THE GOOD: James Shields showed us that he is a winner last night. He struggled early without his best stuff and with shoddy defense behind him, but fought through it and still managed to give Joe Maddon 7 innings. For all the changes to the bullpen, the biggest reason the relief corps is better this year is because the starters are working deeper. Any bullpen will be better if it only needs to throw 2 innings instead of 3-4...And last night wasn't any different. Shields handed the ball off in the 8th to Dan Wheeler (a role we expect he will keep once Al Reyes comes off DL) and then Troy Percival in the 9th. The two combined for 2 perfect innings...Eric Hinske continues to swing a hot bat, only this time it was against his former team and went to the tune of a double, triple and home run...Dioner Navarro added 3 hits in his return. We still can't get over Navi. Nobody hits more line drives. And nobody hits the ball softer than Navi...Jason Bartlett finally did something productive with the bat, executing a perfect hit-and-run with Dioner Navarro running from second base.

THE BAD: James Shields walking the first two batters of the second inning, followed by the play that led to the Jays first run. On the play the Rays were only charged with 2 errors, but there should have been three plus a couple of mental errors. A ground ball to Eric Hinske's right was bobbled after the runner on first distracted Hinske. Hinske then tried to backhand the ball to Shields covering first and missed him by 10 feet with the ball rolling towards the plate. For some reason, with a runner now on 3rd, Dioner Navarro left home to retrieve the ball. Shields sprints home to cover the plate. Throw from Navi was in time, but Shields dropped it.

THE TELLING: The Rays are now 4-0 all-time in Orlando...The Rays are 2-1 this season during our Live Blog-A-Baloos and 7-10 in all other games. Just Sayin'...The Rays need to sweep the Jays to get out of the cellar of the AL East and reach .500.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• We commented on this last night during the Blog-A-Baloo, but the Rays traded for Gabe Gross from the Brewers, giving up single-A pitcher Josh Butler. Butler was the Rays 2nd round pick in the 2006 draft. Gross is a left-swinging outfielder that can play all three outfield spots...While Justin Ruggiano will likely be the first player to go, this move probably marks the end of the Nathan Haynes-era. Andrew Friedman announced during the game last night that the Rays had been talking to the Brewers about Gross since Spring Training. [Tampa Tribune]
• Outs Per Swing sees the Rays crowded outfield and wonders if the Rays should trade Eric Hinske while the value is at its peak...We say yes. [Outs Per Swing]
  
• Through 19 games the Rays have the best bullpen in baseball. Trever Miller says that the biggest reason is they are not walking anybody. [Bradenton Herald]
  
• New Ray Dan Johnson suffered from an infection in the spring that caused him to lose 30 pounds. He has since gained most of it back. [Bradenton Herald]
• Marc Lancaster notes that Dan Johnson's injury history is quite extensive. [San Francisco Chronicle via Rays Report]
  
• While the Orlando Magic playoff game may have affected attendance, the Rays could not have been happy with the non-sellout or that a large portion of the crowd was not Orlando residents. [Orlando Sentinel]
• Brittany Ghiroli takes a look at the "Green" practices of the Tampa Bay Rays and notes the team will continue to make a commitment to environmental sustainablity after Earth Day. [MLB]
  
• The Serious Tip thinks they have figured out why Andy Sonnanstine has struggled at times this season...He's is jinxed. [The Serious Tip]
  
• A couple of new renderings of the proposed waterfront stadium, with one that apparently gives a reference to how big the new stadium will be compared to existing structures. [The Heater]
• Matt Silverman and Joe Maddon were set to attend the Bruce Springsteen concert in Tampa on Monday but missed it after the show was postponed until Tuesday. [Orlando Sentinel]
  

Durham 3, Charlotte 2 (11 inn.). A one-out single in the bottom of the 11th by Jeremy Owens won the game for the Bulls...JK Ryu started and struck out 6 in 5 innings, allowing 1 run...Dale Thayer had a chance to close out the win in the 9th but a lead off walk and a wild pitch that sent the runner all the way to third was followed by an RBI single two batters later...Reid Brignac was 2-5 with a double and is now hitting .258...Fernando Perez was 0-5 with 3 strikeouts and is now hitting .253...Joel Guzman was 2-4 to raise his average to .217.

