[THE HANGOVER] The Curious Case Of Syd Finch Elliot Johnson

Tampa Bay Rays (62 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Has any prospect in the Rays system fallen farther, faster than Elliot Johnson? Many had Johnson pegged to be the Rays opening day second baseman in 2008 after a strong 2006 campaign in AA Montgomery. While his numbers were not earth-shattering, he did hit .272 with 41 extra-base hits and a .764 OPS. They don’t scream future all-star, but they were more than respectable for a second baseman in a franchise with no obvious second baseman at the major league level and no other second base prospects in the minors.

In 2007, Johnson was promoted to Durham and already on the 40-man roster, he seemed destined for a September call-up, or at least an invitation to the 2008 Spring Training with a shot at being the opening day second baseman. But rather than taking a step forward, he took a large step backwards, to the tune of the fifth worst OPS (.627) in all of AAA baseball. His batting average fell to .207 and he collected only 34 extra-base hits, despite playing in 21 more games than 2006.

Now many have written Johnson off and no longer consider him Johnson a part of the Rays future. In one season he went from cant-miss 2008 starter to candidate to be Designated for Assignment and removed from the 40-man roster. Most likely, both assertions are wrong, and Johnson falls somewhere in between. The best solution for Johnson, the Rays and Rays fans, is to chalk 2007 up to one bad season-long slump and enter 2008 as if it never happened. It is not too late for Johnson to reclaim his semi-elite status, but if his numbers don’t rebound to his 2006 totals, he is destined to be a journeyman minor leaguer.

Worst Minor League OPS’s in 2007 [Recondite Baseball]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Marc Lancaster is reporting that the deal with Cliff Floyd is not finalized, as had been reported yesterday on ESPN.com. The ESPN.com report stated that Floyd and the Rays had agreed to a 1-year, $3 million deal with up to $2 million in incentives. The Rays may be waiting for Floyd to pass a physical. [TBO]
• The Rays avoided arbitration with Grant Balfour and Gary Glover, by signing both to 1-year contracts yesterday. Glover will make $1.075 million in base salary, that jumps to $1.1 million with 65 appearances (He made 67 appearances in 2007). Balfour will make $500,000 if he is on the 25-man roster, $150,000 if he is in the minors. We originally thought that Balfour was out of options and could refuse an assignment to the minors. However, if he was not on the Reds 40-man roster in 2006 (spent entirely in the minors), he may have an option left. [Yahoo! Sports]
• The 40-man roster and payroll projections have been updated in the side-panel to reflect the new contracts.

[STEROIDS] The Mitchell Report Is Out…No Rays On The List

The Mitchell Report was released today and there were no current Tampa Bay Rays named as suspected users of Performance Enhancing Drugs. Some will look at the lack of Rays on the list and exclaim that it “explains a lot”. There are several former Rays on the list, including Tim Laker, Adam Piatt, Jim Parque, John Rocker and Jose Canseco. The entire report can be found HERE.

Mitchell Report: Baseball slow to react to steroids [ESPN]
The Mitchell Report [MLB]

[CLIFF FLOYD] The Rays Would Be A Better Offensive Team With Cliff Floyd In Place Of Delmon Young

Earlier today we told you that Jerry Crasnick is reporting the Tampa Bay Rays are close to signing free agent outfielder Cliff Floyd. The Rays have been in the market for a player that is a left-handed bat and could play right field and occasionally DH.

With the signing of Floyd, the Rays lineup on a daily basis would feature some combination of Floyd, Jonny Gomes and Rocco Baldelli. Against right handed pitchers, Floyd will be in the lineup with Gomes or Baldelli filling the other spot. Against left handed pitchers, Floyd will be on the bench with both Gomes and Baldelli in the lineup in right field and at DH.

The ability to play match-up with his lineups depending on the starting pitcher gives manager Joe Maddon a distinct advantage. However, it is unclear how much how difference this will make to the Rays offensive output in 2008.

To answer this question we looked at how many plate appearances Delmon Young received in 2007 (he played all 162 games) and projected that out as if Cliff Floyd and Jonny Gomes had platooned in right field. To makes these estimations we used the three-year averages of each player (Gomes vs LHP and Floyd vs. RHP), and projected those over the number of plate appearances that Young had against left handed pitchers (172) and right handed pitchers (509) in 2007.

