We still have several of these to go through, but thought we would show how the various Rays media members are faring so far...


In general, Rays fans are happy with the on-air media with all scoring above 90%. As for the print media, the fans are more supportive of the writers from the St. Pete Times. Could this be an anti-Tampa Tribune bias? Or maybe this is a reflection of the Yankees love-fest that regularly occurs at the Tribune?

C'mon, you guys knew this was coming eventually...There is a general sense amongst some of our readers that all we do is bash the Rays media coverage. The truth is we actually admire most of the working media and respect most of their work. We just get a sense that the Rays media coverage can at times be lazy. Just because the Rays were a second-class team for many years doesn't mean we as fans deserved second-class coverage. So while our frustration can manifest itself at times on this site, we want to know what you guys think of various members of the Rays media coverage. Next up...St. Pete Times beat writer Marc Topkin...

[Ed. Note: The above image came up under Google Image Search when we entered "Marc Topkin". It does have some resemblance to his byline pic. If it so happens to NOT be Topkin, please don't tell us. We like the image of Topkin giggling like a schoolgirl while groping two steroid-infused pro wrestlers.]

While Lancaster lost points for being a UGA grad, Topkin is a Drake University graduate. Don't know where Drake is? That would be Des Moines, Iowa. The hometown of Jeremy Hellickson and about 90 minutes west of where we did our undergrad work (that's 90 min by car. 4 hours by tractor).

Like his counterpart at the Tampa Tribune, Marc Lancaster, we have at times been pretty hard hard on Topkin. We love it when he shills for the Rays. But our favorite is when he called a game in Mid-May "something of a must-win game" or the time Jason Hammel gave up 2 runs in 6 innings and Topkin called it a "gem". We should just be grateful he is not the Rays GM...We haven't always been so negative. We have seen glimpses of what could be.

And of course there was the Barry Bonds rumors this past Spring that were almost single-handedly started by Topkin. We should give him a pass for that cluster-f*** as that story certainly drove a lot of attention to Topkin and the Times. So, even if the story was greatly exaggerated, it was a smart business move. It is just too bad that we as Rays fans had to pay.

There are some people that like his work: (From Topkin's St. Pete Times bio)

Marc has won numerous state writing awards for his news coverage and a national award for investigative reporting. He is also heavily involved in the St. Petersburg community, speaking to classes and coaching youth sports teams. In 2006, Marc won a Green Eyeshade Award from the Society of Prefoessional Journalists for his series "What Went Wrong: 10 Years of Devil Rays."

Of course, Topkin was only runner-up for the "Pink Eyeshade Award."

So: Do you like Marc Topkin? And let's hear your reasons in the comments...

Online Surveys & Market Research

THE GOOD: Evan Longoria. The kid was the man last night going 3-6, driving in 3, including 2 on a go-ahead home run in the top of the 13th. We may have seen a different side to the Dirtbag in that 13th inning at bat. With Carlos Pena on first and no outs, the first pitch was a slider down and away. On the second pitch, Chad Gaudin quick-pitched a fastball right down the middle. Normally a pitcher would do this to keep a runner at first base, but Pena wasn't a threat to steal. Rather, Gaudin caught Longoria napping at the plate. He wasn't ready and ended up taking a BP fastball right down the middle. There was a clear look of frustration/disgust/anger on Dirtbag's face. Gaudin came back with another slider down and off the plate. Longoria laid off. Now 2-1, Gaudin tried once again to go slider low and away, only he wanted to catch the corner hoping Longoria would lay off again. But Gaudin hung the slider about letter-high, on the inside half of the plate. The absolute textbook definition of a hanging slider and why we call those 400-foot strikes. Longoria turned on the hanger and hit a no-doubt-about-it shot to left that proved to be the game-winner. Was there a little extra oomph on the swing because of the quick-pitch? We like to think so...The Bullpen. Outside of the late run allowed by Troy Percival in which it looked like he let up a tad with 2 outs in the 13th, the bullpen shut down the A's. In 5.1 innings, the 'pen allowed only that one run. In particular, JP Howell did a great job surviving the 9th and the mystery-man, Jason Hammel worked 3 scoreless innings.

THE BAD: Occasionally James Shields is susceptible to the long ball and last night was one of those nights, giving up 4 of the runs on 3 home runs...

THE TELLING: Eric Hinske talked his way into the starting lineup despite 1-15 career versus Joe Blanton. Hinske delivered with a 2-3 night including a 2-run home run... Al Reyes and Dan Wheeler must not have been available last night. With a 1-run lead in the 8th inning, JP Howell and Gary Glover were warming up. Both would come into the game eventually.

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]
• Don't forget...this week's Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo will be tomorrow afternoon for the series finale in Oakland and will be held right here.
  
• Prior to last night's game, Marc Topkin called the match-up "something of a must-win game". Little extreme, no? What if the Rays had lost last night? They would have still been in the lead for the wild card and still in 2nd place in the AL East. And what if the Rays lost last night and then went on to win the next 8 in a row? Would last night's "loss" have really mattered? It is a little early to start with the hyperbole. There are still 117 games remaining in the season. [The Heater]
• The old baseball cliche is that a pitcher doesn't learn how to pitch until he gets hurt...Scott Kazmir has struggled with his mechanics since coming off the DL and he is a better pitcher for it. [St. Pete Times]

"It seems like it's gonna make me a lot better pitcher, just not having close to the stuff that I want and still getting hitters out," Kazmir said. "I think it's going to be really good for accuracy because right now I've mainly got to hit spots. I fall in and out once in awhile, but for the most part, it feels like I'm throwing the ball where I want to."

