[Update: 3:40pm] Now it looks like the Cubs and Padres have figured out how to move Peavy without a third team. Of course, the Rays could still try to work with the Padres on a deal for Giles, but this seems less likely now.

[9:56am]In case you missed it late last night, there is a rumor going around the winter meetings that the Rays may be getting involved in the Jake Peavy talks as a third team, with their eyes set on Brian Giles. There was talk last August that the Rays tried to land Giles but were blocked when the Red Sox put in a claim on the outfielder.

There is no mention of what the Padres would want from the Rays, but the holdup in a potential Cubs deal (for Peavy) is the lack of Cubs prospects that are close to the majors. The Padres were also looking for a major league shortstop from the Braves.

So we have to believe the Padres will be asking for something like Andy Sonnanstine. The Rays would probably rather a package include Jeff Niemann and Reid Brignac. Would Edwin Jackson get the deal done?

It seems unlikely that the Rays would be willing to part with a top pitcher for Giles (136 OPS+ in '08) if the Rays could potentially land a free agent like Bobby Abreu (120 OPS+, 3 years younger) for the same price and without having to give up any prospects. The Padres could make it more enticing by eating some of the $9 million salary [Ed. note: As per the comments, Giles' salary goes to $11 million in '09 if he is traded]. Giles is in the last year of his deal.

Of course, all this means nothing if Giles is unwilling to be traded. Giles has full veto power as a 10-and-5 player (10 year veteran, 5 years with current team) and vetoed two deals (Red Sox and A's) late last season.

Rays Rumored Third Team In Peavy Deal; Possibly Targeting Giles Again [Rays Index]

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Jayson Stark says the Jeremy Hermida is exactly the type of player the Rays are looking for and wonders if a deal can be had for Jason Bartlett and either Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson...Considering what else is out there, this seems like too steep a price. [ESPN]
• Ryan Fagan of The Sporting News says Rocco Baldelli's best option is to stick with the Rays...This is something we have long said. With the Rays, Rocco has a team that has been loyal when most would not and with the Rays, Rocco has a team that is very familiar with his condition and how best to utilize his talents at this point of his career. This is why the Rays will slow-play this hand, waiting out the market and Rocco. [The Sporting News]
  
• Dayn Perry says the Rays have "fewer needs to address [this offseason] than any other team in baseball." We are not sure what attendance has to do with the Rays offseason plans but Perry brings it up out of leftfield at the end of the piece noting that teams usually show an attendance spike the year after a successful playoff run. [Fox Sports]
• Marc Lancaster reports that the Andrew Friedman is getting calls from players that would not normally be interested in signing with the Rays, noting that these players want to play with the Rays and are willing to accomodate the Rays (ie. switching positions) to make it happen. [Tampa Tribune]
  
• Marc Lancaster says the Rays greatest asset right now is their pitching depth and if a trade is made at the winter meetings it will probably involve a starting pitcher. [Tampa Tribune]
• Mets Fever says the Mets will have a hard time landing Edwin Jackson, noting the Metropolitans don't have outfield depth. [Mets Fever]
  
• Rays Digest takes a look at pitching prospect Nick Barnese, who was #22 on our most recent Trade Value Index. RD compares Barnese's makeup to Matt Garza and analyzes his pitch repertoire. If you are not into reading the usual rhetoric about the depth of pitching in the organization and just want to read about Barnese, skip to the 9th paragraph. [Rays Digest]
  
• MLB.com has their list of the top 50 prospects. The list is topped by David Price and includes four Rays farmhands in total. Tim Beckham (22), Wade Davis (31) and Jeremy Hellickson (39) are also on the list. [MLB]
• Rays Prospects is profiling the top hitting prospects in the organization. #13 is... [Rays Prospects]
  
• David Chalk continues to crank out his list of the top Devil Rays of all time. #18 is... [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• Bud Selig and Major League Baseball make too much money and are too concerned about the image of the sport to ever put a team in Las Vegas. Still, it is a bit disheartening to hear the mayor of Las Vegas salivating over the Rays. [St. Pete Times]
• Montgomery Biscuits GM Greg Rauch is at the winter meetings in Vegas to find a radio broadcaster. [Montgomery Advertiser]
  

Doug Krikorian of the Long Beach Press-Telegram sat down with Evan Longoria in Long Beach the day after winning the AL Rookie of the Year award. Of the topics covered:

• His preference for Monarch Clothes: "They have great stuff."
• Facial hair: "don't have any blades at the residence..."
• Dating: "he doesn't have a girlfriend at the present time."
• The World Series: "Picked a nice time to go into a slump..."
• Phillies fans: "the Philly fans get more personal with you than those from other cities...It's unbelievable the things they say to you. They must go to Facebook and find out about who you've dated..."
• Buying a home in SoCal: "he likes to entertain large groups of friends..."
• Rock Band and Guitar Hero: "I can do that at home for hours..."

