Red Sox GM Theo Epstein appeared on Cal Ripken's XM Radio show, Ripken Baseball. Epstein was asked about the sudden surge of the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Obviously they’ve been picking at the top part of the draft for the better part of a decade now and they haven’t missed with those picks. When you draft number one overall, you have to get a franchise-type player and they have. They’ve got plenty of them and they’ve done a great job drafting lower down as well and developing their players..."

There is only one small problem with that assessment:

Number of "number one overall" players on the Rays' roster: 0

Prior to David Price, last season and Tim Beckham this season, the Rays have only drafted #1 two times, one of which was Josh Hamilton in 1999, whom the Rays lost in the Rule 5 draft.

Certainly one can say that the other top pick (Delmon Young in 2003) helped shape this roster as Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett were acquired in an off-season trade for Young. But that is still only one "number one overall" player that has led to the Rays success this season and Andrew Friedman and Co. deserve a little more credit for that trade than just "they have sucked for 10 years."

Also, the Rays are far from the only team that has consistently drafted near the top of the draft for the last 10 years (Pirates, Royals, etc.) and yet the Rays are the only team that consistently drafts and develops top-rate players.

And while the Red Sox may not draft near the top, they have become experts in the art form of hording compensation picks for lost free agents. In the last four drafts alone, the Red Sox have selected 13 players before the second round.

Let's reword Epstein's statement to reflect why the Red Sox have been so successful...

“Obviously they’ve been picking tons of players in the first round of the draft for the better part of a decade now and they haven’t missed with those picks. When you draft 13 first round players in four years, a team is bound to hit the bullseye a couple of times even if their eyes are shut. They’ve got plenty of them and they’ve done a great job hording compensation picks as well as copying the organizational philosophy of the Evil Empire by throwing $100 million at a pitcher that might win 16 games..."

Theo Epstein on the Rays [MLB ON XM]

THE GOOD: Matt Garza. Nothing we can write will give justice to just how dominating Garza was yesterday. 108 pitches, 76 for strikes. 1 hit, 1 walk. Faced only 1 over the minimum. 7 1-2-3 innings. Garza was strike-one to 19 of 28 batters (68%). On his bad days, that number is around 40% or worse...Also, we don't won't to overlook Evan Longoria who homered and doubled twice in his first 3 at bats.

THE BAD: Marc Lancaster deciding to blog about Matt Garza's attempt at a no-hitter and then having Matt give up the no-hitter and the shutout, on the very next pitch. C'mon Marc. Let's save the Live-Blogging to the professionals...

THE TELLING: This was the Rays' 6th sweep of the season and 1st on the road...The Rays still have a 4-game lead over Oakland in the wild card. They are 4.5 up on the Twins and 5 games ahead of the Yankees. It is nice to see a 2-team bumper between the Rays and the Yankees.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Don't forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven't voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• Jim Hickey says that Matt Garza is capable of pitching as he did yesterday, every time he goes to the mound. [The Heater]

"The scary thing is this guy's capable of doing that time and time again," Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey said. "This isn't like some game he pitched way above and beyond what he's capable of doing. This is something, you hear people throw out (Braves great) John Smoltz and compare him to that, and you watch him do something like that, and it's not all that farfetched."

• Both Carlos Pena and Jason Bartlett are expected to be in the lineup tonight. It is expected that Ben Zobrist will be sent back to Durham. [Rays Report]
• Tribe Report believes that the Brewers and the Rays are the front-runners for CC Sabathia and they give the Rays a 40% chance of landing the lefty...Of course, losing Jake McGee to Tommy John surgery is only going to make it that much harder for the Rays to trade one of their pitching prospects. [Tribe Report]
  
• Bugs and Cranks' latest power rankings are up and the Rays remain at #2. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Fielder's Choice Baseball Card Blog has a good write-up about Josh Hamilton that sums up how we have felt about the Rays former prospect...While we root for Hamilton and he is a good story on many levels. There is most certainly a part of us that is still very angry with Hamilton for letting the organization, his potential teammates and the fans down. Say what you will about the Rays not protecting Hamilton (at the time we didn't think it was necessary), but if you are going to assign blame in this situation, Hamilton deserves far more than the Rays front office. [Fielder's Choice Baseball Blog]
  

DRG here again with bonus holiday Monday duty. I can be reached here, but expect today's load to be light.

The Good: Carlos Pena not only his 10th home run in the 3rd inning to give the Rays the lead 2-1, but he also walked 3 times. In the Orioles series Pena was on base 10 times in 13 plate appearances including a double, triple, home run and 5 walks. And the home run was to the opposite field. I'd say he is zeroed in...More great defense (*yawn*). A diving catch in the first by Carl Crawford. James Shields ended the 3rd by picking Brian Roberts off first as he was trying to get into scoring position. In the 5th Aki Iwamura made a great play up the middle for the third out, that probably saved a run...Evan Longoria. In his last 9 games, Dirtbag is 13-37 (.351) with 5 doubles, 3 home runs and 12 RBI.

