[THE HANGOVER] Manatees Anticipating Carlos Pena’s Home Runs

Tampa Bay Rays (36 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Like any major redevelopment, the Tampa Bay Rays will have to win a lot of fights along the way as opposition will pop up everywhere. After removing their request for $60 million in state subsidies, the next fight that is starting to brew is the quest to protect the Manatee and how filling a portion of the St. Pete waterfront will affect the endangered species.

“The manatees need to be protected,” said Cathy Harrelson, chairwoman of the coastal task force for the Suncoast Sierra Club. “It is a very big concern.”

“The environment is just the tip of it,” said Lorraine Margeson, an environmental activist opposed to the ballpark. “To me, right now this gives every reason to take this plan right off the map, not even waste our time talking about desecrating the city’s waterfront when there is no need for the city to do this.”

Stadium plans call for dumping fill dirt over six-tenths of an acre of Tampa Bay to create about 26,000 square feet of new land, the equivalent of three house lots. The Rays would then reroute Bayshore Drive across the new land, making the road bow out into the bay.

For those that are not familiar with my daytime job, I work directly with endangered sea mammals. So I am very familiar with the plight of the Manatee and always err on the side of caution when it comes to endangered animals. BUT…this fight reeks of rich people suddenly giving a shit about an animal, only because it suits their needs. As soon as the stadium issue is resolved…either way…these people will be fighting for the Manatees as much as OJ Simpson is searching for the real killers.

Opponents say Rays, Manatees don’t mix [TampaBay.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Sporting News ranks the AL starting rotations. The Rays quintet comes in at #10 (out of 14). We are torn here. Before we read the list, we were worried that this would be another writer that jumped on the Rays rotation bandwagon. We have seen some say that the Rays now have one of the best. And with Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza, the Rays have one of the better trios. But those seem to ignore Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine. And while both have the potential to be much better, the truth is, the Rays will be an underdog in almost every single one of their starts. That is 40% of the schedule. Now saying that, #10 seems a bit low, but looking at the list, we are not sure who we would bump. So maybe #10 is about right. [Sporting News]
• The Hardball Times used some fancy math to calculate how many runs each outfielder prevented based on their arm in 2007. BJ Upton was rated as the best arm in center field. Delmon Young rated as the fourth best right fielder and Carl Crawford came in as the 20th “best” left fielder…Nobody has ever questioned Upton’s arm strength, but when Bossman Junior was playing shortstop, he often threw the ball as if he was trying to give a souvenir to every fan behind the first base dugout. In the outfield he has more room for error, and psychologically, he probably thrives with the freedom to just “let ‘er rip”. Crawford’s poor ranking is no surprise as he does have below-average arm strength and often has the accuracy of a blind man. Still. 20th? Among left fielders? The left fielder is generally the outfielder with the weakest arm and Crawford is one of the worst of the bunch, meaning CC ranks among the worst arms in baseball. Maybe he should try throwing right-handed. [The Hardball Times]
• And yet, one blogger lists Carl Crawford as the third best outfielder in baseball. [Dionne’s Dugout]
• Rays Anatomy excerpted an interview with Jim Callis in which he covers the Rays farm system in depth. The most telling point is the prediction that David Price will be in the majors by September at the latest. [Rays Anatomy]

[NEW STADIUM] $60 Million Is Chump-Change To Team Like The Tampa Bay Rays

On the same day that we reported that 11 Pinellas County lawmakers would not endorse a bill that would have given the Rays a tax rebate of $60 million over the next 30 years, the Rays announced that they would no longer seek the tax rebate from the state.

Team senior vice president Michael Kalt said the decision does not affect the team’s stadium proposal or timetable…”We said from the beginning that we don’t see (the state money) as crucial…We’re not in the business of pushing things through that we think are unrealistic.”…Kalt said it’s unclear whether the stadium would have to be redesigned to accommodate for the loss of state funding.

To kill the metaphor that we began yesterday, this is the equivalent of being told by your parents that you can’t have an XBox and then shouting that it doesn’t matter, you never wanted one anyway.

