Archive for the 'Winston Abreu' Category

Dec 22

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Garza Deal That Won’t Die

Hak-Ju Lee, Matt Garza, Shawn Riggans, Winston Abreu Cork Gaines 6 Comments »

Bruce Levine ESPN Chicago held a chat yesterday in which he said “[Matt] Garza is the guy [the Cubs] are after.” He later added that the Cubs are also interested in Fausto Carmona from the Indians, but that Garza is the more pitcher to be acquired in a trade.

What is interesting here is that the Cubs still think they have a shot at Garza. So while the Rays insist they don’t like the offers that are out there, the Cubs must feel they are at least close enough to keep the talks alive.

Levine insists the deal is not dead and that the Cubs have Garza at the top of their wishlist. He goes on to say that the Cubs “are going to be in it all the way.”

The biggest problem with this matchup is that most believe the Cubs don’t have the prospects to get the deal done. Levine says the Rays will insist on Hak-Ju Lee in the deal. Lee is a 19-year old shortstop that hit .282 with a .354 OBP at single-A this past season.

The Cubs may have to work out a second deal with a third team in order to add a prospect or two to the deal. If that happens, Garza could be gone sooner rather than later.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

Nov 11

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Minor League Free Agents, Crawford’s LA Fantasy And Zim Chiming In

Brian Shouse, Carl Crawford, Carlos Hernandez, Carlos Pena, Dale Thayer, Joe Dillon, Winston Abreu Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

Baseball America has the complete list of Rays minor league free agents. The list includes Winston Abreu (right), Dale Thayer, Carlos Hernandez, Brian Shouse and Joe Dillon.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Buster Olney lists the Angels, Red Sox and Tigers as the three teams that need Carl Crawford the most. The Rays don’t even make the full list of 8 teams. [ESPN]
  • John Romano writes that it would make sense for the Rays to re-sign Carlos Pena…We’ve been saying this for a while, but we wonder if another team will be willing to give Pena more than one guaranteed year. [St. Pete Times]
  • Don Zimmer on possibility of Rays Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 15

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Pena’s Contact, Blalock’s Debut And The Battle For The 5th Spot

BJ Upton, Carlos Pena, James Shields, Kelly Shoppach, Stuart Sternberg, Wade Davis, Winston Abreu Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

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: Jeff Niemann. The Giraffe allowed just 1 run in 3.2 innings. The big numbers were 6 strikeouts and 0 walks…Sean Rodriguez. Making the start in RF, Rodzilla hit his 4th home run and is now 10-25 in the spring…Reid Brignac. He was 0-2 at the plate, but made some strong defensive plays at SS…Justin Ruggiano. He is not getting a lot of playing time in the early innings, but he did hit his 3rd home run of the spring and went 2-4 getting the start in LF.

THE BAD: The Bullpen. Mike Ekstrom and Joe Bateman combined to give up 7 runs (5 earned) in 3 innings…Carlos Pena. Another 0-3 and he is now 0-18 with just 2 walks. But maybe more telling is that Pena has only struck 4 times in that 0-18. When Pena struggles, he strikes out. A Lot. Last year, he struck out once every 3.5 plate appearances. This spring it is once every 5.