The Bad: Natty Light.

The Telling: At 30-20, the Rays are tied for the best record in baseball...The Professor is now 3-3 in his series over/unders predictions in the "Pepper" series at the beginning of each series.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• YouTube video of the day: Best Hockey Fight. EVER. [YouTube]
  
• You guys really need to check out the comments left on an old post by a Red Sox fan. Keep in mind that this post was written last August. The guy/gal is so offended by the Prof making fun of the Red Sox that he left not one...not two...but THREE comments in a 4 minute span. And I can't really tell, but he/she is either trying to say that there are NO Red Sox bandwagon fans ("I know a lot of girls who are actually real Sox fans who wear the pink hats, and the players actually do wear green on St. Paddy's day down in Florida for spring training") or he/she is trying to justify the fact that the Sox do have bandwagon fans ("the Yankees have just as many if not more bandwagon fans than the Sox"). I am not sure. And this was how this Red Sox fan decided he needed to spend his Sunday night. [Rays Index]
• The AL East Blog says that Saturday night's performance should solidify Evan Longoria as the favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year. [The AL East Blog]
• Lou Piniella says that fans on the east side of Tampa Bay have no excuse for not attending games at the Trop, and that he is looking forward to his return with the Cubs in June. No word yet, if Piniella will dye his hair blonde for the occasion. [St. Pete Times]
• Josh Hamilton will play his first major league game in the Trop tonight. How is he doing? Oh, just contending for the AL Triple Crown and leading candidate for the AL MVP. But hey, the Rays have Eric Hinske in right field, so all's good. [St. Pete Times]
• The Rays have 4 errors in the last 30 games, the best stretch in baseball since 2003. [St. Pete Times]
  

With yesterday's off-day, we wanted to take a moment and promote our campaign to get CARL CRAWFORD (and Dioner Navarro) ELECTED TO START THE ALL-STAR GAME.

As Rays fans we don't necessarily need to generate all the votes necessary, but if we can get Crawford on a roll, when the first results are released to the public, other fans will see he is close and they will start voting for him.

And while Dioner Navarro is also deserving, remember, the All-Star starting lineup is a popularity contest as much as it is a reflection of who deserves to be there. CC is already a household name among baseball fans and has a better shot at getting elected. That being said, make ure you vote for Navi also.

• VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN: You can use this link to vote up to 25 times online. Once you have reached your limit, switch email addresses. If you run out of email addresses, make one up. If that doesn't work make your co-workers vote. Make your spouse/children vote. There is no reason for any Rays fan to NOT vote several hundred times.
  
• DO NOT VOTE FOR THE FOLLOWING PLAYERS: Vlad Guerrero, Maglio Ordonez, Ichiro, Gary Sheffield, Grady Sizemore or ANY YANKEES OR RED SOX outfielders. These are the players that Crawford is most likely going to be battling for a starting outfield spot. We don't care who else you vote for. Fill it out with deserving players or click the circle next to all the Rays or leave 'em blank. And remember, outfielders are grouped together. There is no distinction between left fielders and center/right fielders.
• VOTE EVERY DAY: We will remind you and provide the link every morning in the "Webtopia" section of "The Hangover". Each day you should go back and vote another 20-25 times.

VOTE OR DIE

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Don't forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven't voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• Here is roundup of what is being said about the Orioles in the national media. [Baltimore Sun]
• Joe Maddon likes himself some meat and appears to be just the perfect person to try and stuff "two pounds of bologna in a one-pound bad". [Bugs and Cranks]
• USA Today takes a look at today's managers and sees that major league experience is not a prerequisite for the job. Joe Maddon did not get past A-ball in his playing days. [USA Today]
• Baseball Mastermind would like to see more hype in the baseball draft. They also think the Rays would be crazy to draft Pedro Alvarez since they now have Evan Longoria signed long-term at third base...If the Rays draft Alvarez, they almost certainly will move him to first base, where the Rays will have an opening near the end of the '09 or beginning of the '10 season, which is exactly when Alavarez will likely be ready for the big leagues. [Baseball Mastermind]
  
• Big League Stew lists Scott Kazmir as one of the five hottest players in baseball. [Big League Stew]
  
• UniWatch is reporting that the Rays will wear St. Pete Pelicans throwback uniforms on June 21st. Here is a sketch of what those will look like. [UniWatch]
• AL MVP? Josh Hamilton, who is averaging more than a RBI per game. AL Rookie of the Year? Not Evan Longoria. Yet. [Baseball Happenings]
• Yes. Josh Hamilton has 53 RBI in 49 games and the Rays don't have an everyday right fielder...Just Sayin'. [Baseball Musings]
  