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• BJ Upton had successful surgery on the labrum in his shoulder and expected to be 100% by the time Spring Training rolls around. Joe Smith also reports that it is still not known if Troy Percival will require surgery on his back and/or knee. [The Heater]
• Joe Maddon had to interrupt his honeymoon in Italy to hold a conference call with the media about winning the AL Manager of the Year award...Poor Jaye. [MLB]
  
• Jon Heyman of SI.com has nominated Joe Maddon for Sports Illustrated's "Sportsman of the Year". [SI.com]
  
• Baseball America has released their Rays' "Top 10 Prospects" list. No surprises in the top 5. A little surprised to see two 19 year olds without any experience above short-season (Matt Moore, Nick Barnese), ranked ahead of Jeremy Hellickson. [Baseball America]
• Rise of the Rays has their list of Top 10 prospects (scroll past the Baseball America list). [Rise of the Rays]
  
• Fangraphs review a few of the Rays top minor leaguers from this past season and take a look at who is on the rise, who has fallen and who could breakout in 2009. [Fangraphs]
• Joe Smith has a response from the Cleveland writer that gave the lone first place vote to somebody other than Joe Maddon. [The Heater]
  
• David Chalk at Bugs and Cranks is none-too-happy that Joe Maddon was not a unanimous choice for AL Manager of the Year. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Even a Red Sox site was amazed that Joe Maddon was not a unanimous choice. [Sully Baseball]
  
• The Orioles will have "Baltimore" on their road unis in 2009. That leaves the Rays as one of only five ballclubs that will not have their locality (Tampa Bay) represented on their home or road jerseys. [Big League Stew]
• The Hardball Times takes a look at why pitchers like Chad Bradford are effective as sidearm pitchers. [The Hardball Times]
  

With the 2008 MLB draft tomorrow, the Tampa Bay Rays front office is busy preparing for their third rodeo. Now is a good time to take a look back and gauge the early returns from players selected in last year's draft. We all know about David Price, but what about the rest of the picks.

While analyzing each pick we took a look at the next 10 players picked and how they are performing to see if there are any gems the Rays missed. Once you get past that mark, we start looking at players that many teams missed out on, not just the Rays. One of our biggest draft analysis pet-peeves it to give too much credit to teams that get a superstar in a later round. For example, the New England Patriots are always credited for drafting Tom Brady in the 6th round. That pick should not be used to show their drafting prowess. They got lucky. If they knew how good Brady would turn out to be, they would not have risked waiting until the 6th round to select him.

Without further ado, we present you the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2007 top 10 draft picks recap...

