Delmon Young And Elijah Dukes…Meet Kevin Witt

Kevin Witt needs to be in a Devil Rays uniform now

Much has been made of the USA Today article that appeared late last month in which B. J. Upton, Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes were quoted about their displeasure with the Devil Rays front office and the organization as a whole. While many in the local media and the Rays’ front office blasted the quotes, Kevin Witt has decided to take a different approach to responding to the article. At the time we were highly critical of the local media coverage and the reaction of the Devil Rays’ front office to the article. While we thought the team and the local media overreacted to the article and the quotes (B. J. Upton never once says anything negative towards the team) there were some things said that should not have been said.

Enter Kevin Witt…Witt is in his first season in the Devil Rays organization, his seventh organization in 13 professional seasons. His eighth organization if you include his stint in Japan last season. This year Witt is hitting .292-33-92 and leads the International League in home runs by a considerable margin. At 30 years old, Witt is much older than most of his Durham Bulls teammates and is considerably older than the three super-prospects that were quoted in the article. With his age and experience comes a level of maturity that appears to be lacking in one or more of his more highly-touted teammates.

In response to what was said by Upton, Young and Dukes, Witt decided to speak out and write a letter to the editor of USA Today to defend the rest of his teammates, the Durham Bulls and the Devil Rays organization. In particular, Witt seems to take issue with the comments of Dukes, who left an impression that the conditions in Durham were subpar and the management of the Bulls were unprofessional. Witt wanted to make it very clear that none of that was true.

Having played for 14 different teams since my professional career began in 1994, I can say without question that the Durham Bulls management is extremely professional and the ballpark we play in is second to none…The facility is kept in outstanding shape and the clubhouse staff works very hard to ensure that players continue to spread the good word about Durham.—Kevin Witt

Since the original article first appeared, two of the three prospects are no longer with the Bulls. Upton has been promoted to play third base for the Rays and Dukes has been suspended by the organization for 30 days as a result of his latest league suspension. No doubt, his quotes in the USA Today were a factor in the decision to suspend Dukes. Young remains with the Bulls and continues to display the talents that gave him the recognition in the Spring as the top prospect in baseball by Baseball America.

It would not be surprising to see Delmon wearing a D-Rays uniform in the very near future. Even if his age and arrogance gets the better of him from time to time, he appears to be ready for the Majors. And while many fans are pushing for Delmon Young to be promoted to the majors before the end of the season, we hope that Kevin Witt gets the call also. While a winning team needs players like Upton and Young to be competitive, good teams also need players like Kevin Witt. Teams need a player that can contribute at the major league level, but can also contribute in the clubhouse. A good player and a good guy…The team needs Kevin Witt, but more importantly…the fans need Kevin Witt.

We are rooting hard for Kevin Witt to be promoted. And if he does, we will root even harder for him to succeed. And while we are sure the loss of Kevin Witt will be bittersweet for Durham Bulls fans, it is about time that fans of the Devil Rays get to see something that the fans in Durham already know.

Here is a local Durham news broadcast covering the Letter that Witt wrote to USA Today.

Three don’t speak for the team. [USA Today]
D-Rays kids set for major promotions. [USA Today]
The Irresponsible Reporting Of The Tampa Tribune And The St. Pete Times. [Rays Index]

The Hangover: And The Hits Losses Just Keep Onnnn Comin’

Toronto 4, D-Rays 3. Seven losses in a row…9-24 in last 31 games…Luckily there is hope of stil catching the Horioles as they stink almost as much as the Rays do. Last night? Same crap, different day…On the surface Jae Seo looked good only allowing 2 runs in 7 innings, but he was lucky he only gave up 2 runs. He gave allowed 10 hits and 2 walks and was helped out by a pair of double plays. Offensively? B. J. Upton batted lead off again and went 1-4 with a run scored. Carl Crawford and Greg Norton each provided 2 hits, including a 2-run home run by Norton in the first that gave the Rays an early lead. But once again the Rays let an early lead slip away. Still bullpen help is on the way as the RAys have swapped out one ‘Chad’ for another ‘Chad’. Chad Harville has been Designated For Assignment, and Chad Orvella has been recalled from Durham. Orvella struggled earlier this season with the Rays but has been lights-out at Durham. In 27 appearances he struck out 55 in 38.2 innings with a 1.86 ERA.