• MLB Trade Rumors indicates that several recent stories suggest that a number of younger players and veteran agents are not happy about the recent trend of young players surrendering their first free agency years in long-term deals...Although BJ Upton is not mentioned, there have been reports in the past that suggest that Upton could fall into this group. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  

THE GOOD: A rare sac bunt from the Rays as Aki Iwamura moved Dioner Navarro to third base in the 3rd inning. Navi would score the Rays first run on a Carl Crawford ground out. How rare? That was the Rays second sac bunt this year. AL teams are averaging 5 sac bunts so far this season...The Rays drew 7 walks...With the bases loaded in the 5th, Rays down 3-2, Evan Longoria sac fly tied the game and then a would-be 4-6-3 double play ended with every body safe on two bad throws. BJ Upton scored and Dioner Navarro followed with one of his standard soft line drives for the third run of the inning...Willing to bet we will be able to count on one hand, how many times Gary Glover shows up under "Good". With Dan Wheeler unavailable, Glover came on in the 7th with 1 out and a man on 2nd. He got the next 2 batters to end the 7th and retired the first 2 batters of the 8th before giving way to Trever Miller...Troy Percival pitched the third straight game and made things interesting but was able to get through the 9th for his 4th save. Percy's velocity appeared to be back, hitting 92 several times, after only being in the upper-80s 2 nights ago.

THE BAD: The Rays struck out 5 times in the first 2 innings...1st run scored without a hard hit. Infield single off of Andy Sonnanstine's glove/perfect hit-n-run/bloop to center...2nd run was the direct result of another Dioner Navarro brainfart. For the second time this series, Navi inexplicably left home plate with a runner on third and without calling time. Second time this season that the Rays forgot to call time and a runner advanced...In the 4th inning with 1 out and the score tied, Eric Hinske, was thrown out trying to steal second (definitely not a missed hit-and-run). That was bad but what made it worse is that Joe Magrane thought it was a good idea because it "keeps the pressure on". Huh-wha? We could be mistaken here, but by being thrown out, that took the pressure off of the Jays. Just sayin'...Later on Dwayne Staats, during a conversation about Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival being unavailable, notes that "there are some good arms out there...Dohmann, Glover". Really? Five pitchers in the bullpen and the best two names he could think of were Scott Dohmann and Gary Glover? We're not saying Goose Gossage is out there, but geez...Shawn Bleepin' Camp owed us and he had the perfect chance to pay up last night, coming on with runner on 3rd and for some strange reason, he did not allow the inherited runner to score, after allowing about 742 inherited runners to score last year.

THE TELLING: The Rays are 6-0 all-time in Orlando...The 3-game winning streak is the longest this season and the longest since the second week of September last season...In 2007, the Rays won 3 in a row, three times, and won 4 in a row twice. They did not have a winning streak longer than 4...The Rays have not been .500 this late in a season since 2004 when they were 42-42.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Mike DiFelice cleared waivers and will rejoin the Durham Bulls. [The Heater]
• Justin Ruggiano was demoted to Durham to make room for Matt Garza who will make the start tonight. [MLB]
• Matt Silverman said the Orlando series was a success, specifically noting that there were a lot more Rays fans in the stands this year. [Tampa Tribune]
• Still, this year's 3-game set drew 119 fewer fans than the series last year and none of the games sold out. The Orlando Sentinel cites a number of reasons that attendance may have been down and Matt Silverman would not commit to another Orlando series in 2009. [Orlando Sentinel]
• We love this story...Having spent a few years in the midwest, we have a number of friends that are Twins fans. We warned them about Delmon Young. There were the obvious warnings about not standing within 50 feet of Young if he is holding a bat. But there were also the warnings that Young is not the best "team player" ever born and warnings that changing his free-swinging style would not be easy. Those Twins fans and a number of Twins fans on the internet shouted the same company-line. The Twins play baseball the right way...Just being around the rest of the guys will make Delmon want to change...He is going to be a perrenial MVP candidate...Well, we are now almost a month into the season and Young is hitting .262/.287/.321 with ZERO home runs and a 14-to-3 strikeout to walk ratio...And now Twins fans are starting to get antsy and blaming Ron Gardenhire for not only allowing the free-swinging, but encouraging it. [Fire Gardy]
  
• One website has BJ Upton third in the MVP race in the early going. Disturbing is that they have Josh Hamilton second...Also, Evan Longoria is third in the Rookie-of-the-Year race. [Roto Advice]
• There are few places we are not willing to go on this site. You need not worry though. David Chalk picks up the slack. Of course by linking to it, we could be accused of being "enablers". We are OK with that. [Bugs & Cranks]
• Troy Percival is now 11th on the all-time saves list, only 2 away from the top 10. [MLB]
• Gabe Gross talks about making the transition to his new team. [MLB]