Some suggestions for changes in the proposed stadium to account for the loss of $60 million in state subsidies…

• New stadium no longer needs to include a day care center for Elijah Duke’s children
• Make stadium smaller and decrease capacity to 9,000. Nobody wants Yankees and Red Sox fans there anyway.
• Bullpen by committee…Committee of fans. Hold raffle every night for the fans with the winner being the first relief pitcher out of the ‘pen. Make money…and improve the pitching staff.
• Trade Rocco Baldelli. Would mean fewer trainers on payroll and smaller trainers room needed in new stadium.

Rays abandon quest for state stadium subsidy [TampaBay.com]

[SHAWN BLEEPIN’ CAMP] Rays Get Opportunity To Experiece Joys The Rest Of AL East Have Known Past Two Years

File this one under “too good to be true”…

The Blue Jays continued to add pitching depth on Monday, signing right-hander Shawn Camp to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

Pitching depth? You wanna know what else had depth? The Titanic when it sank. Wanna know what doesn’t sink? Shawn Camp’s sinker.

After allowing 642* inherited runners to score the last two seasons, Shawn Camp will have an opportunity to repay the Rays and their fans as the Rays may have an opportunity to experience exactly how much fun it is to face Shawn Camp.

Now somebody just needs to warn the parents of Toronto-area children. If you hear that a couple of Blue Jays will be reading Dr. Seuss books to your kids…let them call in sick. Or risk having THIS happen to them.

*590 of those might have occurred during nightmares we had at night.

Jays continue to add pitching depth [BlueJays.com]

[DAVID BLOOM AWARD] An Opportunity To Voice Your Opinion About Us

I have been nominated for an award and it has nothing to do with that one night in New Orleans back in 2003. It is the “David Bloom Award” over at Drays Bay.

If you have any interest…or if you are just bored…head on over and give us a vote.

Who should win the David Bloom award? [DRays Bay]

[NEW STADIUM] Tampa Bay Rays Encounter First Roadblock In Pursuit Of New Stadium

When the Tampa Bay Rays unveiled their plan for a $450 million open-air stadium along the downtown St. Pete waterfront, the plan included a $60 million state subsidy. The $60 million would come as a tax rebate of $2 million per year for 30 years. In order to push the rebate through the state legislature, the Rays need two local lawmakers to sponser the proposal. If a recent survey of Pinellas County lawmakers is any indication, the Rays better start working on Plan B.

The overwhelming majority of the Rays’ hometown lawmakers – the 12 members of the Pinellas County delegation that would be most likely to push the team’s interest – sound unwilling or uninterested in aiding the Rays when contacted by the St. Petersburg Times this week…Of the 11 members the Times reached, none said they were likely to sponsor a subsidy bll for the Rays. Most, in fact, said they were hesitant to support the subsidy even if it was sponsored by someone else. “Put me down as a no,” state Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Treasure Island. “Not a maybe. A no.”

It’s as if the Rays have 12 parents and so far 11 of them have either said “No” or “Go ask your mother”. The Rays claim that they will still proceed with the new stadium proposal even if they fail to secure the $60 million subsidy. This should come as no surprise to baseball fans as the Rays clearly have money burning holes in their pockets.

Delegation uninterested in Rays’ wish [St. Pete Times]

[THE HANGOVER] One More Time…Scott Kazmir Is Not Going Anywhere…For Now

Tampa Bay Rays (38 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Will everybody please shut the hell up about Scott Kazmir? This has been going on all off-season and it is approaching ludicrous levels. The original source for all the stories and speculation was a New York Post article written by the idiot Joel Sherman. Here is the original line…

An executive familiar with Tampa’s thinking said if the offers for Santana grow to a substantial level, then the Rays would test to see what they could get for Scott Kazmir.

“An executive familiar with Tampa’s thinking…” His source was not even a Rays’ executive. Hell it may not have even been a baseball executive. He might have talked to the executive at his morning coffee shop.

Now we have been inundated with dozens of stories and blog posts speculating that the Rays will trade Kazmir because he has not signed a long-term contract and does not seem to have any interest in doing so.

SO WHAT?!?!

He is still three years from free agency. Three friggin’ years! 2008 marks Kid K’s first year of arbitration eligibility. Our best guess has Kazmir and the Rays agreeing to a one-year deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 million. If Scott Kazmir was a free agent pitcher today and he approached the Rays and said he would sign with Tampa Bay for one year at $4 million, the Rays would throw a party. Kazmir is going to pitch for the Rays in 2008. He is going to pitch for the Rays in 2009 and there is at least a 50/50 chance he pitches for the Rays in 2010.

