Today is the deadline for teams to add minor leaguers to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from being eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Wade Davis will be added, as will Jake McGee. Eddie Morlan is also likely to be added.

Other players that will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft, but are unlikely to be added, include Chris Mason, Ryan Royster and Mike Wlodarczyk.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Trever Miller has signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  
• Rocco Baldelli's name continues to swirl around the Red Sox. Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe says there is an even bigger need for Baldelli now that the Sox have traded Coco Crisp. [Boston Globe]
  
• Here is Marc Topkin's AL MVP ballot. [The Heater]
• Thanksgiving came early to some in St. Pete as the Rays served a Thanksgiving dinner to about 300 people. [MLB]
• David Chalk is back with his "Ain't S#!t" series. This time he compares the nominees for Sports Illustrated's "Sportsman of the Year" award to Joe Maddon. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• The Harvard Crimson profiles alum Matt Silverman, class of '98. [Harvard Crimson]
  

[UPDATE: 11:32] The Red Sox beat the Indians, but the Rays overcame a first inning that saw the O's score 5 runs before an out, to get the win. With the victory, the Rays magic number to win the division is now 1. The Angels are currently losing in the 5th inning, 4-2. An Angels loss and the Rays be 1 game behind for the best record in the AL. The Rays won the season-series with the Angels 6-3.

As we get closer to the playoffs, the links are going to start coming fast and furious...On certain days we will provide a late afternoon "Happy Hour" to try and keep the pace...

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Marc Lancaster has a quote from Terry Francona that suggests the Red Sox will concede the division. [Rays Report]
• Carl Crawford is now ceding that he probably will not be ready for the first round of the playoffs...If there was any doubt, this should solidify Fernando Perez' spot on the roster for the ALDS. [Rays Report]
  
• Curious as to who will throw out the first pitch in the Rays home playoff games? Well, it won't be any former members of the organization according to Matt Silverman. "MLB asked us who it'd be. We realized nobody in the history of the franchise had done anything to be worthy of the honor."...Ouch. The truth hurts. [Washington Post]
• Deadspin suggests Victor Zambrano. [Deadspin]
• Outs Per Swing has an exhaustive list of candidates. [Outs Per Swing]
  
• Bugs and Cranks offers 5 suggestions...We like the idea of Mr. T. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Jason Bartlett should hire Brittany Ghiroli as his publicist. Ghiroli breaks down exactly how valuable Bartlett has been to the Rays and she does it much better than we did. [MLB]
  
• MLB Trade Rumors breaks down all of playoff teams/contenders to see which teams have benefited the most from their own first-round picks. The Rays come in 4th behind the Mets, Brewers and Phillies. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  
• Tampa Bay Rays Prospects has compiled a nice list of the organization's top strikeout-to-walk ratios from this past season. The top two players are from the Venezuelan and Dominican Summer Leagues which is even below rookie league, so don't put too much weight in those numbers. The truly impressive numbers are from Jeremy Hellickson (8.1 at high-A and AA), Heath Rollins (4.2 at high-A and AA) and Mitch Talbot (4.0 at AAA). [Tampa Bay Rays Prospects]
• Joe Bucs Fan is not happy with Stu Sternberg for leaving the tarps on the upper deck for the first two rounds of the playoffs...For the record, MLB has final say in the World Series. If the Rays make it that far, MLB has already told the Rays to have the tarp removed. [Joe Bucs Fan]
  

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, boxscores or schedule...

THE GOOD: Even though the lead in the East is down to 1.5, the Rays are still very much in the driver's seat. The lead in the loss column is 2 and the Rays hold the tie-breaker. In order for the Rays to lose the division, they need to lose 3 more games than the Red Sox this week and their last 3 games are at home against the Yankees. In other words, if the Rays go 4-4, the Red Sox have to go 6-1. And don't think the Yankees won't enjoy playing spoiler against the Sox...The odds of the Rays winning the Division according to Baseball Prospectus is now 72.3%...The Yankees Tragic number is 1.

THE BAD: We sure hope the Rays don't lose the division by 1 game as the Rays just gave away a game yesterday. We thought the afternoon clinching game on Saturday would help a little. Let the Rays celebrate for a few hours and they could still get a decent night's sleep prior to getaway day. After all, there is still a division to win with only a week to play. Every game is important. But apparently they went too far as the team played as if they were hungover yesterday, managing only 5 hits and committing 2 errors. And keep in mind the difference between winning the division and being the Wild Card. The Wild Card team starts on the road and likely has to beat both the Angels and the Red Sox without home field advatage in order to get to the World Series. Also, the Rays finish the season this week with 8 games in 7 days on the road. If they are the Wild Card, they will come home next Sunday and have to fly out to Anaheim the next morning...The Red Sox magic number to clinch at least a wild card is 1.