THE TELLING: Sean Rodriguez got the start in RF on Sunday…BJ Upton hit 2 home runs on Saturday (both to the opposite field). The last time Upton hit 2 HR in a regular season game was July, 2007 in Yankee Stadium…Matt Garza worked 5 innings on Saturday…Hank Blalock DH’d on Saturday (Pat Burrell was in RF, lord help us all) and went 0-3 with a walk…Dioner Navarro will play tomorrow…Matt Joyce might still be a week away.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • RJ Swindle, Jason Cromer and Craig Albernaz are the latest cuts as they were reassigned to minor league camp.
  • Stuart Sternberg wants balanced scheduling and more playoff teams. He also suggested that the line between “the haves and the have-notes” could become “problematic” in the next 10 years. [Rays Report]
  • Joe Maddon says the competition for the 5th spot in the rotation is “still wide open”…In other words, they don’t want Wade Davis to take his job for granted. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Winston Abreu had off-season surgery to remove an aneurysm from his arm. He is scheduled to make his debut March 22, the same as JP Howell. [St. Pete Times]
  • BJ Upton says he is trying to get back to hitting balls to the opposite field, something he says got him to the big leagues. [Tampa Tribune]
  • James Shields will be the opening day starter. [The Heater]
  • Steve Slowinski takes a look at the spray charts of Reid Brignac, Matt Joyce and Sean Rodriguez. [DRays Bay]
  • Roger Mooney writes about the Rays need to groom prospects to stay competitive. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Beyond the Boxscore ranks the farm systems based on representation in prospect rankings, with the Rays coming out on top. [Beyond the Boxscore]
  • Bill Chastain spoke with Carl Crawford about his incredible work ethic. [MLB]
  • RJ Harrison, the Rays director of scouting is ranked third in baseball by Andy Seiler (h/t Rays Prospects). [Andy Seiler's MLB Blog]
  • We may have already linked to this, but if not…Maury Brown writes that Revenue Sharing is working in MLB. [Baseball America]
  • Marc Topkin spoke with Kelly Shoppach about his game-calling skills. [St. Pete Times]
Jan 04

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Navi, Joyce And McGee

Carlos Pena, David Price, Dioner Navarro, Fred McGriff, Jake McGee, Matt Joyce, Winston Abreu Cork Gaines No Comments »

hangoverThings have been very quiet on the rumor-front for the Rays. The two biggest questions remaining are Pat Burrell and Dioner Navarro. Can the Rays find a taker for Burrell’s hefty contract and are the Rays willing to start the season with Navi and Kelly Shoppach as the two catchers?

Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas mentions Navarro as a potential answer for the Rangers catching situation.

The Rangers have shown interest in Tampa Bay catcher Dioner Navarro, who agreed to a $2.1 million for next year with the Rays. Maybe there’s a trade that could be worked up to bring him to Arlington.

Several bloggers saw this report and thought it indicated that the Rangers are still interested in Navi. They may indeed still be interested, but there is nothing in Durrett’s report that suggests this is the case. Rather it seems as though he is just commenting on the same reports we all heard during the Winter Meetings.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Joe Smith writes about Matt Joyce and the improvements he showed in 2009 and his thoughts on competing for a job with the Rays this spring. [St. Pete Times]
  • Here is an important quote from Jake McGee that you don’t often hear from young pitchers. On moving to the bullpen and being a closer: “I’d like that role a lot,” McGee said. “I’d be able to better focus and put all my energy into one batter or one inning, and not have to pace myself.”
  • David Price was named Middle Tennessee’s prep male athlete of the decade. [The Tennessean]
  • And Carlos Pena was named one of the 9 Greatest Athletes of the ’00s by a source that is indeed biased. [NESW]
  • Making a case for Fred McGriff in the Hall of Fame. [7th Inning Stache]
  • Winston Abreu was named the best triple-A relief pitcher of 2009. [MLB]
  • And Durham was named the triple-A team of the year. [MLB]
  • If you are into decade lists, Roger Mooney has the Rays top 10 moments of the decade. [Tampa Tribune]
  • And Roger Mooney has the Rays all-decade team, which some would call the “2008 Tampa Bay Rays.” [Tampa Tribune]
  • Congrats to the St. Pete Times, who was named as having one of the top 10 best sports web sites by the AP.  [St. Pete Times]
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/01/010201/top-10-rays-moments-decade/sports-rays/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tbo%2Frays+%28TBO+%3E+Devil+Rays%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Dec 12

Rays Non-Tender Gross, Re-Sign Choate, Cormier, Abreu And Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez, Dioner Navarro, Gabe Gross, Lance Cormier, Randy Choate, Shawn Riggans, Winston Abreu Cork Gaines 7 Comments »

[Update 10:55pm] The Rays not only did not non-tender Dioner Navarro, they reached an agreement with Navi on a 1-year, $2.1 million contract. They also non-tendered Shawn Riggans making him a free agent. Signing Navarro is a bit of a surprise, but this could just be buying the Rays time to trade him.