A Look At The Future: Yesterday On The Farm

Toledo 8, Durham 6. Kevin Witt just keeps on doing what he has been doing. Yesterday he went 2-3 and hit his 35th home run, a 2-run shot in the 3rd inning. More interestingly, Joel Guzman played his fist game at third base. This is particularly interesting bacause it may mean that the team still has hopes that B. J. Upton can play shortstop down the road. The move of Guzman to third followed the Rays’ release of Sean Burroughs. Earlier this season, Burroughs had been designated for assignment only to be demoted to Durham and placed on the disabled list. Since his return from the DL, he has been inconsistent and the team finally decided to cut their losses and let him loose. Earlier it was reported that Delmon Young could be heading to the Devil Rays any day, but apparently it is not happening yet as he was in his usual #3 spot of the order and went 2-4 with a double. Wes Bankston added 2 doubles in 5 at bats but also struck out 3 times. But…amidst all the good hitting was another hideous performance by Doug Waechter. He gave up 10 hits, 2 walks and 7 runs in 5.1 innings. We didn’t think it possible, but Waechter has been worse in Durham that he was in Tampa.

The Biscuits were rained out and since the promotion of Brignac and Longoria, there are only a handful of uber-prospects to be concerned about at the lower levels. We will still keep on eye on them and let you know if they do anything great (or horrific).

D-Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays Tidbits

• The Jays enter tonight’s game at 63-55, 7.5 games behind the Yankees. They had won 4 in a row and 6 of 7 before losing the final game of the Twins series. Toronto fans would tell you they are still alive, but we are telling you right now…They are D-O-N-E, Done.
• The Rays are coming off two straight sweeps on the west coast. Those were the 5th and 6th times this season that they have been swept (all on the road) including 4 since the All-Star break.
• Toronto leads the season series 7 games to 5 and are 4-2 at The Trop.
• The Rays are last in the majors in batting average (.241) and OBP (.302). Then consider that the opponents batting average is highest in the majors (.313). Which leads us to ask…How in the heck do the Rays have a better record than Kansas City and Pittsburgh?
• For good measure, the Blue Jays have the highest batting average in the majors (.287). That’s a recipe for disaster.
• Tonight’s starter for the Jays, Roy Halladay is tied for the major league lead in wins. This is the first time he has pitched this late in the season since 2003, and he may be starting to tire. He has an ERA of 5.40 in two August starts.

Probable Pitchers
Tuesday, 7:15 et
Toronto Roy Halladay, RHP (14-3, 3.23)
Devil Rays Jae Seo, RHP (3-9, 5.23)

Wednesday, 7:15 et
Toronto Ted Lilly, LHP (10-10, 4.01)
Devil Rays James Shields, RHP (4-6, 4.99)

Thursday, 7:15 et
Toronto A. J. Burnett, RHP (4-5, 4.46)
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (10-8, 3.43)

People Are Starting To Notice Evan Longoria

In the mot recent edition of Baseball America’s Prospect Hot Sheet, Evan Longoria was recognized as the hottest prospect in baseball. This is not a ranking of the top prospects but rather a list of the players that are playing really well recently. Longoria was recognized for hitting .378-4-12 in 9 games since his promotion to AA. Overall, he is .356-16-51 in 45 professional games.

