Tampa Bay Rays (23 days until pitchers and catchers report)
We have other things to write about later today, so we won't waste an entire post on Marc Topkin's latest piece. Rather we will just bitch about it here. In the piece,"Rays paying it forward", Topkin suggests that the recent contracts signed by Carlos Pena and Scott Kazmir are an indication that the Rays front office is committed to spending money and retaining the team's talent. The contracts therefore are indications of the team's commitment to winning.

By giving more than $24-million over three years to Carlos Pena and going up to nearly $4-million for a one-year, arbitration-avoiding deal with Scott Kazmir, the Rays on Friday put two of their best players under contract for the upcoming season.

And they may have put to rest questions about their commitment to assemble, and retain, a competitive team.

There is only one problem with this thinking. In the two contracts combined, the Tampa Bay Rays gained ONE extra season out of the two stars. The Rays have now "retained" the services of Pena and Kazmir for ONE additional season.

The Rays and Scott Kazmir agreed to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration. And where would Kazmir be playing in 2008 if he had not signed the contract? THE TAMPA BAY FRIGGIN' RAYS. Kazmir is arbitration-eligible. NOT a free agent. Unless the Rays decide to trade Kazmir, he will be playing for the Rays for the next three years. He does not have a choice. And avoiding arbitration probably saved the Rays a little money. Topkin does not seem to comprehend this. The Rays avoided arbitration with Kazmir. They have done nothing yet to retain his services beyond what he is already committed.

In the case of Carlos Pena, the Rays reached an agreement on a three-year contract. That deal does keep Pena in a Rays uniform for the first of what would have been his free agency years. Not three free agency years. Not five. Not seven. Pena is now locked into playing for the Rays for one more season than he would have been otherwise.

This is not a knock on the Tampa Bay Rays. They have shown this off-season that they are willing to spend money and that they will retain their young talent, IF THEY CAN DO SO FOR LESS THAN MARKET-VALUE. That is a commitment to the bottom-line. Not to the talent. Not to the team and not to the fans.

If Topkin wants to make this point, he can tell us about the Pena deal. It is not a huge commitment as it is just for one additional year. However, it is something. Topkin can also tell us about the Troy Percival deal and the Cliff Floyd deal. But please...please...don't use the Kazmir-deal as an example of the team's commitment to retaining talent and their commitment to winning. The deal has ZERO bearing on the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, 2009 or 2010. It does however have a bearing on the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays in that as of now, the chances of Kazmir playing for the Rays beyond 2010 are now a little less.

Here is a suggestion. If and when the Rays reach an agreement with James Shields on a long-term contract, that goes into his free agency years...we want Marc Topkin to erase Kazmir's name everywhere it appears in the article and replace it with the name "Shields". Then he should resubmit the article to his editors, because only then will the article make any sense.

Rays paying it forward [St. Pete Times]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Gerry Hunsicker appeared on XM radio's The Show. Among the topics covered were the recent signing of Carlos Pena to a three year contract and whether 2007 was a surprising performance. "I got to think in Carlos Pena’s case it wasn’t that he never showed the talent because that’s not true, we were the beneficiary’s of Carlos Pena coming to Tampa Bay where there is a little less pressure, the expectations for him might not have been as high and he felt very comfortable. He was given the opportunity to play through the ups and the downs and had a manager that had the confidence in him to put him in the lineup everyday". Hmmm? A manager that had the confidence to put him in the lineup every day? Let's see...He only made the roster out of Spring Training because Greg Norton was injured in the last week before the regular season. The Greg Norton. And Pena did not become the everyday first baseman until the second week of May because Joe Maddon was giving starts at first base to Ty Wigginton and Jorge Cantu. Yes folks. Papa Joe had so much confidence in Pena that he benched him in favor of Jorge freakin' Cantu. [MLB on XM]
• Rays Anatomy offers two points-of-view on what to expect from Carlos Pena in 2008. [Rays Anatomy]
  

Team USA 10, Chinese Taipei 7.
Justin Ruggiano and Evan Longoria helped Team USA clinch the top seed in the quarterfinals by leading the team to a win over Taipei in the final game of group play. Ruggiano went 3-5, hitting 2 home runs and driving in 5. He had an RBI single in the 4th that gave Team USA a 3-1 lead. In the 7th, Ruggiano broke a 6-6 tie with an opposite-field 3-run home run and added one more with a solo shot in the 9th inning. Longoria finished 3-5, with a double an RBI and 2 runs scored. Team USA will face Korea on Friday in the quarterfinals.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Florida Governor Charlie Crist is supporting the Rays plans to build a new ballpark on the current site of Al Lang Field on the St. Pete waterfront. While he supports the idea, he has yet to back the idea of a tax break on the construction of the new stadium, which may be key to getting the deal done. [tampabay.com]

"I think the opportunity to create an ambiance right on the waterfront in St. Petersburg is brilliant, I really do," Crist told reporters in the state Capitol..."It provides jobs, jobs, jobs for a lot of people," said Crist, whose rental condo in downtown St. Petersburg would be blocks from the new park.

