Joe Maddon Is Too Good For The Rays

If you were looking for an expert to evaluate the managers in baseball, who is the first source you would turn to? Maxim magazine of course! Maxim has released their list of “The Crappiest Baseball Managers” and the Rays own Joe Maddon comes in at #6.

Everybody loves ol’ Joe, and nobody questions that he walked into a situation only slightly less calamitously awful than the Middle East. But jeez, the D-Rays seem actually to have become more anarchic under his watch. B.J. Upton may finally be realizing his potential, but he and his fellow 2009[sic] supadupastars fail to hit the cutoff man, run out ground balls, or tuck in their shirts. There’s less organizational order here than in most communes, and the only place to point the finger for that is at the manager.

Of course we prefer to think of Papa Joe as the 25th best manager in baseball and considering the Rays were only the 30th best team in baseball for the second straight year, Maddon is clearly managing above his team. No wonder the Rays picked up the 2-year option on his contract.

The Crappiest Baseball Managers [Maxim]

THE HANGOVERStop The Friggin Presses! Curt Schilling Will Not Pitch For The Rays In 2008!

Team USA 10 , Mesa 2.
Evan Longoria did not start, but he did pinch hit in the 5th and played third base, going 1-2 with a single and a walk. Justin Ruggiano started in left and went 1-4. Ruggiano also stole a base.
Peo Javelinas 4, Scottsdale 3.
Reid Brignac went 0-5…again. John Jaso was 1-4 with a strikeout.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• This shouldn’t even be newsworthy so we won’t bother to give it its own post. Curt Schilling did not list the Devil Rays among the teams he would consider playing for in 2008. And seeing how he pitched the last month of the season and the playoffs, no team should want him, unless he is strictly a post-season starter. When he needs to, he can still get by on guts, but no pitcher can keep that up over the course of an entire season. And don’t give us this crap about how great he would be for the young pitching staff. If that was the case, why spend $8-12 million for one season on an over-the-hill pitcher, when you could just hire somebody like Orel Hershiser or another recently retired, above-average, starting pitcher to be the pitching coach for a whole lot less. Of course, the best part of this, is we no longer have to read about the “possibility” of Schilling pitching for the Rays in 2008. And by “possibility” we mean “There was never a chance in hell”. [tampabay.com]
• Backup catcher Josh Paul filed for free agency. That leaves the Rays with starter Dioner Navarro and Shawn Riggans who saw limited action at the major league level in 2007 before succumbing to injury. Most managers prefer at least one veteran catcher, even more so with a young pitching staff. Look for the Rays to make an attempt to resign Paul or pursue another veteran free agent catcher this off-season. [tampabay.com]
• We weren’t the only ones that loathed the idea of another championship for the Red Sox. Raymond did not take it to well either. But on brighter news, Raymond is going to get a makeover to coincide with the new Rays logo and colors. [The Big Blue Blog]
• What are the chances of the Rays winning the World Series in 2008? Apparently the same as Dennis Kucinich becoming President in 2008. So you’re telling me there’s a chance! [A Large Regular]

The Hangover: The Rays Claim Kurt Birkins From Orioles

Scottsdale 8, Team USA 6.
Reid Brignac continues to struggle in the AFL. Against Team USA, Brignac went 1-5 with a strikeout and is now hitting .193. Evan Longoria played third and hit clean-up for Team USA, going 1-5 with a run scored. He is now 3-12 with 3 singles in 3 games with Team USA. Justin Ruggiano went 0-2 for Team USA playing left field and batting sixth.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Rays claimed another player off waivers. This time it was pitcher Kurt Birkins from the Orioles. To make room on the roster, they DFA’d Raul Cassanova. There is a good chance that Cassanova will be retained by the club once he clears waivers. [tampabay.com]
  