THE TELLING: The Rays finished the regular season with an attendance of 1,811,986, second only to the inaugural season in 1998 (2.5 million). Over the course of the season the Rays had 8 sellouts (including Sunday), matching the total number of sellouts from the first 10 years.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Oops. We all know the Tampa Tribune is in bed with the Yankees and barely knew the Rays existed prior to this season. But if Joe Henderson is going to write a piece on how the success of the team starts with Andrew Friedman, then they probably should make sure that the picture running with the story is actually of Friedman, and not Matt Silverman (that is Silverman on the left in the photo, not Friedman). [Update: The picture has since been removed. Here is the picture] [Tampa Tribune]
  
• We are going to try and get in a Live Blog-A-Baloo for David Price's first major league start tonight. No promises as the calendar is pretty full. But by 7:00 we will probably need a drink or 10 anyhow. So be sure to check back. [Rays Index Live Blog-A-Baloo Of The Week]
• Et tu, Chalk? Yes! David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks goes Mohawk, with video! We love that he does this while decked out in Devil Rays gear at a Supercuts. [Bugs and Cranks]
• David Price will make his first major league start on today in Baltimore and Mitch Talbot will make his first start tomorrow in the second game of the double-header. Matt Garza will be skipped in the rotation this time through to give his arm some extra rest. He will next pitch on Saturday. [Rays Report]
• Troy Percival will not be available tonight or tomorrow after receiving another shot for his back. [St. Pete Times]
  
• David Price hopes tonight's start will convince the Rays to include him on the postseason roster. [Lakeland Ledger]
  
• Covering All The Bases isn't ready to sing the Rays praises just yet, saying that "enough is enough." Then again, she might just be taking out her frustration of losing Nomah to Mia. [Covering the Bases]
• The Big Lead, after poo-pooing the Rays all season, has finally decided that they will "officially exclude [himself] from the people that continue to doubt this team." [The Big Lead]
• Joe Torre sent Joe Maddon a fax congratulating him on "winning a tough division." [Tampa Tribune]
• The Sports Frappe gives their "Sports Douche of the Week" award to Tampa Bay Rays fans, slamming their lack of support, saying: "Their soft fans showed their excitement for this year's Cinderella season by attending in lackluster numbers, somewhere around 13,000 per game."...Of course the Rays actually drew more 22,000 per game. But hey, who wants to be bothered by actual facts. The only thing Douchy about that post is the background color on the The Sports Frappe. [The Sports Frappe]
  

THE GOOD: Finally, the Rays caught a couple of breaks. First was in the second inning after Matt Garza gave up a leadoff single. With the runner going on the pitch to stay out of a double-play, Lyle Overbay then hit a bouncer back up the middle that looked like a catcher trying to throw out a basestealer. The ball bounced chest-high right over the second base bag, right to a waiting Jason Bartlett, who caught it and threw to first for the double-play. Then in the 7th, after retiring the first 2 batters, Garza gave up back-to-back singles, the second of which went under the glove of Willy Aybar, essentially giving the Jays an extra out in the inning. Garza survived to get the next batter to pop out. Finally, in the 9th inning, with a 1-0 lead Joe Maddon brought in Dan Wheeler and looking like a genius, Papa Joe moves Justin Ruggiano from right to left field. With 2 outs, Rod Barajas hit a ball that if a foot farther is a home run. As it was, Ruggiano timed his jump perfectly and his glove and the ball reach the top of the fence at the same moment, and somehow the ball stuck in Ruggiano's glove. Game over...We've been saying it for a while, but if there was any doubt, there shouldn't be now. The Yankees are dead. The Yankees are roadkill.

THE BAD: Holes in the Rays' bats. The 11 strikeouts isn't terible. But when 9 of them come in the first 4 innings, that is terrible. It is hard to tell, how much of it was the Rays having a bad night or how much was just David Purcey pitching light's out. He threw a complete game needing only 90 pitches. 72 of those pitches were strikes. A truly Madduxian performance. Just gotta tip the cap and be grateful for Carlos Pena's latest home run, or else they might still be playing.

THE TELLING: The Rays magic number for the Wild Card is 25 over the Twins, with 31 games remaining.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Dioner Navarro had an MRI done on both of his hamstrings and no damage was detected. He is listed as day-to-day. [Rays Report]
• Evan Longoria hit off a tee and Joe Maddon said everything went well. [The Heater]
• We have been trying to defend the attendance for a while now. But after this week, we don't know what to say anymore. John Romano is right: "And, in a remarkable display of grace under pressure, we continue to stay away from Tropicana Field in droves." Matt Silverman has a couple of quotes that reveal the frustration of the team. [St. Pete Times]

"The TV ratings are high, and that's a great sign, but it hasn't translated to the number of people at Tropicana Field. It really takes the wind out of our sails," Silverman said. "We've poured our hearts and souls into making this a great draw, and a great fan experience. And to come home after a great road trip and have … the smallest crowds in major-league baseball was discouraging.