• In a move that surprised nobody, the Rays picked up the $2.3 million option on Al Reyes and declined the $1 million option on Greg Norton. Reyes' option was originally for $1 million but was upped once he hit certain incentive marks in 2007. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Sports Grumblings has analyzed the Rays farm system and has listed the top 10 prospects. Not much to argue with as the top tier of talent in the system seems pretty clear cut. We would probably still place Mitch Talbot in the top 10 despite a disappointing 2007 and we are not as sold on Jeremy Hellickson and Chris Mason as much as others are. Hellickson is a small right hander and those rarely succeed in the majors. Mason wins but he is a big right hander that does not throw hard, so there are still questions as to whether or not that will translate to the same level of success above AA. [Sports Grumblings]
  

Team USA 4, South Africa 2.
Evan Longoria went 1-4 with a triple and Justin Ruggiano went 0-4 as Team USA moved to 5-1 and clinched a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. They have one final game in the preliminary round versus Taipei with the quarterfinals set to played on Friday with the opponent yet to be determined. Longoria was the team's DH while Andy LaRoche played third base.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Baseball Musings took a look at the "Probabilistic Model of Range" for centerfielders in 2007 and the Devil Rays centerfielders finished next to last, ahead of only the Brewers. The number must be taken with a grain of salt. When we look at Range Factor, BJ Upton was above the league average of 2.71 with a 2.91. On the other hand, Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young, who had the next two most innings played in center field were both well below the league average with a 2.30, which likely brought the Rays overall Range value down. Rocco Baldelli only played 20 games in center, but came in with a 3.61 range factor. [Baseball Musings]
• Four of the 12 players named to the Topps Double-A All-Star team are Devil Rays farmhands. The list includes Evan Longoria, John Jaso, Chris Mason and Dale Thayer. [The Raw Feed]
  
• More hardware for Carlos Pena. This time it is the fictional 2007 Andre Dawson Award, presented to the best player on a last place team. No word on what exactly the trophy looks like, but we are guessing it is a hawk with bad knees. Pena is the second Devil Ray to win the award. Fred McGriff won the award in 1999. [Home Run Derby]
  
• The Cubs are trying to put together a package to land Carl Crawford. No word on whether or not discussions have already occurred. [Herald-News]
• According to team officials, there are no deals being worked on that involve Carl Crawford. The denial is interesting and possibly unnecessary as we haven't actually heard any rumors involving CC. All we have seen and read is that other teams are targeting CC. But who wouldn't want CC on their team? [Bradenton Herald]
  
• Al Reyes and Greg Norton both filed for free agency. The Rays still have until tomorrow to pick up options on both players. Reyes' option will be picked up. Norton is likely to be granted free agency. [TBO]
• The Rays are one of 10 teams interested in signing Troy Percival. While Marc Lancaster sites Percival's close relationship with Joe Maddon as a reason the Rays may have an edge, it didn't seem to help last year when he ultimately signed with the Cardinals, so we are not sure why it would help this time around, except to add another team to the bidding process and ultimately raise the price. [TBO]
  
• In the end, we were a little high with the target dollar amount, but as we predicted, the Yankees went to four years on their contract offer to Jorge Posada and the catcher decided to not even test the free agent waters. The Yankees re-signed Posada for 4 years and $52.4 million. The Yankees will have to pay the devil on the back end of the deal, but that is the advantage they have. They will be able to swallow that cost when Posada is a 40-year old part-time DH. The Rays are in no financial position to assume such a cost. [TBO]
• Redeveloping Tropicana Field and the land on which it rests is key to the Rays moving to the St. Pete Waterfront in 2012. According to Aaron Sharockman this will not be a problem as land developers are already drooling over the prospect of building a residential and office space development on the 70 acre lot that is close to the interstate. [St. Pete Times]

Transforming the Tropicana site is "the kind of thing you dream about," said Craig Sher, the chief executive of the Sembler Co., which developed BayWalk in St. Petersburg and Centro Ybor in Tampa.

"There's a real potential to build a really neat mixed-use project, residential and office," Sher said. "There's just not a lot of land left in St. Pete. Any time you get a critical mass of land, you can get something spectacular. Hopefully, we'd be on somebody's list of people to call."

• Now that the Devil Rays have changed their name to "Rays", has the team automatically eliminated itself as a potential destination for a small segment of players? Would Ray Durham have ever signed with the Tampa Bay Rays? Not likely. [Home Run Derby]
  

Devil Rays (66-96)
Since when do the Rays need another outfielder with a history of leg problems and since when do the Rays need fewer experienced arms in the bullpen? The Rays claimed Chris Snelling off of waivers from the A's. Jay Witasick was released to make room on the roster. It appears as though Snelling was released because he is the only person in professional baseball with legs worse than Rocco Baldelli. In 8 professional seasons he has been on the DL seven times, including...

• torn ACL (2002)
• knee surgery (2003)
• right knee tendinitus (2003)
• torn meniscus in the left knee (2005)
• surgery (2006)
  
• yet another knee surgery (2007).

Next June, when both Snelling and Rocco are on the DL, maybe they can take a trip to Aruba together and sit in the hot tub and compare scars.