As can be seen from the numbers…while the batting average are comparable, Rays right fielders in 2008 will be on base at a much higher rate and will produce a much higher slugging percentage, which would lead to a 150 point boost in OPS. If we use the most basic formula for Runs Created (RC=R+RBI-HR), the combination of Gomes and Floyd will produce 162 runs in 2008 compared to the 145 runs created by Young in 2007. (Again…these numbers are only for a hypothetical right-field platoon. These numbers only reflect Gomes’ and Floyd’s production as right-fielders. Gomes will receive considerably more than the 172 plate appearances calculated here).

And none of this considers that a season in which Baldelli logs considerable time at DH, will be a marked improvement over the Rays’ DH production seen in 2007. Nor does it consider the clubhouse impact of a player like Floyd, who is well respected among his peers and fans as a player that will do whatever is asked and often takes the field with injuries that would sideline a weaker human being.

Last month when the Rays traded Delmon Young and two scrubs for Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett, it appeared as if the Rays had improved their pitching and defense at the expense of the offense. While Cliff Floyd will command a higher salary than Delmon Young in 2008, and clearly Floyd will not be around nearly as long as Young would have been, the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays figure to be considerably better on the mound, in the field and at the plate, as a direct result of these two moves.

Source: Rays, Floyd could have deal in place by weekend [ESPN]

[THE HANGOVER] Grant Balfour Is Still A Member Of The Rays…For Now

Tampa Bay Rays (63 days until pitchers and catchers report)
The Tampa Bay Rays offered contracts to all players with less than six years of experience that did not already have a contract. While many (including this site) had speculated that Grant Balfour would be non-tendered and granted free agency, the move is not surprising. Balfour was deemed the most likely candidate with the recent additions to the bullpen and his pending arbitration eligibility.

Balfour is set to make somewhere between $600,000 and $900,000 in arbitration, a number that is more than palatable for the Rays. However, that is not why Balfour was tendered a contract. Balfour is still on the team at this point because there was no immediate reason to drop him from the 40-man roster. The Rays 40-man roster currently stands at 38 players. Based on our Trade Value Index (TVI), Balfour and Kurt Birkins are the two least valuable members of the 40-man roster. If and when the need arises Balfour will be the first player Designated For Assignment as it appears that Birkins still has an option left and can be demoted to the minors, while Balfour cannot.

Eventually Balfour will be released as there will be no available spots in the bullpen. With seven slots available, Troy Percival, Al Reyes, Dan Wheeler and Gary Glover are locks. That leaves three spots. One of those will go to a long reliever/spot starter. The most likely candidate is Jason Hammel, who will be bumped from the rotation, but is out of options. The team is also insisting on having a left-hander in the bullpen. That leaves one spot. Balfour is about 18th in line for that final spot, just ahead of Chad Orvella and just behind Shawn Riggans. In fact, the leading candidates for that spot are Scott Dohmann (out of options), Juan Salas (one option left) and a player yet to be acquired.

In the end, tendering a contract to Grant Balfour does not mean he will be in the bullpen in 2008. It just delayed the inevitable.

Rays offer contracts to all players [DevilRays]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Please note up above, that we have a new email address for tips and comments (tips@raysindex.com). Eventually we will discontinue checking the gmail account.
• Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com is reporting that the Rays are close to signing Cliff Floyd. Floyd would fill the Rays need for a left handed bat/RF/DH. [ESPN]
• Here is a complete list of the players that were non-tendered. [Amazin’ Avenue]
• One name that is not on the list, unfortunately, is Ben Broussard. He was traded to the Rangers just prior to the deadline. [Seattle Times]
• DRays Bay took a look at the potential non-tender free agent pool and came up with three players the Rays should attempt to sign, Mark Prior, Adam Everett and Morgan Ensberg. Prior is a fine as long as he can be had for cheap. Doubt it. We like the idea of Everett, but we think there will be plenty of suitors for his services and while Ensberg could be a nice stop-gap at third base, we just think the Rays have more pressing holes to fill. [DRays Bay]
• Rays Anatomy discusses the Mitchell Report, which is scheduled to be released today at 2:00 and asks “Will anybody care?” We feel there will be three significant effects of the Mitchell Report: 1) We will all suddenly realize that Barry Bonds has unfairly carried the weight of the Steroid Era, when in reality he was just the biggest smurf in a land full of smurfs (smurves?); 2) The Report will most negatively impact the hall-of-famer that is in the twilight of their career. That player will not have an opportunity to redeem their image and their ticket to the hall-of-fame will most likely be irreparably damaged (ie. Mike Piazza, Tom Glavine, etc.); 3) We will lose flavor for the young all-star types, and while we may forgive them eventually, we will never forget. If Albert Pujols is on the list, he will have a chance to redeem himself, but he will never be Albert Pujols again. [Rays Anatomy]
• Rays of Light is holding a contest to see who can guess the most players on the list. [Rays of Light]
• The Tampa Bay Devil Rays. 5th Worst sports franchise of the last decade? ‘Bout right. [Dave and Thomas]
• The Rays released their 2008 Spring Training schedule. [TBO]