• Baseball Mastermind takes a look back at their preseason preview of the Rays to see what they got right...As a side-note, we have a few friends that got the Rays over-under for wins prior to the season at 77. They laughed at how "high" it was, bet the under, calling it the best line they had ever seen. Like a broken record, they all chimed in, "I don't care how improved the Rays are, they will never win 78 games when they have to play the Red Sox and Yankees 18 or 19 times each." We warned them that it was not as impossible as they thought. Does anybody listen to us? Suckers. [Baseball Mastermind]
• This should put to rest any lingering thoughts that the Rays should have drafted Pedro Alvarez with the top pick in June. Turns out Scott Boras refused to do any negotiating until just hours before the deadline and when Alvarez finally stepped up and pushed the negotiations just before the midnight deadline, a deal got done. Only, now Boras and Alvarez are contesting the deal, saying it was not submitted in time and of course they want more money. In other words, Alvarez and Boras are not happy that Buster Posey got more money. [MLB]
  

THE GOOD: Scott Kazmir was at his best and kept his pitch count in check. After needing 18 pitches in the first, he only needed 67 over the next 5 innings and was able to work 7 full innings with 103 pitches... BJ Upton. Upton was 2-3 with 2 walks. More importantly, both hits were singles to the opposite field which should go a long ways towards helping him regain his confidence at the plate. And one thing that is not slumping is his legs and the Rays' first run was all Upton and his legs. After singling to right, Upton was picked off first, but never stopped on his way to second and slid in safely. He then moved to third on a fly ball to left-center. He would then score on a 2-out single by Evan Longoria...So much for any home run derby jinx. Evan Longoria homered for the 3rd straight game and is now only 4 off of the lead in the American League. If he could ever get his batting average above .300, the media will start jumping on the MVP bandwagon. And he is hitting .337 over the last month...Jonny Gomes. Yes he is a terrible fielder. And yes, he is not a very good hitter. But he is extremely aggressive and after singling in the 4th, he stole second with 2 outs to get into scoring position. He then scored on another 2-out basehit. This time by Akinori Iwamura...Grant Balfour is absolutely cooking right now. With 2 outs in the 8th and an 0-2 count on Kurt Suzuki, Balfour was so pumped up, he actually yelled at Dioner Navarro "FASTBALL!", rather than shake him off. That folks, is confidence.

THE BAD: The Mariners had a chance to tie the game in Seattle late last night against the Red Sox. Down 2-0 in the 7th inning, the M's got 2 runners on with only 1 out. Miguel Cairo struck out and Jose Vidro flew out. The Sox would then score 2 in the top of the 8th. Game Over.

THE TELLING: Andy Sonnanstine will start tonight for the first time in 12 days...Attendance for last night's game was only 12,428. The small crowd is not unexpected for a Monday night game against the west coast A's who don't have any name-players.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Looks like Jason Bartlett will come off the DL on Thursday. He thinks he is about 80% right now. Marc Lancaster thinks that Ben Zobrist will be sent down to make room, but wonders if something different might happen if Bartlett is not ready to start at short everyday. [Rays Report]
• Matt Silverman and Andrew Friedman handed out programs and greeted fans before last night's game. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Jim Molony says the Rays have a tough second-half schedule but that they should be one of the teams to fight through and make the playoffs. [MLB]
• TBSB feels that Jonny Gomes' personality is not enough to keep him around on the roster. [Tampa Bay Sports Blog]
  
• Dayn Perry thinks the Rays might not have enough offense to win East...Perry is one of our least favorite baseball writers and we don't have the enrgy to go through and give this it's much deserved bashing. [Fox Sports]
• One Sporting News writer has the Rays #2 in his Power Poll, behind only the Angels. [Sporting News]
  

THE GOOD: The Bullpen in general and Gary Glover and Jason Hammel specifically. Yes Hammel gave up the walk-off home run, but we thought the game was over when both Glover entered the game in the 9th and when Hammel came on in the 12th. The two combined for 4.2 innings with only 1 run on 3 hits and no walks. At some point they were going to give up a run and they did a great job of holding the Pirates at bay as long as they could.

THE BAD: The offense. From the 9th inning on, the Rays were 1-14 with 4 strike outs and no walks. Only two batters reached base: Evan Longoria with a 2-out single in the 9th and James Shields who reached on an error while pinch-hitting with 2 outs in the 12th.

THE TELLING: With Aki Iwamura starting his 3-game suspension, BJ Upton batted leadoff, Evan Longoria moved up to the 3-hole and Willy Aybar started at second base for the first time since 2006. Upton finished 1-5 with a walk...The Rays missed an opportunity to move back into first place as the Red Sox lost to the Astros.