Tampa Bay Rays (66-96)
If the Rays want to sign Scott Kazmir to a long-term contract, they may want to do it sooner rather than later, because the price keeps going up. Jake Peavy signed a contract extension with the San Diego Padres that will guarantee him $65.5 million over the next 5 seasons. While Kid K has never won 19 games, much less a Cy Young Award, Kazmir's career to date is very similar to Peavy's first three full seasons and would it really surprise anybody if Kid K won 18-19 games this season? In 2007 he went 13-9 for a team that lost 96 games and possessed one of the worst bullpens in baseball history. Oh yeah, and he is left handed.

At the other end of the spectrum in terms of comparison is Jeff Francis, a lefty for the Colorado Rockies, who signed an extension prior to last season. A contemporary of Kazmir, there first two seasons were nearly identical, but Francis broke out last season, winning 17 games for a playoff team. Francis is due $19.25 million over the next four seasons. If the Rays are to sign Kazmir to an extension this off-season look for the numbers to fall somewhere between those two contracts. Let's say 4 years/$26 million or 5 years/$38 million with the last year being a club option.

Peavy closes in on $52M extension [SI.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Omar Minaya says that the Mets don't need another starting pitcher. Of course the Mets currently have Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and a minor leaguer to be named later...Conclusion: Minaya is lying out his arse...We wonder if Mets fans have changed their tune about how they can thank the Scott Kazmir deal for Omar Minaya and all those championships they have won since he came on board. [SI.com]
• John Keri interviews Matt Silverman and Andrew Friedman. [ESPN]
  
• No surprise here, but it is now official...Akinori Iwamura will be the Rays second baseman whether or not Evan Longoria is ready to be a major league third baseman. Joe Maddon says that the Rays will "mix-and-match at third base until Evan is ready". If Longoria does start the season in Durham, the most likely choice to be the Rays opening day third baseman is Joel Guzman, who has a gold-glove caliber glove but comes with a gold-glove size hole in his swing. [Yahoo! Sports]
  
• Baseball America says that the Rays suddenly have a lack of depth of outfielders in the organization and are likely to select Brian Barton in Thursday's Rule 5 Draft. They say that there are questions concerning Barton, but that the upside is well-worth the selection. [Baseball America]

"Maybe he’s not the type runner he was prior to the (off-season knee) surgery," said another AL front office executive. "Maybe he comes back and is the same kind of runner. But he’s got the ability to hit for average, has more pop than a lot of people give him credit, and can defend. He’s a little stiff on balls in on his hands, but you could definitely see him going to Tampa with everything they’ve shipped out."

• Not so fast, Baseball America is now saying that the Rays will not select Brian Barton. Rather the Rays will either sell their selection or select a relief pitcher. BA also notes that Rays' farmhand Evan Meek may be selected in the draft. Meek increased his stock in the Arizona Fall League after a mediocre 2007 in Montgomery. [Baseball America]
  
• The Rays need a left handed bat and a right fielder. Marc Topkin points out that there used to be a player in the organization that fit the bill perfectly...Josh Hamilton anybody? [tampabay.com]
• David Price was given his 2007 Baseball America College Player of the Year award yesterday at the Winter Meetings in Nashville. For the first time Rays management acknowledged Price could very well pitch for the Rays in 2008. [TBO]

“He can come quickly,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said this afternoon, adding that it was within the realm of possibility for Price to reach the majors sometime in 2008.

• David Price has set a target date of July 11 for his major league debut. That is July 11 of this season. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the Rays rotation in the second half is Kazmir-Shields-Garza-Price-Niemann, with Wade Davis and Jake McGee pounding the mitts in AAA gunning for a 2009 debut. [MLB]
  
• Mike Pagliarulo (that Pags?) calculates Carlos Pena's value at $4-5 million and explains the correct way to determine the value of a player. [Dugout Central]

Scottsdale 7, Peo Javelinas 6 (10 inn.).
Evan Longoria has completed his tour of duty in the Arizona Fall League as he will now join Team USA as they compete in the World Cup in Chinese Taipei. Reid Brignac was the only Devil Ray in action yesterday, going 0-5 with an RBI ground out. He is now 5-42 (.119). After posting what were certainly disappointing numbers for the young shortstop this past season (.260-17-81, .760 OPS), one has to wonder if the AFL is doing more harm than good. It may be time to shut Brignac down for the year and let him get away from the game a little while, clear his head and then start preparing for 2008. Of course, the flip-side of the argument is that a young player needs to learn how to fight his way out of slumps, and the Cajun God of Baseball must be feeling rather mortal these days.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Just to show exactly how vague the definition is of "Comeback Player of the Year", one of the NL nominees for the players association version of the award is Josh Hamilton, who only had a handful of games above single-A prior to this season. [Cincinnati Enquirer]
• Oh, and this just in...Josh Hamilton was kept on the Reds roster for the entire season and is now a permanent member of the Cincinnati ballclub. Of course we knew that back in March when Hamilton hit a game-winning 500-foot home run in one of his first spring training games.
  
