Tidbits: Devil Rays vs Toronto Blue Jays

• Toronto enters this series 1-1 having split two games in Detroit with one game postponed.
• The Rays were 6-12 versus the Jays.
• Tonight’s game is just the 5th sellout in Devil Rays history. Three of the four previous sellouts were home openers (1998, 2004, 2006). The only other sellout was on July 19, 2004 versus the Yankees.
• With a home run tonight, Elijah Dukes would become the first player ever to homer in his first three games.
• Tonight’s starter for the Jays, Gustavo Chacin, was limited to 17 starts in 2006 due to an elbow injury. But that is not nearly as interesting as the fact that he cannot grow hair and the Jays once had “Gustavo Chacin Cologne” night.
• Tomorrow’s starter, Tomo Ohka, was limited to 18 starts in 2006 due to an shoulder injury but has never had a cologne night.
• As of now, tonight’s game is not on Extra Innings.

PROBABLE STARTERS
(* stats are from 2006)
Friday, 7:10 et
Toronto Gustavo Chacin, LHP (*9-4, 5.05)
Devil Rays James Shields, RHP (*6-8, 4.84)

Saturday, 7:10 et
Toronto Tomo Ohka, RHP (*4-5, 4.82)
Devil Rays Casey Fossum, LHP (*6-6, 5.33)

Sunday, 1:40 et
Toronto Roy Halladay, RHP (0-0, 3.00)
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (0-0, 9.00)

Down On The Farm: Big Night For Rays Pitching Prospects

Evan Longoria (left) and Reid Brignac

Syracuse 2, Durham 1. What a night for Rays minor league pitchers… Jason Hammel couldn’t have been much better in his 2007 debut. He pitched 5 hitless innings allowing only 2 base runners on fielding errors. He struck out 5. Tim Corcoran followed with 2 more hitless innings before Chad Orvella and Jeff Ridgway blew the lead in the 8th and 9th. Jorge Cantu tripled and struck out twice, going 1-4 as the Bulls DH. Durham only registered 3 hits.

Montgomery 4, West Tenn 0. Keeping with the theme of opening night on the Farm, Chris Seddon allowed only 1 hit and 1 walk over 7 innings. He struck out 5. Dale Thayer, whom the Rays acquired via trade in the off-season, struck out 2 in the 9th. Thayer holds the Southern League record for most saves in a season. Reid Brignac and Evan Longoria picked up right where they left off in 2006. Both went 2-4 with an RBI and scored 3 runs between them.

St. Lucie 2, Vero Beach 0. The Vero Beach Devil Rays made their debut as the Rays new high-A affiliate with a top prospect on the mound. Jake McGee only lasted three innings despite not allowing a run. He gave up 2 hits and 4 walks. He did strike out 4.

Columbus 6, Kannapolis 1. Another team making their Devil Rays organizational debut is the Columbus Catfish. 2005 first-round pick Wade Townsend returned to live action for the first time since the 2005 Arizona Fall League. He missed all of 2006 after having Tommy John surgery. He gave up 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 in 5 shutout innings.

• Townsend is ready to prove that he is every bit the prospect that former Rice teammates Jeff Niemann and Phillip Humber are.
• We chuckle at THIS title. We are sure that Evan Longoria would like for Montgomery to win a second straight Southern League title, but there is no way he wants to lead them to it. We are pretty sure that Longoria is expecting to at least be at Durham by the end of the year. He hit 6 home runs this spring, to pick up right where he left off last season.

AL East Roundup: How Do You Say ‘Yankees Suck!’ In Japanese?

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
Boston Red Sox	2	1	0	2-1	W2	—
New York Yankees	1	1	0.5	1-1	L1	160
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	1	1	0.5	1-1	W1	160
Toronto Blue Jays	1	1	0.5	1-1	L1	160
Baltimore Orioles	0	3	2.0	0-3	L3	158

Red Sox 4, Royals 1. Some rookie pitcher we never heard of pitched a nice game for the Sox in their final AAA-tune up before the regular season.

Blue Jays vs Tigers. The Jays game last night was postponed due to cold weather. What are they afraid of in Detroit? It’s not like it was snowing as it was last night in New York for the Rays game. Pansies.

• Jonny Damon had an MRI on his sore calf. in his 13 major league seasons, he has never been on the DL.
• Yesterday’s Red Sox game was broadcast live to Japan at 3am and a whole lot of people stayed up.
• File this one under “shocking” news. The Yankees have ties to the mob.
• The Red Sox Jon Lester made his first start of the season at class A, after an developing cancer last year. He is now cancer-free.
• The Blue Jays traded a reliever to the Phillies.
• The Jays have gone nuclear.