Jacksonville 6, Montgomery 4 (11 inn.).Wade Townsend took the loss, allowing both runs in the 11th on a double...Richard de los Santos made the start and worked into the 8th inning allowing 4 runs in 7.1 innings...Eduardo Morlan pitched a scoreless 10th inning, giving up only a single...Erold Andrus was 2-6 with a double and 3 RBI, tying the game in the bottom of the 9th with an RBI single...Chris Nowak added 3 hits including a double, while Rashad Eldridge was 4-4.

Vero Beach 2, Brevard County 1.Wilton Noel got the emergency start after Josh Butler was traded. He gave up only 2 hits in 4 innings. 1 hit was a solo home run to account for the lone run. He struck out 3...Center fielder John Matulia was 1-3 and is hitting .359 after 19 games...Ryan Royster was 0-2 and is at .258..Cesar Suarez stole his 5th base.

Rome 6, Columbus 1. Josh Johnson (the pitcher) got roughed up last night, getting touched for 6 runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings...Shortstop Omar Luna was 2-4 and is now hitting .351.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• Scott Kazmir will make his second rehab start tonight for Vero Beach. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Josh Butler who was traded yesterday for the Brewers' Gabe Gross simply had to walk to the other clubhouse after the trade as Vero Beach was playing the Brewers FSL affiliate from Brvard County. [Biscuits Batter]
  

Tampa Bay Rays (19 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Just links today on Bob Eucker's birthday, the 10th anniversary of "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", Australia Day, and National Peanut Brittle Day. We will celebrate by cooking some peanut brittle with our grandmother, and then hooking up with an overweight girl at an Outback Steakhouse while sitting in the front row.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Matthew Silverman claims the Rays are losing money. This is despite a report in Forbes that claims the opposite. We always take a team's assertion with a very large grain of salt. Just about every owner in every sport claims they are losing money and yet people that are very smart when it comes to money keep buying them. Many times, making money or losing money is often a matter of perspective. For example, teams that own their own stadium, often list "rent" as an expense since the stadium is usually listed as a separate business. So even though the money is just going out of one pocket and into the other, the team still lists the rent as an expense for the team. This doesn't work in the case of the Rays, but we have to wonder if they are considering the $30+ million in revenue sharing that the team received last year. We do not know what the Rays exact take was in revenue sharing for 2007, but the team was given more that $30 million in 2006. With a 2007 opening day payroll of approximately $28 million, it is fair to say the Rays took in more Revenue Sharing then they spent on payroll. We are not accountants, but it seems to us that it would require some pretty fuzzy math to show how the Devil Rays lost money in 2007. [365 Days of Dough, Rays and Me]
  
• We participated with several other Rays' bloggers in a "round table" discussion at Rays Anatomy in which we tackled the question "Who is the one player that is MOST important to the Rays future success?" [Rays Anatomy]
• The Heater got their hands on Baseball America's complete list of the Rays top 30 prospects. We were treated to the Top 10 about two weeks ago, so this list just adds 20 players of which one or two will ever wear a Tampa Bay Rays uniform. [TampaBay.com]
• Kevin Gengler continues his rundown of his own list of the Rays Top 30 prospects. He is up to #18 and #17, Justin Ruggiano and Josh Butler. If you looked up AAAA-player in the dictionary of baseball you will see a picture of Justin Ruggiano holding his hands out saying “but I am above-average at a lot of things”. And that will keep him from selling cars for a few more years. He could be serviceable as a fourth outfielder on a lot of teams, but he does not have the skill-set to be an everyday major leaguer. Butler on the other hand we feel is flying a bit under the radar. He was the second-round pick the year the Rays selected Evan Longoria. He was solid last season, if not spectacular, in his first full season split between Columbus and Vero Beach. We will get a better idea of what he is this year once he makes his AA debut. [DRays Bay]
• Jim Callis took the top ranked prospect from each organization and ranked those 30 players. Evan Longoria comes in at #4. [Baseball America]
  