Marc Topkin provides good background on the Rays new Aussie. [ tampabay.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• A friend of mine that is Phillies fan, called me up after he heard the Phillies had named Chuck LaMar their Director of Professional Scouting, and asked me if he should be worried. I started laughing. It is a curious move by the Phillies. For all of LaMar's faults, he did seem to be a competent evaluator of amateur talent. For the most part, he had a strong draft history with the Rays. On the other hand, this was the GM that was considered the worst GM in baseball to work with when it came to making trades, and the Phillies have him in charge of professional scouting, and he will provide input on trades for GM Pat Gillick. Strange move. [MLB]
• Dustin Pedroia was named Top Rookie by the players association and won the same award by the Sporting News as voted on by players and managers. [tampabay.com]
• Greg Norton has been a professional baseball player for 15 years. He wants to prove that he can repeat his 2006 performance when he hit .296 with 17 home runs in only 96 games. In those 15 seasons, he has only played in more than 120 games 5 times. It appears that 2007 was the norm and 2006 was the exception to the rule. [Devil Rays]
  

Devil Rays (66-96)

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Rays 68-94 record was only 2 wins less than their expected final record. [Baseball Musings]
• Jim Hickey. We guess being the coach of one of the worst pitching staffs ever would be reason to drink, but it is not reason to drive and it is not reason to take your frustration out on the batboy. By the looks of the mugshot, Hickey lost the argument. [Lion in Oil]
• Jim Hickey's arrest comes only days before the team is to decide whether he and the rest of the coaching staff will be retained in 2008. Hitting coach Steve Henderson is the most likely coach to come back. Before Sunday, we would have assumed that Hickey was a lock to be given at least one more season to work with the staff. However, after his DUI, the Rays may turn to their pitching coach-in-waiting, Xavier Hernandez, who is highly regarded for the work he has done the last two seasons at Montgomery and Durham and with whom many of the Rays younger pitchers are already familiar and comfortable with. [tampabay.com]
  
• Its difficult to make an assessment of Akinori Iwamura's ability to play second base, based on one game and especially one play, but when the opportunity arrived to turn his first double play from the middle infield, Mu-Rah was flawless. [TBO]
• Scott Kazmir finished as the Major League leader in strikeouts. Of course that goes a long ways to explaining whe he led the majors with 6,432,867 pitches thrown. [Bradenton Herald]
  
• Carlos Pena was named the AL Player of the Week for the final week. [tampabay.com]
  
• Carlos Pena finished with 46 home runs in less than 500 at bats, which makes him the most underrated first baseman in baseball. "If Pena was a Red Sox or Yankee's player he would finish second in MVP voting. Instead he was underrated." Actually, if Pena was playing for almost any other team, he probably finishes second in the MVP voting. That is the mark of being underrated. [I'm smarter than you]
• ArmchairGM makes a case for considering Carlos Pena for MVP. [ArmchairGM]
  
• Carlos Pena is a finalist for the "Pepsi Clutch" award that goes to the clutchiest player. We agree that he is a worthy nominee, but we disagree with the notion that "few people knew of Pena before the year". Anybody that follows baseball even remotely, knew of Pena as one of the top prospects in baseball a few years ago. [MLB]
• We have a feeling that Delmon Young will finish second in the Rookie of the Year balloting, but it will not be because of his outburst following Saturday's game in which Joe Maddon pulled Young from the game for not running out a ground ball. Ballots for the award were due on either Sunday or Monday, which means most writers are likely to have already made their selections prior to Saturday. [Yahoo! Sports]
  
• It was a disastrous season for Korean baseball players. Of course, Jae Seo, Jae Kuk Ryu and Hee Seop Choi were all member of the Devil Rays at one point, so it is kind of like the Chicken and the Egg argument. [Korean Times]
• Greg Norton will have surgery on his elbow. A case can be made that Norton should share team MVP honors with Carlos Pena. If Norton had not gotten hurt the final week of Spring Training and was hitting well to start the season, it might have taken the team a while to call up Pena. [Devil Rays]
• Some of the players believe that the team is very close to competing. [tampabay.com]

"We don't need much," All-Star Carl Crawford said. "Maybe another starter and probably a little more bullpen help. Just three players and we're right there. We're right at the tip."

• Marc Lancaster takes a look back at the 2007 season and hands out a bunch of awards, we like to call the Marckie Marcs. Our favorite category is "Veteran of the Year" for a team that has exactly 3 players over the age of 12. And then there is the "Most Frustrating Season". He should just rename that one the "The Rocco". He also looks ahead to what we can expect for 2008. [TBO]
• Marc Lancaster can't wait for next year. We would take it a step further. We would like to replay this season with the group the Rays ended with. Playoff contender? probably not, but definitely not the worst team in the league and maybe a run at .500 would be in order. [TBO]
  
• Bill Chastain takes a look back at the 2007 season and calls the second half lineup "one of the best lineups in team history". He also takes a look forward to 2008. [Devil Rays]
• Hey! It's the off-season. It is time to start reading a million and one articles about how [Insert Team Name] should acquire Carl Crawford and that the Rays would probably give him up for 20 rusty nickels. The Akron Beacon Journal wasted no time. [Ohio.com]
  

Marlins 8, Devil Rays 4.
In baseball, momentum is only as good as tomorrow's starting pitcher. The adage was never more evident than last night. The Rays came into the Marlins series riding high on a 4-game winning streak, their longest of the season and by the end of the third inning, Edwin Jackson had already exited stage-left after allowing 7 runs. The Rays have had their share of heart-breaking head-shaking losses. This was not one of them. In fact this one wasn't painful at all. Rather by the middle of the third inning, it was actually laughable at how bad Jackson was. 7 hits and 3 walks. 62 pitches, only 34 strikes. An 0-6 record and a 7.78 ERA.