[NEW UNIFORMS] Possible Glimpse At Tampa Bay Rays Alternate Uniform To Debut In 2009

As we mentioned earlier in the week, Joe Maddon is cooking and helping to distribute meals to local area shelters in an annual event called “Thanks-mas”. If you go to DevilRays.com, there is a front page press release covering Thanksmas, that is being run with the following picture [Ed. note: the image has now been removed][Ed. note: we have been informed that this particular cap was created by BayNews9 and given to Maddon for this event].

The image shows Joe Maddon cooking food in preparation for Thanksmas. What is interesting about the picture is that Joe Maddon is wearing what appears to be an authentic NewEra cap in the Tampa Bay Rays’ new lighter blue color featuring the Rays’ new “sunburst” logo.

After the new uniforms were unveiled there was considerable uproar among Rays fans that the team’s new uniforms will not feature “Tampa Bay” on the road uniforms. When asked about this, the team indicated that there would be an alternate uniform unveiled in 2009 that will feature “Tampa Bay” across the chest, without any further details.

Could the cap being worn by Joe Maddon be the cap associated with the yet-to-be-unveiled alternate uniform? This would make sense as it is the alternate color and features the new “sunburst” which the team wants to become the new identity of the franchise.

We took this new cap and tried to project what the alternate uniform would look like and came up with the following image found at the beginning of this post. If people thought the new uniforms were boring. If the alternate uniform looks like this, it will be anything but boring.

Rays’ Maddon Cooking Up Another “Thanks-Mas” Feast [TBO]
Joe Maddon’s Thanksmas returns bigger and better [Devil Rays]
Rays To Feature Alternate Jersey In 2009 With “Tampa Bay” Across The Front [Rays Index]

[NEW STADIUM] Carlos Moncada Does Not Know The Difference Between Apples And Oranges

The biggest point of concern with the new stadium proposed by the Tampa Bay Rays (outside of financing) is the parking, or lack there of, along the St. Pete Waterfront. Carlos Moncada of the Herald-Tribune tries to give his readers a glimpse of the problem by comparing the parking situation for a typical Rays game with the parking situation seen in downtown St. Pete during the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

For a peek at how a waterfront Rays stadium might steer summer traffic and parking downtown, plan to attend the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in April…Tens of thousands of people converge on the same spot at the same time…For one weekend, downtown becomes an array of barricaded streets, uniformed police directing traffic and electronic message boards to accommodate more than 40,000 race-day spectators. That compares to 34,000 people if a new, open-air Rays stadium fills up.

There is only one problem with this comparison…The Tampa Bay Rays will play more than one home game over the course of a single season. In fact, the Rays will play at least 81 home games in any given season. Carlos Moncada would like you to think that the parking situation with the Rays home games would be 81 times worse than that of the Grand Prix. In actuality, the problem will be much less because the Rays will play 81 home games.

When confronted with a single-day event such as the Grand Prix, the city of St. Pete and the local businesses make the necessary adjustments to accommodate the fans for that one day. For something that will become a regular feature of the downtown area, changes will be made. Permanent changes. While we can only speculate what those changes will be, we can assume that the city will make structural as well as public transportation changes. We assume that local landowners and businessmen will see the financial benefit to building parking garages and offering other services in the downtown area to accommodate Rays fans. A financial windfall that would not have been realized if the only big downtown event was the Grand Prix occurring on one day a year.