If and when the Rays decide to move Kid K, it will not happen until after the 2009 season at the earliest. Why do it before then? There really is no incentive.

And so what if there is a chance the Rays trade Kazmir after the 2009 season? We have absolutely ZERO idea what the Rays’ rotation will look like entering the 2010 season. What if David Price, Wade Davis and Jake McGee are all fullfilling their promised careers and two have already joined James the Greater, Matt Garza and Kid K in the rotation? If the Rays have five young and talented starting pitchers at the major league level, and Kazmir is entering the final year before free agency the Rays better trade Kazmir. They would be stupid not to.

That’s right. We said it. And we will repeat it now for the cheap seats. If the Rays rotation entering 2010 is some combination of Kazmir, Shields, Price, Davis, Garza and McGee and all look to be above-average starting pitchers and the Rays have failed to lock Kazmir into a long-term deal…THE RAYS BETTER TRADE KAZMIR. And they will. Make no doubt about it. It is the smart move.

And if Kazmir continues to develop at his current pace, the Rays would be fools not to trade him. While he is not Johan Santana, look at the packages that are being offered for his services. Even if a proposed trade was slightly less than one of the Santana packages, it would still be a sweet bounty that would include 3-4 top prospects/young major leaguers. Add that group to Shields/Price/McGee/Davis/Garza/Upton/Longoria and the Rays will continue to have a very strong core of young players.

Kid K is the type of player that we covet. We may not get his peak years but we will get at least 5 seasons of top-level pitching and then he is moved for a number of pieces that will replenish the cupboards. Kid K is the type of player that keeps a team like the Rays competitive over the long-term.

As Rays fans we cannot be afraid to lose a player like Scott Kazmir. As a small-market franchise, the Rays cannot be afraid to trade a player like Scott Kazmir.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• The Rays have signed former Devil Rays catcher Mike DiFelice to a minor league contract. He will be invited to spring training with an opportunity to make the squad as the backup catcher. With the other option being Shawn Riggans, we give Difelice the edge, unless another catcher is signed. [TampaBay.com]
• Each week until the opening of Spring Training, Bill Chastain will preview a different position for the Tampa Bay Rays. The first week is catcher and a close look at Dioner Navarro. According to Joe Maddon, the team is not concerned with Navi’s bat, but are more worried about his development defensively. His throwing is above-average, but the team needs improvements in other aspects of his game. [DevilRays.com]

“He really came on offensively,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “But the quantum leap we want to see is defensively calling a game…”He does a pretty good job of blocking pitches. We like to see him receive balls on the corner better than he has in the past. Taking charge of the staff, communication wise, we have a ways to go. … It’s vital to the development of [Scott] Kazmir, [James] Shields, [Matt] Garza, [Edwin] Jackson, etc…We do lack experience (at catcher). No question. We have to accelerate the learning curve behind the plate. We talk a lot about it and we’re trying to address it.”

• Joe Maddon has placed on emphasis on making sure that Dioner Navarro arrives to Spring Training in shape and ready to take on a leadership role with the Rays. [TampaBay.com]

Maddon said he was in contact with Navarro this week, and he has been working out at the Naimoli complex trying to get into better shape for spring training. Last spring Navarro struggled as Maddon called the starting job open….”I really got a sense of urgency from him,” Maddon said. “I would be very surprised if he didn’t come into camp in much better shape and ready to play. I know he’s not going to forget what happened last spring, also because I’m not going to let him.

• Dayn Perry, of Fox Sports, who we have been very critical of in the past, has a feature story predicting a bright future for the Rays. [FoxSports.com]
• With Baseball America set to unveil their list of the Rays’ top 10 prospects and best tools list, Future Considerations makes their predictions for which Rays farm hands will be named in the “Best Tools” categories. We don’t see much to argue with, although we are not sure we would name Evan Longoria “Best Power Hitter and “Best Average Hitter”. Rhyne Hughes or John Jaso for “Best Average Hitter”? [Future Considerations]
• RotoAuthority lists the top 25 catchers. Not a single Dioner Navarro among the bunch. [RotoAuthority]
• Did Carl Crawford ruin the career of Matt Clement? [The Dugout]
• Michael Kalt, the Rays Vice President of Development, has been named by the St. Pete Times as one of “10 People to watch in 2008”. He is the man behind the plan to bring a new stadium to the St. Pete waterfront. [TampaBay.com]

After helping parlay other people’s needs and money into new homes for the Yankees and Mets in New York, Kalt cobbled a plan that would raise most of the cash to build a new $450-million stadium in downtown St. Petersburg by selling publicly owned Tropicana Field as site for a $600-million-plus mixed-use project.