1. David Price, LHP: It took him almost a year to make his professional debut, but so far he is everything the Rays hoped for. In 3 starts he has yet to allow a run and has been touched for only 8 hits and 2 walks in 18 innings. He has struck out 19. Some are beginning to wonder if Price could make a late-season appearance for the Rays. This will only happen if the Rays are in the pennant race and one of Troy Percival, Al Reyes or Dan Wheeler is lost for the rest of the year and there is an obvious need for a 7th or 8th inning pitcher. With his late start to the season, there will still be plenty of bullets left in his arm and the Rays will not have to worry about over-extending him...Player missed: It is hard to argue with Price, but some suggested before the draft that the Rays should take catcher Matt Wieters (4 picks later). Early on, it looks like they would have been justified in that selection also. Weiters is with the O's high-A affiliate and is hitting .324/.420/.566 with 12 home runs. Would Buster Posey even be on the radar this season if the Rays had selected Wieters?
2. Will Kline, RHP: After making 9 starts in '07 and going 0-4 with a 4.97 ERA, Kline was shutdown this spring and will miss the entire '08 season due to an arm injury...Player missed: The Rays deserve a pass on this one as there doesn't appear to be a single legit prospect in the next 10 players selected after Kline. The closest is Brian Rike (6 picks later), a lefty-swinging outfielder in the Rockies organization. In low-A Rike is hitting .274/.392/.487 with 11 home runs and 10 steals.
3. Nick Barnese, RHP: Made 8 starts for Princeton last season going 2-2 with a 3.22 ERA and 37 Ks with only 4 walks in 36.1 innings. He has yet to make his debut in '08. At 19, he will likely be on the opening day roster for Hudson Valley...Player missed: Jonathan Lucroy (6 picks later). We are glad that the Rays passed on Wieters, but Lucroy, another college catcher, might be a mistake. He dominated the rookie league in '07 with a .342/.383/.487 line and he is off to a good start this season, hitting .318/.389/.518 in the SAL with above-average defensive skills.
4. David Newmann, LHP: Newmann did make an appearance in '07 and was shut down in the spring this year with an arm injury that will sideline him all season. Two of the top 4 picks shut down for an entire year already? That's not good...Player missed: Eric Farris (6 picks later). Farris, a second baseman, had a strong rookie campaign, hitting .326/.369/.423 with 21 steals in 63 games, but he has struggled so far in his sophomore season, with a .198/.241/.259 line. Still, like catchers, the Rays have a dearth of second basemen in the system and this one could have been had in the 4th round. Instead the Rays got Bubkis.
CLICK HERE FOR CONTINUE READING...
5. Dustin Biell, OF: Hit .218/.279/.279 and 7 of 12 steals in 49 games for Princeton last year and will likely make his '08 debut with Hudson Valley...Player missed: Jacob Arrieta (4 picks later). Arrieta is a college right-handed pitcher that is already in high-A in the O's organization. This season he is 5-1 with a 2.45 ERA with 72 Ks in 69.2 innings.
6. Emeel Salem, OF: Salem was leading all of professional baseball with 25 steals when he broke his elbow on a slide in May and will now be out for the rest of the season. He was hitting .301/.357/.366 and looks like a legit prospect...Player missed: None
7. Reid Fronk, OF: Fronk had a solid debut in '07 hitting .311/.396/.566 for Hudson Valley. He has struggled a bit early on this season for Columbus in the SAL, hitting .241/.333/.429. He does have 24 extra-base hits and 6 steals...Player missed: Bryan Augenstein (9 picks later). The big (6'5", 225) right-hander out of the University of Florida is overpowering the Midwest League with a 3-1 record and a 2.09 ERA in 11 starts. He has 61 strikeouts and only 9 walks.
8. Matt Moore, LHP: Moore, only 17 when he was drafted, made 8 appearances and 3 starts for Princeton, striking out 29 and walking 16 in 20.1 innings. He posted a 2.66 ERA. He is expected to pitch for Hudson Valley in '08...Player missed: Adrian Alaniz (5 picks later). So far Moore looks legit and he is a lefty, so no fault with this pick but if we were to suggest another player it would be Alaniz. The right-handed college pitcher is already in high-A and pitching well with 49 strikeouts in 53 innings and a 2.72 ERA. He is 7-0 in 10 starts.
9. Cody Cipriano, 2B: Cipriano is struggling in single-A Columbus hitting .194/.296/.361. He is 7-7 in steals and does have 13 walks, but strikes out too much with 26 in 29 games...Player missed: Aaron Brown (10 picks later). Brown is a tall (6'6") righty college relief pitcher that is overpowering the Northwest League. In 37 innings this season he has a 1.95 ERA and 49 strikeouts and only 15 walks.
   
10. Greg Sexton, 3B: Sexton is having a solid if unspectacular season for Columbus hitting .307/.348/.443. He has actually greatly improved his numbers over his pro debut last season in Hudson Valley which is a good sign of adjusting to the wood bats...Player missed: Joe Patterson (9 picks later). Patterson, a lefty relief pitcher, drafted out of college has already advanced to high-A in the Giants organization. He started the year in single-A and struck out 37 in 31.1 innings with a 2.30 ERA and only 13 walks.
    

Tampa Bay Devil Dogs (12 days until pitchers and catchers report)

Please allow myself to introduce...myself. The name is DEVIL RAY GUEVARA. You can call me DRG for short. I will be manning the ship on most weekends from now on and if I behave myself, the Prof says I might be able to post during the week every now and then. So I guess I will be seeing you on the weekends.