At the beginning of the season, Baseball America ranked the Top 100 minor league prospects and the Devil Rays’ Delmon Young was at the top of the list as the #1 prospect. In fact, the Rays had three players on that list with 2004 top pick Jeff Niemann ranked #70 and Jason Hammel at #79 (B. J. Upton was not eligible for the list). Well, several players have stepped up and have a good chance of joining that group on the list in 2007, including Reid Brignac, Wade Davis and Jacob McGee. In fact there is a good chance that the Devil Rays will have more than one prospect in the Top 10. It is not impossible to imagine that Longoria will be a Top 10 prospect in 2007 along with Young.

Prospect Hot Sheet. [Baseball America]
2006 Top 100 Prospects [Baseball America]

A Look At The Future: Yesterday On The Farm

Durham 4, Louisville 3. The Bulls scored all their runs on 3 home runs, with 1 each by Delmon Young, Kevin Witt, and Wes Bankston. Young’s was his 7th, all since returning from his 50-game suspension. He is now hitting .328 on the season. Witt’s home run was his 34th, a solo shot in the 6th inning. Bankston’s was his 2nd since joining the Bulls.

Delmon Young To Be Called Up This Week?

MLB Rumors Clearinghouse is reporting that Delmon Young could be called up as soon as tomorrow. Acording to the report, Young was informed by team officials to get “his affairs in order”, that a call-up was imminent. It would not surprise us if Jonny Gomes is headed to the DL.

There is no source for this report, but MLB Rumors Clearinghouse has been on the button before.

Delmon Young en route, Jonny Gomes to pay fare. [MLB Rumors Clearinghouse]

Devil Rays News And Notes

• Much has been made of the crowded outfield situation that the Devil Rays appeared to have at the beginning of the season. With Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli signed to long-term contracts, there is only one position that will be available done the line. Delmon Young is slated to be the third outfielder in due time, however, that left everyone wondering what would come of Elijah Dukes and Joey Gathright. Since the season started, Gathright has been traded to Kansas City and Dukes is on yet another suspension and his future with the organization is cloudy at best. Now a new logjam is on the horizon for the Devil Rays…A crowded infield. Since the beginning of the season, the Rays have drafted Evan Longoria, who is tearing up the minor leagues. They have traded for Ben Zobrist, who is now the starting shortstop with the rays and they have acquired Joel Guzman a converted shortstop playing the outfield, that the team will likely move to first or third base in the off-season. Those three are added to an infield situation that already has Jorge Cantu at second base who has a 100-RBI season in the majors already, B.J. Upton, who is now starting for the Rays at third base, The Cajun God of Baseball, Reid Brignac, who was recently promoted to AA after tearing up the high-A California League, Elliot Johnson who is having a very strong all-around season in AA, and Wes Bankston who was recently promoted to Durham, but is yet to really play to his talent level. Well, Jim Callis of Baseball America recently addressed this issue and gave his take on how the situation could play out in the next couple of years. In summary, he sees Upton at third, Brignac at short, Longoria at second and Guzman at first base. [Baseball America]
• Not the most ringing of endorsements for Wade Davis who is considered one of the Rays better pitching prospects. In defense of Davis, this scout’s take was written before his most recent start on Saturday when he appeared back to his old self, when he struck out 10 and walked none in 6 innings and allowed only 1 run. [SI.com]
• Hey! At least we are better than the Royals and the Pirates. [ESPN Power Rankings]
• Josh Hamilton did have surgery on his knee after a visit to Dr. James Andrews. Luckily the surgery was arthroscopic and his recovery time should be short. The rehab is expected to take 4-6 weeks, but Hamilton will not rush it, so he may not play again this season. This was Hamilton’s seventh surgery since being drafted. [The News and Observer]
• The Devil Rays appear set to move to Charlotte County in 2009 to play in the former Spring Training home of the Texas Rangers. [Sun Herald]
• We’ve been sitting on this item for a while now and really didn’t think it was very news worthy but we will throw it in here in case you had not heard about it. After the trade deadline on July 31, teams can still trade any player on their 40-man roster to another team as long as a team with a worse record doesn’t claim that player on waivers. So far a couple of those trades have happened. One of those sent Javy Lopez to the Red Sox for a minor leaguer. Well, the Devil Rays, who are apparently upset that the Red Sox talked to Julio Lugo’s agent without their permission, put in a claim on the minor league player that the Orioles were set to receive, outfielder Adam Stern. Therefore the Red Sox had to pull Stern back from waivers, or else they would lose Stern to the Rays for nothing. The claim by the Rays is mostly symbolic and only a mild annoyance to the teams involved. Instead of giving Stern to the O’s now, the Red Sox will give the O’s a “player to be named later.” After the season, players no longer have to clear waivers, so the Red Sox will just wait until the season ends to send Stern to the O’s, to fulfill the trade. [MLB Trade Rumors]