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]
• Aaron Sharockman spoke with Matthew Silverman about the Rays stadium proposal and the future of baseball in the bay area. [St. Pete Times]
• Marc Topkin writes about the Rays and all the trade rumors circulating recently. [St. Pete Times]
  

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]

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

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

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

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

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

Tampa Bay Rays team President Matt Silverman wrote a letter printed in the Tampa Tribune in an effort to address issues being raised concerning the environmental impact of the proposed stadium to be built along the St. Petersburg waterfront.

One of the biggest concerns is that the Rays have yet to complete their own environmental impact analyses.

It seems to us that in stating that they found it disconcerting that we have not completed our environmental and engineering analyses, the Agency [on Bay Management] is attempting to have it both ways. Certainly, had we appeared before them after all of the necessary analyses were complete, we undoubtedly would have been criticized for not consulting with them first.

The Rays and our consultants have already completed a number of preliminary analyses, will be starting additional data collection shortly and believe that we are proceeding with an appropriate scope and sequence of activities to create a plan that will limit any environmental impacts of the project.

We are confident that this project will meet all relevant environmental regulations and produce a net environmental benefit to the community.

As noted in Chapter 10 of the Rays' preliminary design consideration document (submitted to the city on March 11, and readily available to the public on the city's Web site), by reducing our carbon footprint by over 70 percent, seeking LEED certification for the ballpark and incorporating innovative stormwater management techniques, we believe we will develop the most sustainable ballpark in all of Major League Baseball.

It would be silly for us to comment on the environmental impact of the proposed stadium without any details, even if Conservation Biology is part of our day job. But one thing we do know about the Tampa Bay Rays is that they are probably the most forward-thinking franchise in baseball and possibly all of sports. If any team would try to build a stadium with a minimal amount of impact on the environment it would be the Rays.

There is a perception that many professional sports franchises care only about making money and will screw the fan at any given opportunity if it means padding their own wallets. This may certainly be true of teams with well-established fan bases that are not likely to be impacted greatly by decisions like these. However, the Rays are not one of these teams. Alienating potential fans, even if it is a small percentage of the constituency would be counter-productive to not only building a fan base but also to building the bottom-line.

If they are anything, the Rays front office is filled with smart businessmen. Certainly the Rays want to build a stadium that is more profitable. But we are fairly confident that they also want to build a stadium that won't leave any negative footprints. This is a franchise that cannot afford any further negative impacts on the local community. And while it is impossible to please everybody, sometimes it is possible to please most. And it seems as though that is what the Rays are trying to do.

Rays Will Be Good Stewards [Tampa Tribune]

Rays of Light is reporting that Matt Silverman addressed season ticket holders informing them that the plan is to keep Evan Longoria in the minors all season.

According to Silverman, Evan Longoria will most likely spend the entire 2008 season in the minors, barring injury or a performance at Durham showing beyond a doubt that he can succeed at a Major League level.

This certainly sounds alarming but we find it hard to believe. How does a team go from "Maybe we give him the opening day job" to "Not this year" after the spring Longoria had? They don't.

There was considerable negative reaction from both fans and both the local and national media after the Rays decided to demote Longoria and give the everyday third base job to Willy Aybar. Many believe that the Rays are just trying to save money by delaying the start of Longoria's service time at the cost of fielding the best possible team in 2008.

Telling us that there are no plans to promote Longoria in 2008 is apparently the way the Rays are dealing with the backlash. This way, they can say they are not demoting him just for the service time and when they do call him up, it will be because Longoria "earned" it and not because Neptune and Jupiter were aligned in the proper quadrant for the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Remember what Dr. House always says....Everybody lies.

Longoria a Longshot in '08 [Rays of Light]

Tampa Bay Rays (42 days until Opening Day)

Joe Maddon stated that Shawn Riggans is the favorite to be the backup catcher on opening day. Papa Joe then commented on what his criteria is for a backup catcher.

"The backup guy should be pretty effective defensively," Maddon said. "It's not an easy position. The guys that do it well make it look easy, but it's not easy. Part of their job really is to help the starting catcher. ... It's like a good backup quarterback in football."

This only surprises us because Maddon actually commented on the situation, but it does not surprise us that he named Riggans even though we project Josh Paul to win the job. Keep in mind that Riggans is the only candidate that is actually on the 40-man roster at this point. Paul and Mike DiFelice are in essence getting "tryouts". They are on minor league deals and have done nothing yet to earn a major league contract. If the team had absolute confidence in one or the other, they would not be on minor league deals.

The team has made it clear that they prefer a veteran backup catcher to help further the development of starter Dioner Navarro. Just don't expect Papa Joe to admit that publicly because he would have to say that he prefers a player that is not on the team over a player that is on the team.