In fact, the new stadium along the St. Pete waterfront will be home to much more than the 81 scheduled home game of the Tampa Bay Rays. The ballpark is also likely to be home to other events such as concerts and other sporting events.

There may be problems with the new stadium proposal, but a lack of parking is not one. Necessity is the mother of invention. If there is a niche that needs to be filled…In this case parking for events at the new stadium…You can be sure that there will be people that will step in to fill that niche, with their eye on the prize. And of course, by “prize” we really mean “profit”.

Parking for proposed Rays stadium an issue [Herald-Tribune]

[THE HANGOVER] Rays Minor League Affiliates Finalize Coaching Staffs

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]

[ELIJAH DUKES] Elijah Dukes Is Now 3 Victories From Being Named Sports Human Of The Year

Last month we mentioned that former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder (how nice is it to say those words?) Elijah Dukes was one of 16 finalists the “Sportshuman of the Year” (SHOTY) Tournament. For the second consecutive year, Deadspin is holding a tournament-style bracket featuring 16 of the most entertaining sports personalities of 2007. In an ironic twist, Barbaro was named the 2006 Sportshuman of the Year.

Elijah Dukes garners a #4 seed based on such accomplishments as threatening his wife and kids with a picture of a gun, impregnating LOTS of women, including a foster child, and was accused in court of using drugs and steroids.

Dukes easily outpaced Jeff Reed to win his first-round match-up with 61.4% of the votes. Now Dukes is on to the second-round where things will be much tougher. His opponent is #5 seed Gilbert Arenas.

SHOTY Elite Eight: Elijah Dukes Vs. Gilbert Arenas (VOTE HERE)

Here is the breakdown…

No. 4 Seed: Elijah Dukes

Explored the possibilities lent to us by cellular technology.
Impregnated a foster child.
Became a sports radio star.
You divorced, dawg.

No. 5 Seed Gilbert Arenas
Dunked off a trampoline.
Stole a joke.
Helped you with your love life.
Talked to (Deadspin).

While we may not have been given our wish that the door hit Dukes in the ass on his way out of the Trop, maybe we can give him a consolation prize. Of course, if you don’t go to Deadspin and vote for Dukes…he may just threaten your life with a text message. You been warned Dawg.

Dukes Up For Award For Being A Mischievous Little Badger [Rays Index]
Your SHOTY Winner: Barbaro [Deadspin]
SHOTY First Round: Elijah Dukes Vs. Jeff Reed [Deadspin]
SHOTY Elite Eight: Elijah Dukes Vs. Gilbert Arenas [Deadspin]

[THE HANGOVER] Rays May Try To Fill Roster Holes With Other Teams’ Non-Tender Trash

Tampa Bay Rays (65 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Tomorrow (Dec. 12) is the non-tender deadline in baseball. Players with less than six years of experience must be offered contracts by tomorrow, or those players will automatically become free agents.

This is an important date for the Rays on two fronts. Rotoworld predicts, as we did in our 40-man roster projection, that the only player the Rays will non-tender is Grant Balfour. First of all, the Rays roster currently stands at 38, so there is no immediate need to open up spots for pending moves. Balfour, on the other hand, is arbitration eligible. He made $415,000 in 2007 and would likely expect a raise to the neighborhood $750,000. With the recent additions to the bullpen, Balfour is likely not to have a roster spot, he has little trade value and is out of options, so he cannot be sent to the minors.

The non-tender deadline is also an important date in which the Rays may be able to find players to fill roster spots that remain open. This is one reason why the Rays have yet to pull the trigger on a trade for a left-handed bat or a back-up catcher.

Of the players that Rotoworld predicts are likely to be non-tendered, includes catcher Miguel Olivo of the Marlins. Olivo hit .237-16-60, while making $2 million in 2007. He is arbitration eligible and on the free agent market he would likely cost the Rays between $2.5 million and $3.5 million in 2008. While he may not be the veteran presence behind the plate and on the bench that the Rays prefer, he would come at half the price of a player like Michael Barrett, has considerable major league experience and and the Rays would not have to surrender any prospects that would be required to trade for Barrett or another catcher.