The Hangover: The Rays Are Swept By Oakland

Oakland 3, D-Rays 1. Estaban Loaiza…Estaban Loaiza *shaking head*…The Devil Rays offense has been bad this year. They have been especially bad in the second half. On Sunday the Rays offense hit their low point of the season, when they could only manage 3 hits in 8 innings off of Estaban Friggin’ Loaiza. A real major league team should be able to get 7 hits off Loaiza while blindfolded and one arm tied behind their collective backs. In 12 major league seasons, Loaiza has only won more than 12 games once. We are not sure how he has managed to turn an arm full of potential and one 20-win season with the White Sox into what will undoubtedly be a 15-year major league career. But this much is certain…Estaban Loaiza is a terrible major league pitcher and somehow the D-Rays made him look like Sandy Koufax yesterday. B. J. Upton led the way, both literally and figuratively. Upton batted lead off for the first time this season. In his first at bat, he was robbed of a base hit on a diving catch by Elijah Dukes Sr. (Milton Bradley). He then proceeded to strikeout during his next 3 plate appearances. Tim Cocoran was cruising until he ran into trouble in the 7th inning that cost himself a chance at a victory. Corky had allowed only a 5th inning single to Eric Chavez in the first 6 innings. In the 7th after retiring the first batter, he gave up a single and then a 2-run home run to Chavez, and the lead and the game was gone.

So the Rays have now been swept by Oakland, after being swept by Seattle and are 8-21 since the All-Star break with no hope in sight.

A Look At The Future: Yesterday On The Farm

Evan Longoria goes deep twice

Louisville 8, Durham 5. Catcher Shawn Riggans went 3-5 with a double and an RBI and Wes Bankston went 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI. Joel Guzman was hitless in 3 at bats and Delmon Young went 1-4 with 2 runs scored. Chris Seddon gave up 6 runs in 6.1 innings.

Montgomery 4, Mobile 0. The Dirt Bag is the real deal. We thought it was a good sign when he dominated in the New York-Penn league for a week. Then we started to get excited when he dominated the California League. We were still a bit hesitant considering everybody hits well in the CL. But now…Oh boy! We are starting to get down-right giddy. Evan Longoria hit 2 home runs last night for the Biscuits. He now has 4 home runs in 9 games since being promoted to AA, and 14 in 44 games as a pro. He is 14-37 (.378) in 9 AA games. The Dirt Bag can hit…he can just flat out hit. Mitch Talbot struck out 7 and allowed 4 hits in 7 shut out innings. He did manage to work around 5 walks.

Modesto 15, Visalia 5.

Dayton 10, SW Michigan 3. Michael Wlodarczyk continues the struggling ways of the Big 3 pitching prospects of the D-Rays. Last night he gave up 8 runs on 12 hits in just 5 innings of work.

Lowell 2, Hudson Valley 0. The Renegades were no-hit in a combined effort of 2 pitchers. Hudson Valley managed only 3 baserunner all night, a walk and 2 hit batsmen.

Danville 7, Princeton 6. Chris Andujar, son of former big leaguer Jaoquin, gave up 3 runs, on 7 hits in 5 innings.