• Evan Longoria has done an outstanding job of keeping his head on straight in the field even while struggling at the plate. [Tampa Tribune]

"There's a period of time where, if I have a bad at-bat and I'm the last out of the inning or I'm on the bench and there's two outs, I won't take my batting gloves off until I've let my at-bat go," said Longoria. "Or, I won't go out onto the field until I've said whatever I needed to say, maybe slammed something or whatever - got it out of my system. Then, as soon as I go out onto the field, everything's gone and it's time to play defense."

• Tom Verducci says that the Rays are perfect example of why the 2008 season has been the year of "The Bizarro Supermen". [SI.com]
  
• We were waiting for David Chalk to chime in on the "Who's better? Yanks or Rays?" debate. And now we have it, in typical Chalkian-style. [Bugs & Cranks]
• For all the craptastic managers in baseball these days, it amazes us that Bobby Valentine is managing in Japan. And now is word that he thinks Joe Maddon has a better job than Joe Torre. [Bugs & Cranks]
  
• Oy! A "Power Rankings" with the Rays at #4?!? Somebody get Satan a jacket. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Are the Rays [screwing] everything up in the AL East?...This would actually be a cool topic if it were serious. [Spoiled Sports]
  

Today Rays Index turns two years old, having somehow survived two complete revolutions around the Sun. And my, how things have changed in those two years. HERE is our first-ever post. It was a title we loved so much we brought it back on our One-Year Anniversary, which was actually a really bizarre coincidence that we just realized a few moments ago.

In fact, we were unaware it was our anniversary until we received an email this morning from the two Marcs*, Topkin and Lancaster, with the following video...



And while there are more than a few people that probably wish Wes Mantooth would push our ladder, we wanted to take a second and thank the rest of the RAYSHEADS for sticking with us as our readership has more than doubled in the last year.

Sooooooo...

Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday to us...

*Might have actually been from DRG pretending to be the two Marcs

Two in two days? It just wouldn't be fair if we didn't honor Marc Topkin after his performance yesterday...

Marc Topkin sucks because of THIS GOOGLE WEB SEARCH...THIS GOOGLE BLOG SEARCH...and THIS GOOGLE NEWS SEARCH.

And he especially sucks for those "Barry Bonds Ringtone" ads that now litter this site. What the hell would a "Barry Bonds Ringtone sound like anyway?

For the record. Marc Topkin did not write anything that wasn't true. The Tampa Bay Rays did discuss Barry Bonds.

Hey! This just in...SO DID EVERY OTHER TEAM IN BASEBALL.

It was a non-story and either Marc Topkin knew that and he worded his story just right in order to get the national media juices flowing OR Marc Topkin is an idiot. Last week everybody was talking about how good the Rays could be in 2008. This week we have 6,432 headlines that are all of the variety "The Rays Look To Put The Devil Back In Tampa Bay".

Rays ponder Bonds pursuit [St. Pete Times]

We will throw a tiny little party during office-hours when Barry Bonds signs someplace, even if it is Japan. Because, when he does finally sign-on to play in 2008, we can stop bringing up the absolutely ludicrous possibility of Bonds playing for the Tampa Bay Rays.

This morning Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times once again broached the subject by reporting that the Rays had internal discussions concerning the possibility of signing Bonds.

There has been no formal offer, actual wooing or even public displays of affection. But the Rays seem to have at least an eye on Barry Bonds, and team officials have recently talked internally about the all-time home run king who has been at the center of the steroids controversy.

This is a non-story and we are sick and tired of talking about it.

Of course the Rays discussed Bonds. He is a free agent. Is there somebody out there that actually thought it was a possibility that nobody ever brought up Bonds' name in a team meeting? Of course they did. They discussed him just as they did every other free agent that is available. WHO CARES?!?!

Let's ignore for a second that there are plenty of reasons that signing Bonds makes no sense for the Rays...At no point is there any indication that the Rays' brass are actually considering signing the all-time home run king.

The Rays reiterated this point through a spokesman this morning.

According to Rays officials, there is nothing to today’s published report that the team may have interest in signing Barry Bonds.

‘’It’s a non-story,’’ executive vice president Andrew Friedman said through team apokesman Rick Vaughn.

One more time for the cheap seats, or whichever seats Marc Topkin is sitting in: BARRY BONDS WILL NOT SIGN WITH THE RAYS.

Bonds' Agent: Japan Is An Option [MLB Trade Rumors]
Rays ponder Bonds pursuit [St. Pete Times]
Bonds? No. [Rays Report]

Tampa Bay Rays (3 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Just wanted to take a second to once again thank DRG for holding down the fort on the weekend, allowing us to enjoy are literal hangovers in peace. We have a few things on tap for you today but until then just the links and quick reminder that today is "Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day", so we will try not to complain about anything that has happened with the Rays in the past.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Armchair GM takes a look at who they think are the top 5 shortstops in baseball. No. Jason Bartlett is not on the list (apparently hot fiancee is not a criteria). But they do name Reid Brignac the top prospect. [Armchair GM]

You won’t see Brignac to open the season in Tampa Bay this year. After crushing single-A pitching in 2006, Reid had a huge drop in batting average, and a less drastic drop in power numbers when he transitioned to AA in ’07. Chances are he will get a full season of grooming in AAA this year, however, given an injury or two in Tampa this summer, you might get to see another potential star for the Rays. He is capable of going .300/20/85/20 if he were to get a full season of ABs.