• The Rays signed Andy Cannizaro and outfielder John Rodriguez to minor-league contracts. Both players will be invited to Spring Training with a shot at making the 25-man roster. Neither will. Rodriguez would have to beat out Jonny Gomes for the fourth outfielder spot. And even if Gomes is traded, there is still Justin Ruggiano. Cannizaro has a slightly better shot as the only real competition for utility infielder at this point appears to be Ben Zobrist, but as a switch-hitter, Benny Boo Boo has a strong advantage as the only available left-handed bat off the bench at this point. [TampaBay.com]
• Beyond the Boxscore interviewed Paul DePodesta. Why are we including this in the “Webtopia”? Because DePodesta confirms something we have been screaming at the top of our lungs ever since we read Moneyball…That is, a “Moneyball” player has NOTHING to do with a good OBP. It has everything to do with finding a player that is undervalued. Nothing more. Nothing less. At the time Moneyball was written, players with a strong OBP were undervalued. Nowadays, strong OBPs are on everybody’s radar so they are no longer undervalued. [Beyond the Boxscore]
• Reid Brignac has a rooting interest in tonight’s BCS Championship game between Ohio State and LSU. Probably don’t have to tell you which team The Cajun God of Baseball will be cheering for. [Stacy Long’s Riverwalk Talk]
• The Rays will discuss their stadium proposal with members of the Downtown Neighborhood Association at 7 pm on Thursday at the Sunshine Center. [TampaBay.com]
• On Wednesday, The Rays will hold a meeting open to the public to discuss the new stadium. The meeting will be held at Tropicana Field at 6pm. City officials are requesting RSVPs but will not turn anybody away. [TampaBay.com]

[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 12 (Twelve Major League Pitchers)

If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and what they will do, and why. Unlike most team blogs, we do not very often tell you what the Tampa Bay Rays should do. However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans.

On the twelfth day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, TWELVE major league pitchers on the 25-man roster…

Let’s take a look back at the 2007 Tampa Bay Rays and the twelve pitchers that made the opening day roster and their final VORP values…

PITCHER	VORP
Scott Kazmir	45.8
Jae Seo	-18.7
James Shields	44.0
Casey Fossum	-20.9
Edwin Jackson	-9.5
Al Reyes	5.1
Ruddy Lugo	2.6
Gary Glover	6.8
Shawn Camp	-6.6
Juan Salas	4.9
JK Ryu	-3.7
Brian Stokes	-8.0

(not a typo…Seo opened the season as the Rays #2 starter…seriously)

VORP for a pitcher is the number of runs prevented (positive VORP) or given up (negative VORP) in comparison to a replacement-level player. For example, if Scott Kazmir had been injured before the season and the Rays replaced him in the rotation with a “freely available” pitcher (a slightly below average pitcher that is a free agent) the replacement pitcher would have allowed approximately 46 more runs over the course of a season.

As can be seen from numbers, six Devil Rays pitchers posted VORP values in 2007 below replacement-level. In other words if the Rays would have cut those six players prior to the season and just signed six random cheap free agent pitchers, the Rays would have allowed approximately 68 fewer runs.

The Rays began to address this problem during the 2007 season, as two of the biggest culprits, Fossum and Seo were dropped from the rotation and replaced by Andy Sonnanstine and Jason Hammel. The Rays then made a significant improvement to the bullpen with a trade that landed Dan Wheeler. The makeover continued this off-season with the acquisitions of Matt Garza and Troy Percival.