• Bill Chastain tries to rankle our feathers by devoting an entire column to the Rays' attempt to keep the young talent in place. Luckily for Chastain, he waited until after the Rays signed James Shields and he includes speculation that the Rays will attempt similar deals with Scott Kazmir and BJ Upton. Nice try Bill. I'm not biting on this one. In fact if somebody was going to write an article on this topic, this is the way it needed to be done. [DevilRays.com]
• Derek Feldkamp tries to rebound from a poor 2007. Interestingly, Feldkamp feels more comfortable in the bullpen even though the team continues to utilize him as a starter. Used primarily as a relief pitcher at the University of Michigan, Feldkamp saved 15 games in his pro debut at Hudson Valley in 2005. Since then, the Rays have used him primarily as a starter. [The Daily-Telegram]
  

Durham 5, Scranton 1. Mitch Talbot struck out 6 and walked none in 6.1 innings. He gave up 1 run on 4 hits. Chad Orvella struck out 2 in 1.2 perfect innings. Since his return to Durham, Orvella has struck out 7 and only allowed 1 hit and no walks in 4.2 innings. Joel Guzman was 1-4 and hit his 3rd home run in the past 4 games. He now has 11 on the season. Justin Ruggiano was 2-5 with an RBI and Ben Zobrist was 0-2 with 3 walks.

Mobile 10, Montgomery 4. Jonathon Barratt gave up 5 runs (4 earned) in 4.1 innings. He allowed 4 hits and 4 walks. Jason Pridie was 3-5 with his 16th double and his 7th triple. He now has 27 extra base hits on the season and is hitting .290. Evan Longoria was 1-5 with his 51st RBI, but committed his 9th RBI.

Vero Beach 3, St. Lucie 1. Josh Butler pitched 7 strong innings in his first start since being promoted from low-A Columbus. He struck out 4 and allowed 6 hits, 1 walk and 1 run. Sergio Pedroza was 2-4 with his 7th home run and Erold Andrus added two hits, including a triple and his 28th RBI. Rhyne Hughes was 1-4 with his 38th RBI. He is hitting .335 on the year.

Savannah 3, Columbus 2. Wade Townsend gave up just 2 unearned runs in 5 innings. He struggled with his control, walking 4 and only striking out 2. He now has an ERA of 4.40 on the year. Ryan Royster was 2-4 to raise his average to .305. He also drove in his 41st RBI.

Aberdeen 6, Hudson Valley 5.

Kingston 7, Princeton 6.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• Evan Longoria and Jeff Niemann will represent the US squad in the Futures Game at PacBell park during the major league baseball all-star game festivities. Las year, Juan Salas was named to the World roster.
  
• Reid Brignac was given the night off due to "soreness" after several minor scrapes in the previous game.
• Joel Guzman credits his recent surge to hitting coach Gary Gaetti and a change in his swing.
  

Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus and SI.com recently released his list of the 50 Most Valuable Players in baseball. We took Mr. Silver to task for not including Carl Crawford. Let's just say we aren't buying Nate a beer anytime soon.

In light of this glaring omission, we thought it would be a good time to update our Tampa Bay Devil Rays Trade Value Index (TVI).

TRADE VALUE INDEX
The TVI ranks every player on the current 40-man roster and the top prospects in the organization. Our goal is to determine which players in the organization are the most valuable to the team. Ultimately, when looking at the rankings, the question should be, if the Rays could only keep one of two players from the organization, which player would the front office choose to keep.