We are not basing this on anything but a gut feeling, but it would not surprise us if Jackson is removed from the rotation and relegated to the bullpen. Tim Corcoran would then be sent back to Durham with one of the Durham starters called up to take Jackson's place. The next obvious question is "which one?" We understand there is a groundswell of support to promote Andy Sonnanstine, but that is not likely to happen, despite his 2.05 ERA and 57 to 9 strikeout to walk ratio. Keep in mind that Sonnanstine is not on the 40-man roster. While there are candidates to be removed from the 40-man to make room (cough, cough Gary Glover, cough cough), the team won't until they have to, and there are other options at Durham that are already on the 40-man.

The most likely candidate is Jeff Niemann. Before last night, Niemann was pitching on the same pitching schedule as Jackson. However, Niemann's start last night was rained out and his start was pushed back to tonight. Still, with an off-day on Monday, the Rays could still have Niemann slotted into Jackson's spot and be on full rest for the series finale against the Mariners on Thursday.

Actually, the more we think about it, the more this makes sense. his first start would be at home against a team with a mediocre offense. It is a mid-week afternoon game that would normally have an anemic attendance figure and the debut of Niemann would give ticket sales a boost. Niemann would also not be forced to pitch in Chicago against the White Sox as his next start would come at home against the Tigers.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Hardball Times points out that the Rays infield defense has been horrible and not just because BJ Upton thinks Manute Bol is playing first base.
  

if there is one thing young pitchers need for their confidence, it's good fielding behind them. And the Devil Rays' infield defense is horrid. Compared to the average team, their infield has allowed 29 groundballs to go through for base hits, a staggering amount. If they had an average infield, they'd probably have two more wins on the ledger, and they'd be giving their pitchers a much-needed confidence boost.

• These stats always make us chuckle. On Thursday, Delmon Young became only the third player in major league history to hit 2 home runs in 1 game including a walk-off home run before his 22nd birthday. On a side not, he is the first player in majoe league history to do it in the month of May while wearing a green jersey while the moon was lined up with Aries.
• In Thursday's victory, Scott Kazmir felt his fastball and slider were finally coming around. Unfortunately, and stop us if you have herd this before, He had to be removed from the game after 4 innings because he had already thrown...Thought you might have.
• Greg Norton had two walks and a single in his first action of the season.
  

Devil Rays 8, Rangers 6.
Forgve us for getting all "scouty" on you, but we just want to take a moment to point out how smart a hitter Delmon Young is becoming. Here is the pitch sequence before his walk-off home run in the 10th inning.

1. Fastball up and in...Ball 1
2. Fastball up and in...Swing and miss
3. Slider low and away....foul tip (count: 1-2)
4. Hanging slider...fouled back (count: 1-2)
5. Fastball up...Ball 2 (count: 2-2)

We have a situation here where a young pitcher is pitching to Delmon by the book. Delmon doesn't walk and loves to swing the bat. He is a first-ball fastball hitter in the classic sense. The young pitcher also knows that Delmon could end the game with one swing and already has one home run on the night. So, all Eyre is throwing Delmon are fastballs up and out of the strike zone and "safe" sliders low-and-away. He gets Delmon to chase one of the fastballs. After the 4th pitch, Delmon is locked in. He now knows that he won't get a fastball in the strikezone so he adjusts his swing. He knows that the pitcher is either going to try to get him to chase a fastball out of the strike zone or he is going to try and paint the outside corner, where the worst scenario is a single to right and best case scenario is a swing-and-miss or a ground ball to the left side of the infield for a double-play (a batter that tries to pull an outside pitch will hit a weak groundball to the left 90% of the time). Delmon is not going to chase another fastball up. So now he is locked in on the slider away. Sure enough, he gets another slider away on pitch 6. It wasn't a great slider, but it wasn't a "hanger" either. Delmon went with the pitch and he is strong enough to get it over the fence down the right field line.

The Rays are now 18-22 and only 2 games behind The Charlie Hough Line. They have reached this point with very little contribution from Rocco Baldelli and Delmon Young, two players that were being counted on to carry this team at the beginning of the season. Rocco is on the DL now, but Young is 6-12 in the past three games. If Delmon can start cookin', this team will start scoring in bunches.

