 2.51 ERA in 14.1 innings with Durham.

Durham 7, Norfolk 4. With the Bulls short two reliever, JP Howell knew he had to work deep into the game and struck out 8 in 7 innings. He did give up 4 runs in the 6th inning, but did not walk a batter. Elliot Johnson was 2-4 with his 4th home run. Justin Ruggiano was 3-4 with a double.

Montgomery 2, Tennessee 1. Chris Seddon gave up only 1 run on 6 hits and no walks in 8 innings. He struck out 4. Reid Brignac was 1-4 with his 4th stolen base and Evan Longoria was 0-2 with a walk.

Dunedin 7, Vero Beach 3 (gm 1).

Vero Beach 7, Dunedin 4 (gm 2).

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Desmond Jennings of the Columbus Catfish was named the Devil Rays minor league player of the month. In 24 games he hit .320 with 2 home runs and 12 stolen bases, that included a 17-game hitting streak.

Let’s face it, Shawn Camp and Ruddy Lugo are not major league pitchers right now. In spring training Joe Maddon made it clear that there were no more free lunches. No more “scholarships”. This is why we were puzzled when Papa Joe appeared to guarantee Camp and Lugo spots in the bullpen at the beginning of the spring, despite being two members of the worst bullpen in baseball in 2006. Camp said during the spring that he was working on being more consistent. Mission accomplished. He has been consistently bad in 2007. In four appearances, he has recorded only 7 outs, yet he has surrendered 6 hits, a walk, and a hit batter, to go with 4 runs.

Last night Camp relieved Edwin Jackson with 2 outs in the 6th with runners at first and third and the score tied. Two batters later the Rangers were leading 4-2. Papa Joe had seen enough. Now it was Lugo’s turn to stop the bleeding. Four batters and zero outs later, the game was 8-2 and out of reach. Lugo has actually been worse than Camp so far in 2007. He has recorded 6 outs, and he has given up 7 hits and 4 walks which have led to 5 runs. That equates to an era of 22.50 and a 5.500 whip. That’s not an easy thing to do.

So now we will see if Maddon and Andrew Friedman are true to their word. Are Camp and Lugo on “scholarship”? If not, they need to be in Durham. We have no idea what the problem is, but it is clear that neither is capable of getting major league hitters out at this point. If this continues, it will be damaging to this young team. This team started the season with a lot of confidence. To compete with the monsters of the AL East, this team needs confidence and there is no way they can be confident in the bullpen right now. The idea of Camp or Lugo even warming up in the bullpen during a game in which the lead is less 10 gives us the hibidy-jibidies.

We don’t know who should be in their place, but right now a Fungo could get more hitters out. At Durham, Steve Andrade has 7 strike outs in 4.1 innings, but gave up 2 runs in his first appearance. Tim Corcoran and Scott Dohmann both have major league experience and have been solid so far. Chad Orvella has struggled a bit early on, but was strong this spring with the Rays. Hell, we would rather have Seth McCl…ummm, nevermind. We aren’t that desperate yet.

Is it any coincidence that these are the two pitchers that were used during the now famous “Cat in the Hat” reading? Durham parents are checking the transaction page daily. Soon they will have to lock their children in the basement.

The good and, well, just the ugly [St. Pete Times]

• Moral victory last night. The Rays were losing the entire game so the ‘pen did not blow the lead.
• We never gave Brian Stokes much of a chance to win the fifth spot in the rotation and…what? We had Stokes in the rotation’s 5th spot earlier this week? Never happened. Well Papa Joe Maddon made it official yesterday and Stokes is headed to the bullpen. What we didn’t expect was that Stokes is now a candidate to be the team’s closer. There are worse options. *cough, cough* Seth McClung *cough, cough*
• The second round of pink slips were handed out yesterday. No real big surprises on the list except possibly Jason Hammel. We knew Hammel was a long shot for the 5th spot in the rotation, but we thought he would be given more of a chance. In two appearances he allowed one run on four hits in three innings. The roster now stands at 42, with 17 more cuts to come.
• In theory, the fight for the final spot is now down to four, including Edwin Jackson, J. P. Howell, Jae-Kuk Ryu and Tim Corcoran. We still think the team has Corky pegged as a reliever and spot starter, so now we are down to three.
• The Peter Gammons love-fest continues here at RI. Gammons once again he throws some affection towards the Rays in his column “Ten spring questions left to answer“. Question #8 was to wonder aloud how all of the young talented players would eventually fit together. He states that the Rays could be the most fun team to watch of all the second-tier teams in baseball…He refers to the Rays outfield and says that Elijah Dukes may be the most talented of the group. Gammons also hints that the Rays are so impressed by the slimmed-down Joel Guzman that they may be reconsidering Akinori Iwamura’s roll with the team…We understand that Guzman is a good fielder, but so is Muu-Rah, and while Iwamura is struggling at the plate, Guzman is only hitting .150. Muu-Rah will be the opening day third baseman. But at some point, if Guzman can find consistency with the bat, Iwamura may be headed to second base. 2008?
• When we first heard that Joe Maddon was considering Al Reyes for the closer position, we were worried about putting that much pressure on his arm so soon after Tommy John surgery. Then we hear that Maddon is worried about pitching him on back-to-back nights. In that case, closer might be his best option on the Rays. Think about it, how often will the Rays being leading in the ninth on consecutive nights?
• The guys over at armchairgm have their Rays preview up.