The rankings consider a number factors in addition to talent and good looks, such as potential, age, contract and depth of position in organization. This last factor comes into effect if one player is stuck behind another player with more ability. For example, Fernando Perez would be a little higher due to his exceptional speed and strong OBP, but loses a little value because he has bad hair, and some more value because the team has Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, Elijah Duke and Delmon Young firmly entrenched on the major league roster and either do, or are capable of playing the outfield. Another factor is team needs. A pitcher may be ranked ahead of a more "talented" fielder because the team has a stronger need for pitching at the major league level. (Please see the original TVI post for further explanation).

Feel free to tell us where we screwed up in the comments.

[Rankings follow the notes]

A couple of notes on the rankings...

• The biggest addition to the list is obviously David Price. Even though he has yet to sign a contract, we don't foresee that being a problem. When trying to determine where to include Price in the rankings we asked ourselves, "If the Rays did not have the top pick and were allowed to deal draft picks, would the Rays have traded Player X, for the top pick in the draft and a chance to select Price?" The answer was 'NO' for BJ Upton, but was a 'YES' for Evan Longoria, although we definitely debated the second one. You could probably exchange Longoria and Price and you wouldn't get much of an argument from us. There is never a sure-thing in the minors, but Longoria is as close as it comes.
• Speaking of BJ Upton...He jumps up into the top 5 for the first time. We tried to temper our excitement for his hot start, knowing that he was not going to finish the season hitting .350. His strike out totals indicated that he would fall back...a lot. However, despite the recent drop in batting average, he has actually cut down on his strikeouts, recently going 12 straight games without a K. And despite his size, he generates tremendous bat speed. Everything he hits just explodes off his bat, which will equate to more hits. Upton is the real-deal. We just need to prepare ourselves for the re-birth of "BJ Upton, major league shortstop", because it is coming. Akinori Iwamura is going to need a new home as early as next season when Evan Longoria busts down the door that is holding him back.
• Jeff Niemann's ho-hum start to his season at AAA, as well as the emergence of James Shields and the selection of David Price drops his value from #5 to #8. If he doesn't start to turn it on soon, he will drop out of the top 10.
• Looking back we were surprised that we had James Shields as highly valued as his #11 spring training ranking. Just goes to show you how scary the pitching situation was before the season began. He had a good start to his major league career, winning his first four starts, but there was no indication that he was going to be as good as he has been this year. The only thing keeping him from overtaking Scott Kazmir for the #1 spot is that Kid K is a lefty and he is two years younger than Shields.
• Rocco Baldelli takes a big hit, dropping from #4 to #9. If this was the Devil Rays Most Fragile Index, he would be the unanimous #1. Until he can show that he can stay healthy for an extended period of time, he won't be moving up this chart.
• Much has been made about the Rays drafting a big power-lefty in the form of David Price. Of course the Rays already have a power-lefty in the majors (Scott Kazmir). Well the Rays have another big power-lefty in the system. Jacob McGee makes his first appearance in the top 10. When he finally receives a (well-deserved) promotion and if he has a strong start at AA, he could jump into the top 5.
• You would think that Jacob McGee and Wade Davis have been best friends since potty-training. They are always together and mentioned together even more often. Davis obviously does not have quite the same value as McGee as right-hander. Still, #20 is a strong ranking for a single-A right-handed pitcher and a testament to what scouts think about Davis. He might drop a few spots initially, but a switch to "closer-in-training" could bump his value in the long run.
• Edwin Jackson is holding on to his #12 spot...barely...on talent alone.
• Elijah Dukes drops from #10 to #15. It would have been farther, but some teams around the league have expressed some interest in Dukes, so he is still considered a valuable commodity.
• Reid Brignac takes one of the biggest falls, dropping from #9 to #16. His batting average is down in the .250s and he is not hitting home runs. On top of that, after a solid defensive showing in 2006, he is back to his best BJ Upton impersonation at shortstop this season. Remember, Brignac's strong numbers last year came in the very hitter-friendly California League. Yet another reason to brace ourselves for BJ Upton the shortstop.
• Chris Mason has made the biggest leap in 2007, from #48 to #24. It is very difficult to gauge players at single-A. We start to get a sense of talent-levels once they hit AA. Mason has dominated at AA this season and looks to be on the fast-track.
• Josh Butler (#28), Lewis Rollins (#48) and Jeremy Hellickson (#29) are good examples at low-A Columbus. We just don't know what they are yet. They are dominating low-A, but it is too early to tell how that will translate to higher levels. Rollins is having the best season of the three, but was the lowest draft pick. That indicates to us that the other two have more natural ability. If Rollins can keep it up in Vero Beach and beyond, he will move up the chart quickly.