• Anybody tired of Top Prospect lists yet? Yes? Too bad. Next up John Sickels takes a stab at what he thinks Baseball America's list of the Top 100 prospects will look like. Evan Longoria is #2 behind Jay Bruce. In all, seven Rays make the list, not including Jeremy Hellickson who is Honorable Mention. [Minor League Ball]
• RaysBB has begun to unveil their list of the Rays top 25 prospects as voted on by a number of people. We participated, but we already see the fallibility in the concept. Remember, we are fans of the team which makes it difficult to be objective. Like most fans the list is littered with players from the lower levels that will never see the light of day in the major leagues. But when those players put up even very good numbers against other 18-20 year olds, fans start to drool incessantly. It is natural to see hope in the young. As a rule, we very rarely pay much mind to a prospect until he performs at the AA or AAA-level. That is why we will keep a guy like Elliot Johnson in our top 15, and ignore a guy like MikeMcCormick (despite our love for catchers). In spite of a horrendous 2007, Johnson has performed a strong season above A-ball, and his drop-off in 2007 was too great to be due to skill alone. [RaysBB]
  
• Rays of Light is fine with the Rays keeping Evan Longoria in the minors to start the season. [Rays of Light]
• Baseball Digest Daily held a roundtable discussion in which one of the questions asked was "Which team will surprise everyone in 2008?" Two three of the eight panel members picked the Rays. [Baseball Digest Daily]
• Rays Anatomy is back with their latest installment of "A Tale Of Two Erics" in which two points of view are offered on one subject. This time it is Dioner Navarro. [Rays Anatomy]
• Rays of Light pounds Marc Topkin for a random nonsensical comment about the possibility of the Rays signing Barry Bonds. We have covered this topic before. Signing Bonds goes against everything the Rays front office is trying to do. The Rays had two distractions on the roster last year (Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young). Where are those two players now? And Topkin thinks it is even possible the Rays would sign Bonds? After the link we will just complete our argument by quoting ourselves from November 19, when another website also clamored for Bonds . [Rays of Light]

Can we please ease up on the talk about Barry Bonds playing for the Rays? Let's say for a moment that the Rays could sign Bonds for a reasonably cheap price...and let's say for a moment that at 44 years old he can still hit 30 home runs and post a .450 OBP...and let's say he does not get suspended or spend any time in jail...there is still ZERO chance the Rays will sign Bonds. Yes, he might still be effective and yes he would help increase attendance, but if there is one thing we can all agree on about the Tampa Bay Rays front office...it is that they are very image conscious. This is a team that just became the first team since the Houston Colt .45s to change their name without moving because some people react "negatively" to the term "devil". And some people still think that it is possible for the Rays to sign a player that is A) a cheater; B) under indictment for perjury; C) universally hated by baseball fans. Let us put it this way. The Rays would not sign Barry Bonds even if he came to the Rays with a blank contract ala Andre Dawson to the Cubs in 1987.

• Bill Chastain says that Hope will flourish in Spring Training for the Rays, as he examines the few remaining question marks for the Rays opening day roster, the biggest of which could be Rocco Baldelli's health. [RaysBaseball.com]
  
• Delmon Young is happier than he has been since high school, and he has decided it is time to grow up. We will believe it when he has gone an entire season without complaining to the manager or the press. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

Young, 22, said he made a conscious decision to change his attitude the day after the season, when he got home from Tampa.

"It was time to clean it up and grow up," he said, as sweat dripped off his 6-3, 215-pound frame from a recent workout. "You get four years from 18-21 -- you know, college time -- where you can get in a little bit of trouble. But after that you've got to wake up and join the real world."

• There is a new Rays blog in the neighborhood, Rays Rampant. So far we are not impressed. In just their second post they combined the numbers of players lost and players added to the roster this off-season. Never mind that a player like Eric Hinske or Mike DiFelice has little chance of playing for the Rays in 2008. Our biggest problem is that when they combined the stats in each group they were sloppy in how they calculated OBP. They just added hits and walks, divided by at bats+walks. Of course anybody can tell you that much more goes into OBP. For starters you divide by plate appearances. Plate appearances include other things like Hit By Pitch and Sacrifices. Did you know it is actually possible to have an OBP lower than BA? If a player has more sacrifices than walks, it will be, as a sacrifice adds a plate appearance without adding a time on base. It has happened. It is hard to take numbers seriously when they aren't even calculated correctly. [Rays Rampant]
  

We are not sure why Marc Topkin is serving as a recruiter for the Tampa Bay Rays and posting job ads in his blog. We thought that was what the classifieds were for.

The Rays are holding open casting calls this week for members of the Ray Team...The Rays are seeking energetic, outgoing individuals who not only possess a winning personality, but also enjoy performing their various talents (i.e. dancing, cheering, tumbling, singing and public speaking) in front of a large crowd.

If you are interested, the auditions are Thursday and Friday night, 6-9 p.m., at the Trop.

We understand it is a slow time of the year for baseball teams, but this really is not helping our perception that the St. Pete Times is just a PR firm for the Rays.

Rays want you to get crazy [TampaBay.com]
The St. Pete Times And The Tampa Tribune Would Like Rays Fans To Drink Their Kool-Aid [Rays Index]

Tampa Bay Rays (17 days until pitchers and catchers report)
We hope you didn't forget to add blueberries to your pancakes this morning. It is National Blueberry Pancake Day. But don't worry. If you screwed that up, Joe Maddon will point out how well you tied your shoes this morning.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• There was never much life to the rumors of a potential deal to send Edwin Jackson to the Mariners. If there was a pulse, news that Eric Bedard has been traded to the M's just killed it. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the Mariners would still want Jackson, but they just acquired a much better starting pitcher and it cost them a king's ransom (Adam Jones). [Seattle Times]
  
• The Rays Way argues that Evan Longoria should start the season in AAA and cites the success of Ryan Braun and the mediocrity of Ryan Braun as examples of why. [The Rays Way]
  