• Chris Richard of the Durham Bulls, has started a regular off-season diary for the Bulls website. His most recent piece is on the use of human growth hormone from a player's perspective. One point we disagree about with Richard is the perception of some fans. While there is an element of the fanbase that doesn't care (a group that we believe is growing because the story is tiresome), we doubt there are many fans that think the use of performance enhancers is good because it produces players that "hit a ball 500 ft. and throw 100 mph." Hitting 100 on the gun and blasting a tape-measure shot are specials feats in baseball because they are rare. Otherwise, as fans we do understand the frustration that must come from doing it the right way and having to compete for jobs with players that are cheating. But...and this is a Rosie O'Donnell BUT...we do not understand why the players and the players association do not take a more active role and we do not understand why their "hands are tied in politics". [Durham Bulls]
• DRays Bay is reporting that Jae Seo and Tim Corcoran have been granted free agency. No surprise as both players were removed from the 40-man roster this past season. [DRays Bay]
  

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, Louisville 4 (10 inn). Mitch Talbot struck out 5 in 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. Ben Zobrist and Wes Bankston homered for the Bulls. Bankston's 8th home run of the season came with 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th to give Durham the walk-off victory.

Huntsville 4, Montgomery 2. Reid Brignac and Evan Longoria were each 1-4. Brignac committed his 12th error. John Jaso was 2-3 to raise his average to .336. Mike Prochaska gave up 4 runs (3 earned) in 5.1 innings.

Charleston 5, Columbus 3. For only the 4th time in 11 starts, Heath Rollins allowed an earned run. Last night he allowed 1 run in 6 innings with 3 strikeouts and 2 walks.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• It took 8 years, but Josh Hamilton finally played in Durham. Hamilton is on a rehab assignment with the Louisville Bats. That sound you just heard was millions hundreds of Rays fans screaming out in pain.
  
• Jae Kuk Ryu, will join the rotation in Durham.

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.
  

Devil Rays 6, Yankees 4.
Show of hands...how many of you thought the inning was over when the Yankees brought in a side-arming lefty to face Carl Crawford with the bases loaded and 2 outs? Be honest. If you don't have your hand raised you are lying to yourself and to us and now you have to carry a Hello Kitty back pack and bring us candy every day. Now...how many of you saw Shawn Camp enter the game with a runner on and no outs in the 8th with the Rays up 6-3, with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi due up, and tasted vomit in your mouth? Get your hands up. Be honest...This team has something. We can't quite put our finger on it yet, but boy can they look good some nights. We shouldn't say this out loud but the Rays really are just two pitchers (1 starter and 1 reliever) away from...Nevermind. So, what is more likely? The Rays now head to Anaheim and Oakland for 5 games and come home for 6 games against the Twinkies and Oakland. Not an easy stretch at all. Do the Rays build on the momentum of their first series win of the season and the knowledge that they have taken 3 of 4 from the Evil Empire and club LA in the series opener? Or do they throw out a stinker tomorrow against the Angels and lose a 10-1 ballgame? Honestly, we have no clue at this point. But neither would surprise us.

• Preliminary reports are that Akinori Iwamura will be out 4-6 weeks.
• Shawn Camp has been a completely different pitcher his last 4 appearances. By different, we mean not the worst pitcher in baseball. Does this mean we have to stop making fun of him?
• Jorge Cantu has embraced a move to first base. That is all fine and dandy, but if he wants to be an everyday major league first baseman, his 2005 numbers are a minimum. He is better off fixing his defensive short-comings at second.
  
• Not sure how we missed this. We hope you will forgive us. The Dugout did a Devil Rays preview that is a tad dated but still worth the visit. There has been more than one occasion when we wished Casey Fossum was GettinADelmon.
• Not to start everybody off in a depressed mood today, but has anybody noticed that Josh Hamilton is 5th in the NL in home runs with 5. Wish we hadn't noticed.
  

Minnesota 12, D-Rays 5.
Edwin Jackson threw 66 pitches in 3+ innings and only 33 were for strikes. He also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. The defense did not help matters by throwing a few of their own wild pitches. After going the entire first week without an error, the team is starting to make them in droves, including 3 more last night. BJ Upton, who looked solid at second base in the spring committed his 5th error of the young season and was lucky that he was not credited with a second error later on. After forcing one runner at second, Upton threw wildly to first trying to turn the double play (an official scorer cannot give an error on a double play attempt). Ruddy Lugo continues to struggle mightily, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits in 1 inning of work. He has now allowed 15 base runners and 8 runs in 3 innings this season. Carlos Pena continues to hit the ball well, connecting on his 2nd home run as a pinch-hitter in the 9th. It will be interesting to see if it is already pre-determined to head to Durham when Greg Norton comes off the DL.