Louisville 7, Durham 5. Jason Hammel struck out 9 in 5 innings but allowed 7 hits and 3 walks that led to 4 runs. Justin Ruggiano and Wes Bankston contributed 2 hits apiece. Ruggiano is now 12-38 (.315) with 4 home runs and 3 doubles in the past 9 games.

Montgomery 4, Carolina 3. Chris Seddon gave up 9 hits and 3 runs in 6 innings. Jason Pridie collected 2 hits and an RBI, including the game-winner in the bottom of the 9th. Reid Brignac, who has struggled this season, was moved from the 3-spot in the lineup to the 2-hole. He went 1-4 with a 2-run double. Those were his first RBI since May 23, a span of 11 games. Evan Longoria batted 3rd and went 0-4.

Vero Beach 8, Sarasota 4. Mike Wlodarczyk struck out 5 in 6 innings and allowed only 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks. He is now 3-1 with a 3.49 ERA. Garrett Groce was 1-5 with a 2-run double. Rhyne Hughes was 2-3 and is now hitting .337.

Columbus 2, Rome 0. Josh Butler pitched 7 scoreless innings allowing only 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6. Last year's 2nd round pick, is now 4-1 with a 2.14 ERA.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• Josh Hamilton hit his 4th home run in the 5th game of his rehab assignment against Durham on Saturday.
  

Durham 5, Columbus 4. Raul Cassanova tied the game in the 9th with a lead-off home run, and Chris Richard gave the Bulls the lead with an RBI single. Andy Sonnanstine struggled through 4 innings, giving up 5 hits, 2 walks and 3 runs, although only 1 was earned. Jeff Ridgway picked up his first save with a scoreless 9th.

Montgomery 6, Birmingham 4. Reid Brignac and Brooks Badeaux each had 2-out RBI singles for the Biscuits in the 9th inning, to break a 4-4 tie. Evan Longoria was 1-5 with a 2-run double. James Houser gave up 2 runs in 6 innings.

Vero Beach 6, Daytona 4. Wade Davis had to be pulled with one out in the 5th after giving 4 runs. He struck out 6. Greg Dupas picked up his second save with two perfect frames with 3 strike outs. First baseman Rhyne Hughes was 3-4 with a double and a RBI.

Augusta 1, Columbus 0. Neal Frontz gave up a two-out RBI single in the top of the 9th inning. The Rays 2nd round pick in last years draft, Josh Butler, pitched his second straight dominate game. He threw 6 shutout innings, with 3 hits, no walks and 4 strike outs. He has now thrown 14 consecutive scoreless innings and has not given up a run since the second inning of his first start.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• Josh Butler still only has 5 career professional starts, but considering he was drafted out of college and is 22 years old, he is not likely to be in Columbus for very long.
  
• Both the Montgomery Biscuits and the Columbus Catfish were recipients of the first annual CNBC Minor League Logo Awards.
• Jason Pridie a natural center fielder, played center for the first time last night and lead off. He answered with only his 2nd and 3rd extra-base hits of the season.