• Rays of Light points out that Marc Topkin wouldn't make a very good General Manager. The "team" of free agents that Topkin suggests, reminds us a lot of the 2006 Royals, who brought in a bunch of "names" that people knew that really had poor career numbers. The were considered true "baseball players" and a great presence in the clubhouse. That team lost 100 games. [Rays of Light]
• Bill Madden named Andrew Friedman as one of two GMs that had the best off-season. [Daily News]
• Rays Digest points out that not everybody believes that the James Shields deal is a good one for the Rays. In addition, they project the Rays 2011 lineup, which we guess is made under the assumption that the Rays will not make any trades or sign any free agents and no players will get hurt in the next three seasons. Seems reasonable. [Rays Digest]
  

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]
  

Tampa Bay Rays (31 days until pitchers and catchers report)
The Tampa Bay Rays claim that as much as $800 million in new local taxes will be generated for St. Petersburg over the next 35 years due to the redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site. As part of the proposal for a new stadium along the St. Pete waterfront and the redevelopment of the land on which Tropicana Field sits, the Rays want 52% of those new taxes for building the new stadium. The other 48% would be distributed among local St. Pete agencies, with the biggest chunk (37%) going to the Pinellas and state school system. The remaining 11% would be split among other local entities.

The Tampa Bay Rays say the successful redevelopment of Tropicana Field and its parking lots could generate $5-million a year in new property tax revenues for state and Pinellas schools. If the redevelopment includes retail, millions of dollars more could flow into the city and county coffers each year through sales tax payments.

That money, which would not help build a new Rays stadium for the Rays, could be used to build new schools or new parks or pay teachers or police officers more, the Rays say.

If the $800 million turns out to be $400 million, the Rays would still get their stadium and the Pinellas and state school systems would get nothing. Therefore, the Rays hopes for a new stadium may be dependent on proving that the redevelopment of Tropicana Field can indeed generate the $800 million they are projecting.

Rays say schools gain in redevelopment [TampaBay.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Stacy Long revealed his list of the Top 30 Tampa Bay Rays prospects. We have updated our Meta-Analysis of Rays Prospects to include Long's list. Long's list is of special value as he covers the AA Montgomery Biscuits and has seen most of these players first-hand. We are also now including a link to the meta-analysis in the side-panel. [Stacy Long's Riverwalk Talk]
• Depending on the final numbers for the Rays final four remaining arbitration-eligible players, the Rays will most likely have an opening day payroll greater than $40 million. Based on our own projections, we place the final number just north of $41 million. This will be greater than the Rays promise of a 20% increase over their 2007 opening day payroll. Marc Topkin also includes his projected 25-man payroll and opening day lineup. The projection is very similar to our own, including Juan Salas not being on the roser. The only exception is giving the final roster spot to Justin Ruggiano and having Joel Guzman as the opening day third baseman in place of Evan Longoria. This is an idea that we are starting to warm up to. [TampaBay.com]
  
• Joe Maddon wants to emphasize fundamentals in Spring Training. [TBO]

"I'm going to apply a lot of pressure to the coaches and myself this spring training to make sure we get these fundamentals down appropriately," Maddon said. "We've talked about them for two years; I believe this group is ready to put them into play. I believe this group is ready to take what we're talking about and execute them. I believe this group will accept constructive criticism well and be accountable for their actions.

• Voros McCracken thinks the Rays still have a lot of work to do before they are ready to start competing. One of his biggest cautionary notes is that "Young pitchers (the strength of the Devil Rays system) will break your heart in a thousand different ways". Everybody knows this, but the strength of the system is not just young pitching. It is the depth of young pitching. The Rays don't need all their young pitching prospects to succeed. Just some of them. [Voros McCracken]
  
• The Rays have made official their plans to play a three-games series against the Blue Jays at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex. The move is contingent on the approval of the St. Pete city counsel. [Bradenton Herald]
• John Sickels reviews his Top 50 pitching prospects from 2007 and how they performed last season. Matt Garza was Sickels' #2 pitching prospect with four other Rays that were on the list. [Minor League Ball]
• He says there have been no problems, but it seems a bit worrisome that we are only a month from Spring Training and Rocco Baldelli is only running three days a week. [Rotoworld]
  
• We are not sure why we are posting a link to this because it is really not news-worthy, but it does make as chuckle a little bit. Turns out, two downtown St. Pete condo associations are opposed to the proposed stadium. Why? Because the new stadium will block their view of the water. Don't get us wrong, we understand that will have an effect on the property value, but with the numbers that are being tossed around (ie. $800 million in new tax revenue) there is ZERO chance that the fate of the new stadium will rest on whether a few condo-owners can see Tampa Bay. [Tampa Bay Parent]
  

Tampa Bay Rays (64 days until pitchers and catchers report)

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Yesterday we mentioned that Ben Broussard and Miguel Olivo could be on the Rays radar if they are non-tendered by their respective teams. Eduardo Encina says that Broussard would fit, but that "at age 29 (Olivo) would not fit into Tampa Bay's plans". To agree with one of our commenters, we are not sure if 29 is too young or too old. [TampaBay.com]
  
• The Rays announced the coaching staffs for all six affiliates. Here is the complete list. [DevilRays]
  
• Rays president Matt Silverman and senior VP Michael Kalt answered a number of questions that were submitted to the St. Pete Times from their readers, covering a wide-range of topics. Most of the answers are PR-flavored and not much of the information is new to those that follow the team closely. [TampaBay.com]
• New Rays closer Troy Percival has 324 career saves. Good for 12th all-time. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have 335 saves...Total...In 10 seasons.
• Marc Topkin takes a look at what the opening day roster and lineup could look like. [TampaBay.com]
• Rays Digest takes a closer look at various VORP values produced by Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2007. [Rays Digest]
  
• The Washington Nationals have moved Elijah Dukes out of the Tampa area, in an effort to separate him from his past, to Orlando, where he will spend the next two months working out with Barry Larkin. [ESPN]
  