Speaking of being on fire. Brendan Harris is now hitting 17-41 (.415) over the past 10 games and was 9-14 in the Rangers series. He has his average up to .358 with a .402 OBP. This is a guy that many thought wouldn't even make the team out of spring training. When the Rays decided to keep Harris and send Jorge Cantu to Durham many thought that Rays management were over-thinking the situation. We don't hear anybody complaining now.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Jayson Stark is reporting that the Rays are entertaining the idea of promoting Evan Longoria and Reid Brignac before the trading deadline. This increases the likelihood of a position player being traded during the season.
  
• Rocco Baldelli is back on the DL and Greg Norton has been activated. After an MRI, the injury did not appear to be as severe as first thought. Still, no word on when Rocco may be able to return.
• the Rays current 4-game winning streak was the first of Joe Maddon's career as manager. The Rays won 4-straight once in 2006, but Maddon was not present for two of those games.
  
• We agree. Rocco's home address should 123 Disabled List.
  
• The third game for the series in Orlando drew the biggest crowd at 9,635 and the set averaged 8,806. Pretty safe to say the Rays will be back in 2008.
  
• Tonight is "Legends of Wrestling" night at the Trop. At first we hung our head in shame, but then we saw THIS picture. Ohhh Raymond.
• Let's start the Mock Drafting!
  

Devil Rays 11, Rangers 8.
Last night's win marked the first time since August 23 of last season that the Rays have won 3 straight. That 3 game streak also came at the hands of Rangers at the Trop when Tampa Bay won the the first 3 of a 4-game set. It was also a season-high in runs scored and only the second time this year the Rays have hit double-digits on the scoreboard. The bright news was that only 1 run came via the home run, when Elijah Dukes connected on the first pitch of the first inning. The Rays are second in the AL in home runs (45) but only rank 9th in batting average (.257) and 10th in OBP (.322). As a result they have fallen to 8th in runs scored (176). Home runs will only carry an offense so far especially when most of those home runs are of the solo variety. The offense has been good, but they need to be more consistent at getting on base and getting timely basehits. Last night they were able to that.

Tonight Scott Kazmir goes to the mound and will try to give the Rays a 4-game winning streak for the first time since May 21 of last season when the Rays completed a 3-game sweep of the Marlins after taking the final game versus the White Sox. Manager Joe Maddon missed two of those while attending his girlfriend's graduation. He has never been apart of a 4-game winning streak as manager of the Rays.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• USA Today takes a look at the Rays three young studs, BJ Upton, Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young. This time it is actually a positive look.

Meanwhile, another story is brewing in Tampa Bay, where the perennially future-looking Devil Rays are still looking ahead, but also making strides in the present, thanks in large part to a talented trio.

• Sammy Sosa hit his 597th home run and extended his own record of number of different ballparks in which he has homered, with the Wide World of Sports stadium becoming #45.
• Rocco Baldelli is headed back to the DL. This will likely give Jorge Cantu two more weeks to show that he is indeed a major league hitter...delaying the inevitable.
• Carlos Pena is 14-28 in the past 9 games. Think he hears Greg Norton's footsteps?
• Greg Norton will workout at the Naimoli Complex rather than continue with his rehab assignment. Akinori Iwamura is projected to play in an extended spring training game next Tuesday or Wednesday.
  

Yesterday our performance was about as effective as Seth McClung in pretty much any role above AAA. We speculated that the Rays would have to soon decide between keeping Carlos Pena or Greg Norton on the major league roster. We did not consider that Greg Norton cannot be sent down to Durham without clearing waivers. We also completely forgot about Jonny Gomes (considering the amount of playing time he receives, can you blame us?). Now it seems fairly obvious that when Iwamura returns, Gomes will be the one headed to Durham. We don't call this "The Hangover" for no reason.

This does not mean that Norton is completely off the hook in this situation. So far during Norton's rehab assignment at AA Montgomery, the Biscuits have played 10 games. During that period Norton has missed 3 games and was the DH in 5 others. He has only been able to play first base 2 times as he is still experiencing soreness in his knee. Despite being eligible to come off the DL, it will be at least a few more days until he rejoins the team. Of course, with the emergence of Pena, there is no need to rush Norton and if his knee is not 100%, it would not surprise us if Norton is placed back remains on the DL for two more weeks, and has his rehab assignment cut short.

Tonight the Devil Rays open a series against the Rangers in Orlando at the Disney World complex. We are not really sure what to think about it. We understand the reasoning behind it, as the organization hopes to expose the Rays to new fans in central Florida. A Rays home game outside will be a nice change but we are sorry if the idea does not excite us. We have been to a few spring training games in Orlando and it is a nice park, but we have a feeling that tonight's game is going to look and feel like a spring training game.

Now there is talk about making this an annual event. However, the players and coaches would prefer that it not happen at all.

It's a couple more nights in a hotel for most of the team, with the exception of area residents like first baseman Carlos Pena and pitching coach Jim Hickey; and getting used to a new infield, outfield and pitcher's mound. It's a remarkable amount of work for the support staff, from Chris Westmoreland and his clubhouse crew attempting to create a major-league environment in a spring training stadium to head trainer Ron Porterfield arranging for all the various medical services to be in place, including having ambulances on hand and a hospital designated just in case anyone needs to be rushed to emergency surgery.