At the end of the day, we still feel Josh Paul will be the Rays backup catcher and it is Riggans that needs to "win" the job. Paul has the edge in experience, better defensive abilities and a strong familiarity with the pitching staff and Navarro. Riggans would have to outperform Paul defensively in Spring Training to make the roster and we are not convinced he can.

Notes: Iwamura ready for second base [Tampa Bay Rays]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Marc Topkin takes a look at the Rays trio of young talented starting pitchers. Jim Hickey feels that 26 teams in the league would prefer to have Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza as their top 3 pitchers. [St. Pete Times]

As Rays officials went back over the last several decades, they came up with only a few teams that had three starters who were so young with the chance to be so good. There were the A's of the early 2000s with Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. The Marlins of the same era with Josh Beckett, Brad Penny and Dontrelle Willis. The Braves of the early 1990s with Steve Avery, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. And not too many others..."It's certainly a rare commodity," senior vice president Gerry Hunsicker said, "to have three young pitchers with the talent level that we're going to run out there."

• A quick video interview with David Price as well as a look at him throwing off a mound. (Link will open a video player) [Tampa Bays 10]
• Rays of Light begins a series in which they will spotlight certain Rays. First up is Akinori Iwamura. [Rays of Light]
  
• Beyond the Boxscore makes an argument for Fred McGriff to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. We think the Crime dog was a very good and very consistent player, but he was what Mike Francessa would call a "compiler". His numbers look good because he played for a long time, not because he was a great player. We witnessed most of McGriff's career and never once did we watch McGriff and think "There goes one of the greatest baseball player's ever". Sorry. Great guy, very good player, but when the voting comes, we would be surprised if he cracks 25%. [Beyond the Boxscore]
• We were in Austin this weekend. Apparently so was Matt Silverman. He was running in the Austin half-marathon. We were sitting in the front yard drinking Mimosas watching the half-marathoners and marathoners run by. [Rays Report]
• Baseball Prospectus projects the Rays to finish 82-80. The biggest change will be in the pitching. They project that the Rays will increase their scoring from 782 to 788 runs in 2008 and will decrease their runs allowed from 944 to 776. [Baseball Prospectus]
• Sean Deveney of The Sporting News feels the Rays and the Nationals have a special kinship because they have both sucked recently. The similarities are a stretch and include small fanbase (usually goes hand-in-hand with sucking), long odds to win the 2008 World Series (again, sucking), good young third basemen (1 spot out of 25 is similar), and both teams want to improve their image (as do most sucky teams). [The Sporting News]
  

Tampa Bay Devil Dogs
DRG back at you today, and today's topic is everybody's pick to fall back to earth in 2008, Carlos Pena.

Armchair GM ranks the top first basemen in baseball. Pena does not make the top 5, but he does get the dubious title of "Risky Pick".

Bouncing to his fourth team in three years (wasn’t he in the Yanks' minor leagues for a while?) it looked like Pena headed to Tampa Bay because no one pays attention down there anyway. Once the firstbaseman of the future in Detroit, I think everyone wrote Pena off as a bust. However, I’m guessing there was some sort of deal with the devil in ’07 as Pena had a season that I don’t think even his mother would have projected. 46 HRs and 121 RBI???? If you are expecting him to even come close to that again, don’t be too surprised if you are disappointed by his performance.

Am I the only person in America that thinks that Pena not only can repeat his performance, but that he actually will repeat his performance? For one 46 home runs is not that much of an outlier for Pena. In 2007 he hit 46 home runs or one every 10.6 at bats. In 2005, in only 79 games, Pena hit 18 home runs, or one every 14.4 at bats. Certainly 2007 was an improvement, but there are several reasons to expect just as good of an encore if not better.

Let's look at the facts:

• More plate appearances in 2008: Pena was only a part-time player in April after not even making the squad out of Spring Training. Pena was losing ABs to Ty Wigginton and Jorge Cantu! This won't be an issue in 2008. Certainly we can expect Joe Maddon to give Pena a day off against lefties every once and a while. But it is not unthinkable that Pena racks up 50 more plate appearances in 2008.
  
• More protection in batting order in 2008: Last year Pena had Delmon Young and his 91 OPS+ hitting behind him, usually followed by Brendan Harris or Ty Wigginton. DY was not exactly striking fear into the hearts of pitchers last year, unless you consider the fear of being hit by a thrown bat. In 2008, Pena can expect to have excellent and experienced protection in the order in the form of Cliff Floyd, Rocco Baldelli, Jonny Gomes and at some point rookie-of-the-year candidate Evan Longoria.
  
• Pena is simply a better hitter now than 4-5 years ago: Maddon and hitting coach Steve Henderson worked hard with Pena last year to teach him that it was OK to use the whole field. And while he is still not hitting opposite-field blasts, he did hit a number of his home runs to straight away center field. This is something that the old Carlos Pena would have never done.
  