[10:30 pm] Marc Topkin is reporting that the Rays have non-tendered Gabe Gross, making him a free agent. No decision has been announced on Dioner Navarro.

Also, the Rays avoided arbitration with Randy Choate and Lance Cormier. Choate will make $700K  this season while Cormier will make $1.2 million.

These moves leave the Rays with six arbitration-eligible players including BJ Upton, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, Kelly Shoppach, Grant Balfour and JP Howell.

In addition, the Rays re-signed Winston Abreu and Carlos Hernandez to minor league deals. Abreu made three appearances with the Rays last season. He struck out 77 in 51 innings with a 1.94 ERA at triple-A Durham. Hernandez went 7-6 with a 3.29 ERA in 21 starts for Durham.

And in the ex-Rays department, Jonny Gomes has been non-tendered by the Reds and is now a free agent.

Nov 20

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The 40-Man Roster, Naimoli’s Bitterness And The End Of The Carlos Hernandez Era

Aneury Rodriguez, Calvin Medlock, Carlos Hernandez, Jon Weber, Milton Bradley, Uncategorized, Vince Naimoli, Winston Abreu Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

hangoverIf you missed it yesterday, the Rays added Desmond Jennings, Jeremy Hellickson and Alex Torres to the 40-man roster. The move left the team with exactly 40 players on the 40-man roster.

The biggest surprise was the absence of Aneury Rodriguez, the pitcher the Rays received from the Rockies for Jason Hammel. While Torres is more valuable than Rodriguez, we are surprised that the Rays are willing to risk losing Rodriguez in the Rule 5 Draft, when they have a seemingly expendable player on the 40-man roster like Elliot Johnson.

Rodriguez struggled in the first-half of the season and finished with a 4.50 ERA (4.69 FIP) in 142 innings with 111 strikeouts and 59 walks at double-A Montgomery. But he was much stronger in the second-half as he seemed to find a rhythm, regularly pitching into the 7th inning and allowing 2 runs or fewer.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Marc Topkin has read the new book by Vince Naimoli we discussed a few months ago, and breaks down a few of the more controversial sections. As we write this we can’t recall the name of the book, but we are pretty sure it should be titled, “I am bitter as hell and about 10 people will know it!” [St. Pete Times]
  • We dropped this on Twitter a couple of days ago, but in case you are one of the silly people not following us on Twitter, a few more big names from the Rays minor league system have been granted free agency, including Winston Abreu, Calvin Medlock (came over in the Jorge Cantu trade), Carlos Hernandez, Jon Weber and Jason Perry.
  • The City of St. Pete has responded to ABC’s recommendation for a new baseball stadium for the Rays. Lines are starting to be drawn in the sand, and as we have said previously, this is going to get ugly before it gets better. [St. Pete Times]
  • Bob Nightengale of USA Today said yesterday that the Rays have become the “clear-cut favorite” to land Milton Bradley. It is unclear if he is basing that on inside information or if he is just speculating based on the news reports that are already out there. [Twitter]
  • The Rays Party takes a look at Grant Balfour’s fastball. [The Rays Party]
Nov 16

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Longo’s Fake 2K10 Cover, Minor Leaguers Granted Free Agency And Beating Troy Percival

BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, Troy Percival, Winston Abreu Cork Gaines 4 Comments »

hangoverOne website is reporting that Evan Longoria may be on the cover of “MLB2K10.” Supposedly, the images at right were included in a survey asking people which cover they preferred. (thanks Joel).

There is one small problem. The top image is stolen from Dirtbag’s ESPN the Magazine cover which you can see here.