Given a choice, just about everyone involved on the logistical side probably would rather play at Tropicana Field...

But hey...Goofy couldn't be any worse than half of the team's bullpen.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Despite his recent struggles, Rocco Baldelli will continue to lead off for the Rays.
• The use of Disney's Wide World of Sports baseball field (capacity 9,500) will be the smallest ballpark to host a regular season game since the A's were forced to start the 1996 season with six games in Las Vegas (capacity 9,000) due to renovations at their home park.
  

Durham 3, Norfolk 2. All AndySonnanstine does is win. Sonnanstine worked into the 8th inning and gave up only 2 runs on 5 hits and no walks. He struck out 5. In the first 7 innings, he gave up only 3 hits including a solo home run. Shawn Riggans was 2-4 with a 2-run home run.

Tennessee 9, Montgomery 0. Chris Mason had his second straight bad start after a strong beginning to the season. He gave up 7 runs (5 earned) in 4.1 innings.

Clearwater 3, Vero Beach 1. Wade Davis gave up 1 run in 5.2 innings but struggled with his control as he walked 4 and gave up 4 hits.

Columbus 4, Augusta 0. Ryan Royster continues to tear up the SALy with his 5th home run to go along with his .352 batting average. Woods Fines pitched 6 scoreless innings.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• Greg Norton was back in the lineup after missing two of the previous three games with a sore knee.
  

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.
  

A's 5, Devil Rays 2.
On April 22, the Rays took a 4-2 lead into the 9th inning against the Indians. On that night, Joe Maddon was forced to use Brian Stokes in the 9th inning, with Al Reyes unavailable after having worked the previous two nights. Stokes gave up 3 runs including a 3-run home run to Ryan Garko and the Rays lost the game 6-4. Fast forward 2 weeks and Maddon was once again without Reyes. With the score tied 2-2 in the 9th, Maddon once again turned to Stokes. Stokes once again gave up a 3-run home run. We guess that winning three straight games was just too much to ask for and let's face it, it has been a while since the bullpen imploded at a very inopportune time. Most of the Rays losses recently have been of the 9-1 variety, but last night reminded us just how shallow the Rays bullpen is.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• BJ Upton has been moved into the #5 spot in the lineup.
  
• Greg Norton began his 2-week rehab stint at Montgomery last night. He was the Biscuits DH and went 1-3 with a double and 2 RBI.
• Joe Maddon is treating this entire season as extended spring training.
  

Three hours before Friday's game, all 25 Devil Rays and the entire coaching staff were on the Tropicana Field turf for an extensive session of fundamental work. It sounds basic enough, but it's a sight rarely seen once calendars turn past March. Pickoffs and pitchers' fielding practice, cutoffs and relays - they're drills usually confined to the monotonous days before games begin.

• The Rays bullpen is bad. Just plain bad.
  

Devil Rays 4, Twins 3.
Delmon Young likes to throw things very hard and very far and very accurately. We call it Gettin' A Delmon...Jason Kubel Got A Delmon...In the 4th inning, Kubel rambled a little too far towards second base on a line drive to Delmon Young in right center. Despite catching the ball while moving away from first base, Young turned and fired a pea to Carlos Pena at first to double-up Kubel and get the Rays out of the inning...Justin Morneau Got A Delmon...In the 6th inning, Morneau hit a rocket off the right field wall that would be a double on any other night. But on this night Delmon Young was roaming the FieldTurf II of the Trop. He played the ball off the wall, spun and fired a rocket to Brendan Harris at second base. Both Kubel and Morneau should just be grateful that Young wasn't throwing a bat.

As for the rest of the game, the Rays once again were able to get to Twins closer Joe Nathan, scoring 2 in the 9th to tie the game. In 3 appearances this season against the Rays (3 innings) Nathan has given up 9 hits and 4 runs. In his other 10 appearances (10.1 innings) he has allowed only 10 hits and 1 run. In the bottom of the 10th inning (the Rays first extra inning affair of the year) Ben Zobrist fell rounding third base on Harris' double, but made up for the gaffe beating the throw home on Dioner Navarro's ground ball to short.

The Rays are now in sole possession of third place in the AL East, 5.5 games behind the Red Sox and only 1 game behind the Jays for 2nd place. Even more intriguing is that the Rays are only 4 games back in the wild card. But that is the last time we will mention that number until the Rays reach a more important milestone, .500. In our minds there are three numbers the Rays are chasing. 6.5 games is the Rays "mark" in the AL East. 4 games in the Rays mark in the wild card race, but neither of those numbers mean anything until the Rays reach "The Charlie Hough Line". For his career Hough was 216-216. The knuckleballer was the epitome of a .500 pitcher. The Rays cannot think of any other teams until they first surpass Hough's career winning percentage. So from now on we will only speak in terms of "Games behind Charlie Hough". Right now the Rays are 1.5 games behind Charlie Hough.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Rays base stealing is greatly improved in the last 10 days. After only being successful on 14 of their first 27 attempts, the Rays have stolen 14 of their last 17.
  