• Pena is now in his prime: In 2007 Pena was 29 years old. In 2008 he will be 30. Most players hit their prime in their late-20s. In his 27 and 28 year old seasons he was only given a total of 97 games. When he finally received his opportunity he produced. There is nothing to suggest that he is past his prime at 30.
• Pena was "unlucky" in 2007: DRays Bay showed that at least one statistic indicated that Pena actually performed better in 2007 than his actual numbers indicated. If that is indeed the case, then a "step-back" in his performance could actually produce similar numbers as 2007.
  
• Pena is not Brady Anderson: When Anderson hit 50 home runs in 1996, it was a fluke beyond all flukes. His previous single-season high was 21. The difference between Anderson and Pena is that nobody ever expected that from Anderson. Many scouts and baseball people expected this from Pena. It might have come 5-6 years later than they hoped/expected, but the actual performance is not outside the realm of his skillset.

Those that know me, know that I am a pessimist at heart, but I am telling you right now. Carlos Pena will not only hit 40 home runs again in 2008, but he will top the 50 home run mark and if the Rays are in the playoff hunt Pena will receive first-place votes for the MVP.

2008 MLB Rankings: First Base [Armchair GM]
Pena, An Unluck Hitter, Who Knew... [DRays Bay]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• In a strange twist, both the Vero Beach Rays and the Princeton Rays will continue to wear green in 2008. This is an interesting move considering the Tampa Bay Rays obsession with promoting their new brand. [TBO]
• Troy Percival will take it easy the first few weeks of Spring Training and will not crank it up until the final week. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Scout.com previews Spring Training for the Rays and asks some questions that have yet to be answered about the team. [Scout]
• Another Top 100 list and this one has four Devil Dogs in the Top 12 and eight overall and each time the writer refers to the team as the "Devil Rays". Guess that blog will be getting a letter from Matt Silverman. [Top Prospect Alert]
• Melnick & Greco take a closer look at the Rays top prospects. [Melnick & Greco]
  
• Marc Topkin takes a look at the history of Spring Training in St. Pete as 2008 will be the last year with the Rays moving to Charlotte County and Al Lang field set to be torn down. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Marc Topkin comes up with his list of the all-time best baseball players that have spent Spring Training in St. Pete. All the teams that have called St. Pete home? That is interesting. For some reason the who's who of trainees? Not so much. [TampaBay.com]
  

Seriously...We can't make this shit up.

Baseball Musings has still been referring to the Tampa Bay Rays as the "Tampa Bay Devil Rays". Well, after receiving a letter from Matt Silverman, president of the Devil Rays, they can no longer use the excuse that they "didn't get the memo". Baseball Musings was fined $1 by the Devil Rays for using the term (the money does go to a Devil Rays charity).

The Tampa Bay Rays found out I was still sometimes using the name "Devil."
They've asked me to stop. I'll be sending in a $10 fine.

(HERE is a link to a scan of the actual letter from the Devil Rays. Below is the full text of the letter from Devil Rays president Matt Silverman.)

February 1, 2008

Dear Mr. Pinto:

November 8, 2007 was a landmark day for our organization. On that day, we shed the "devil" from our name and became the Tampa Bay Rays. Our organization introduced a new logo, colors and uniforms to accompany the name change. A bright yellow sunburst now adorns our jerseys. Replacing the devil ray fish, this sunburst icon invokes the magnificence of life in the Sunshine State.

Thousands of Rays' fans flocked to downtown St. Petersburg to celebrate the launch of our new team name. Players flaunted their new threads and described them as "fresh." Community leaders and even Hollywood's Kevin Costner joined in the fanfare.

Although these changes have been widely embraced, old habits often die hard. Here at our offices in Tropicana Field, we created "Drop the Devil" donation boxes. For each and every Devil Rays mention, employees must contribute one dollar to the donation box. All proceeds benefit the Rays Baseball Foundation, the official charity of the Rays which supports youth and education programs in the Tampa Bay community. Though costly for a forgetful few, it has been both fun and instructive, while also benefiting a worthy cause.

It has been brought to my attention that you, too, recently used our former team name. Accordingly, the Rays request a donation to the Rays Baseball Foundation in the amount of one dollar (though larger contributions are welcomed). Please note that repeat violations may carry a steeper penalty.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter. We hope to see you this season at a Rays' game.

Yours truly,
Matt Silverman
President, Tampa Bay Rays

Wow. We guess that this means we will not be seeing any Devil Rays "Turn Back The Clock" nights anytime soon. Our favorite part is how the "sunburst icon invokes the magnificence of life in the Sunshine State". Huh-wha? Of course, it does not invoke the magnificence of play in the Tropicana DOME, the home of the Devil Rays, which you know...has a roof. And where is our letter from the Devil Rays? We are apparently not invoking the use of the term "Devil Rays" nearly enough.