The Hangover: Devil Rays Earn Split With Yankees

• The Rays earned a sweep against the Yankees with a 7-6 win on a snowy night in the Bronx. One of the Yankee announcers last night mentioned that the Rays were beating the Yankees at their own game. We think it was the other way around. New York committed 3 errors, had 3 wild pitches, 1 passed ball and blew an early lead. The Yankees lost to the Rays at their own game. Elijah Dukes hit a home run that might have killed somebody in the left field seats. It might have been the single hardest hit home run we have ever seen. Jae Seo gave up 11 hits but only walked 1 and did a good job of working into the 7th inning despite not having his best stuff. And we saw a rare site last night. The Rays had a 1-run lead in the 9th and a pitcher (Al Reyes) came on for a 1-2-3 inning to close it out. We are contacting Cooperstown now. They will want his glove. Joe Maddon argued a call for the second straight game, matching his entire 2006 total.
• The cold weather kept Rocco Baldelli and Dioner Navarro out of the lineup. Jonny Gomes made his first appearance of the season at DH and Josh Paul was behind the plate.
• Today is the home opener and the Trop will debut its signature hot dog, the “Sting ‘Em Dog”. Umm…ok?
• In more important news, the home opener is a sell out.
• Stuart Sternberg is still hoping that today will be the first of 50 home wins this season. Does he realize that only four teams accomplished that feat last season? In the same piece we learn that Carl Crawford will be the Ray to wear #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson on April 15.

AL East Roundup: Japanese Media To Invade Kansas City

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
New York Yankees	1	0	0	1-0	W1	—
Toronto Blue Jays	1	1	0.5	1-1	L1	161
Boston Red Sox	1	1	0.5	1-1	W1	161
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	0	1	1.0	0-1	L1	161
Baltimore Orioles	0	3	2.0	0-3	L3	159

Twins 7, O’s 2. The Twins completed a season opening 3-game sweep of the Orioles. Rays fans everywhere are rejoicing as 4th place in 2007 could be a reality. Making his first start for Baltimore, after two seasons with the Yankees, Jaret Wright gave up 4 hits and 5 walks in 2+ innings.

Red Sox 7, Royals 1. The Sox dominated from the start, scoring 3 in the first, making sure that all Royals fans know their place in the universe. Josh Beckett struggled with his control, walking 4, but only gave up 2 hits in 5 innings of work. The Shaggy God of OBP Kevin Youkalis homered for Boston.

Tigers 10, Jays 9. The Jays scored 7 in the 8th, but still fell 1 run short. AJ Burnett pitched like Nuke LaLoosh screws….kinda, all over the place. He gave up 5 hits, 4 walks and 6 runs in 2 innings. Victor Zambrano was up to his old tricks in his first appearance for the Jays. He walked 3 in 1 inning. ‘Bout right.

• Daisuke Matsuzaka will make his major league debut today against the Royals. The Royals? It’s always nice to have a tune up for the real games.
• Baseball Musings says that the Red Sox should be worried about their rotation. We say they might not be yet, but if Dice-K struggles tonight. The Pink Hat Nation will start to panic.
• At 0-3, is it too early to panic in Baltimore? Maybe not, but they are having serious doubts. Did they really expect Jaret Wright to be a difference maker?
• Jays manager John Gibbons may not have a lot of job security this season.
• Apparently Canadians have the sense of humor of a fungoe. A commercial featuring Frank Thomas had to be removed from Canadian broadcasts because it depicts the Big Hurt hitting one of his children with a pillow, with exaggerated effects.
• Sports in Toronto has come a long ways since the Blue Jays came on board in 1977.

The Hangover: Is Bob Gibson’s Arm Available?

• Game 2 of the 2007 season was rained out yesterday. No makeup date has been scheduled.
• If the game had been played, Jonny Damon would not have been in the lineup. He is suffering from a sore calf, which caused him to be removed from Monday’s opener. In fact, now it looks like he is headed for the DL.
• Four of the Rays minor league affiliates will start today. The starting pitchers are scheduled to be: Jason Hammel (Durham), Chris Seddon (Montgomery), Jake McGee (Vero Beach), Wade Townsend (Columbus). Hammel will be followed at Durham by JP Howell, Jeff Niemann, Andy Sonnanstine and Mitch Talbot.
• The rain-out pushes the rotation back a day which is already on an extra day of rest due to the off-day Tuesday. To compensate, Scott Kazmir will pitch ahead of Edwin Jackson on Sunday, with Jackson going Monday against the Rangers.
• Jorge Cantu’s agent reiterated that the former team MVP has not changed his position and he still wants to be traded.
• Expect the Rays to be even more aggressive on the base paths this season, with as many as four players swiping 25 or more bases. The Rays had three on opening day.
• According to Buster Olney, manager Joe Maddon is giving a Bob Gibson tape to Edwin Jackson, hoping that it will light a competitive fire in the young prospect.
• The state house might have just helped the Rays sign a new middle reliever, by granting the team a $2 million per year tax break.
• Here is your chance to vote for Devil Rays to make it to Cooperstown. Might be their only chance.