• Josh Hamilton was named NL Rookie of the Month for April. During the month, Hamilton, who started the season as a reserve, hit .266 with 6 home runs, 16 RBI and a stolen base.
• Akinori Iwamura finished second in the AL Rookie of the Month voting to fellow Japanese rookie Hideki Okajima of the Red Sox.
• Greg Norton has been getting at bats in extended spring training, and will begin a rehab assignment in Montgomery on Friday, where he will get 27-30 at bats (6-7 games). Norton should be back with the Rays a week from Friday when the Rays begin a series in Toronto.
  
• Now that Benny Boo Boo is on the bench, he has more free time to visit local school children. The upsetting part is that apparently BenZo was accompanied by his wife and mlb.com could not provide us with any pictures. That's ok, we still have Julianne's MySpace page.
  
• FoxSports has their first power ranking of the season and the Rays come in at #22. Might be the highest we have ever seen the Devil Rays ranked in any power rankings. Of course they mention that Jeff Niemann is returning from Tommy John surgery. Must have him mixed up with Wade Townsend.
  

You may have noticed a slight change in format. We run three daily features around these parts. Of course, by daily, we mean if we don't drink too much the night before and are able to get our buts out of bed in a reasonable manner. Well, we are going to mix things up a little. On days that we run "The AL East Roundup" and/or "Down on the Farm", those will be posted before "The Hangover" which we should be able to get up all weekdays and most weekends.

Devil Rays 5, A's 3.
We promise that next time we take off for on a drunken weekend binge, we will leave you with something better to look at on the front page than Mel Allen's mug...One trait of young teams is extreme ups and downs and this is not lost on the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After taking 2 straight from the Yankees in impressive fashion, they followed it up by looking like a AAA team in 2 losses to the Angels. Somehow they bounced back to take 2 of 3 from the A's. Scott Kazmir got off to a shaky start by giving up 2 solo home runs in the first. He settled down and did what he had to do. He kept an ugly loss (on Saturday) from turning into a losing streak, handing the ball to the bullpen in the 8th inning with a lead. Rocco Baldelli, who was a game-time decision as to whether or not he could return to the lineup, made the start and provided a no-doubt home run in 5th inning. BJ Upton was moved up from his normal 9-spot in the lineup, to the 6-hole and made Papa Joe Maddon look like a genius by driving in 3 with his 5th home run of the year. Elijah Dukes hit his first home run since the first 2 games of the season against the Yankees.

• Josh Hancock, who died in a car accident, was a friend of Casey Fossum.
  
• Rocco Baldelli started at DH, but is still not 100%.
  
• Jorge Cantu received his first career start as a first baseman. He went 0-4.
• Yesterday Shawn Camp relieved Scott Kazmir in the 8th inning. He struggled and Brian Stokes had to come in for the final two outs of the frame. With Camp's recent success and a couple of shaky outings by Stokes, Joe Maddon will be day-to-day with Camps and Stokes on who gets the ball in the 7th and who gets it in the 8th.
• Buster Olney lists James Shields as one of his "payers on the rise", citing an already impressive change-up that keeps getting better.
  
• Carlos Pena has been a pleasant surprise for the Rays early in the season. There is no word yet what the Rays will do when Greg Norton is ready to return to the team. Norton is expected to begin a rehab assignment in the next few days. Pena only made the opening day roster after Norton was injured in the last week of spring training. The likely scenario would be one in which the Rays send Cantu back to Durham, keeping Pena and Norton. Then the team would be able to wait until Akinori Iwamura returns before making a decision on Pena.
  
• Joe Maddon is worried about how often the Rays fall behind early in a game. A team can have all the talent in the world, but it does no good if they do not show up to the park mentally prepared to play everyday.
  
• RealGM Baseball is taking a look at all 30 GMs in baseball. In their review of Andrew Friedman, they call the hiring of Joe Maddon, his "signature move". Signing Akinori Iwamura, and not trading BJ Upton must have been a close second and third.
  
• James Shields is the Rays most consistent pitcher right now, but he does have a penchant for giving up home runs.
• Here is a very detailed account of Ty Wigginton delivering his second child in the closet of their home. All we can say is "wow".
  
• A look back at the Devil Rays 1997 expansion draft.
  

• The Rays concluded spring training with an 8-3 win over the Mets at the Trop. It's too bad that the Rays couldn't have played the Mets on a day that Scott Kazmir started. It would have been fun to see all the Mets fans at the Trop crying. The Rays finished the Grapefruit League with a 10-19-2 record...not bad considering they started 1-14.
• With Rocco Baldelli limited to DH duty, Elijah Dukes will get the start in CF on opening day.
• While BJ Upton will be the most-days second baseman, Joe Maddon stated that Upton will still see time in center and right field.
  
• Greg Norton will begin the season on the 15-day DL. Carlos Pena was added to the 40-man roster and will take Norton's spot on the roster. To make room for Pena, Jon Switzer was moved to the 60-day DL.
• Do the Rays have the best outfield in baseball? That may be a bit premature, but the potential is limitless.
  