• Everybody wants Carl Crawford on their team…until they realize what it will cost to get him there. This time it is the Cubs. Listen Cubs fans…it will take 1) Pitching; 2) Major League Pitching; 3) A young stud Major League Starter; 4) And then throw in a prospect or two. And honestly, we do not see any players on the Cubs roster that fits the criteria. Good luck with the Torii Hunter negotiations. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Bugs & Cranks has more YouTube footage of Elijah Dukes in the Dominican Winter League in their latest installment of “The Redemption of Elijah Dukes”. [Bugs & Cranks]
• Martin Fennelly compares the Rays to the Ugly Duckling now that they are the only franchise that has never made a postseason appearance and they are the only one of the last four expansion teams to not make it to the World Series. [TBO]
• The Austin American-Statesman takes a look at the only four teams never to reach the world series and wonders which one of “The Final Four of Bad Baseball Teams” will be the first to break the drought. They compare the Devil Rays to the Mets of the late 60’s. [Austin American-Statesman]
• The Rays front office released a statement indicating that Jim Hickey will remain with the club as the team’s pitching coach. [TBO]
• Rotoworld ranks the Devil Rays as the 21st most likely destination for Alex Rodriguez. [Rotoworld]

It’d be something if the Rays could upstage Tampa’s other team by bringing in Rodriguez, but there’s been nothing to suggest they’d be willing to double their payroll.

The Rays Pitching Staff Just Got A Little Better

Alex Rodriguez is so awesome he just improved the Tampa Bay Devil Rays pitching staff.

Rodriguez will opt out of the final three years of his contract with the New York Yankees which most likely ended his tenure in pinstripes.

How does this improve the Devil Rays pitching staff? The 2008 pitching staff will now have as many as 19 fewer games in which they will have to face Alex Rodriguez. If Rodriguez moves to the NL and the Rays do not face his new team in interleague competition, that will mark 70-80 fewer plate appearances against the best hitter in baseball.

In 2007 Alex Rodriguez posted a VORP of 96 which translates to 0.60 runs per game of production over a replacement-level player. In 19 games, that would translate to 11.5 runs of production more than a replacement-level player. Of course, the Yankees will certainly look to fill the position with a player that is better than “replacement-level”.

Two possibilities are free agent third basemen Mike Lamb and Mike Lowell. Lowell had a VORP of 46.2 which would translate to 5.9 runs over a replacement-level player. Lamb had a 2007 VORP of 16.1, or 3.8 runs of production. Therefore with Alex Rodriguez’ career in pinstripes likely over, his absence alone would mean the Yankees would score between 5.6 and 7.7 fewer runs against the Rays in 2008.

Another way to look at it is at the overly-simplified Runs Created (RC; R+RBI-HR) and compare the numbers of Rodriguez in 2007 against only the Rays and the RC value of Mike Lowell. In 2007 Rodriguez was directly responsible for 34 runs against the Rays (72 plate appearances). Lowell created 26 runs in 2007 against the Rays in a similar number of plate appearances (74). Obviously, this is hardly scientific, but if the Yankees employed Lowell instead of Rodriguez in 2007 (arguably the best possible 2008 replacement) the Yankees would have scored 8 fewer runs against the Devil Rays.

This is all just a complicated way of stating the obvious. With Alex Rodriguez opting out of his contract with the Yankees, the Devil Rays pitching staff just got a little better. And let’s face it…they need all the help they can get.

Bye-bye, A-Rod: Rodriguez ends contract with New York Yankees [Yahoo! Sports]