AL East Roundup

AL EAST	W	L	GB	L10	STK	E#
New York Yankees	1	0	0	1-0	W1	—
Toronto Blue Jays	1	0	0	1-0	W1	—
Boston Red Sox	0	1	1.0	0-1	L1	161
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	0	1	1.0	0-1	L1	161
Baltimore Orioles	0	2	1.5	0-2	L2	160

Twins 3, Orioles 2. The O’s dropped their second straight in Minnesota. One day after being bested by a Johan Santana, with less than his best stuff, Baltimore blew an early 2-0 lead and fell to a guy named Boof. Former Devil Ray Aubrey Huff had two hits for the second straight game and his second RBI.

• Bernie Williams called manager Joe Torre and several of his teammates before the opening day match up with the Rays. Bernie insists that he is not retired but that he would not play for any team other than the Yankees in 2007. Williams declined a minor league contract offer from the Yankees before the season began.
• The Red Sox send Josh Beckett to the mound against the Royals. Beckett won 16 in his first season with the Sox, but was considered a disappointment with 5.01 ERA. The Sox and Curt Schilling dropped the opener to Kansas City.
• Toronto will go with AJ Burnett as they try to take two straight in Detroit. Burnett won 10 games in his first season in Toronto, but missed two months.

The Hangover: Jorge Cantu’s Days As A Second Baseman Appear Over

• It is cold and rainy here in New York. We will see if we get this game off in time.
• It is still to be determined if Jorge Cantu will ever play for the Rays again, but we can be fairly certain that he will never play second base for the Rays again. When Cantu reports to Durham, he is expected to primarily play DH. Also, Cantu was scheduled to be arbitration eligible at the end of the season. Depending on how long he is in the minors this season, he may lose that eligibility until after the 2008 season.
• It’s not a good sign when the team’s just hopes the #2 starter will keep them in games. A good team would only say that about their #5 and possibly #4 starters.
• Apparently the Tampa Bay Business Journal decided they needed a poll to show that Devil Rays attendance will increase if the team wins more games. TBBJ calls it the “Business Pulse Survey”. We call it the “No Shit Sherlock Survey”. That was money and time well spent.
• Brendan Roberts of the Sporting News is a closet Devil Rays fan.
  
• The Hardball Times looks at Scott Kazmir and other good young lefties.
  
• There was more than one April Fool’s Day posts involving the Devil Rays, including one that said Carl Crawford was traded to the Braves, and had us do a double-take in our half asleep hangover state. However, that was not as entertaining as THIS one. We laugh because it is funny…we laugh because it is true.
• 2004 18th round pick Jimmy Scholzen, a short stop, has reported to his first minor league camp 2 years after signing a contract with the Devil Rays. The Rays allowed Scholzen to complete his two year Mormon mission despite signing a professional contract.
  

Exactly How Bad Have The Devil Rays Been?

The Devil Rays are entering their 10th season and the first 9 haven’t been too good. Those 9 seasons included 8 last past finishes, only one season of 70+ wins, and of course, ZERO playoff appearances. The Rays are considered the most inept franchise in baseball, but how bad have they really been? Expansion franchises are not supposed to win right away. It takes time. However, in the modern era of free agency, the Rays contemporary expansion brethren have enjoyed periods of success. Since 1993, the Devil Rays are one of four expansion teams. The Colorado Rockies were a wild card team in just their third season. The Florida Marlins have already won more titles (2) than the Red Sox have won (1) in the last 88 years. The Diamondbacks have three playoff appearances and one title. Historically, those moments of success are the exception to the rule and all three of those franchises paid heavy prices after their early success.

So where does the failure of the Tampa Bay franchise rank in the history of baseball. Let’s compare the Devil Rays to the other franchises in Major League Baseball.