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]

Tampa Bay Rays (66-96)
Correction: On Friday we mentioned that Saturday was the deadline for offering arbitration to all players that are arbitration eligible. In fact, the deadline was only for teams to offer arbitration to their free agents. Players with at least three years, but less than six years of major league experience, are also eligible for arbitration, but there is a separate deadline for teams to offer those players arbitration. That would be the non-tender deadline of December 12...Trying to understand baseball's contract rules is often like trying to understand the tax code or Joe Maddon's starting lineups.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• We have yet another new Tampa Bay Rays website in the blogosphere, The Rays Way. The new blogger is younger, but he is a diehard Rays fan, which is not always the case with some of these sites. We are not saying a site cannot be good if it is not run by fans, but there is something that is added to the mix when the writer(s) have an emotional attachment to the team they are covering. So if you have a moment, stop by and welcome The Rays Way to the neighborhood. [The Rays Way]
• We think Marc Topkin is in Nashville for the winter meetings. We say "think" because there is no by-line on the blog post. We also assume it is Topkin (and not Eduardo Encina) because the writer announces that he will not report on every rumor because "so many of them are made up". And we already know that Topkin is the one person that always just knows what rumors are true, and which are not. [tampabay.com]
• Marc Lancaster thinks the Rays will not be very active at the winter meetings (despite still needing a left bat, a lefty reliever, a backup catcher and a right fielder, not to mention possibly adding a veteran starting pitcher). [TBO]

But when the Tampa Bay contingent rolls into the Opryland Hotel this morning for four days of non-stop talk, if not necessarily much action, the group can take comfort in knowing most of its frontline needs already have been addressed.

• On the other hand, Roger Mooney believes the Rays may actually open up their wallet. This seems to be a bit far in the other direction. Based on the moves already made and speculating on arbitration values, the Rays 2008 Payroll is in the neighborhood of $38 million already, which is already a couple of million over their projected payroll increase of 20%. More likely the additions will come via trade [Bradenton Herald]
  
• The St. Pete Times has a story that shows the Rays have a lot of hoops to jump through before they get approval to build a new stadium. IF they can successfully maneuver the gauntlet, they will break ground in less than 500 days. [St. Pete Times]
  
• The Rule 5 Draft is on Thursday and the Rays have the first pick, should they decide to use it. MLB Trade Rumors has a source that the Rays may select outfielder Brian Barton, and outfielder in AA for the Indians. He is a speedster that has posted strong OPS numbers throughout the minors, but some worry that the numbers may be skewed because he has always been older than most of his competition and may not be a major league talent. It would cost the Rays $50,000 to select Barton and would have to keep him on the 25-man roster all season long or offer him back to the Indians for $25,000. In addition there are several Rays players that may be selected by other teams, including Dale Thayer and Nick DeBarr. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• A statistical look at Brian Barton and the other top prospects that are available in the Rule 5 draft. [Beyond the Boxscore]
  
• The Rays have already had one of their busiest off-seasons in team history, but there is still plenty of work to do. All of the sudden there is a glaring hole in right field that may or may not be able to be filled by some combination of Rocco Baldelli, Jonny Gomes and Justin Ruggiano, none of whom screams huge 2008 numbers. The team also needs a left-handed bat, a veteran catcher to back up Dioner Navarro, and a lefty in the bullpen. [Devil Rays]
  
• If the goal of the Tampa Bay Rays brass was to get more people to pay attention to the Rays, it looks like it is working. The Tampa Bay Bucs are now 8-4, following a game that I am fairly certain took a couple of days off of my life, and are playing their best ball since the Super Bowl season...yet Best Bucs Blog took time to write a post about the Tampa Bay Rays and all the changes that have occurred or have been proposed, entitled "Cautiously Optimistic". The title is an apt one. There is still a lot of work to do. [Best Bucs Blog]
• Before last season we called for people to jump on board the Devil Rays Bandwagon, so as to enjoy the ride to the top. With all the recent changes others are starting to take notice and are ready to jump on board. [New University]
  
• It was no surprise, but on Friday, Joe Maddon named Troy Percival the team's 2008 closer. While Al Reyes is the most directly affected, Juan Salas will also have a considerably different role in 2008. If Reyes were to be the closer in 2008, the Rays would have likely given Salas occasional save opportunities with the purpose of auditioning as well as training Salas to be the closer for 2009 and beyond. With Percy on board for the next two seasons, Salas, who has options remaining, may now begin the season in Durham as the Bulls' closer. [TBO]
• We have no doubt that Troy Percival is great in the clubhouse, and he may be a great presence for the other relievers, but lets ease up on all the talk of the "leadership" effect from a player that spends at least 8 innings of every game sitting in the bullpen. [TBO]
  
• Dennis Maffezzoli thinks that the Rays added a couple of big pieces in Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett, in addition he believes trading Delmon Young might have been addition-by-subtraction. [Herald-Tribune]
  
• With the loss of Delmon Young, the price for Carl Crawford just went up. We wouldn't go so far as to say he is "untouchable" as the Chicago Tribune suggests, but the bounty would be great. [Chicago Tribune]
• Oh, It's THOSE Girls wrote an open letter to new Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett. Apparently they are going to miss his baseball skills and his cuteness, and have named him an "honorary boyfriend". [Oh, It's THOSE Girls]
  

Yesterday RJ Anderson of DRays Bay reported that a source informed him of a trade that would send Boof Bonser to the Rays was close to being made.

I have from a reliable source that Boof Bonser has told people close to him that a deal with him heading to Tampa is imminent.

Later in the day, Marc Topkin dismissed the report as just another internet rumor.