Other fines that Devil Rays' employees can soon be expecting:

• For wearing anything green. St. Patty's Day is going to suck this year at Devil Rays headquarters. Of course last year on St. Patrick's day, the Devil Rays actually wore less green than normal. It was prophetic.
• For ever mentioning the name Chuck LaMar. OK, this is one that we will gladly enforce.
• For any references to the movies Water World, the Postman, or any other crappy Kevin Costner flick.
  

I'm In Trouble! [Baseball Musings]

Tampa Bay Devil Dogs (11 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Marc Lancaster believes the Rays are using the Royal's Alex Gordon and Milwaukee's Ryan Braun as case studies for their decision about where Evan Longoria will start the 2008 season. Gordon was the opening day third baseman for Kansas City while Braun began the season in AAA.

Gordon struggled early for the Royals hitting .173 in April and .195 in May. However, he rebounded in June hitting .327. Braun on the other hand started off hot in AAA, where he hit .342 with 10 home runs in the first month. He was then called up to the Brewers and continued his torrid pace hitting .349 in his first month.

If the Rays are indeed using Gordon and Braun as a barometer to help them decide where Longoria starts the 2008 season, then there is a very good chance we will not see the Dirtbag in a Rays uniform until June.

Longoria spoke publicly for the first time about the possibility of the Rays front office deciding prior to Spring Training where he will start the 2008 season. Longoria stated he would be disappointed if the Rays decided to keep him in Durham to start the season without at least giving him a chance to show what he can do in Spring Training.

"I heard they might tell me beforehand but not for sure, so I assume it will be based on how I do," Longoria said from California. "It's only fair. I feel I'm coming into spring a lot more ready than I was last year. I'd kind of be a little disappointed if they told me beforehand I didn't have a chance to make the team."

"If they are going to make the decision beforehand, I'd rather not know," he said. "I'd rather go in, play my best and throw it all on the table. It's only my second year, so it's not like it's a make-or-break year or anything, but a chance is always nice."

I sure hope the Rays are not going to base their decision only on how Ryan Braun and Alex Gordon performed. There is nothing to suggest that Braun would not have hit well if he started the season in the majors and there is nothing to suggest that Gordon would not have struggled for two months even if he had started in the minors. In fact, one could argue that Gordon benefited from being given the opportunity to work out the kinks in the big leagues, knowing that his job was not in jeopardy, as opposed to struggling in the minors with a job on the line.

The biggest reason the Rays should not base this decision on Gordon and Braun is that they represent a sample size of 2. For every Alex Gordon that struggles in his first two months in the big leagues, I can give you a Dan Uggla who started the season in the majors and hit well all season long.

There may be reasons to keep Longoria in the minors for another month or two *cough, cough* arbitration *cough, cough*, but Alex Gordon and Ryan Braun should only be a minor reason if a reason at all.

Path to greatness [Tampa Tribune]
Prospect hopes to control fate [St. Pete Times]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Marc Topkin also noted that Rocco Baldelli is already working out at the Rays Spring Training complex and says that Baldelli is running "almost all out". [St. Pete Times]
  
• Matt Silverman received honorable mention in a recent St. Pete Times survey of local businesses when asked "Who do you see emerging as the area's top business leaders?" Making the top 9 was St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker who the Times. The Times sees Bakers biggest business related task in 2008 being how he represents the citizens in the Rays quest for a new stadium. [St. Pete Times]
• 43% of local businesses support the Rays proposed stadium. 37% do not. [St. Pete Times]
• The Tampa Bay Rays are taking their fight for a new stadium door-to-door...literally. In the last two months the Rays have made presentations about the new stadium to more than 30 local neighborhood associations, rotary groups and chamber of commerce meetings. They have 26 more meetings scheduled between now and the beginning of the season. [St. Pete Times]
  
• A profile of Carlos Pena and his emergence as a top hitter in the American League. [MetroWest Daily News]
  

Tampa Bay Rays (16 days until pitchers and catchers report)
One our regular commenters, is starting to expand his horizons with a contributing piece at The Baseball Analysts. We were tempted to dedicate an entire post entitled "Why The Devil Rays Commenters Suck: Bob Rittner", but were afraid nobody would get the joke.

The piece at The Baseball Analysts is an excellent read on a point we have been screaming about for a long time, in regards to Hall of Fame voting. That is, why is there such a deep divide between the statisticians and the traditionalists? For example, why can't we consider both a players OPS+ and the perception that he was a feared hitter? Certainly people will weigh the measures differently, but why should either side ignore the other?