I have been involved with RI behind the scenes for a while now. I like to think of myself as the Prof's consigliare. The problem is, The Prof has all these rules that I am supposed to follow. The first post of the day must include a "webtopia", minimize the vulgarity, player names in bold type, don't pick apart every single post written by Marc Topkin and try not to include pictures of Joe Maddon in a thong. Blah, Blah, Blah. Horseshit. I am so sick of Maddon and his Pollyanna-speak, that the next time he praises a relief pitcher after he blows a 4-run lead in the 7th inning, that picture of him in a thong is going up.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Devil Dogs continue their quest to bring back every mediocre catcher in the franchise history. The latest to sign is Josh Paul whom the Rays inked to a minor league deal. Paul played 35 games for the Rays in 2007 posting an OPS+ of 29. Wait...*speaking to copy editor*...29? Is that correct? Isn't 100 an average OPS+? I did not even know it was possible to have an OPS+ that low...Paul joins Mike DiFelice in the battle for the back up catchers position. No word yet on how negotiations are proceeding with John Flaherty...Is it just me, or is anybody else worried about what happens if Dioner Navarro is injured or slumps like he did in the first half of 2007? [TBO.com]
• The Rays also continued their fascination with pitchers that have not pitched since Tommy John surgery by signing left handed pitcher Brian Anderson. Anderson has not pitched since 2005. A starting pitcher most of his career, Anderson is expected to compete for a spot in the Rays bullpen. As scary as it sounds, if Anderson still has a left arm, he may have the best chance right now of being the Rays left-handed specialist out of the 'pen. [TampaBay.com]
• Kevin Gengler rolls on with his profiles of the Rays top prospects. He is up to #16 Nick Barnese and #15 Will Kline. [DRays Bay]
  
• One believes that Akinori Iwamura is the key to the Rays 2008 infield. [365 Days of Dough, Rays and Me]
• The Mets and Johan Santana finally reached an agreement on a contract extension and our own Cork Gaines appears to have been the first to report it on the internet. [MLB Trade Rumors]
  

Scranton 7, Durham 4. After two straight strong outings by Jae Kuk Ryu, he was knocked around in his latest outing. Ryu was pulled after allowing the first two batters of the 5th inning to reach base. He is on a strict 75-pitch limit as he is converted back to being a starting pitcher. Both of those runners would come around to score and making 4 runs total charged to Ryu. He struck out 5 and walked 2. Seth McClung did not allow a hit or walk in his one inning of work, but never comfortable without runners on base, he did hit a batter...Ben Zobrist was 1-3 with his 5th home run. He is hitting .234. Justin Ruggiano was 0-2 with a walk and a sac fly. Wes Bankston was 0-2 with a sac fly. He is hitting .247 on the year. Joel Guzman was 0-4 after homering in two straight games. He is also hitting .247.

Montgomery 4, Mobile 3. Wade Davis made his AA debut last night. In 6.1 innings he struck out 9 and did not walk a batter. He gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits. Davis gave up one run in the first on a single following a passed ball. He would only allow three base runners in the next five innings. In the 7th, he gave up a lead off triple and was pulled after retiring the next batter on a ground ball. He left the game with Montgomery leading 3-1. Nick DeBarr would strike out the first batter he faced, but then surrendered a 2-run home run. Patrick Breen won the game in the bottom of the 9th with a bases loaded sac fly. Reid Brignac was 2-4 with 2 RBI. Evan Longoria was 1-4 and is hitting .289.

Hudson Valley 8, Aberdeen 3.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM...

• Wade Davis' fastball was still in the mid-90s in the 7th inning and topped out at 97 during a 4th inning strikeout.
  
• The Princeton Devil Rays begin their season tonight. The D-Rays roster will include this year's third-round pick Nick Barnese, a high school pitcher and outfielder Dustin Biell, the Rays fifth-round selection. In addition, the roster will feature the sons of two former major leaguers. Pitcher Tyree Hayes is the son of Charlie Hayes and Chris Andujar is the son of Juaquin Andujar.
• On his way out the door Wade Davis picked up his third pitcher-of-the-week award from the FSL.
  
• BJ Upton will likely begin a rehab assignment next week when Vero Beach visits Tampa.