One [trade possibility] that made its way into Internet rumors that [the Tampa Bay Rays] are not discussing involves Minnesota pitcher Boof Bonser, a Gibbs High product.

There is only one small problem...Anderson's source? It was Boof Bonser.

Boof Bonser is in the area for a golf tournament and while speaking to a group of people, he mentioned that the Twins were close to completing a deal that would have him pitching for the Rays in 2008. Among the group of people that Bonser was speaking with, was JP Peterson of WFLA. Somebody from Peterson's radio show contacted Anderson to relay the quotes from Bonser. The potential trade was then reported on DRays Bay and also apparently on the radio show Hot Lunch with JP Peterson (we heard about the latter from more than one of our own sources, but have yet to actually hear a tape of the show).

We assume that Topkin then contacted his sources within the Rays organization to verify or refute the trade talks. We are forced to assume this because Topkin does not tell us why he believes the trade rumor is not true. His source is most likely from within the organization and may in fact have been Andrew Friedman, as Topkin's claim comes at the end of an article with several quotes from Friedman.

It is not surprising that a major league general manager would deny the veracity of a trade rumor. It is surprising that an experienced journalist, or anybody with a heartbeat, would assume that the general manager was telling him/her the truth. Marc Topkin took what the Rays said as being truthful and then smugly dismissed Anderson's report as just another internet rumor, as if he just pulled it out of his own ass.

Trade rumors are a common topic among baseball blogs. Most often it is simply relaying something that was reported elsewhere and sometimes a blogger will speculate on trade matchups. Is it possible that RJ Anderson or his source made up the quotes attributed to Bonser? We have no reason to think he would make them up. No more reason than we ever think that Marc Topkin makes up his reports.

At least Anderson reported that he had a source. Topkin dismissed the rumor without even telling us if he had a source or if it was own speculation. And in doing so, came off as an elitist that thinks bloggers just sit around in their parents basements making shit up. We have read a lot of these so-called "internet rumors". 90% are probably not true. 99.9% of those rumors were started by professional reporters like Marc Topkin.

Does anybody have the phone number for Marc Topkin's parents basement? We have a rumor for him.

[Ed. note: Marc Lancaster of TBO is also reporting that it is his "understanding that there’s nothing to" the Bonser trade rumor. Like Topkin, Lancaster does not tell us if he checked with his sources or if he is just speculating. At least he did not dismiss it as just another rumor that is floating around the internet.]

Boof coming to Tampa? [Drays Bay]
Friedman: The time is now [tampabay.com]

Angels 2, Devil Rays 1.
This is what drives us absolutely nuts about the local coverage of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We stayed up late last night and caught every pitch of the Rays 89th loss of the season. We went to bed frustrated with the offense, but content that Jason Hammel had pitch well and has shown improvement in his last four starts.

Then we wake up this morning to THIS headline in the St. Pete Times...

"Banged-up Rays waste Hammel's latest gem"

Now..instead of feeling good about Hammel's performance we now feel compelled to explain to Marc Topkin and the editors of the Times why Hammel's performance was far from being a "gem". Instead of feeling good about his start, we now have to point out the faults.

• It took Jason Hammel 98 pitches to get through 6 innings. Therefore, for the 12th time in 12 starts, Hammel was unable to pitch into the 7th inning.
  
• 6 innings and 2 runs is not a "gem". That is an ERA of 3.00. Good. Not great. 9 innings and 2 runs might be a gem, but even then we would need to see 8-10 strikeouts and only 1-2 walks.
• Hammel allowed 7 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings. That is a WHIP of 1.50! That is NOT a gem.
• He struck out 3 batters. a strikeout to walk ratio of 3:2 is NOT a gem. A ratio of 8:1 might be a gem...if he also pitched 8 innings and gave up only 1 run.
  
• In 3 of his 6 innings, Hammel allowed the leadoff batter to reach base. Two of those runners scored. That is definitely NOT a gem.
• Chone Figgins scored the first run on a wild pitch. That is right. A wild pitch with a runner on third base. Apparently that is "gem"-worthy.
  
• Hammel had exactly ONE 1-2-3 inning. Hammel allowed base runners in 5 of the 6 innings. That is NOT a gem.
• Did we mention...SIX INNINGS IS NOT A FRIGGIN' GEM.
• Eight innings. M-INIMUM are needed before we even think about calling a game a gem, and really we would prefer 9. And is it too much to ask that a few of those innings be 1-2-3?
  
• If a starting pitcher for the Yankees or the Red Sox gave up 2 runs in 6 innings and LOST, would ANYBODY call it a gem? NOT A CHANCE IN HELL. They would wonder why he labored and couldn't get the ball directly to the set-up man in the 8th inning.
  
• His "Latest gem"? IS ANYBODY AT THE TIMES AWAKE OVER THERE?!? Hammel is yet to pitch into the 7th inning. In his last start, he allowed 5 hits and only 1 run in 6 innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out 6, against an overrated Seattle Mariners club. That was a very good start. But even that was NOT a gem.
  

Is this what we have been reduced to as fans of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays? Has the pitching been so bad that when somebody other than Scott Kazmir or James Shields allows 2 runs over 6 innings, we are supposed to be giddy?

We hope that Jason Hammel does not read the St. Pete Times. If he does, he might actually be content with his performance last night, and not see that there is still plenty of room for improvement. We understand that a lot of times, wins and losses are out of the control of the starting pitcher, but when it comes down to it, there is one stat that counts from last night's start...L. As in Hammel lost. The Devil Rays lost.

If a team is going to only score 1 run, then the pitcher needs to find a way to keep the other team off the board. If he can't? Let's just say we are not about to start calling him Tom Seaver. Now there is a guy that threw some gems.