Now maybe Longoria will be on the cover, but we doubt these are the images that will be used.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • A couple of bigger names from the minor league system have been granted free agency including Winston Abreu. [Rays Prospects]
  • John Romano addresses the idea of trading Pat Burrell for Milton Bradley with one of those moving picture things. [The Point After]
  • The Rays Party looks at BJ Upton’s struggles against lefties. [The Rays Party]
  • NY Baseball Digest responded to our post from Saturday in which we  questioned the accuracy of one of their reports. The response was both laughable and sad (the best part is about how the readers didn’t “properly decimate the information”). Dock of the Rays couldn’t let that slide without a response of their own. [Dock of the Rays]
  • An author recounts the time he beat Troy Percival in racquetball. What the author doesn’t realize is that he could probably beat Percival at baseball also. [The Sports Info Business]
Sep 10

Down On The Farm: Durham And Charlotte Pick Up First Post-Season Wins

Winston Abreu Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

Durham 8, Louisville 4 (Bulls lead 1-0). Jeremy Hellickson struck out 12 in 5.2 innings, but gave up 2 home runs and 3 runs total. He walked 3…Joe Dillon, Matt Joyce and Sean Rodriguez each had an RBI in the 3-run 5th and each had an RBI in the 5-run 6th. Rodriguez stole a base but also committed 3 errors.

Charlotte  7, Ft. Myers 4 (series tied 1-1). Alex Cobb held Ft. Myers to 1 run in 5 innings. He struck out 3 and walked 3…Drew Anderson went 3-5 and Henry Wrigley had 2 hits.

Notes from Down on the Farm…

Aug 07

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Abreu’s Return, Wild Cards And Waechter’s Moment

Ben Zobrist, Rocco Baldelli, Willy Aybar, Winston Abreu Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

BASEBALL/

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • The Rays resigned Winston Abreu and assigned him to Durham. [The Heater]
  • Sometimes we think you should have to show a driver’s license and and I.Q. card to buy alcohol. [Tampa Tribune]
  • John Romano discusses who The Rayshead Army should be rooting for in the Boston-New York series. [The Point After]
  • Joe Maddon is still aiming to win the division, but Tony Fabrizio says the Rays only hope may be the Wild Card. [Tampa Tribune]
  • With regular playing time, Ben Zobrist says he is more confident and more comfortable playing second base. [St. Pete Times]
  • Several of his teammates discuss how Willy Aybar has been able to remain so effective despite limited playing time. [St. Pete Times]
  • Rays are climbing back up the Power Rankings. [Yahoo! Sports]
  • The top 177 Devil Rays ever, #56-53…Apparently Doug Waechter’s “Devil Ray Moment” was on “Baywatch”. [Bugs and Cranks]
  • Rocco Baldelli talks about his return to the Trop. [Tampa Tribune]
Jul 03

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Some RI Love, A Minor Trade And Howell As Hoffman

BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, John Meloan, JP Howell, Winston Abreu, Zorilla Cork Gaines No Comments »

hangover

click above image for boxscore

The image at right comes via National Geographic (thanks Jordi).

For those that missed the Twitter update, Mrs. Prof planned an anniversary trip for us to Big D to catch some Rays. I am not even lyin’. Totally her idea. The schedule here is a bit up in the air. But we will be sure to keep things updated on the Twitter feed.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Some Rays Index Zorilla t-shirt love from Ted Keith at SI.com. Guess that is one way to keep us from jumping on his back for his low ranking of the Rays. [SI.com]
  • There is a new Rays blog. Stop on by and welcome them to the neighborhood. [Dock of the Rays]
  • The Rays traded Winston Abreu to the Indians for minor league reliever John Meloan. Abreu had been designated for assignment last week and had to be traded or released. [The Heater]
  • Marc Lancaster looks at JP Howell and how he is becoming the de facto closer. Joe Maddon likens Howell to Trevor Hoffman. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Joe Smith writes about the Gabe O’ the Day platoon and how it is finally starting to click. [St. Pete Times]
  • Dick Scanlon of the Lakeland Ledger notes that the Rays are winning in a diffent way as compared to last season. [Lakeland Ledger]
  • Chad Orvella has signed with the Royals and been assigned to double-A. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  • Joe Maddon Sucks now says Joe Maddon is managing “like a winner.” Our head just exploded. [Joe Maddon Sucks]
  • BJ Upton and Carl Crawford…the best duo in baseball? [Fox Sports]
  • Joe Smith also looks at the havoc created by having BJ Upton and Carl Crawford at the top of the order. [St. Pete Times]
  • Some wishful headlines for the Rays. [Trop It Like It's Hot]
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