We are still waiting on an official announcement from the Rays that they have signed reliever Joe Nelson. Nelson announced on December 24 that he had agreed to a one-year, $1.3 million contract with the Rays. As per most deals, the contract requires the player to pass a physical and the holidays may be holding up that part of the process.

Rays agree to terms with reliever Joe Nelson [The Heater]

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Ben Zobrist's wife, Julianna Zobrist, has released her new album, "The Tree." Ben and Julianna are also expecting their first child in January [Ed note: you can find pre-pregnancy photos of Julianna HERE] [Iowa City Press-Citizen]
  
• Buster Olney says the Rays and A's are in a bidding war of sorts over the remaining DH/corner outfielders. Olney says both teams are willing to spend money but neither wants to go first, preferring to wait until the other team is out of the market, which in turn could drive the price down on the remaining players. [ESPN]
• We already talked about how defense is the Rays' "Moneyball". Well, Bleeding Blue and Teal is jealous and wants the Mariners to duplicate. [Bleeding Blue and Teal]
• We have been trying to temper people's emotions on Troy Percival, noting that he was effective when healthy in 2008. Now Drays Bay backs that up with more numbers...Of course, staying healthy is something else indeed. [Drays Bay]
• One team that was said to be interested in signing Rocco Baldelli, the Reds, have signed Willy Taveras to play center field. However, they are supposedly still looking into the medical condition of Baldelli. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  
• The Rays were included as part of the New York Times' "2008 Year in Review." [New York Times]
• Joe Maddon was voted the top story of 2008 by his hometown paper. [Hazleton Standard-Speaker]
  
• Bud Selig points to the 2008 success of the Rays as the culmination of 9 years of efforts to bring competitive balance to baseball. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Joe Smith reports on how much the Rays' overseas scouting has grown, with over 70 international free agents signed in the last three years. [St. Pete Times]
• The Rays Party of America has updated their 25-man roster projection...With Gabe Gross and Matt Joyce offering a similar skillset, we don't see them both on the roster. [The Rays Party of America]