Banged-up Rays waste Hammel's latest gem [tampabay.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• MLB Trade Rumors did an excellent job of breaking down exactly how ridiculous Scott Boras' comments on Carlos Pena were. They challenge both the assertion that Pena is the best player to ever wear a Rays' uniform and the boast that Pena is one of the top 5 players of 2007. They then go on to show that any claim that Pena is a $15 million player in his 4th full season is ludicrous. They even speculate that because Pena is not a free agent until after the 2009 season, the Rays best move may be to go to arbitration for the next two seasons and then trade Pena during the 2009 season. [MLB Trade Rumors]

Boras says the DRays basically got a $15MM season for the cost of $1.2MM and also takes some digs at the franchise. But it's disingenuous to imply that a fourth-year player should be earning free agent prices. That ain't the way it works. Albert Pujols earned $7MM in his fourth year, which seems like some kind of record. Jason Bay is earning $3.25MM in his fourth year. Matt Holliday is at $4.4MM. I could make a laundry list of young players who are huge bargains because of baseball's pay scale. Hanley Ramirez is making $402,000 this year...Pena reaches free agency after the 2009 season, and Marc Topkin says the Rays have already begun discussions on a three or four-year deal. If the Rays are to buy out a year or two of free agency, those might cost $12-15MM each. More likely, the team just goes to arbitration with him twice and trades him in a summer of '09 blockbuster (assuming he remains a 40 HR threat).

• The Devil Rays are 63-89 with 10 games remaining and are 2 games behind (1 in the win column) the Orioles in the AL East and for the worst record in baseball.
  
• The Devil Rays have decided to shut down James Shields for the remainder of the season. The move is simply an effort to limit the number of pitches thrown by the emerging ace. JP Howell will fill Shields' spot in the rotation. [tampabay.com]
• Brendan Harris was injured during batting practice and was scratched from the lineup. [tampabay.com]
• Jim Alexander has a conversation with Joe Maddon about his return to Anaheim to face the franchise he was a part of for 31 years. [Many Opinions, No Waiting...]
• Joe Madden believes that Carl Crawford will be ready to go on Friday, but the team is still likely to call up an extra outfielder from Durham, with Jason Pridie being the most likely candidate. Pridie will need to be added to the 40-man roster this winter anyway or risk being lost in the Rule 5 Draft. [Devil Rays]
• Gerry Hunsicker will appear on the Baseball Digest Daily radio show this Sunday. [Baseball Digest Radio]
• Carlos Pena has 18 home runs in the past month, the most in the majors over that span. [USA Today]
  

In case you missed the 9th inning of last night's game...and we can't understand why you wouldn't be tuned in to the 9th inning of a late August 12-2 loss to Oakland...there were some minor fireworks. It happens. Last night, Juan Salas came in to pitch the 9th and immediately hit the first batter in middle of the back with his first pitch. In the bottom half of the inning, A's reliever, Santiago Casilla's first pitch was behind Brendan Harrris. Casilla was immediately ejected.

The reason we bring this to your attention is the exaggerated reporting by Devil Rays writers for the Tampa Bay Tribune and The St. Pete Times.

[From Marc Lancaster of the Tribune] Casilla's first pitch bored straight toward Brendan Harris' head, and he ducked out of the way just in time for it to whiz behind his neck.

[From Marc Topkin of the Times] A's reliever Santiago Casilla was ejected for throwing at Brendan Harris' head.

Wow! Sounds like Brendan Harris narrowly escaped danger right? Well, here is a screen capture from the pitch that supposedly almost killed Harris.



We are going to give Marc Topkin a pass because Casilla may have actually been aiming at Harris' head, even though there was a better chance of him hitting somebody in the third base dugout. But did Marc Lancaster even watch the game that he wrote about?

Of beanballs and meetings [TBO]
A loss to hang their heads over [tampabay.com]

Devil Rays 6, Red Sox 5.
Anybody else worried that the Rays closer next year will be 38 years old, with a history of Tommy John surgeries (emphasis plural) and throws 86 mph? Guess it could be worse.

With only a few hours to go before the league's new early deadline for signing draft picks, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays signed David Price for a kazillion million dollars.

The left-hander from Vanderbilt University agreed to a six-year major-league contract that guarantees him $8.5 million and could rise to a total value of $11.25 million depending on how quickly Price reaches the majors.

What amazes us is that people are making such a big deal out of how much the Rays paid. Kudos to the front office for getting the deal done (we never had any doubt). All we have heard for the past 6-7 years is that the Devil Rays are not willing to pay the price to compete. The young power lefty is the rarest of commodities in baseball and the Rays did what it took to get the deal done.

Price will be assigned to Hudson Valley but Andrew Friedman stated that he is not likely to pitch for the organization in 2007.

Rays' No. 1 Pick Agrees To Lucrative Deal [TBO]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Wives of the Devil Rays' players have adopted a platoon of soldiers stationed overseas. The wives are seeking donations to be sent to the troops. Collections will be set up at gates 1 and 5 at the Trop, this Saturday and Sunday. [Devil Rays]
  
• Yesterday's victory was the Rays' 20th on the road this season, matching last year's total. The Rays have 19 road games left. [tampabay.com]
• RaysTalk is reporting that Fernando Cabrera has been signed by the Devil Rays with Brian Stokes being designated for assignment. They do not provide a source and we have been unable to confirm. As of the time of this writing, Stokes is still listed on the Rays official 40-man roster. Anybody see this in print elsewhere? [RaysTalk]
• Despite the concerns that the new deadline imposed by major league baseball could lead to a number of top picks going unsigned, every one of the top 30 picks inked deals with their respective teams. We hate to do this, but we may have to thank Scott Boras. Before the deadline, teams may have been feeling pressure to stick to the "slotted money" being recommended by the league office. For example, MLB was pushing for the Rays to only offer David Price a bonus in the $4 million range. One day before the deadline Boras was able to get Rick Porcello a guaranteed $7.2 million contract at the #27 slot. That may have eased the pressure on other teams as they could then point to that amount and "blame" Boras for the amount they would offer their picks. [Yahoo! Sports]
• The Rays signed 20 of their top 21 picks. Anybody know who the "one" is? It is not one of the top 9 picks. [TBO]
  
