Orioles 8, Devil Rays 3.
The headline at DevilRays.com reads "Seo shaky in loss". Shaky? 6 innings with 9 hits and 3 runs is shaky. Seo was awful. The headline in the Tampa Tribune reads "Seo Takes Step Back". A step back? From what? From his last start, when he only gave up 2 runs in 6 innings? This was not a step back. Last night was the true Jae Seo. The last start was the aberration, not this one. He has now given up at least 5 runs in 5 of his 7 starts. Yesterday Gary Shelton of the St. Pete Times told us we need to be patient. He pointed to Seo's last start as an indication that he is getting things together and that he will be fine. HE'S NOT FINE! AND QUITE FRANKLY WE ARE GETTING SICK OF IT. HE STINKS. Why is he is still in the rotation? For what purpose? Somebody please answer us that. We are begging to know. There must be something that Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman see.

How bad has Jae Seo been? Just so you don't think we are ranting about a couple of starts, let's take a look at his numbers. There are 145 pitchers in baseball that have thrown at least 20 innings this season, let's see where Seo ranks in some very telling statistical categories...

Statistic	Jae Seo	Rank (out of 145)
ERA	8.82	144
Hits	56	T144
H/9	15.17	145
Runs	37	145
K/9inn	4.41	122
HR	7	128
HR/9	1.32	131
WHIP	2.02	140
BAA	.384	145
OBPA	.430	144
SLGA	.596	145
VORP	-13.2	T144

How bad has Jae Seo been? THE WORST PITCHER IN BASEBALL. GET HIM OUT OF HERE. SEND HIM TO THE BULLPEN. SEND HIM TO THE MINORS. SEND HIM TO THE GOD DAMNED ALASKAN PIG FARMERS LEAGUE. We don't care where, but get him out of the rotation. The 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays could be a decent team, but they have zero chance of winning on nights Seo pitches, and we have had it. He is an automatic L.

Are Maddon and Friedman trying to give the guys at AAA more seasoning? JASON HAMMEL ALREADY HAS MAJOR LEAGUE EXPERIENCE. And he is dominating IL hitters. He couldn't be any worse than Seo but at least their is hope and promise in his arm. GET HIM UP HERE. We know, we know. The most popular player on the team is always the backup quarterback. But this is not one start we are talking about. Maddon loves to talk about how well Seo pitched last year despite going 1-8 with the Rays. Maddon points to the lack of run support. LACK OF RUN SUPPORT? What does that matter if a pitcher's ERA is 5.00? We are now two years removed since Seo was a decent pitcher. Believe us, we have no idea how Seo went 8-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 14 starts in 2005. BUT IT WAS 2005!

This is not only hard on the fanbase, but it must be hard on the rest of the team as well. How demoralizing must it be for a young player to know that the team is basically down 5-0 when the game starts. Maddon is trying to preach a team concept to the young players. Watch how quickly that goes out the window when players think there is ZERO CHANCE TO WIN.

Jae Seo....Jae Seo...Jae Seo...Where did that bottle of Jameson go?

[UPDATE: DevilRays.com has changed their title to "Seo struggles against Orioles". That is the second time they have changed a title after we commented on it...hmmmm?]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• It must be hard when you find out one of your favorite players is busted for using steroids. We can only imagine how devastating it would have been if George Bell was caught after his 1987 MVP season. We would probably still be sitting in a corner rocking back and forth and mumbling "Why George? Why?"
• We knew that $28 million figure that the Yankees are paying Roger Clemens sounded familiar.
• We linked yesterday to the New York Times article on the Devil Rays. We read Stuart Sternberg's quotes about the life expectancy of Tropicana Field and were not nearly as floored as many other people appear to be. So much fuss has been made that Sternberg needed to clarify his statements as some felt that he might be hinting at moving the franchise away from the Tampa-St. Pete area. In short, Sternberg said that the team will not be able to remain at the Trop through the conclusion of their current lease and that a new stadium will be needed and state and local funding is a must. However, he indicated that it is not a priority issue.

We'll focus on it more as time goes by...Something of this magnitude, it really isn't anything I've spent a lot of time on. I have thought about it. Nothing can be done overnight. It's in the background. We know it's there. We chat about it - how and what. -- Stuart Sternberg

• Several of the Devil Rays reacted to the news of Juan Salas' suspension. Basically, it is a lot of politically correct answers, but we have to wonder how many of the players are angry and if Salas will be welcome back in the clubhouse.
• Rocco Baldelli is 0 for his last 17.
  
• The pink bats are coming! Somebody queue Paul Lukas.
• Greg Norton missed his second straight rehab game with soreness in his knee.