When an issue like the Hall of Fame elections arises, the problem is magnified because for statistically minded analysts there are objective criteria from which to begin the discussion. But to many traditionalists, the key word in the discussion is "Fame" as in who do people know, who had an impact on the story.

Jack Morris exemplified qualities that suggest he is a Hall of Fame character; Bert Blyleven did not. Jim Rice dominated because that is the story line, and for anyone who lived in his era, it makes perfect sense. It does not matter to those who are now voting if the statistics belie the claim.* When I watched a Yankee game and Rice came to the plate, I was scared. I was not as worried when Dwight Evans was at bat. I may have been wrong, but Rice felt like a star and Evans a supporting player. To say the journalists are wrong does nothing to advance the discussion because these players are first and foremost literary figures to them. You and I may know that Watson and Crick were far greater men than Alexander the Great and Napoleon, but in the pantheon of human heroes, you can bet Alexander will get in first, and nobody is going to identify Crick as Crick the Great.

The example we like to bring up is Derek Jeter. We wonder what the argument would be for Jeter if he suffered a career-ending injury before the start of the 2008 season. He has a solid if not spectacular career OPS+ of 122 (33rd among active players, min. 1000 at bats), but to look at traditional stats, he does not even have 2,500 hits, or 200 home runs or 1,000 RBI. His .317 batting average is strong, but most now look at Jeter as a defensive liability at the most important defensive position, despite three gold gloves.

Is Derek Jeter a Hall of Famer? Few people would argue that he is not. But what if Jeter had played his entire career in Kansas City on a last place team? Most importantly, what if Jeter was not as handsome and played his entire career away from the lights of Broadway and did not win four world series in five years? Would he still be a Hall of Famer?

My point is not to say that we should be debating the merits of Derek Jeter as a hall of famer. My point is that we cannot ignore the half of the package. Derek Jeter is a hall of famer. He might have been anyway, but he is a lock because he performed on the biggest stage. So in part, Derek Jeter is a hall of famer because he was lucky. Lucky to be drafted by the New York Yankees. Lucky that the Yankees needed a shortstop when he was ready. Lucky he never suffered a career-ending injury. Lucky the Yankees spent so much on payroll. He was lucky the Yankees had Joe Torre and lucky they had all the great starting pitching. And he was especially lucky that the Yankees had Mariano Rivera.

Should we hold that against Jeter? No. Just like we can't go back and look at Tony Conigliaro's career and say he should be in the Hall of Fame because he was unlucky. Some players are good. Some are great. But just as importantly, some players are lucky and some are unlucky.

Sometimes...to get into the Hall of Fame, a player can compensate their lack of greatness with some luck. I'm OK with that. Are you?

I'm OK, You're OK [The Baseball Analysts]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Baseball Musings takes a look at the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays offense. Using a statistical tool straight out of a nuclear physicists handbook, the Rays project to score between 5.21 and 5.54 runs per game in 2008. That would be a considerable jump from their 2007 rate of 4.83 runs per game. A rate of 5.21 rpg would give the Rays 844 runs in 2008, which would have been good enough for 4th in the AL in 2007. [Baseball Musings]
• Yet another blogger believes that baseball can never succeed in the bay area. This time Sports Business News latches on to Matt Silverman's recent comments that the Rays lost money last year. While we question the validity of the statement and wonder out loud why it was said (excuse to trade big salaries, leverage for new stadium, etc.) this has absolutely zero bearing on whether or not a team can survive and turn a profit in the Tampa Bay area. While the author acknowledges Vince Naimoli's "Reign of Terror", he does little to separate that ownership group with the current. Nobody expected miracles from the new front office immediately. They have a plan and so far it appears to be working. When the team begins to win more games, then and only then will we see if a team can survive in the area. Of course the author's lack of knowledge on the subject is clear when he states, "Namoli (sic) has been, and continues to be, the face of the franchise, which may not be a good thing". Once we read that we couldn't stomach it to read any further. So if anybody does read the entire piece and finds any thing close to a cogent argument, please let us know in the comments. [Sports Business News]
  
• In The Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2008, one of the four analysts list Evan Longoria as the top hitting prospect, while the other three have him listed behind Jay Bruce. [Fake Teams]
  
• in their latest installment of a "A Tale of Two Erics", Rays Anatomy picks apart Carl Crawford. [Rays Anatomy]
  
• Rays of Light takes a look at the Rays projected opening day lineup and compares that to the opening day lineup for the Devil Rays in each of the last five seasons. [Rays of Light]
• Rays of Light also takes a look at the projected rotation and compares that to the rotation's throughout the history of the franchise. [Rays of Light]
• DRays Bay interviews Rays' pitching prospect Mike Wlodarczyk. Wlodarczyk has spent the last three seasons in the shadow of teammates Jake McGee and Wade Davis, but has posted an impressive resume for himself. [DRays Bay]
  

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

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

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

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]