The Hangover: Elijah Dukes Is Back On The Diamond

Devil Rays (66-96)
Don’t look now but Elijah Dukes is playing baseball and hitting home runs.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Evan Longoria and Justin Ruggiano have begun play with Team USA. Before heading to the World Cup in Chinese Taipei, Team USA is playing warm-up games against the rest of the Arizona Fall League. Longoria batted 3rd and played 3rd and went 1-3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts in the first game. Ruggiano was 1-4 with an RBI. In the 2nd game, Longoria DH’d and hit clean-up going 1-4 with an RBI and 2 strike outs. Ruggiano was 0-3 with a walk.
• Evan Longoria and Reid Brignac in the Arizona Fall League are not the only big name Devil Rays playing baseball right now. In the Dominican Winter League, Elijah Dukes is trying to put his troubled past behind him and trying once again to show why he is considered one of the most talented prospects in baseball. He is off to a hot start. Before Sunday’s game, he was 8-21 with 5 extra-base hits and 4 walks. [Rotoworld]
• Bugs & Cranks is rooting for Elijah Dukes and reviews his first week in the Dominican Winter League. [Bugs & Cranks]
• In their second installment of “The Redemption of Elijah Dukes”, Bugs & Cranks provides us with the above video as well as a second video of an RBI single by Elijah Dukes. [Bugs & Cranks]
• John Romano compares the Colorado Rockies path to success to the path that the Devil Rays are currently on. Yes, there are a lot of similarities, but the notion that the Rockies invented the idea of building a successful low payroll team through drafting and developing young talent is a stretch. Yes, they are team du jour but plenty of teams have used this method long before the Rockies employed it and several of those teams have enjoyed the same level of success. That is, playoffs. No titles. [tampabay.com]
• We are not sure why Marc Topkin feels the need to compare that Rays to the success of other “low-payroll” teams. Those teams (Cleveland, Colorado and Arizona) all had a 2007 payroll of approximately twice the Rays payroll. They may be in the lower third of the league in terms of payroll, but that does not mean the Rays are in the same league. [tampabay.com]
• Baseball Prospectus includes the Devil Rays bullpen as one of the 10 most disgraceful performances of 2007. Considering the bullpen ranked as the worst bullpen of all time in several categories, one could argue that they should be #1. [Baseball Prospectus]

Everybody Knows About The Rays New Uniforms Except The Rays

As we noted earlier, the Devil Rays claimed Chris Snelling and his paper knees off of waivers from the Oakland A’s. If you visit Snelling’s player profile page on MLB.com you will see that they have already photoshopped Snelling with a Rays cap and jersey.

Of course, he is now seen in a cap and jersey, that you know, he will never actually wear.

Makes one wonder how the Rays front office would handle the situation if they were to acquire a big-name player before the November 8 “celebration” unveiling the new uniforms. Would they hold a press conference and give the new player a green cap and jersey with his name on it?

The New Rays "Sunburst" Is About To Be Shoved Down Our Throats

For those of you that hate the new “Sunburst”, you might want to make sure you bring sunglasses to the Trop in 2008. In the new uniforms and the new logos, it appeared that the Sunburst might just be an accent. It is starting to look like that couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather, it appears that the Sunburst is going to be the new “face” of the Rays, and will be displayed prominently…everywhere.

The first piece of evidence, comes from the first official word from the team, in the form of a website dedicated to the unveiling of the new uniforms and logo. The website RaysOfChange.com, includes information about the new uniform ceremony, with the new Sunburst as the centerpiece.

Hate the new sunburst? You are going to love the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.

The Hangover: The Rays Claim Two Bad Knees Off Of Waivers

Devil Rays (66-96)
Since when do the Rays need another outfielder with a history of leg problems and since when do the Rays need fewer experienced arms in the bullpen? The Rays claimed Chris Snelling off of waivers from the A’s. Jay Witasick was released to make room on the roster. It appears as though Snelling was released because he is the only person in professional baseball with legs worse than Rocco Baldelli. In 8 professional seasons he has been on the DL seven times, including…

• torn ACL (2002)
• knee surgery (2003)
• right knee tendinitus (2003)
• torn meniscus in the left knee (2005)
• surgery (2006)
• yet another knee surgery (2007).

Next June, when both Snelling and Rocco are on the DL, maybe they can take a trip to Aruba together and sit in the hot tub and compare scars.