• The Rays still have not won back-to-back road games since June 30 of last season.
• Edwin Jackson says that he "pitched like a ------". Actually, the Tampa Tribune used the word "wimp" in place of the actually word used by Jackson. Hmmm? What could it have been? Jackson has a potty-mouth.
• This just in...The Rays bullpen is not so good.
• Joe Maddon wants to treat the 2007 season like an instructional season in the hopes that all the athletes on the team become better fundamental baseball players. One of the glaring problems early in the season has been the Rays inability to lay down a successful sacrifice bunt.
  
• The Rays now a team era of 6.41, almost a run and a half more than any other team. The preseason projections that had the Rays pitching staff giving up more runs in 2007 may have been right. Simply put, the Rays have the offense of a .500 team, but the pitching of a team that could lose 100 again.
  
• Today Carl Crawford will wear #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. CC admits that before he was drafted by the Rays he knew nothing about Jackie Robinson. Let's hope that today's tribute will help inform many others about Mr. Robinson and his legacy.
• Joe Maddon hopes that more players on the team will follow Akinori Iwamura's lead and start working counts.
  
• Another baseball power ranking. Devil Rays #25. That's about right.
• Was Friday's win over the Twins and Johan Santana the greatest win in the history of the franchise?
• Maintaining a trend started last season, the Rays have held the lead in 8 of their first 11 games.
• The Brad Lidge to Tampa Bay rumors just won't die.
  
• The Reds Ryan Freel may start playing infield for the Reds. This would help Josh Hamilton to become an everyday player.
  

Cincinnati Red manager Jerry Narron gave Josh Hamilton his first Major League start last night in center field against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Josh didn't disappoint, hitting a 2-run home run in the third inning for his first hit as a Major Leaguer. He entered the game 0-2 with a strikeout and a line drive to left field in which he was robbed of a base hit on opening day.

In the first inning last night, Hamilton grounded out to second base. Then in the third inning, Josh came to the plate with a runner on first and 1 out. He homered on the first pitch he saw over the right field fence off of Adrian Gonzalez. It was a line drive shot that was hit almost as hard as the shot Elijah Dukes had in New York last week. Hamilton finished the game 1-3 with 2 walks.

• The Rays fell behind big in the first two innings and eventually lost to the Jays 8-5. The big blow in the boxscore was a grand slam by the big hurt. However, Rays starter Casey Fossum never gave his teammates a chance. He gaveup 8 hits and a walk in 3+ innings. He also hit 2 batters. Overall the Rays pitchers walked 7, and threw a wild pitch, in addition to the two hit batters. We can take solace in the fact that Fossum will end up on the DL sooner or later.
  
• Rocco Baldelli played centerfield for the first time this season. Joe Maddon is not going to have Rocco in the field everyday. He wil be back at DH this afternoon and in center tomorrow against the Rangers.
  
• After an opening day sellout, the crowd was a respectable 18,495.
• Yesterday's game marked the 30th anniversary of the Blue Jay's first game.
  
• The new FieldTurf2 does look to be playing slower than the previous incarnation. This was most evident when Akinori Iwamura laid down a bunt for a basehit before coming around to score the winning run in the 9th on Friday night. Once the ball hit the Turf, it just died. Last year, that ball would have gotten to the third baseman a lot quicker and Muu-Rah may have been thrown out.
  
• Stuart Sternberg has believes that the first 12 games will set the tone for the rest of the season.
  
• Joe Maddon is trying to preach patience to the young Rays hitters. His goal is to force opposing pitchers to throw 145 pitches a game. So far, the Rays have come up short.
  
• MLB Trade Rumors looks at some potential trade partners for the Rays if they decide to move Jorge Cantu. They lean towards the Mets as the best fit, but admit there really aren't any great match-ups.
• Thanks to the guys at FireJoeMorgan, we learn that Joe Morgan doesn't think that Josh Hamilton deserves to be in the majors and that it sends the wrong message to minor leaguers. We have to agree with Ken Tremendous on his criticism of Morgan's statement. The players with the best skills should be in the majors...Josh is 0-2 in 2 pitch hitting appearances.
  

• It's Opening Day!
• The Rays will field the youngest 25-man roster in baseball. Today, will mark Rocco Baldelli's first opening day assignment since 2004. The Rays are actually 5-4 on opening day.
  