• Don't forget, tomorrow we will be in heart of the Lion's Den. We will be in New York City and we will bring you the first ever Devil Rays live game blog. Not from the game, but from the comfort of a couch, a computer, a big TV, and a fridge stocked with beer. So whether you are stuck at work or at home, don't forget to stop by as the Devil Rays take their first step towards .500 and the 2010 World Series!
  

We are a few weeks, two intra-squad games and four official games into Spring Training. Now is a good time to take a look at our 2007 25-man roster projections. Over the course of the next month we will update these projections twice a week.

A couple of notes on these projections...

• We understand that a few of the players listed as "secure" are not guaranteed to be the opening day starter at their respective positions. For example, there is an outside shot that Akinori Iwamura could still be the opening day second baseman. Still, at this point there is no indication that a move will happen. The "secure" positions are based on what we believe would happen if Papa Joe Maddon had to name his opening day lineup and roster today.
• Several people have made the argument that our previous prediction of an 11-man pitching staff was unlikely. Their arguments must have been strong because we now tend to agree that Papa Joe is more likely to keep seven arms in the bullpen and only four bats on the bench.
• With those numbers in mind, it now looks as if there are four roster spots up for grabs, with two on the bench and two in the bullpen. We almost listed B. J. Upton as secure, but we still think there is a remote chance that the team will send him back to Durham for more work. Even though Al Reyes is not on the 40-man roster we give him the edge in the final two bullpen slots. As long as he is healthy (and every indication so far is that he is) it is his position to lose. The final bullpen spot is really just a guess at this point.
• We have long thought that the final spot in the rotation would go to J. P. Howell based on his performance towards the end of 2006. However, of the prospective pitchers vying for the final spot, Jae-Kuk Ryu is the only one that has been given a start so far and he pitched a solid two innings.
• Greg Norton has been the DH with the regulars, but we still think when the season starts Papa Joe will go with Jonny Gomes on a regular basis, if not every day.
  

We are a little late today, but sometimes, "The Hangover" feature really is a hangover.

• It took Scott Kazmir 41 pitches to record four outs in the Rays 6-5 victory over the Jays yesterday. Kaz is still young but throwing too many pitches is the only thing that is standing between him and greatness. Ok, that and a consistent offense and a major league bullpen. Until he learns to be more democratic and throw more groundballs, there will be too many starts in which Kid K is removed after five dominating innings and leaving the fate of the game on an overtaxed and ill-equipped bullpen.
• In more promising news, everybody's favorite Mr. Kotter look-alike, Jonny Gomes, homered in his first two at bats. It looks like Papa Joe Maddon entered Spring Training with the thought of having Greg Norton as his regular DH. Mr. Gomes is going to make Maddon think twice about that.
• Buried at the bottom of this article is a comment from Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who was critical of the infield at Progress Energy Ballpark. He suggested that the condition would lead to a lot of bad habits by the Rays young infielders.
  
• Plenty of options available for the bullpen indeed. Notice the name of the article is not "Plenty of good options available for the bullpen."
• Jayson Stark is trying to revive old trade rumors between the Rays and Marlins with Florida apparently focused on B. J. Upton or Elijah Dukes. While the pursuit of Rocco Baldelli was a more prominent headline, this is not the first time that rumors have suggested that the Marlins were interested in Upton or Dukes.
  
• Hey! At least the Rays are thought of more highly than the Royals and the Nationals. USA Today has released their first power rankings of 2007 and the Rays debut at #28.
• Josh Hamilton had two more doubles and is now 6-12 with a home run.
  

• Josh Hamilton is not the only former Rays first round pick that is trying to stick with another major league club this spring. One time opening day starter, Dewon Brazelton is in camp with the Kansas City Royals as a non-roster invitee. Don't the Royals employ scouts? Then again, it couldn't possibly turn out as bad as his stint in San Diego last year...could it?
• Josh Hamilton hit his first home run in a game since 2002. Seriously, 2002. And it was prodigious.
• Papa Joe Maddon wishes that nobody had to compete for a job in Spring Training. Can't we all just get along?
• Greg Norton will DH again today in the first Spring Training game. Maybe our prediction of 300 ABs for Jonny Gomes was actually too high.
• The fifth spot in the rotation may come down to who can throw strikes the most consistently.
• Andrew Friedman promises not to rush Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot and Andy Sonnanstine. All three are likely to start at AAA and when they are ready, Friedman promises to find a spot on the Rays for each of them.
  
• Several spots are still up for grabs, but it is going to take more than just gaudy numbers this Spring to win those spots. Papa Joe and Andrew Friedman will also be looking at intangibles. That leads us to believe that they probably already have a sense of what the roster is going to look like and the other players will have to force them to change their minds.
  
• Hey! It's another Delmon Is Soooo Mature story. On top of that, for those of you that are familiar with the website Fire Joe Morgan they would have a field-day with this story. There are about 20 single-sentence paragraphs.
  
• We made an oopsy last week. This will actually be Don Zimmers 59th season in the major leagues (not 58th as we had previously reported) and hence he will be wearing #59 on his uniform this season. A truly impressive feat.
• A pleasant interview with Stuart Sternberg just don't expect him to say anything.