- Jae Seo came back down to earth a bit allowing 5 runs in the first inning of his final spring tune up. The Rays lost to the Reds 5-4. BJ Upton had 3 hits and 2 stolen bases.
- That the Rays decided to send Seth McClung down to Durham doesn't surprise us (25 base runners in 9.1 innings this spring), but Chad Orvella's demotion has us shaking our heads. One day after the team released Dan Miceli based in large part on his performance, why in the world was Orvella sent down? 13 base runners in 10.1 innings is not bad, but 0.87 ERA is pretty darn good. Granted we were not there to see Orvella pitch everyday but the numbers indicate he did just about everything that was asked of him.
- The seven members of the bullpen are now set, but they better not get too comfortable. In reality, there are about 12 members of the bullpen and JetBlue may want to schedule regular flights between Tampa and Durham.
- Carlos Pena will decide in the next couple of days whether to accept a demotion to the minors or declare himself a free agent.
- An interview with Joe Maddon. Nothing too revealing except Papa Joe states that he loves competing in the AL East and wouldn't want to be in another division.
- HERE is a geographical argument for having the Rays and Nationals switch divisions.
Labels: Bullpen still sucks, Carlos Pena, Chad Orvella, Dan Miceli, Joe Maddon, Realignment, Seth McClung
posted by The Professor at 7:41 AM
2 Comments:
It makes FAR too much sense for the Nats and Rays to switch divisions. Selig would never go for anything so obvious.
And what is it that the Rays hate so much about Orvella? Does he fart on the team bus? Does he refuse to bathe? Did he make a pass at Maddon's wife? Or at Maddon?
Or is it the Rays' well-known distaste for good pitching? That's probably it.
The Rays and Nats will never switch divisions no matter how much sense it makes. Peter Angelos had to be bribed just to allow the Nats inside his protected market. There is now way he allows them in the Orioles division.
The problem is it will ultimately hurt the attendance of both clubs with the casual baseball fan. The teams would basically be playing identical schedules and playing the same teams. Its bad enough that the area is subjected to 9-10 home games with the Blue Jays, but if the Nats were in the division also, they would have 18-19 Blue Jay games.
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