First let’s look at all modern era expansion franchises and compare how long it took to reach .500…

FRANCHISE	FIRST SEASON	YEARS UNTIL .500
Seattle Mariners	1977	15
Houston Astros	1962	11
Washington Nationals	1969	11
San Diego Padres	1969	10
Milwaukee Brewers	1969	10
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	1998	10*
Texas Rangers	1961	9
New York Mets	1962	8
Toronto Blue Jays	1977	7
Florida Marlins	1993	5
Kansas City Royals	1969	3
Colorado Rockies	1993	3
Los Angeles Angels	1961	2
Arizona D-Backs	1998	2
*The D-Rays have never been .500

The Rays will match Houston and Montreal/Washington if they don’t finish .500 or better this season. However, they have a ways to go before catching Seattle. Still, not so good when the team is about to be tied with the second longest streak.

Now let’s look at all modern era expansion franchises and compare how long it took to reach the playoffs…

FRANCHISE	FIRST SEASON	YEARS UNTIL PLAYOFFS
Texas Rangers	1961	36
Seattle Mariners	1977	19
Houston Astros	1962	19
Los Angeles Angels	1961	19
San Diego Padres	1969	16
Washington Nationals	1969	13
Milwaukee Brewers	1969	13
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	1998	10*
Toronto Blue Jays	1977	9
New York Mets	1962	8
Kansas City Royals	1969	8
Florida Marlins	1993	5
Colorado Rockies	1993	3
Arizona D-Backs	1998	2
*The D-Rays have never been in the playoffs

This is a bit of a skewed list. With six divisions and wild cards, it is easier to reach the playoffs in this era. Still…36 years? Those poor Rangers fans. And Seattle’s streak of 19 was fairly recent. The Rays are not likely to move to far up this list.

Now let’s look at the franchises that have the longest current streaks of losing seasons…

FRANCHISE	FIRST SEASON	YEARS SINCE .500
Milwaukee Brewers	1969	15
Pittsburgh Pirates	1882	15
Baltimore Orioles	1901	10
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	1998	9*
Colorado Rockies	1993	7
Cincinnati Reds	1882	7
Washington Nationals	1969	4
Kansas City Royals	1969	4
Arizona D-Backs	1998	4
*The D-Rays have never been .500

The Rays don’t even have the worst streak in their own division. Pittsburgh and Milwaukee are both much improved this year and some predict one or both will end their streaks this season.

Now let’s look at the franchises that have the longest current streaks of failing to reach the playoffs…

FRANCHISE	FIRST SEASON	YEARS SINCE PLAYOFFS
Washington Nationals	1969	26
Milwaukee Brewers	1969	25
Kansas City Royals	1969	22
Pittsburgh Pirates	1882	15
Toronto Blue Jays	1977	14
Philadelphia Phillies	1883	14
Colorado Rockies	1993	12
Cincinnati Reds	1882	12
Baltimore Orioles	1901	10
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	1998	9*
*The D-Rays have never been in the playoffs

Again, the Rays are not even the worst in their own division. The orioles should be ashamed of themselves. They are a big market/high payroll team. The Phillies and Toronto are also teams with big payrolls that haven’t sniffed the playoffs in a long time.

The Rays have been bad, but we are willing to bet it won’t take 15 years to reach .500 or 36 years before they reach the playoffs. And there are currently other inept franchises that have been bad longer than the Rays.

The Hangover: These Are The Rays Of Our Lives

• The Rays fell to the Yankees on opening day 9-5. The loss reminded us an awful lot of 2006. Scott Kazmir looked good at times, but threw way too many pitches and couldn’t get an out in 6th inning, forcing Joe Maddon to turn to his bullpen much earlier than he would have liked. And the bullpen was, well, they were the Rays bullpen. Three of the four relievers used by Papa Joe surrendered at least one run. Also, can somebody explain to us why Rocco Baldelli is stealing bases when he is not healthy enough to play the field. BJ Upton looked good, picking up two hits.
• Akinori Iwamura struggled out of the gate in the spring, but did not let that happen in the regular season, picking up his first big league hit on opening day.
• Elijah Dukes was the one player we were most excited to see play yesterday and he did not disappoint with a big day.
  
• Jorge Cantu will report to the Durham Bulls after all. We mentioned this during our live blog yesterday, but we will say it again. If Cantu is not a minor league player, then shut up, go down there and prove it.
• Josh Hamilton made his major league debut for the Cincinnati Reds yesterday afternoon. He lined out to left field as a pinch hitter in the 8th, but received a 5 minute standing ovation from the fans. Welcome to the show Josh. It’s good to see you.
• Surprise, surprise, the Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball and the Rays have the lowest. The Red Sox have closed the gap with the Yankees and that does not include the posting fee for Dice-K. I guess we will start calling them Evil Empire, Jr.