• The Rays and the Yankees have markedly different expectations entering opening day.
  
• Manny Stiles has posted his Devil Rays preview. He hasn't been on board long, but he has done his homework.
• The Rays defense should be much improved in 2007.
• Jorge Cantu is threatening to not report to Durham.
• Seth McClung blames his agent, Scott Boras for not informing McClung of the Rays unusual fourth option. The extra option allowed the Rays to demote McClung to Durham.
• No surprise here, but it is now official, Josh Hamilton has made the Reds opening day roster. He still needs to remain on the active roster all season but that will not be a problem for Josh or the Reds.
  
• Don't forget to stop by later today for the first ever Devil Rays live game blog. We are now in the heart of the Belly of the Beast. We are in New York City, a stone's throw from Yankee Stadium. We will be "broadcasting" from the comfort of a couch, a computer, a big TV, and a fridge stocked with beer. We really have no idea what we are doing, but we will give it a shot. We are still trying to figure out this world wide web thing. So whether you are stuck at work or at home, don't forget to stop by as we will get started around 12:45, and follow along as the Devil Rays take their first step towards .500 and the 2010 World Series! We will also keep an eye on the Reds-Cubs game as Josh Hamilton will be making his major league debut.
  

• After the Rays 1-0 win over the Jays, the Rays no longer have the worst spring training record. In fact they are now ahead of the White Sox and the Mets. This time it was the pitching staff led by Casey Fossum. The Fossum Flop pitched 5 shutout innings allowing 5 hits and 1 walk to lower his spring ERA to 0.71.
  
• Joe Maddon confirmed what we already knew by naming the order of his first four starters. The fourth starter Casey Fossum, is ready to unleash his "Fossum Flip" (we prefer Fossum Flop), because as he puts it, "it sort of breaks up the seriousness of a baseball game." Are people laughing at the pitch? Or the fact that Fossum is the only pitcher in baseball without a fastball? Then again if Fossum was less concerned about breaking up the "seriousness of the game", maybe his career record would be better than 32-44. Supposedly it is J. P. Howell or Edwin Jackson for the rotation. Is it to late to vote for BOTH?
  
• Rocco Baldelli was held out of a minor league game he was scheduled to appear in. The hope is that the Boy in the Bubble will feel well enough to play on Friday and Saturday in preparation for opening day.
• Josh Hamilton is going to make the Reds' 25-man roster, to the surprise of nobody. The only question now is if Hamilton will be one of the Reds' starting outfielders.
• Evan Longoria homered twice in a AA spring training game.
  
• The Rays are expected to make another round of roster moves today. Afterwards, we will return with an updated roster projection.
  

• The Rays optioned Joel Guzman to AAA Durham on Monday. Guzman, who showed up to Spring Training slimmed down, impressed the coaches with his defensive ability at third base, but struggled with the bat. He was 4-29 with 2 doubles and a home run. Guzman has a long ways to go to prove he can hit at the Major League level. If he can be successful at Durham, the Rays could have a logjam at third base in 2008 with Guzman, Akinori Iwamura and Evan Longoria.
• Josh Hamilton hasn't cooled off yet. He is hitting .487 with 19 hits in 14 games.
  
• Joe Maddon says it is time for the regulars to step up. The regular season is two weeks away and it is starting to gt close to that time when slumps will carry over.
• Papa Joe Maddon will also experiment with a new lineup today.
  
• Josh Paul just really likes wearing masks. Was he burned by acid or something?
• Stuart Sternberg and Co. have made a concerted effort to be more involved in the community.
  

• Let's just pretend that last night, and for that matter, the first week of Spring Training never happened.
• 101 Reasons the Rays could win the World Series this year. Also known as, 101 reasons that Man-Ray's elevator is not reaching the top floor. We are particularly fond of #60. Yo Man-Ram. You are not the first to predict the Rays will win Series. Aaron Goldstein did it last year, and he was actually serious.
  
• Seth McClung was the Rays #2 starter last year at this time. This year he is the leading candidate to be closer, but Andrew Friedman says that is not guaranteed.
• Uniform expert Paul Lukas of Uniwatch likes the new jersey patch the Rays will be wearing this season in honor of ten seasons of...well we are not sure what exactly they honoring. Maybe it is a memorial patch?
• We have pretty much given up on ever seeing Josh Hamilton in a Rays uniform again, but until we see Josh on the Reds 25-man roster for game 162, we will hold out hope. Of all the potential twists to this story, our biggest fear is starting to happen. It is one thing for the Reds management to want Josh to make the team. At least then their decision is based on what they see. But now Josh is turning into the "feel-good story of the Spring". Now the Reds fans and even baseball fans in general are rooting for him to make the team. That type of public pressure will almost assure Hamilton makes the Reds roster.
• Apparently the local media have all latched on to Shawn Riggans as the Rays 2007 version of the "feel good, rookie fighting for a spot" guy.
• Dioner Navarro will be out a week to 10 days. More time for the media to write feel-good stories about Shawn Riggans.
  