While the rotation and bullpen were much improved by the end of the 2007 season, there is still significant work to be done. Even with those additions there are still two spots in the rotation and at least two spots in the bullpen that will potentially be filled with a player that is a marginal major leaguer at best. There is still time to add more major league talent to the roster through a trade or free agency, but that will count for two pitchers, at most. That leaves at least two and as many as five pitchers that will begin the season on the Rays’ roster that will need to significantly improve their performance.

Last season, the Devil Rays opened the season with six pitchers with a negative VORP value. That is six pitchers that did not deserve to be on a major league roster in 2007. In essence, the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays opened the season with only six major league pitchers on their staff. If the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays are going to take a significant step forward, they will need twelve pitchers on the staff.

On the twelfth day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is TWELVE major league pitchers, and…
ELEVEN walk-off wins [Day 11]
TEN meaningful games in September [Day 10]
NINE no-hit innings from Scott Kazmir [Day 9]
EIGHT ejections for Joe Maddon [Day 8]
SEVEN relatively healthy months of Rocco Baldelli [Day 7]
SIX months with at least 14 wins [Day 6]
FIVE players with at least 25 home runs [Day 5]
FOUR winning records against AL East foes [Day 4]
THREE AL All-Stars [Day 3]
TWO new pitchers in the rotation by the all-star break [Day 2]
ONE Evan Longoria in the opening day lineup [Day 1]

[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 11 (Eleven Walk-Off Wins)

If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and what they will do, and why. Unlike most team blogs, we do not very often tell you what the Tampa Bay Rays should do. However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans.

On the eleventh day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, ELEVEN walk-off wins…

Why? Because they are fun. In 2007 the Tampa Bay Devil Rays won 10 games in walk-off fashion (most were of the extra-inning game at home variety). In 2008 we want at least one more because we are greedy.

On the eleventh day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is ELEVEN walk-off wins, and…
TEN meaningful games in September [Day 10]
NINE no-hit innings from Scott Kazmir [Day 9]
EIGHT ejections for Joe Maddon [Day 8]
SEVEN relatively healthy months of Rocco Baldelli [Day 7]
SIX months with at least 14 wins [Day 6]
FIVE players with at least 25 home runs [Day 5]
FOUR winning records against AL East foes [Day 4]
THREE AL All-Stars [Day 3]
TWO new pitchers in the rotation by the all-star break [Day 2]
ONE Evan Longoria in the opening day lineup [Day 1]

[2008 TAMPA BAY RAYS] The 12 Days Of Raysmas: Day 10 (Ten Meaningful Games In September)

If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and what they will do, and why. Unlike most team blogs, we do not very often tell you what the Tampa Bay Rays should do. However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the Tampa Bay Rays should give to their fans.

On the tenth day of Raysmas, the Tampa Bay Rays gave to us, TEN meaningful games in September…

Entering the 2007 season, the Milwaukee Brewers had not posted a winning record since 1992, a streak of 14 consecutive seasons without breaking .500. The Brewers finished 83-79 and out of the playoffs. From a distance the season could be seen as a failure for a team that looked to be playoff-bound most of the year. While missing the post-season stung, try and tell Brewers fans that the season was a loss. For the first time in over a decade they had something to root for after the all-star break.

In the NBA and the NHL, 53.3% (16 of 30) of the teams qualify for the playoffs. In the NFL that number is 37.5% (12 of 32). In baseball, only 26.7% (8 of 30) of the teams qualify for the post-season. October baseball is an extremely difficult accomplishment as evidenced by the fact that six teams have longer playoff droughts than the Tampa Bay Rays.

While big budget franchises like the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees have the goal of winning a championship every season, small-market teams must set their annual goals a little lower. The Tampa Bay Rays and other small-market clubs should aim to be competitive year-in and year-out. If Rays can be consistently competitive and in the penant race every year…every once in a while the balls will bounce the Rays way or the team might be able to ride a hot-streak into the playoffs and make a run at a championship.

All any baseball fan can ever truly ask of their team is to be competitive on a regular basis (Even Yankees fans who have a hard time remembering the 12-year playoff drought in the 80’s and early 90’s). That means meaningful games in September. In their first ten seasons, the Rays have never given that to their fans. On Day 6 we showed how close the Rays are to an 84-win season. That would be one more win than the Brewers posted in 2007. Granted the Brew Crew had the luxury of playing in the weak NL Central, but 84-88 wins is an attainable goal for the Rays in 2008. If they do play well enough and consistently enough to be 6-10 games over .500, the Rays will still be in the Race in the beginning of September.