A cheap left-handed bat off the non-tender heap? How about Ben Broussard from Seattle. He is a first baseman by trade, but did play a dozen games in right in 2007. He hit .270-7-29 in 99 games last season while making $3.55 million, but has shown in the past to have 20-25 home run power. His $4 million price tag through arbitration (his likely going price on the free agent market) may be a little steep for the Rays, but again, this is a proven major league commodity that would come to the Rays without having to surrender any pieces such as Edwin Jackson.

Non-tenders and trade talk [Rotoworld]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Charlie Montoyo, manager of the Durham Bulls, and his wife, recently gave birth to their second child, who is suffering from life-threatening medical complications. The Montgomery Biscuits franchise (for whom Montoyo formerly managed) has set up a fund to raise money to help cover the medical expenses of the family. If you would like to help out, please click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page. Our hearts go out to the Montoyo family. [The Alexander Montoyo Fund]
  
• Marc Lancaster takes a look at the Rays 2008 right fielders and examines the questions that surround Rocco Baldelli, Jonny Gomes and the left-handed bat that has yet to be acquired. Quotes from Joe Maddon do not resonate with a lot of confidence in those two players. [TBO]

“Rocco’s the issue; we’re still not exactly sure what he’s going to be able to do yet,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said last week. “Once we’re able to answer that question, we can be a little bit more specific, I think. Jon Gomes, I still have a lot of faith in him – I think, specifically, Jon against left-handed pitching does a nice job.”

• Baird Helgeson wrote 1,000 words (we had one of the interns count them) about what will happen to the home run balls that are hit into the bay over the right field fence at the proposed stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays. Seriously. 1,000 words about 10-15 balls and their impact on the environment. 1,000 words about how people at the St. Pete Sailing Center are worried about the 1 in 10 Billion chance that one of these 10-15 balls each season will hit them in the noggin’. I feel dumber for having read Mr. Helgeson’s piece. [TBO]
  
• Joe Maddon helped cook, and will assist in serving meals to local area shelters this week as part of “Thanks-mas”. [TBO]
• David Chalk, who covers the Devil Rays over at Bugs & Cranks, has been traded along with five others in a blogger blockbuster, in which B&C received Bill Simmons. Clearly, Bugs & Cranks is going for it this year, as Simmons is clearly past his prime, and doesn’t have much left in the tank. If B&C doesn’t win this year or next, they will regret this move for years to come. [Bugs & Cranks]

[MRS. PROFESSOR] Mrs. Professor Speaks! The Internets Will Never Be The Same

Did you know that there is more to the internet than sports, porn and downloading stuff illegally? Or maybe you have wondered if a guy would grow boobs if he touches a woman’s birth control pill…No? You should.

In the past we have mentioned Mrs. Professor from time to time. What we have kept to ourselves, until now, is that The Professor is not the only one in this relationship with a website. I kept it under wraps because every once in a while Mrs. Professor decides to write something about me, and occasionally it is awkward/slightly embarrassing/fetal position-inducing. Whenever we would see she had written a new post, I would start sweating profusely and develop a nervous tick as if her blog was Pavlov’s Bell.

Well, Mrs. Professor recently decided to start a new blog. And while I have no doubt that at some point I will regret doing this, I decided it was a good time to introduce our readers to Mrs. Professor and her insight into the world around her (which is often considerably different than the world around everybody else).

For starters, unlike me, Mrs. Professor is actually a good writer and she is usually good for at least one “spitter” in each post. A “spitter” is when you are reading and eating at the same time and somebody says something so funny or so outlandish, you spit food all over your computer. And while she will occasionally make you shake your head in pure amazement and bewilderment, unlike the Sports Gal, Mrs. Professor writes all her own material.

If it is entertainment and enlightenment you are looking for, What I Absolutely Love is for you. If normal is your thing, well, I hope you can settle for entertainment…She is obsessed with things that you did not know you were obsessed with, or didn’t realize you should be obsessed with…like herpes, Texas, throwing produce from the top floor, omega 3’s, puking and pooping (at the same time), and in the first post on her new blog…”trying to figure out if anything weird would happen to guys if they just touched birth control pills”.

What could possibly go wrong?

Welcome (Back) + Man Boobs [What I Absolutely Love]