• Of course there is another point of view as presented by Steve Phillips, that the Josh Hamilton story send the wrong message to the Reds other prospects.
  
• Rays prospect Elliot Johnson once homered in four consecutive innings.
  
• Would a Rays basketball team win more games than the baseball team? With Seth McClung banging bodies in the low post, what could possibly go wrong?
• You get a ring if you win a Minor League Championship? Apparently the Montgomery Biscuits will.
  

• The Rays had another rough loss yesterday, falling to the Tribe 10-2. Joel Guzman hit his first home run of the Spring and Carl Crawford stole two bases. We may have jinxed Jeff Ridgway yesterday by saying that he could grab one of the last bullpen spots because he is left handed. He responded by giving up 3 hits, 4 walks and 5 runs in 1 inning. Not good.
  
• Jon Switzer took a line drive off his wrist from the only batter he faced. X-rays were negative.
  
• Josh Hamilton had his first rough game of the Spring going 0-3 with a walk against the Yankees. The o-fer included only his second strike out.
• The Rays made their first two "cuts" of the Spring by reassigning Doug Waechter and Shinji Mori to minor league camp. Both players are returning from surgery and will not be ready to pitch during the first part of the season.
• Rays fans will get a look at two future members of the Rays rotation this afternoon when Jeff Niemann and Mitch Talbot take the mound against the Pirates.
  
• Papa Joe Maddon's new lineup with Rocco Baldelli-Delmon Young-Carl Crawford as the 1-2-3 hitters may already be old news as Maddon is now leaning towards swapping C. C. and Delmon permanently. The move makes sense. We have always thought that Crawford was a natural 3-hitter despite his speed. In this case, C. C. and Delmon are very similar hitters, but Crawford has a little more speed and Young has a little more power. The move also creates righty-lefty-righty situation with Baldelli at the top.
• Joel Guzman is excited to be back in the infield, having dropped 20 pounds in the off-season to increase his range and mobility at third base.
• Carl Crawford says that his wrists are fine but he is still treating them everyday for tendinitis. Let's hope it is only precautionary.
  
• Yesterday we introduced many of you to Manny Stiles. His first rant on the Rays is up here. Enjoy. He says this isn't just a shtick. He promises that he is a full-fledged Rays fan now. It's a hard life Manny.
  

The Rays still have plenty of their own questions as they enter the first full week of Spring Training games. However, there was one question lingering out there in the minds of many Rays fans and it involved a player in a different organization all together. This past off-season, the Chicago Cubs selected Josh Hamilton from the Rays in the Rule 5 draft and then traded him to the Cincinnati Reds. At the time, most thought that it would be a long shot, at best, for Hamilton, the former first overall pick (1999) to make the Reds' 25-man roster. We are talking about a player that has only played 15 games since 2002 (all at short season low-A Hudson Valley) and has only played 23 career games above A-ball. Most thought that Hamilton would find his way back to the Rays or the two teams would work out a trade so that the Reds could send him to the minors for further seasoning. At the very least we assumed this would be underlying storyline throughout Spring Training with the final decision coming down to the last round of cuts by the Reds.

Well, the Reds are four games into their Spring schedule and the story may be a non-story already as Hamilton is tearing up the Grapefruit league. He has 9 hits in his first 16 at bats with 2 doubles and his first home run since 2002, a 500' game-winner versus the Pirates, that cleared the batter's eye in center field. We admit that we were a bit torn about the Hamilton situation. We are always for the team before the player, but we do have a soft spot for Josh Hamilton. Part of us wanted him to fail so that we could get him back, but another part of us smiles every time we see a Reds box score and Hamilton has multiple hits. The Rays have three young and extremely talented outfielders already in place. We are not saying that down the road Hamilton could not have been better than one or more of the starters, but it is not a position that the Rays are desperately looking to fill.

The complaint, and it is a legitimate one, is that the Rays lost Hamilton with anything to show for their investment. Not a single major league at bat. Not even a player to be named later. Should Hamilton have been protected on the 40-man roster? Hindsight says yes, but after his performance and injury at low-A Hudson Valley last summer, nobody could have seen this performance coming so soon.

Many Rays fans were still holding out hope and until the final 25-man rosters are announced many will be watching the Reds situation closely. That door is shutting fast and Josh is firmly entrenched on the other side.

[Update: Josh has a single and a walk in his first two plate appearances this afternoon and will likely be in the starting lineup tomorrow at Prospect Energy Park against the Rays]
[Update 2: Now it looks like Josh will not even make the trip to St. Pete tomorrow]