Marc Topkin provides good background on the Rays new Aussie. [ tampabay.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• A friend of mine that is Phillies fan, called me up after he heard the Phillies had named Chuck LaMar their Director of Professional Scouting, and asked me if he should be worried. I started laughing. It is a curious move by the Phillies. For all of LaMar’s faults, he did seem to be a competent evaluator of amateur talent. For the most part, he had a strong draft history with the Rays. On the other hand, this was the GM that was considered the worst GM in baseball to work with when it came to making trades, and the Phillies have him in charge of professional scouting, and he will provide input on trades for GM Pat Gillick. Strange move. [MLB]
• Dustin Pedroia was named Top Rookie by the players association and won the same award by the Sporting News as voted on by players and managers. [tampabay.com]
• Greg Norton has been a professional baseball player for 15 years. He wants to prove that he can repeat his 2006 performance when he hit .296 with 17 home runs in only 96 games. In those 15 seasons, he has only played in more than 120 games 5 times. It appears that 2007 was the norm and 2006 was the exception to the rule. [Devil Rays]

What Is The World Coming To?

We are not sure we can live in a baseball world where Joe Torre loses his job and somehow Dusty Baker finds another one.

Joe Torre: For all the vitriol we spew at the Yankees and their fans here at RI, there are few people in baseball that we respect more than Joe Torre. Sure other managers, if given a $150-200 million payroll for 12 seasons, would have won. But there is not another manager in baseball that would have gone to the playoffs 12 straight years and won 4 titles. Everybody has an off-year. Torre never let the Yankees have an off-year. Amazing.

So that leaves us with one last thing to say…and this is directed at Randy Levine and the next generation of Steinbrenners…THANK YOU. Thank you for being idiots. Thank you for getting rid of the best manager in baseball. You just made the AL East a lot more winnable for the other 4 teams.

Dusty Baker: Is an idiot, and we wouldn’t want him anywhere near the Devil Rays. We would rather let Hal McRae manage the team again.

The Hangover: Reid Brignac Continues To Struggle In AFL

Scottsdale 7, Peo Javelinas 6 (10 inn.).
Evan Longoria has completed his tour of duty in the Arizona Fall League as he will now join Team USA as they compete in the World Cup in Chinese Taipei. Reid Brignac was the only Devil Ray in action yesterday, going 0-5 with an RBI ground out. He is now 5-42 (.119). After posting what were certainly disappointing numbers for the young shortstop this past season (.260-17-81, .760 OPS), one has to wonder if the AFL is doing more harm than good. It may be time to shut Brignac down for the year and let him get away from the game a little while, clear his head and then start preparing for 2008. Of course, the flip-side of the argument is that a young player needs to learn how to fight his way out of slumps, and the Cajun God of Baseball must be feeling rather mortal these days.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Just to show exactly how vague the definition is of “Comeback Player of the Year”, one of the NL nominees for the players association version of the award is Josh Hamilton, who only had a handful of games above single-A prior to this season. [Cincinnati Enquirer]
• Oh, and this just in…Josh Hamilton was kept on the Reds roster for the entire season and is now a permanent member of the Cincinnati ballclub. Of course we knew that back in March when Hamilton hit a game-winning 500-foot home run in one of his first spring training games.
• Chris Richard of the Durham Bulls, has started a regular off-season diary for the Bulls website. His most recent piece is on the use of human growth hormone from a player’s perspective. One point we disagree about with Richard is the perception of some fans. While there is an element of the fanbase that doesn’t care (a group that we believe is growing because the story is tiresome), we doubt there are many fans that think the use of performance enhancers is good because it produces players that “hit a ball 500 ft. and throw 100 mph.” Hitting 100 on the gun and blasting a tape-measure shot are specials feats in baseball because they are rare. Otherwise, as fans we do understand the frustration that must come from doing it the right way and having to compete for jobs with players that are cheating. But…and this is a Rosie O’Donnell BUT…we do not understand why the players and the players association do not take a more active role and we do not understand why their “hands are tied in politics”. [Durham Bulls]
• DRays Bay is reporting that Jae Seo and Tim Corcoran have been granted free agency. No surprise as both players were removed from the 40-man roster this past season. [DRays Bay]