• Marc Topkin breaks down David Price's contract and how much he will earn each season depending on whether he is on the 25-man major league roster. Pardon us for being daddy-downer this morning, but if Price is still in the minors in 2012 and the Rays are paying him $1.3 million, then the organization is in trouble. [tampabay.com]
  
• Scott Kazmir has been a victim of the Devil Rays defense but has been able to overcome that in part due to his decreased rate of walks, both over his career and during this season. [The Fantasy Baseball Generals]

The Devil Rays are at an astounding -124, more than 80 worse than any other team. That is, their defense allowed 124 more balls than average to turn into hits. Their infield is dead last in revised zone rating by a large margin. RZR is a measure of the percentage of balls hit into a fielder's "zone" that are turned into outs.

Before this year, Kazmir made steady improvement in his walk rate...His control has clearly slipped this year, but not to Dalkowskian levels. He was terrible in June, but in July and August he has gotten his control a bit under control (forgive the pun), with rates of 3.7 and 2.8.

• The Hardball Times declares the Devil Rays as "the worst fielding team in baseball history," and they provide data to back up their argument. Hard to believe when the team has potential or future gold glovers in left field (Carl Crawford), right field (Delmon Young), third base (Aki Iwamura) and first base (Carlos Pena). The problem is all those players play along the foul lines. More balls are hit up the middle and the Rays are awful up the middle. If Upton is not moved back to shortstop in the off-season, look for Andrew Friedman to look for an upgrade at that position defensively. There is enough offense in the rest of the lineup to allow for a no-hit, gold glove type at shortstop in 2008. [The Hardball Times]
• In the meantime, Joe Maddon will spend the rest of 2007 evaluating Ben Zobrist, Brendan Harris and Josh Wilson to see if any of them will tep up and earn the starting job in 2008 at shortstop. [Devil Rays]
  
• The Marlins are likely to trade Scott Olsen this off-season if he is convicted of DUI and resisting arrest. We are just spit-ballin' here, but how about Rocco Baldelli-for-Olsen and...? [MLB Trade Rumors]
  

Red Sox 2, Devil Rays 1.
Let that be a lesson to you kids out there. Don't anger the baseball gods.

Let's all bow down and honor the best team of 2008. Let's pay homage the greatest team in the history of baseball. Let's sacrifice a decapitated cat to Ted Williams and pledge our allegiance to the Red Sox nation. For they are all-powerful.

Yes. The Red Sox have proven their greatness. They have proven that they cannot be stopped. They are a juggernaut. They might as well cancel the playoffs and the World Series, because when it is all said and done, the Red Sox will walk through October to the tune of Three-Fo-Fo. And when they are done licking their chops and scattering the bones, 612,000 drunk fans named "Sully" will scream the greatness that is two championships in the past 89 years.

Yes folks, the Red Sox have scored FIVE runs in two games against a team that has the worst record in baseball and a pitching staff that has an ERA of 5.78. Apparently that is the formula for "righting the ship".

Does any of this make us feel better. No. No it doesn't. Sometimes The Hangover truly is a hangover. And this morning? We can't eat. Doonesbury is not even remotely funny. We yelled at our dog and our loved ones are wondering why we get so upset about a team that is on pace to lose 105 games.

I just shake my head and say "You wouldn't understand," when the reality is, I don't understand.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Something happened last night in Boston and Marc Topkin tries to get to the bottom of it. We know there are limits to what a newspaper's "Blog" can do. They have to work within the confines of a professional organization, while sites like ours rarely have to answer to anybody. But if the papers are going to try and jump on the information superhighway bandwagon (late as usual) then this post by Topkin is exactly what they should try to provide on a daily basis. A bunch of quick thoughts, facts and rumblings on the game and the team mixed in with the access that the rest of us don't care to have. [tampabay.com]
• Want to know why Scott Kazmir has always pitched well against the Red Sox? After last night's game Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are a combined 10-72 (.139) against Kid K.
  
• The Yankees get their butts whooped by the Orioles 12-0, and apparently it is Al Reyes fault that they lost a game in the standings. [River Ave. Blues]
• Amazing how teams always seem to get healthy when they play the Rays. [Sully Baseball]
  
• Scott Kazmir now has the 10th most strikeouts all-time for a pitcher before the age of 24. [SI.com]
• Still no news to report on David Price. [TBO]
• Tonight's starter Andy Sonnanstine is struggling for the first time in his professional career and has yet to show that he will be able to overcome it. Tonight's crowd at Fenway is not going to make things any easier. [Devil Rays]

"He's been successful everywhere he's been," Maddon said. "I think maybe this is the first time he's really been challenged this way. And to have your first real challenge happen at the Major League level makes it a little more difficult to straighten yourself out. But he's been successful everywhere he's been, and I think he's got very good makeup. And because of that, I think he'll be able to work through it."

• Carl Crawford has an amazing ability to stay focused and continue to pile up enormous numbers despite the dire surroundings that he is usually faced with. [TheLedger.com]

This isn't to feel sorry for Crawford. This is to admire him. Who in sports plays a better game with a worse hand?

• I don't know what is more disturbing...that there is a blog called Pink Hat Nation or that the blog Pink Hat Nationis commenting on Raymond the Seadog. [Pink Hat Nation]