In order to have meaningful games in September the Rays need to be within 5 games of the wild card on September 1st. An 84-win pace would give the Rays a record of 70-65 on September 1st, which would have been exactly 5 games behind the Yankees in the wild card race in 2007 and in the heart of the playoff hunt.

The talent is in place. It is just a matter of realizing the talent on the scoreboard and in the standings. Meaningful games in September would be a nice change for Rays fans, that usually have the green and black packed by August and are more concerned with the Pewter and Red.

On the tenth day of Raysmas, all Rays fans want is TEN meaningful games in September , and…
NINE no-hit innings from Scott Kazmir [Day 9]
EIGHT ejections for Joe Maddon [Day 8]
SEVEN relatively healthy months of Rocco Baldelli [Day 7]
SIX months with at least 14 wins [Day 6]
FIVE players with at least 25 home runs [Day 5]
FOUR winning records against AL East foes [Day 4]
THREE AL All-Stars [Day 3]
TWO new pitchers in the rotation by the all-star break [Day 2]
ONE Evan Longoria in the opening day lineup [Day 1]

[THE HANGOVER] JP Howell Not Best Choice For Rays LOOGY

Tampa Bay Rays (41 days until pitchers and catchers report)
One spot on the roster that remains to be filled is left-handed relief pitcher. In Joe Maddon’s first two seasons as the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, he broke camp without a left-hander in the bullpen. In 2008 the Rays are ready to switch from a position of development to one in which the emphasis is now on winning. If the Rays want to win more games they will need a LOOGY in the bullpen to come in, face one batter, and get out the tough lefty bat.

While the Rays will continue to look for a left-handed reliever in free agency and through trades, there are a few in-house candidates that Maddon could potentially turn to if all else fails. The list includes Jon Switzer, Jeff Ridgway and Kurt Birkins, all of whom have major league experience.

Bill Chastain thinks there is another option already in the organization.

I think it would make sense for Maddon to test some of those (starting) pitchers in the bullpen, in particular (J. P.) Howell, since the Rays need a left-handed reliever…Howell had several good opportunities at the Major League level last season and did not take advantage of them. He is a great teammate, in addition to being extremely competitive. I think he would give the Rays a nice extra wrinkle out of the bullpen.

Chastain points out that the Rays need a left-hander reliever that can get out left-handed batters. He thinks the Rays should convert Howell to a reliever to fill that role in 2008. And what exactly qualifies Howell for lefty-specialist? He is left-handed of course. And he is a good teammate that is competitive. No other qualifications are needed, like actually being able to get lefties out. Bill Chastain does not need to look up silly stats. He is from the school of thought that says left-handed pitchers have a natural magical power over left-handed batters.

As for Howell…In 2007, right-handed batters hit .325/.389/.880 against Howell, while left-handed batters produced a line of .296/.356/.874. Do you know how long it took me to look that up? 3.6 seconds. Chastain would like you to think that a player like Hideki Matsui would wilt under the pressure of having to face Howell in the 7th inning of a 1-run game with the bases loaded. The truth is, Howell does not get out left-handers any better than right-handers. In fact he does not get either out very well.

There are two scenarios under which Howell should be in the bullpen: 1) He is one of the seven best relief pitchers; 2) He is the best option for Maddon to call upon to come in and get out one left-handed bat. If Howell is converted to a reliever and makes the 25-man roster, it will be because he out-pitched the likes of Juan Salas, Gary Glover and Scott Dohmann. It will not be because “the Rays need a left-handed reliever” as Chastain mentions.

We are fairly certain that Papa Joe Maddon would prefer to have a left-handed specialist that can, you know, get out left-handed batters.

Mailbag: In-house bullpen solutions [DevilRays.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Rays of Light has their “Fearless 2008 Predictions”. A light-hearted look at the Tampa Bay Rays. I don’t think they are really going out on a limb with their Rocco Baldelli projection. [Rays of Light]
• The Rays have re-signed infielder Brent Butler to a minor league contract. Butler hit .268-4-26 in 77 games for the Bulls last season. [Our Sports Central]